Buying a copier for your small or home office can be a real time saver and with the advent of the personal copier is now an affordable option for many small businesses. The convenience of copying in house rather than driving to a copy shop can't be beaten. Many desktop copiers are also multifunction machines, giving you the option of combining copying, printing, and scanning functions in a single office machine. Here are the key buying factors to help you choose a copier for your SOHO.
Duplexing
Duplexing is the ability to print on both sides of the page. You'll be hard pressed to find this feature in many of the lower priced desktop copiers, but you may find it's worth paying a little more for a copier that will do this, because of the potential cost savings on paper.Black And White Or Color Copier?
Color copying is slower and more expensive, but might be a feature you want your copier to have if you intend to produce promotional materials for your small business, such as brochures, or copy color photos. Inkjet digital copiers will be less expensive than laser color copiers.Copier Versatility
As the main reason to buy a copier for your small or home office is convenience, you'll want to be sure to choose a copier that's able to handle a variety of paper sizes and weights and other media, such as transparencies and index cards. Look for copiers that offer flatbed copying if you're concerned about copying from books or copying other objects that won't fit through a sheet feeder.Copier Paper Handling
As a small business person, you have better things to do than refilling copier paper trays or feeding single sheets through a copier. Look for a copier with a paper capacity of at least 250 sheets - or more. You'll also definitely want a copier with an automatic document feeder that holds at least 30 sheets. Copier Response Time
Copiers that have no warm up time are ideal for small and home offices, where copiers may be sitting idle for hours or days. A copy speed of 18 cpm is great, but won't save you any time if you have to wait 5 minutes for the copier to warm up every time you turn it on. Some copiers now offer a first copy time of less than 10 seconds.Copier Volume
Personal copiers aren't designed for heavy volume so check the copier's recommended monthly usage. If the copier uses a cartridge system, the average number of copies per cartridge yield will tell you how often the unit will need to be replaced. If your intended copying volume is above the recommended usage, you may be better off renting a larger copier designed to cope with heavy loads than buying a personal copier for your office.
