All For One, One For All A printer for every PC? Forget it--one network printer can get the job done

If you're still trying to connect every single workstationto its own printer, it's high time you considered theadvantages of networking. From pooling resources and saving moneyto ensuring that everyone's work flows faster, hooking all yourPCs up to a network has become a must for today's tech-savvyentrepreneurs. And with numerous workgroups now sharing files andapplications, adding the right printer (or even two) to the mix hasbecome increasingly important.

The sharing of one or two printers (rather than each personhaving his or her own) doesn't just open up space oneverybody's desks, but also cuts down on purchasing andmaintenance costs. One way to put that savings to good use is toapply it toward the purchase of a high-quality printer, so thateveryone on the network is able to produce documents with aprofessional look, and your company will always put its best printforward.

A speedy, sturdy monochrome laser printer is the best option toconsider when choosing a network printer. Sure, those under-$100network inkjets sound tempting, but they lack the long-term dutycycles of lasers. In fact, some inkjets have a machine life of only75,000 pages before they need to be replaced, compared to thenear-infinite machine life for a well-maintained laser.

Lasers print the sharpest, crispest images--and the high-endones do so at dazzling speeds. While low-end models costing lessthan $600 average about 12 pages per minute, you can findpremium-quality network lasers that print 40 ppm in the $2,000 to$3,000 range. Most entrepreneurs opt for a printer priced between$400 and $700, says Larry Jameson, a forecasting analyst with LyraResearch Inc. in Newton, Massachusetts.

A word of caution, though: Manufacturers' claims about theirprinter speeds rarely take into account printer warm-up delays orthe time it takes for your PC to communicate with the printer. Thismeans clicking on your print icon won't necessarily translateinto instant printing. Timesaving features to look for: a printerwith an instant-on fuser, and a job-status feature that can monitorprinting jobs from your computer so you know when they'recompleted.

Jill Amadio is a freelance writer in Newport Beach,California, who has covered technology for 10 years.

How To Choose?

Speed, operating costs and available features are three factorsto consider when making your purchase. Since laser printers are allbased on the same imaging technology, speed--not quality--sets themapart. Naturally, the faster the printer, the higher the price.

How can you decide whether to buy a low-end or a high-end laser?First, determine how many pages per month your network groupnormally prints. Then determine how quickly your group will needthem. Most networking groups consisting of five or six people workwell with 17 to 24 ppm. A standard workgroup laser printerproducing 17 ppm averages between $1,000 and $1,500. Add the costof replacing toner cartridges to the equation, and you get a goodidea of the total cost of ownership.

Next, figure out what features are most important to yourbusiness. Do you often print on both sides of single sheets ofpaper? If so, duplexing should be on your list of requiredfeatures. How many reams of paper does your business use in a day?If you're networking several PCs to one printer and you printlong documents, you'll want extra paper cassettes. While mostprinters come with at least one paper tray, optional trays areavailable, provided there are additional slots to hold them. Extrapaper trays prevent the tedium of having to continually refill thecassettes.

Need to Know

Although laser-printer prices continue to drop, print speedskeep getting faster. Five years ago, 8 ppm was the norm for yourtypical monochrome laser printer. Today, the speed has doubled forthe most popular models--and for a third of the price, too.

Because economy of operation is important for small businesses,a monochrome laser makes for a good choice since it's cheaperand faster than its color counterparts. When you crunch thenumbers, monochrome laser printers cost less than one cent per pagecompared to the 10 cents per page you'd pay for color. However,if your workload requires producing multiple originals (also knownas "mopies"), it would be cheaper to purchase and use acolor laser printer than to pay an outside printing company forcolor copies. But if you only occasionally need color printing,then a budget-conscious solution would be to purchase both amonochrome laser printer and a color inkjet.

Netting A Printer

Just about all the network lasers now on the market arecompatible with the Ethernet networking protocol. Some printers aresold as "networkable," meaning they come with a networkcard slot and can be attached to a network. But keep in mindyou'll also have to buy a $500 networking card if you chooseone of these models. "Network" printers, however, comewith built-in chips and don't require cards. The lesson? Makesure when you hit the stores that you pick a "network"laser printer rather than one referred to as"networkable."

For a good example, check out the QMS Magicolor II Desklaser(see chart for complete details). It prints up to 16 ppm (4 ppmcolor) and outputs at a resolution of 600 x 600 dpi. The price tag($2,080) may seem a bit steep, but if you make lots of brochures orcatalogs, gaining the high-quality output of a laser printer willnot only improve your business's image, but it will save youmoney in the long run.

How difficult is it to hook up your entire network to a printer,you might ask? Well, each individual PC doesn't connect to theactual network laser printer itself, but via a specialized cableinstead. This conduit, sometimes called a "backbone,"shuffles the data back and forth between workstation computers,your server and the printer. As long as your network is up andrunning, it's not much of a stretch from there. It's more amatter of attaching the right cables to the right connectors. Mostnetwork laser printers come with installation guides on CD-ROMdisks that give you step-by-step instructions for installing theprinter management software and drivers. If not, your vendor canhelp.

Little Extras

Today's network laser printers offer many special features.For one thing, they're approaching crossover status withcopiers. "Copier features, such as duplexing, stapling,collating, offsetting and sorting, are finding their way onto laserprinters," says Jocelyn Eisenberg, a product marketing managerfor Xerox, whose Docuprint N40 model has menu options foredge-to-edge, watermark or fit-to-size printing. Another recentinnovation saves time by placing a blank sheet of paper betweensets of transparencies to keep them separate.

Other handy features include the ability to send printing jobcommands via the Internet while on the road (allowing documents tobe printed on your office printer) and "walk-up wireless"printing via infrared receivers. To print from a peripheral with aninfrared beam, such as from a PDA, simply point the device at theprinter's infrared receiver and start printing.

Paper-handling features are more versatile than ever ontoday's laser printers. Now you can print labels, envelopes,ledger-sized documents and transparencies on a wide variety ofstock thicknesses. Once you determine the kinds of media and papersizes you and your staff will use, plus your monthly volume, youcan find the right network laser printer to meet those needs.

The Catch

Yes, there are drawbacks to buying a network laser printerinstead of one printer for each PC. If your one and-only breaksdown, printing for the entire office will come to a screechinghalt. To prepare for such a scenario, level out the load with aninexpensive inkjet or a low-end laser. (Either one will get youthrough until the original printer is fixed.)

Another disadvantage is having to line up printing jobs, but youcan overcome this by matching the print speed and duty cycle of oneor more network printers to your office workload. Also considerspace: Unlike the small footprints of desktop printers, networklaser printers have large and bulky paper cassettes--sometimes onboth sides of the printer--that require lots of elbow room.

PC Lingo

Before you go out and buy that network laser printer, make sureyou know the terminology:

• Duplexing: printing on both sides of a single page

• Duty cycle: capacity for the number of pages that can beprinted in a given time

• Ethernet: a networking connection standard

• Infrared port: a transmitter/receiver that enables peripheralswith built-in infrared beams to communicate with the printerwithout cables

• Security bin: a lockable tray in which to receive"for-your-eyes-only," confidential documents

• Usage profile: print job and condition status, such as"Low Toner."

Contact Source

Lyra Research, http://www.lyra.com