What’s the Best Printer for My Home Office?

What’s the Best Printer for My Home Office?

This short guide should help you quickly identify the best home office printer to meet your business (and personal) needs. We wish it was as simple as buying the first printer you see online with a five-star review, but it’s not. A home office printer must fulfill business needs AND personal needs. Many of us are working and filling in as teachers for our kids. We may need to print a professional document off followed by a third-grade worksheet. You need a printer that can handle both without much downtime or frustration.

Whether you’re a larger company that is new to remote work or a small business that needs to increase efficiency and operate as a homeschool teacher at the same time, we are going to walk you through the process of choosing the right device.

Features

First, you should decide what features your home printer will need. You can easily narrow down the device from there, based on the following factors:

Single-Function or All-in-One Printer

For most home office business uses, you’re going to want an all-in-one or multifunction printer. This gives you the ability to print, copy and scan. There are different levels of these functions as well so be sure to read the specs on the models you’re interested in. If you don’t need these capabilities, a print-only device will work just as well.

Speed & Volume

If you’re printing large documents, you must really consider the speed and if you plan to print frequently. If you do plan to print often, you will need a printer that can handle a higher monthly duty. Choose your printer for quality AND efficiency.

Media Type

Ensure your new device prints all media types you need whether that’s thicker paper or multiple sizes. If you’re not sure what you’ll need, it may be better to get a device that’s capable of a few different media outputs. It should also be noted that inkjet printers print better photos and a laser printer will be more suited toward professional documents.

Color or Black & White

Consider the types of documents you are printing. If you don’t need color, stick with a black and white model to save a little extra money. Because colored ink cartridges are typically more expensive than traditional ink cartridges, you’ll also save on ink and have a lower cost per page with black and white printer models.

Connectivity

The best printers will have wireless capabilities, but some will come with Wi-Fi Direct and Near Field Communication (NFC), allowing for easy mobile printing from a smartphone or another mobile device.

Space Availability

Consider your home office space. If you have a dedicated office, you may be able to handle a larger unit. If your space is small, make sure you check the size of the device you’re wanting to ensure it fits.

Inkjet Printer or Laser Printer

An inkjet printer will print photos with higher print quality, but laser printers will be more efficient and cheaper. If you’re looking for a photo printer, inkjet printers will likely be the best fit for your particular needs. Find more information on the differences in our blog post: inkjets vs. laser printers.

Kyocera

Braden Business Systems is an authorized reseller for Kyocera devices. While we highly recommend Kyocera (and Konica Minolta), we will offer some alternatives at the end of this article. Because we fully trust these devices and our current clients agree, we are including four Kyocera models here that are compact, multifunction and are print-only devices. You can find more on our products page, but if you were to call, this is where we would start.

Purchasing

There are also several ways to purchase home office printers. You may think shopping Amazon is the easiest (and it may be in the short-term), but going through your local office equipment company has several long-term benefits which could save you money and increase efficiency such as:

• Quick delivery, installation and setup (can be done remotely)
• Options for new and used devices from a trusted reseller
• Service Contract
• Knowledgeable sales reps to ensure you get the best fitting device

Contact Braden for Home Office Print Solutions

We can’t expect every one of you to call us to purchase your new home office printer, but we do want to offer some advice to help you find the right printer for your needs if you are looking elsewhere. The consensus is that you can’t go wrong with the following brands for home office use: Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP.

Since 1989, Braden has proudly served our customers with state-of-the-art office hardware and software, on-site service and custom-designed workflow solutions. To request service and supplies, contact Braden today.