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Once you understand what your users expect from their color printer, you can match their requests to a particular color printer family. You must match "what can the printer do" and "what do the users need" for a successful color printing program. |
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Everyone wants "good" color print quality, but no one defines "good" clearly. The three most important factors that influence print quality are:
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DPI: Dots per inch has been the traditional measurement and indicator of a printer's output quality. Color printing, however, changes the rules a bit by working on a sub-DPI scale. Inkjets can fit more colors inside a dot than can color LaserJet printers. |
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Number of colors per dot: The modern inkjet produces a droplet of ink so small (4 to 5 picoliters) that over 40 can fit inside a single dot of the DPI measurement. Mixing colors inside each dot using the PhotoREt technology greatly enhances the range of colors available inside a single dot, giving truly photographic results. Surprisingly, printers with a lower DPI rating may produce higher image quality output than printers with a higher DPI rating because of the color droplet control available. |
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Dot growth: Media use also affects image quality, and inkjet printer's image quality may be more affected by media than a LaserJet printer. This is due to wicking, or dot growth, as ink spreads when absorbed by paper. Inkjet printers reduce the amount of ink delivered when printing on plain paper because the paper fibers spread the ink so much. Special media for inkjet printers reduces the absorption rate of the ink to better control wicking. LaserJet printers use micro fine plastic spherical particles that adhere to the paper surface and don't spread like ink does. |
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Just as users demand different media, they also demand a variety of paper handling options and media compatibility. Some pages must be sorted, some stapled, and some printed on both sides. A few inkjet printers, personal or business class, offer duplexing. Because of the similarity to copiers in paper handling, LaserJet printers usually offer more options for paper handling, including expandable input/output capacity, advanced finishing, mailboxes and sorters, stackers, and staplers. Additionally, large format inkjet printers can handle very wide media, often up to 60 inches wide, which may be a for posters, layouts, banners, or schematics in graphics, HR, marketing, or technical departments.
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Although white, 8.5x11-inch paper is the norm, users often require a variety of output media. Some print jobs require wide-format paper, card stock, thick cardboard, or transparencies. LaserJets, because of the way they fuse ink to the paper with heat and pressure, usually do best handling plain paper while inkjet printers typically handle a wide range of media from regular paper to cloth to CD/DVD labels to photographic paper. To be sure your printer solution supports the variety of media your users need to print on, refer to the following table to match your media to a compatible printer.
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HP media compatibility list |
| LaserJet paper
Multipurpose paper
All-in-one paper
Office recycled paper
Printing paper
Color laser paper
Copy and print paper
Soft gloss laser paper
LaserJet tough paper
High gloss laser paper
Cover paper
Color LaserJet transparency
LaserJet monochrome
Transparency
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Printing paper
All-in-one paper
Multipurpose paper
Office paper
Tri-fold brochure
Brochure & flyer paper (matte and glossy)
High-gloss film
Transparency film
Banner paper
Iron-on transfers
Greeting cards (textured and linen)
Photo greeting cards
Photo paper (glossy and matte)
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To meet a wide range of paper handling and media compatibility demands, you may benefit from a mix of printers. For example, you might choose to scatter personal and business-class inkjet printers through a department, centralize a color LaserJet to handle larger print jobs and those with complex paper handling needs, and include a large format printer in your company's in-house print department.
Often, adding a printer to the modern office means adding another network device. When you choose those printers to add to your network, you will need to consider:
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Printer languages |
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Connectivity |
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Network protocols |
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Operating systems |
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Software applications |
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LaserJet printers were initially the default choice for network printers because they were the only models that included network connections and built-in print servers. However, many business and personal inkjets ship ready to connect to a network, so you can focus on selecting printer features instead of worrying about networking connectivity.Need a workgroup scanner, fax machine, and copier? All-in-one (AIO) and multifunction (MFP) products from HP include all these features as well as either inkjet or color LaserJet printing in a product you can connect and share over your network.
Pages per minute (ppm) guides have been the rule for printer performance, but more details are needed today. Why? The PPM figure only takes into account the speed of the print engine and how many pages it can produce if all else is perfect. All else is rarely perfect. You should consider the following when evaluating a printer's overall performance:
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Pages per minute: The number of pages printed per minute is dependent mainly on engine speed but also affected by document complexity, spooling time, contention, transmission speed, language processing, and paper handling. Each of these factors affect overall print job time. |
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Throughput: Whereas the print engine speed represents the printer's performance potential, output after all the aforementioned variables is the "throughput speed." This number will be the most accurate performance predictor for your color printing projects. |
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Other variables: Add the variables listed above, and then add such details as computer speed, paper handling, network transport options, print queue capacity, and even network bandwidth restrictions to get a true printer performance rating. |
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Users don't care about metrics, they just care about their printed pages. When determining printer reliability, consider device readiness, availability, and job request completion. Intervention at the printer, for whatever reason, lessens reliability in the eyes of the users. The factors that affect a printer's reliability include:
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Volume: Buying an inexpensive printer for a high-volume location may result in higher TCO (total cost of ownership) for repairs and replacement than buying the correct printer for the job. Match the size of the printer to the printing needs of the workgroup while allowing some room for output requirements to grow. |
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Duty cycles: The maximum usage level per month for a printer is the duty cycle. This rating takes into account printer specifics such as the paper-handling capacity and cartridge replacement. Running a printer at the top end of its duty cycle will require users to intervene with the printer to replace supplies more often. You should choose a printer with a duty cycle that exceeds your current production needs by a substantial margin to minimize interventions and maximize printer life expectancy. |
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Maintenance requirements: Every device requires maintenance at times, and printers are certainly no exception. All moving parts wear, and business-class printers with embedded Web server software enable printers to send e-mail notification messages or pager alerts to signal the need for preventative maintenance. After you acquire several printers, you will save time by using HP's Web Jetadmin software to manage all intelligent printers through a single Web page. |
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| Note: HP printers are the only ones to win the PC Magazine's Readers' Choice Award for service and reliability for 16 years in a row.
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Although a printer's duty cycle indicates whether it should be used as a shared or personal printer, that's not always the best decision point. Higher-volume users may benefit from a business-class color inkjet rather than overloading a personal inkjet.Personal inkjets and personal color LaserJets usually have small footprints and fit better on desktops. Many companies find a mix of personal, workgroup, and departmental printers are necessary to support all of their monochrome and color printing projects.
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