Setting up your office properly with the ideal printers, scanners and copiers

When setting up an office, whether it's a one-person operation out of your home or one with multiple employees at a place of business, there are some devices that you need to be able to operate successfully. Obviously, the computers, whether desktop PCs or laptops, are your starting point, but you may want or need to add printers, scanners, copiers and the related accessories as well. When you're ready to purchase these critical components that work with your network, you can count on us to have everything you need, all at our Every Day Low Prices.

Printers

There are many options from which you can choose when it comes to printers. The two most readily available choices are inkjet and laser or LED. Some simply work as a printer connected to a single PC, but the majority have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, meaning that they work in conjunction with multiple computers at the same time and can even handle cloud and mobile printing projects. Some printers are all-in-ones, which mean that they can copy, scan and fax. There are also photo or snapshot printers, which are designed to reproduce photos at a higher quality than other printers do. They work in conjunction with your PC and are compatible with all recent operating systems on your computer.

Inkjets printers can print on many different types of paper and mediums, making them ideal for printing items like brochures, flyers and banners, even cloth. The color reproduction you receive from an inkjet printer is very good. However, they don't print as fast as the other types of printers do, making them less than ideal for rush print jobs. Inkjet printer inks can be pricey as well unless bought in bulk, which DX Offers Mall can help you with.

Laser and LED printers are virtually the same type of machine. These printers are more durable than inkjet printers and operate much differently. Where inkjet printer squirt ink onto the medium being printed on, laser and LED printers use toner, which gets onto the paper or other medium via a source of light that's beamed onto the item being printed. This also means that these types of printers are much faster than inkjet printers and are more precise too. The initial investment into a laser or LED printer is higher than an inkjet printer, but the toner lasts longer, which helps to even out the costs. These printers have LED display screens, some with touchscreen capability, and allow you to select from several common commands for operating the machine.

Scanners

Scanners fall into four categories: flatbed, photo, sheetfed and portable. Flatbed scanners are the most common and can take up a fair amount of desk space. Another popular type is the all-in-one that has printing, scanning and copying capability. These scanners are rectangular and feature a glass platen that's protected by a cover that both protects the glass surface and keeps light out when you're running a scanning project. Most flatbed scanners can take up to legal-size paper (8 1/2 inches by 14 inches) but some are large enough to handle A3, or tabloid, paper (11 inches by 17 inches). There are some large enough to scan drafting papers. When connected to a PC, the scans go directly to the PC into a designated folder or desktop location. Some scanners also have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth access and can scan directly to a designated location in the cloud.

All-in-one units make it possible to scan a document, then print it out as you need it, or multiple several copies of it at the same time. Most all-in-one units are sheetfed, but some have both capabilities. Photo scanners work much like a photo printer does and scans highly detailed reproductions of photos.

Copiers

A small or home office may not have the need of a copier, which is designed to print numerous copies of the same item at the same time. However, these types of office situations can benefit from an all-in-one printer, scanner and copier. Like a larger office copier, there's a tray that allows you to keep paper in it and have the copier draw from that reservoir. there's also a tray on the top that allows you to feed other size papers into the machine. For example, you may have letter-sized paper (8 1/2 inches by 11 inches) in the holding tray but need to run off some legal-sized copies. The sheets rest on the top tray and are fed through the copier individually. You have the option of printing copies in color and black and white and one or both sides of the paper.