For large offices, a serious amount of printing and copying has to be done on a daily basis. For this, a reliable and high quality device is needed. It might have a rather high price tag, but sometimes when you pay upfront for quality you end up saving in the long run.

If you need to print out about 100-150 pages per minute, the best device for that would be a high volume printer. Most offices are equipped with laser printers nowadays, and that’s because they can print large documents at fast speeds. There are several important factors in buying a high volume printer. You’ll need a reliable device that doesn’t break down (doesn’t matter how fast it prints if it’s broken down half the time), with a high paper capacity (doesn’t matter how fast it prints if it runs out of paper) and networking capabilities.

Most of these printers are multifunctional and will offer scanning, copying and faxing. Prices obviously depend on how many features you want on top of what was already mentioned (like duplexing, ADF and so on).The quality of the prints is well known, and depending on model, speeds are generally high too. In a large office setting up a workgroup and using the printer for 10 or more users will be very appreciated as well.

But how does a digital copier do vs a high volume printer?Copiers have evolved a lot in the previous years, and they aren’t just bulky one-feature mediocre quality machines anymore. Digital copiers now work great for an office environment. They are mainly designed to work by scanning documents and then producing printed copies of the said document. Advantages to choosing a digital copier are many.

First off, after scanning the document can be stored in the device’s memory, so you can at any time simply print out copies. Secondly, almost all digital copiers are multifuncion devices. They generally work for printing, transmitting documents via fax or sending them to an e-mail adress. The maintainance cost of the machine is also significantly lower than in the case of any other device that can provide you with so many prints in a short amount of time. The ink that is used in digital copiers lasts for a lot more prints per copy. What copiers usually offer and printers do not : document finishing features such as binding or sorting.

Initial buying price in the case of both devices varies depending on model, brand and features. Copiers tend to be more expensive when you buy them. Printers are cheaper initially, but over time, they make up for it by consuming more ink (which is also more costly). The way things are going, it’s hard to tell anymore what a printer can offer that a copier can’t and vice versa. In the digital copier vs high volume printers battle the best choice is the machine that fits an office’s need best.