The high price of inkjet-printer replacement cartridges may be among the highest hidden costs lurking in your small business. While printing giants such as Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark and Epson equip their inkjet models with options that are attractive to small-business users, the annual cost of replacing cartridges can add up. Inkjet cartridges can easily exceed half the cost of the printer itself -- or even more for heavier users.
But a new generation of high-quality, low-cost laser printers is bringing the penny-per-page economics of laser printing to even the smallest business. For several weeks, I've been testing one such printer, the Brother HL-2270 DW.
But a new generation of high-quality, low-cost laser printers is bringing the penny-per-page economics of laser printing to even the smallest business. For several weeks, I've been testing one such printer, the Brother HL-2270 DW.
At $150, Brother International's pricing is aggressive, giving businesses the chance to get laser-quality printing and wireless network access for about the same cost as a full-featured inkjet printer.
My verdict: While the unit lacks many of the features of pricier units, it does one important thing well: It prints lots of inexpensive black-and-white pages.
What It Is
The HL-2270 DW is a black-and-white-only desktop laser printer. Unlike inkjet models, which use a small reservoir of powdered inks that are sprayed onto paper using a computer-controlled nozzle, printers using lasers quickly and precisely draw an image onto the paper, which is held close to the toner on a larger rotating drum. Laser models print faster and offer a much lower cost per printed page. They also require less initial maintenance than inkjets, although with heavy use, major components like drums and drive assemblies must be serviced and replaced.
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