Printers & Scanners

Printers, scanners and supplies for everyday office and home printing

This section gathers the hardware that turns digital files into paper documents and paper documents back into digital files: inkjet and laser printers in single-function and multifunction (MFP) formats, dedicated and combination scanners, plus the cartridges, toners and paper-handling parts that keep both running between service intervals. The grouping follows how a printing budget is actually spent, with the running cost of consumables sitting next to the machines that consume them.

Who tends to buy from this category

Information Technology (IT) teams equipping shared offices and meeting rooms, small business owners specifying a single multifunction printer for a handful of users, home office buyers replacing a tired inkjet, and reseller buyers stocking ink, toner and paper-handling spares in volume.

How to plan a printer or scanner purchase

Match the technology to the workload

Inkjet machines handle photo and colour-rich pages well, with low entry prices and higher cost per page. Laser machines handle high-volume text printing more economically and remain the office default. Tank-based inkjet printers (refilled from bottles) split the difference for medium offices that need colour at lower cost per page.

Plan around the consumables, not just the headline price

The sticker price of a printer is rarely the largest cost. Cartridge or toner price multiplied by the printer's monthly volume usually outpaces the printer cost in the first year. Compare cost per page across models, including starter cartridge yields and the price of XL or replacement supplies.

Confirm connectivity for the way users actually print

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is the simple direct connection for one personal computer (PC). Ethernet and Wi-Fi let multiple users on a network reach the same printer. Cloud and mobile printing protocols (the open Mopria standard, vendor-specific apps) cover phones and tablets. Match the connectivity to how staff will actually send jobs.

Reading the spec sheet without getting lost

Pages per minute (PPM) versus first-page-out time

The headline pages-per-minute figure is the steady-state rate after the printer warms up. The first page out of a cold printer takes 5 to 15 seconds longer. For workgroups that print short jobs all day, first-page-out time matters more than the PPM number.

Duty cycle and recommended monthly volume

Duty cycle is the absolute ceiling; recommended monthly volume is what the printer can sustain long-term. Buy at the recommended volume, not the duty cycle, and the printer lasts well into a multi-year service life.

Resolution claims for printers and scanners

Print resolution above 1200 dots per inch (DPI) rarely shows visible improvement on text. Scan resolution above 300 DPI is wasted on routine office paperwork. Headline 9600 DPI scanner numbers are usually interpolated, not optical.

What to confirm before ordering

• Monthly print volume in hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of pages?
• Colour or monochrome, photo or document, simplex or automatic duplex?
• Connectivity: USB direct, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, cloud printing?
• Cost per page over the printer's full life, not just the purchase price?
• Service contract or self-managed consumables?

Frequently asked questions

Inkjet or laser for a small office?

For offices printing mostly text and the occasional colour page, a colour laser or tank-based inkjet usually wins on cost per page. For offices where photo and graphic-rich printing dominates, a quality inkjet with separate colour cartridges or a tank-based model is more economical. Monthly volume is the deciding factor.

Are multifunction printers worth it over separate units?

For most small offices, yes. A multifunction printer combines printing, scanning, copying and often faxing in one unit, saves desk space and shares consumables across functions. For dedicated high-volume printing or specialist scanning, separate units still make sense; the multifunction printer is a generalist for everyday office work.

Do third-party cartridges work as well as original equipment manufacturer (OEM) ones?

Quality varies. Reputable third-party brands match OEM page yield and print quality at lower cost. Cheap unbranded cartridges can leak, clog print heads or trigger error messages on chip-protected printers. For business-critical printing, OEM removes the variable; for occasional home use, quality third-party brands are usually fine.

What scanner is needed for digitising paper documents?

For routine office paperwork, a dedicated document scanner with an automatic document feeder (ADF) and duplex scanning handles dozens to hundreds of pages per minute. For photos, books and irregular originals, a flatbed scanner is needed. For occasional travel use, portable scanners or scanner apps on phones are sufficient.

Is wireless printing reliable enough for office use?

Modern printers with proper Wi-Fi or Ethernet connections are reliable. Wireless printing from phones and tablets through open protocols works without special drivers on most networks. The common issues are network configuration and printer-side firmware updates, not the wireless link itself; Ethernet remains the most reliable for fixed installs.