(ISF) Printers for very small nonprofits

Dear ISF Colleagues,

I've had a query from a nonprofit professional who is her
organizations only staff member. She works from home, and is sort of
panicky about printers.

I'm looking for really solid recommendations for printers that just do
the job without the constant ministrations of an in-house techie,
since this organization doesn't have one. The printing isn't
high-volume. I tend to distrust anything that you can order from a
retail catalogue for $150.00, especially if it claims that it will
also function as a copier, fax machine, scanner, and dishwasher.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks and best regards from Deborah

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
deborah_elizabeth_finn%40post.harvard.edu">deborah_elizabeth_finnpost.harvard.edu
www.cyber-yenta.org

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-----original message-----
>>;I've had a query from a nonprofit professional who is her organization's only staff member. She works from home, and is sort of panicky about printers. I'm looking for really solid recommendations for printers that just do the job without the constant ministrations of an in-house techie, since this organization doesn't have one.>>

I have an HP 7210 all-in-one and have to say it has performed very well. As a printer it is better than I expected, both in color and B&W - not for printing archival photos, but very good indeed. This model has an ethernet port so is hooked up to my DSL router; HP software makes it easy to network this printer, should she want to. It also has a parallel port and one of its close cousins comes without the network connection for a few bucks less. In short, if you want a good printer, *may* need to scan the odd document, receive the odd fax, make the odd copy (very useful) or wash the occasional dish (oh, wait, it doesn't do dishes - sorry) this is an excellent choice for the low-volume home office.

I am not connected with HP in any way other than as a user.

-- Chuck

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Chuck Bragg, Pacific Palisades, CA
Membership, Newsletter, Web manager
Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society
www.smbas.org
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-----original message-----
>>;I've had a query from a nonprofit professional who is her organization's only staff member. She works from home, and is sort of panicky about printers. I'm looking for really solid recommendations for printers that just do the job without the constant ministrations of an in-house techie, since this organization doesn't have one.>>

Probably best to go with a printer only that does not have the added features of copying and faxing. That keeps the complexity down.

I think you would be relatively safe going with a name brand - Epson, Lexmark, HP, Canon (there are others, certainly). For best results I would avoid the cheapest/bottom of the line printer as even good companies seem to need to have a low end printer that is low cost and that means more potential for reliability problems.

I currently have a Lexmark Z45 which was a fairly inexpensive ink jet printer that has worked quite well for several years.

You could also do some web googling for printer reviews. Unfortunately, more are feature and cost analyses and not long term reliability reports such is available for used cars.

Bob

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-----original message-----
>>;I've had a query from a nonprofit professional who is her organization's only staff member. She works from home, and is sort of panicky about printers. I'm looking for really solid recommendations for printers that just do the job without the constant ministrations of an in-house techie, since this organization doesn't have one.>>

Coming from a journalism and graphics background, it's easy for me to think of our nonprofit as a print shop. We produce educational materials that we "sell" to our patients to earn the money to continue all aspects of our work. I wanted a quality graphic presentation to match the quality of our information. I knew that a cheap and/or dull presentation would destroy our credibility and endanger our future.

The cost of printing 4-color brochures and other collateral in a print shop is high, especially for small runs; so using professional printers was out of the range of our tiny budget. Therefore, I had to look at trying to print our materials myself.

The reason bubble jet printers are often given away is because manufacturers make more on the ink than on the machines. The cost of a single page coming out of a bubble jet is somewhere between .35 and .50 cents *each*--and that doesn't include the paper. These thirsty devils seem to know when your big order of ink carts arrives because that's the minute break down. Repair the thing? F'getaboutit!

And, of course, the old cartridges don't fit your next printer!

As far as I'm concerned bubble jets are a con game, so I looked into buying a laser printer. I found the purchase prices have been falling steadily while the technology rises. Black and white lasers are cheap enough--but why stop there?

The cost of operation is already so low that even a color laser printer now pays for itself--in our case--in less than a year.

Four years ago, I invested $699 in a Minolta 2300W color laser printer. I researched cost, reliability, cost of operation and the retailers that sold them. I ended up getting one from Dell with a 3-year warranty. (For another couple of hundred bucks.) Some other brand may meet your needs better. I don't have to tell this crowd that it pays to do the homework.

http://printer.konicaminolta.net/products/color/mc2300W/index.asp

It didn't take long to learn how to use it. You click PRINT and...bingo-presto!...the paper comes out nice and pretty. We proceeded to print everything ourselves from letterhead to brochures and our 36- to 44-page, comb-bound books. We only farm-out our newsletter.

http://www.1clever.org/publications.htm

The cost, per page for black is about .014 cents each, plus paper. Four color is .07 to .10 cents depending on amount of ink used. Your mileage may vary. The savings are significant, the improved impact cannot be denied, and the control is superb. I do all the artwork in house and print at my convenience. (A bought a Cannon scanner for$99 or $129. It works inputs graphics well and turns printed materials into text files. There are many, many places online that provide high quality clip art and photos for free.)

Loading the machine is not cheap--granted--but I only do it two or three times a year--and we print up a storm! A black toner cartridge costs $79-$99 each, but they last a whopping 4500 pages. [$99 divided by 4500 = $.022 per copy.] Color toner carts are the $64 - $77 range for about 1500 pages, and you need three of them. The good news is that you never throw out half-full carts either. You use every bit of toner you buy. [$77 divided by 1500 = $.051 each page for full color, plus paper.] There may be cheaper carts available online. Some people refill their own carts, but toner is toxic and the process is far too messy for me! I stick to what I consider "reasonably priced" discount retailers and avoid suspiciously cheap merchandise. Frugal doesn't mean cheap, it means smart.

In the four years I've had my machine, I've replaced the print drum twice, at $100 each. But I've never had to service the machine, nor has it given me an mechanical problems other than the occasional paper jam. (But do get the service agreement!)

That's not to say I didn't have a learning curve and that it's entirely painless. It has it's quirks, but once I came to know the machine, I came to love it's reliability and work ethic. We've printed hundreds of comb-bound books for our patients. We ask $15 to $20 each for the books which cost between $3 and $5. This includes all the paper, the binding materials and toner; and it's one-half to one-third of what the print shop charges.

Plus I print only what I need, when I need them. I update them "on the fly," and don't have to worry about a back stock that may become obsolete.

If I couldn't afford a new machine, I'd look for a close out of year-old models. I might even buy a refurbished one with a good warranty from a reliable vendor. I wouldn't buy any used machine from a total stranger at any price. If you can't get a color laser printer, at least get a B&W one.

Basic graphic programs are available and by modeling (not stealing!) the printed materials from bigger nonprofits, you can produce good looking and effective printed materials in-house at a significant savings.

Do yourself a favor, KILL YOUR BUBBLE JET!

Ciao,

S

Sal Capo
President/Executive Director
The Pemphigus & Pemphigoid Society
15934 Hesperian Boulevard., #122
San Lorenzo, CA USA 94580-1540
1-510-755-4266
PPS%401clever.org">PPS1clever.org
www.1clever.org

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