Colour Printers / Printing Technology

[Ben_]

due to the variety of letterheads we use, and the inability of printers to do what you tell them with regards to using the 'right tray' I have decided to purchase a colour printer and print the whole document as it will appear, that is so the whole letter with logos and all appears in word as a template before printing. due to volume i need to keep the cost to a minimum and so need to find the cheapest option. laser/solid ink etc, or are there any new technologies? ive been looking at xerox printers which provide a solid ink solution which they estimate at 2p per page for 5% coverage. please offer your thoughts + advice

[ultim8um]

Large volume colour printing = laser or similar... Inkjet is pricey for any real volumes unless you use one of the constant feed systems in an epson for instance. Alternatively why not get them produced by a local printing company as this will be cheap(er) then buying a high end colour laser and supplies (probably!).

[Ben_]

we do a lot of ad-hoc printing for updates and marketing literature/collateral so it wont be cheaper. solid ink seems cheaper than laser ?

[mosherben]

i would have throught lasers would be more ideal for your purposes. It really depends on the detail (dots per inch) of the stuff you want printed, inkjets do print fast on lower dpi's, comparable with a laser for total processing time (lasers do take time to warm up). Alternatively, why not you just get 2 inkjets instead of one laser. I have no exprerience with lasers, but toner does cost from what I have heard.

Just my 2 cents..