As the world goes more and more electronic, digital copiers are becoming more and more crucial. In contrast to traditional copiers, digital copiers used optical technology to scan and save every document within the hardware. Virtually every document needs to be converted in to electronic formatting and signatures need to be scanned and emailed very often. Companies continue to innovate in this space, creating products with wonderful new features that make businesses much more efficient. A Digital Copier Purchasing Guide can help understand these machines a little better.

Trends

There are several important trends to follow with digital copiers. The first is the energy use and efficiency. Copiers are constantly gaining greater efficiency which means less electricity use for the same procedures. That reduces bills and makes the machine cleaner for the environment. It also tends to reduce the noise that the machine makes.

On a similar note, copiers are becoming more efficient with their inputs. They are using toner better so you don't need to replace the cartridge every two weeks. The same goes for the developer and the fuser oil.

Another trend is the increasing scale without losing resolution. Copiers can now get 5x or 10x more resolution than just a few years ago. This makes copies clear and easy to read. These features are baked in and do not cost any more than they used to due to the increasing computing power of the machines.

Lastly, copiers are increasingly bundling all types of other devices in to a single item. They can now fax, email, scan, print, copy, act as a table and project board as well as other features.

As the machine gets more efficient it becomes less expensive to operate which means a larger price can be paid upfront with the economics still working in your favor. With maintenance and consumables lower, you can afford to pay an additional 10% or so upfront and still make it back over time easily.

Types

There are three main types of digital copiers. The first one is black and white. It only has black toner and is much less expensive than other kinds of copiers. It is popular with schools, hospitals, governments and other non-profit organizations.

The next type of copier is a color copier. Color copiers are good for high impact presentations, Most businesses require these type of printers in order to make excellent marketing material. Brochures, advertisements and other materials are also printed.

The last type of copier is the multifunction copier. This type of copier has many different attributes. In addition to copying, it can fax, scan, and print. Multifunction also tend to have additional features including internal memory upgrades as well as add-on modules. For the professional, this is definitely the best choice.

Devices

There are several types of devices that buyers should be aware of. The scanner saves the copy directly to the hard drive of the copier. The copier can then email that scan to your computer or another person's computer. Some devices can also become fax machines and fax the document over a phone line to another location. Of course, the main function of a copier is to print out copies of a document. A copier may also be a traditional printer where a document is sent from your computer on the network where it is printed out on the machine.

Features

There are a good number of critical features every digital copier buyer must consider before they make a decision. They must be well-informed on each of the features in order to make the decision with full confidence. The most basic choice is size. Do you need a standing copier that reaches the floor and can print many copies at rapid succession? Or does a smaller copier work? Similarly, you need to make a decision on capacity. Some copiers have a much larger capacity for how many copies they can make each day or each month before it needs maintenance.

The type of paper source is another important distinction. Some copiers only allow for one type of paper source. For marketers and advertisers, this is not sufficient. For schools that only need 8 x 11, one size could fit all.

Similarly, marketers and high volume copiers such as lawyers will be interested in the printer speed. Low speed can be very annoying and delay your work product. For anyone, the higher the speed the better.

Memory is another important feature. Similar to other computers, the more memory the better. They can handle more print jobs at once and also save more information in to the hard drive for later use. Again, business people may be willing to pay for much higher memory. However, schools that handle many print jobs at once will also want a large memory.

Stackless duplexing allows for double sided printing, which is important for marketers and brochure makers. An Automatic Document Feature allows you to scan many documents at once without replacing each page one by one. Many lawyers like this feature when they are copying huge books of documents. It saves a tremendous amount of time.

Lastly, some copiers offer finishers such as hole punchers or staplers. This feature also may save a lot of time depending on the amount of pages.

Choosing a Dealer/Vendor

There are several major players in the digital copier space. They include Xerox, Cannon and Toshiba. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks. In general, Toshiba and Cannon are considered a little more expensive yet with more features and memory. Xerox has slightly less features but is more affordable and is made in the US.

Conclusion

Overall, this Digital Copier Purchasing Guide should help to gain greater insight in to these machines. As they innovate and improve rapidly, more and more businesses are making them a must have item for their offices. Now that they are more efficient, faster and hold more memory, the demand is stronger than ever. As businesses grow and change, the copier is still crucial to getting things done.