Select Printers

The Dover-Sherborn Public Schools use a logical process for the purchase of printers.  Printers must fit the need for which they are purchased and the capital and operating costs of the printer must not be excessive.

In general, the Districts’ printing needs are for black and white printing of text.  Analysis has led to the conclusion that black & white laser printers are the preferred printer type for this requirement due to their high speed, quality, long life, and low operating costs.

Specific analysis was conducted as part of the Chickering School construction project to determine the best possible choices for printing throughout the school. This analysis continues to be used for the selection of printers throughout the districts.

In addition to the internal analysis that can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat format Here or as a MS Excel spreadsheet Here, other sources were consulted. 

Some very useful resources are Consumer Reports, “Update Computer Printers,” September 2001, pg 27-29;  Consumer Reports,  “Printers,” March 2002, pg 49-51; and  PC Magazine, “Inkjet Printers,” December 26, 2001, pg 125-137.

Districts should consider several factors in decisions about printing:  color vs black & white, quality, speed, volume, shared printing, capital and operating costs.  

Color vs Black & White

Color printing is desired, particularly by teachers in the lower grades.  Teachers see value in the lower grade student having the ability to see the work they have done on the monitor printed in the same colors.

Though color printing in the lower grades may be desirable, the cost of providing it is prohibitive.  The color capability can be delivered by either inkjet or laser printers.  The operating costs of a color inkjet printer are approximately 3 times more than the operating costs of a black & white laser printer. Color laser printing has an even higher cost of operation than the inkjet printer and a high capital outlay for purchase.

The decision to provide color printing capability in the classroom must be scrutinized thoroughly.  Is it a requirement linked to student performance and outcome or is it simply a desire? Our district concluded it is both, but color printing in every classroom could not be supported.  Rather, to meet the genuine requirements for color printing, limited numbers of color laser printers were purchased and strategically placed to permit teachers to print color when absolutely necessary to a networked color laser printer.

Speed, Volume & Quality

Printing requirements are also determined in terms of speed, volume, and quality.  Clearly, a library or computer lab that has twenty or more students concluding their work simultaneously and printing at the same time requires high speed and high volume printers.  Administrative offices also have a high speed and high volume printing requirement. 

Inkjet printers typically print less than five pages per minute (ppm) while the least capable laser printer, such as the HP 1000, can print 10ppm.  Higher end models are more capable.  The HP1200 prints at 15ppm, the HP2200 at 19ppm and the 4100at 25ppm.

Classrooms typically do not have a high volume or high speed printing requirement.  Low end laser printers, not necessarily networked, can fill this need at low cost.

In nearly all cases, 600dpi printing is adequate quality.

COST

Ultimately, all printer categories can meet the requirements for printing in most cases. One must examine cost as the major factor in printer purchases.  Cost should be examined in terms of the total cost of ownership and its two subcategories – capital expense and operating costs.

Our analysis looks at the life of a printer over six years.  Our spreadsheet analysis linked above illustrates the details of this analysis.

In general, color laser printers are the most expensive in capital outlay and operating costs.  Inkjet printers are cheapest to purchase, but more expensive than black and white laser printers to operate.

Operating costs can best be compared in terms of cost per page.  Knowing how much it costs to print one page one can then determine total operating costs over time.

The results in this area are stark.  Consumer Reports indicates an average per-page printing cost for a variety of popular inkjet printers of approximately 6.37 cents with a wide range between 2.6 cents and 14.9 cents with a median of 5.8 cents.  PC Magazine reports similar results with an average of 7.5 cents and a median of 7 cents.

Our specific analysis included the HP995c inkjet printer that has a cost per page of approximately 4.5 cents, well below the mean and median of commonly used inkjet printers.  If a district were to use or consider another inkjet printer they should obtain the cost per page estimates.

Laser printers are much cheaper to operate.  The average and median of the cheapest laser printers from the more common vendors is approximately 2 cents per page.  When one considers the more capable printers like the HP 2200 at 1.5 cents and the HP4100 at 1 cent per page the laser clearly is a much cheaper printer to operate.

Operating costs are not the only factor in calculating total cost of ownership. One must also buy the printer, and laser printers generally are more expensive than inkjet printers, especially the higher end laser printers.

The spreadsheet linked above indicates a capital outlay of $400 for the HP995c, $570 for the HP1200n, $1340 for the 2200dn, and $1800 for the HP4100. 

If one were to look at the total cost of ownership for these systems over a six year period the inkjet’s low purchase price would offset the higher operating costs and make the inkjet competitive.  The table below provides a comparison.

Another key factor to consider is the life cycle of the printer.   Dover-Sherborn purchased three HP 4 Plus (comparable to the HP2200) seven years ago.  All three continue to print in high volume environments (libraries) with no indication they will fail any time soon.

An inkjet printer is not made to last long.  Duty cycle is the indicator in this respect.  The LaserJet 4100 is made to sustain a duty cycle of 150,000 pages per month.  The Inkjet 995c is rated at 2000. 

Given the low duty cycle of the Inkjet, we estimate that the inkjet would be replaced within three years, while the laserjets would last approximately six years.  This results in a change to the total cost of ownership.

One additional consideration is the source of funds.  If a district is involved in a construction project the capital outlay can be part of the building budget and thus at least partially reimbursed by the state.  Operating costs are completely part of the annual operating budget of the school district. 

If you would like more information about this topic please contact Dan Gallagher, Technology Manager at  email.