The top color laser printer for small business

Laser printer quality gives your business documents a professional edge. Limiting your documents to only black and white can hurt your image as a successful business. Color can tell a story or explain a concept much easier that black and white alone. You probably already understand the advantages of printing your own color-filled brochures, diagrams, stationery, and invoices.

But now I'm sure that you are asking yourself, "How on earth am I going to be able to afford a fancy color laser printer?" or, "There are so many color laser printer options, how do I choose?" Both are valid questions. You have just started your own business and you most likely do not have hundreds of dollars just lying around, but you know that this purchase is worth the investment.

As with any important purchasing decision, you will need to consider your options and make the best choice according to the needs of your business. Consider the following variables that come with the choice of color laser printers.

 Speed - How fast will you need your color laser printer to print? Do you anticipate needed to print a lot of consecutive pages? Obviously a high quality print generally takes longer than a black and white print. Determine how fast is acceptable for you when you are deciding on your personal color laser printer.
 Price (include your ink cartridge price) - A highly recommended color laser printer will cost somewhere in the range of $500-1000 depending on what features you want. Some features to consider include: picture quality, speed, memory capacity, etc. Also it is important to remember that a higher price doesn't necessarily mean a better product. In the competitive industry of small business supply essentials, color laser printer manufacturers are constantly thinking of better, faster and less expensive printer models.
 Networking - How important to you is having your printer networked? Many color laser printers come ready to be set up in a network. However, in order to save on costs some color laser printers do not have this capability. Consider the value of networking to your business. If your operation is relatively small, this may be a bonus feature that you can do without.
 Quality - How crisp and clean do you need your color copies to be? For example, if you are going to be using your color laser printer to show photos of your artwork, you probably need a higher quality printer than if you are going to be printing pie charts and logos. Quality is perhaps the hardest area in which to compromise. Of course you want the best quality possible, but ask yourself if you really need it and if you are willing to pay for it.
 Workload ability - In the long run, the efficiency of your laser color printer is going to make a big difference in how much you are willing to pay for it. If your color laser printer cartridge can yield more copies at a lower price, it may be worth it in the long run to buy that more efficient model.
 Options (multiple trays, memory, etc) - Optional features are never in short supply and may be what makes or breaks your decision to buy one printer over another. Avoid impulse buying because of an attractive option. Carefully consider what you need and what you don't need.

Considering the entire variable listed above, the following printers were recommended by various independent business owners and home office equipment critics.

1. Konica Minolta Magicolor 5440 DL Color Laser Printer
2. Hewlett Packard LaserJet 2550L Color Laser Printer
3. Samsung CLP-500 Color Laser Printer
4. Lexmark C510 Color Laser Printer
5. Okidata C5150n Color Laser Printer
6. Dell Laser 3000cn Laser Printer

The Konica Minolta Magicolor 5440 DL Color Laser Printer earned constant high marks when compared to others in the same price and quality range. The price is right with this laser printer, the speed is great, and the quality is good. It was frequently referred to as the best buy for the product. Thus, it is a strong competitor for the top color laser printer for small businesses.

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