Duplex Printers: What to Know Before You Buy

What is duplex printing, how does it work, and when should you use it? This guide has the answers.

Equipping the workplace with the right tools can be challenging for small- and mid-size businesses. Budgets are tight and space is at a premium. At the same time, your employees need to be able to do their jobs efficiently. These competing priorities overshadow every equipment purchase. Ultimately, you have to be able to answer these questions: Do you really need it? Will it save time, money, or both? Will it make your team more productive?

Keep these questions in mind as you navigate the complex world of duplex printers. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the different features you’ll find in each model. Here’s how to evaluate those features and decide which one is right for your needs.

Need more information about printer features? Check out our comprehensive guide, A Buyer’s Guide to Printer Types.

What is duplex printing?

Unlike regular printers, which only print on one side of the paper, duplex printers utilize both sides. This has a number of benefits, particularly for smaller offices looking for ways to stretch their budgets further and increase efficiency. Not only does duplex printing save paper, it also generally reduces waste and consumes less energy.

Duplex printing also has a number of practical advantages. If printed materials take up less physical space, that means they require less storage space. When printing internal materials, like handbooks or reports, your employees won’t have to lug around hefty tomes from meeting to meeting. You can also fit more information onto customer-facing brochures and fliers without cramming everything onto a single side of the page.

Duplex printers: automatic vs. manual

Not all duplex printers work the same way. Some are manual, meaning the user must turn the paper over before printing on the second side. Others print on both sides automatically. Manual duplex printers often come with a lower price tag, but don’t let that fact alone guide your ultimate purchasing decision. If an employee has to oversee every print job and manually flip pages of paper, that’s less time that employee has to spend on more productive tasks, so it may cost you more in the end.

While manual printers are usually acceptable for personal use, an office environment benefits more from automation. Without the need for manual intervention, automatic duplex printers complete their tasks more quickly and eliminate tedious administrative work. This makes automatic duplex printers a better value overall.

Other duplex printer features to consider

Once you’ve narrowed down what type of duplex printer best suits your needs, it’s time to consider more general printer features. These aren’t unique to duplex printers, but they’ll also have an impact on your budget and productivity.

Size

Professional grade printers can be hefty. Office printers suited to enterprise businesses might weigh hundreds of pounds and stand several feet tall. Smaller businesses typically don’t have that kind of space available, however. If you’re purchasing equipment for a small to medium-sized office, compact printers are the more logical choice.

Black and white vs. color

If your office produces materials that require vivid color — like fliers, brochures, and labels — this is an easy choice. Having a color duplex printer covers more bases and ensures you always have the resources on hand to complete your tasks. On the other hand, if you’re only producing receipts, waivers, bills, and work orders, you can save some of that budget and stick with a black-and-white printer.

Single-function vs. multifunction

Do you just need a printer, or does your office also require frequent scanning and copying? If it’s the latter, having a single device that does all three can make your life easier. Multifunction printers, also called all-in-one printers, combine the functions of multiple devices in a single frame. They typically come with a higher price tag than single-function printers, but having a duplex scanner printer copier on hand can ultimately save time and square footage.

Connectivity

Think about the layout of your office. Where will your printers go? Will they be near individual computers? Or will they be near a router for an ethernet connection? One often overlooked factor in printer purchases is connectivity, but it can drastically affect productivity. If you want to hook the new printers up to the office internet network, they’ll need either an ethernet port or Wi-Fi compatibility to do so. Wi-Fi offers more flexibility, as it allows for wireless printing and eliminates the need for additional cables or rearranging equipment.

Our recommendation: RICOH Duplex Printer C125 MF

When choosing the best duplex printer for your office, it’s imperative to choose the model with the features that best suit your workload. The RICOH C125 MF duplex printer is capable of color printing at a speed of 26 pages per minute. Available in single-function and multifunction models, the RICOH C125 MF has a monthly duty cycle of 30,000 pages, making it ideal for small to medium offices. It also comes equipped with built-in Wi-Fi, allowing your employees to print from any device on your network. Click here to learn more or shop the rest of our printer line.

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