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Blog: The Copier World
POST#01
Are new photocopiers better than used ones?
by Schrodter Imaging team (Published: 28 Feb, 2021)
The copier market is huge, with a great many options both old and new. It is certainly hard to work out where to start. The first question people usually ask is price. Price is a double edged sword, whilst it may appear attractive to go for the cheapest option available, this isn't always practical.
When you are budget conscious, you are almost certainly limited to a secondhand photocopier. This, however, isn't a bad thing. New photocopiers range from $5,500 - $30,000, which is a huge outlay for any business as the equipment stills need to be financed (generally) and a maintenance agreement also has to be factored in. What would the entry level price get you? Usually not much! Even though the machine may have all the features you need, there is a trend with entry level copiers being of inferior build quality which can be problematic. We have seen time and time again many of the cheapest new options are just plain trash in the long term.
Used photocopiers can be a better option than new models, the reasons being:1. Older models have superior build quality and durability (we do not sell known problem units)2. Older models are cheaper to maintain and have significantly cheaper toner cartridges3. The units have a field test history; problem units/ models do not get resold, leaving the customer with only reliable options4. Quite often the older models will outlive their newer counterparts5. Cheaper to purchase
Used photocopiers can be a better option than new models, the reasons being:1. Older models have superior build quality and durability (we do not sell known problem units)2. Older models are cheaper to maintain and have significantly cheaper toner cartridges3. The units have a field test history; problem units/ models do not get resold, leaving the customer with only reliable options4. Quite often the older models will outlive their newer counterparts5. Cheaper to purchase
POST#02On photocopier brands and quality
by Schrodter Imaging team (Published: 22 Mar, 2022)
The brands...There is certainly no shortage of brands available in the market, but you need to work out which one is right for you. The most important factor is brand support; is there good backup and support available? Are replacement parts cheap? Is toner readily available?
Reliability...Everyone has their own opinion, we have supplied many different brands and models over the years. There is good and bad in EVERY BRAND, some models just work a treat whilst others give constant grief. We will attempt to rank the brands as follows, we are not comparing new models, only previous models in terms of availability and price for our type of customers. The following are ranked in order from 1 being the best and 7 being the worst. We consider price of consumables, reliability, ease of use, maintenance costs and spare parts availability:
1- Toshiba2- Konica Minolta & Develop3- Fuji Xerox & Lexmark3- Ricoh & Lanier4- Kyocera5- Canon6- Sharp7- HP
What are the differences between the top 3?Toshiba comes out on top in terms of flexibility for the customer, costs are able to be kept down to a minimum due to parts cost, non-modular rebuildable design and toner yield/cost.Konica Minolta has finally started offering cost effective maintenance options since units are now actually rebuildable and chippable. The whole imaging unit is no longer a throwaway, cutting costs dramatically. Toner price and yield is respectable. Maintenance parts costs for both genuine and mianly compatibles has plummeted and cut the operation costs significantly.Xerox machines are great units, their scanner and print quality is not that of Konica Minolta but their reliability makes it a very close call. Rebuildable units and cheap generic parts options make this an excellent office machine.Ricoh, what can we say... A great machine, with the best market presence. They have good toner yields, good image quality and decent scanning. The let down for Ricoh is their high maintenance costs on the later type models. A few niggling issues here and there but overall a good machine.
The worst... Once again this is just our opinion but the bottom 3 all generally have no issues. Canon drum unit life, fundamental design flaws and niggling technical issues certainly dont bode well with customers, this affected multiple series. Great machine when they work though... Sharp, a less common machine and very ordinary in terms of reliability. They have multiple known niggling issues for these older models. HP... Poorly designed machines, good user interface and image quality with genuines but thats where it stops.
Reliability...Everyone has their own opinion, we have supplied many different brands and models over the years. There is good and bad in EVERY BRAND, some models just work a treat whilst others give constant grief. We will attempt to rank the brands as follows, we are not comparing new models, only previous models in terms of availability and price for our type of customers. The following are ranked in order from 1 being the best and 7 being the worst. We consider price of consumables, reliability, ease of use, maintenance costs and spare parts availability:
1- Toshiba2- Konica Minolta & Develop3- Fuji Xerox & Lexmark3- Ricoh & Lanier4- Kyocera5- Canon6- Sharp7- HP
What are the differences between the top 3?Toshiba comes out on top in terms of flexibility for the customer, costs are able to be kept down to a minimum due to parts cost, non-modular rebuildable design and toner yield/cost.Konica Minolta has finally started offering cost effective maintenance options since units are now actually rebuildable and chippable. The whole imaging unit is no longer a throwaway, cutting costs dramatically. Toner price and yield is respectable. Maintenance parts costs for both genuine and mianly compatibles has plummeted and cut the operation costs significantly.Xerox machines are great units, their scanner and print quality is not that of Konica Minolta but their reliability makes it a very close call. Rebuildable units and cheap generic parts options make this an excellent office machine.Ricoh, what can we say... A great machine, with the best market presence. They have good toner yields, good image quality and decent scanning. The let down for Ricoh is their high maintenance costs on the later type models. A few niggling issues here and there but overall a good machine.
The worst... Once again this is just our opinion but the bottom 3 all generally have no issues. Canon drum unit life, fundamental design flaws and niggling technical issues certainly dont bode well with customers, this affected multiple series. Great machine when they work though... Sharp, a less common machine and very ordinary in terms of reliability. They have multiple known niggling issues for these older models. HP... Poorly designed machines, good user interface and image quality with genuines but thats where it stops.