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Printing in Schools

The complete report on Printing in Schools can be downloaded in Word format using the link at the bottom of this page.

It's a fact that we don't spend the same amount of time examining printer purchases as we do our PCs and servers. When we invest in new computing hardware, a great deal of time is spent researching the merits of machines based on processors, graphics cards, hard drives, complete systems and so on. Yet in comparison, when it comes to purchasing a machine that will probably have the heaviest workload among all the devices and be used by almost everyone, little research is conducted into which printer to get and which will be the most cost effective.

Unfortunately, no one printer can do all things, which is why you should think about what you need from a printer before you buy one. Finding the right one requires that you know at least a little about the technologies available, including the strengths and weaknesses of each. The key to choosing a printer is to focus on how you plan to use it.

This report should arm you with new knowledge as you make your way through the choices, costs and features you'll be facing when purchasing a printer. It also takes a look at some common misconceptions and tells you about the pros and cons of the major technologies.

At the risk of oversimplifying, we can say there are just two mainstream categories for printers in schools: ink jet and laser. These are the technologies examined in this report.

Some of the factors that need to be considered in choosing a printer are cost, text quality, graphic capability, colour, resolution and the number of pages you will print per week. Eventually you'll need to make a subjective decision based on the quality and type of print you want then reconcile that with an objective decision about how much you want to spend in the long-term. Hopefully this report will enable you to make those decisions.

The three main requirements to affect your choice are cost, speed and quality.

When considering purchasing a printer, choosing the cheapest printer may be a false economy. Even a small difference in the printing cost per page can mean saving hundreds of pounds over a printer's lifetime, making a more expensive printer the better buy in the long run. It is important that the cost of the consumables be taken into account. As a general rule, laser printers offer a lower cost per page than ink jet printers. This is because ink jet consumables have to be replaced more frequently and over time can cost you much more than you paid for the printer itself. It's no accident that ink jet printers are virtually given away with PCs. The manufacturers know that you'll have to pay up to £25 or more every few weeks for new cartridges. This report looks in detail at total cost of printers over their lifetime.

Consider the speed of printing in a classroom or ICT suite: An ink jet printer page would probably take 30 seconds to a minute to print, so up to 30 minutes for a full class of pupils if each prints one page. In comparison, the laser printer may be able to print 20 pages a minute, or one-and-a-half minutes for the same class of 30.

Finally, don't forget there are quality differences between ink jets and laser printers, and within the same printer when printing text, graphics or photographs. How you want to use the printer and what quality is required will affect your choice.

As well as exploring the factors affecting the choice of printer the report also provides more information on how printers work and some of the background information that may be of interest to those who want a bit more detail.

Conclusion

Ink jet printers seem a bargain to most people because of their low initial cost to buy. However the ink cartridges cost a lot of money and in a school environment often need replacing every few weeks, even weekly in heavily used ICT suites. This makes them very expensive in the long run. Laser printers, although more expensive to buy initially, have much lower running costs and in many cases are a better solution for school needs. All schools should re-evaluate their printer use and plan their printer purchases with the same care as they plan the rest of their ICT hardware purchases.

Printing in Schools

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