Recalculated: When an office printer pays off
30.5.2018
Translation: machine translated
Office printers are expensive. One of these things costs over 1000 francs. And the towers are often huge too. A private user wouldn't put one of these in their home office. Logically, that's not the target group. But when I did the maths, I realised that a "big one" pays for itself surprisingly quickly.
My colleague Arbenita has just written an article about A3 office printers. Arbenita compares the large format printers and shows the advantages and disadvantages of the different models.
I took on the task of proofreading the article. When calculating the page costs, I got to studying. It bothered me that the printing costs were not really comparable.
Example: At 1999 francs, the OKI MC853 is one of the cheaper models. However, the toner supplied is only sufficient for 2500 pages in black and white. The Xerox C7020DN costs 2799 francs, but prints over 16,000 pages from a standing start. On top of that, I was amazed that the refill toners also differ drastically in terms of range and price.
Help! Who is supposed to see through that?
Complaining is useless. That's why I've tried to make the costs a little more tangible. A gimmick in the evening has turned into a little tool that I find quite useful. I don't want to withhold it from you. I affectionately call it...
☆ ☆ ☆ Printing costs-o-matic 3000 ☆ ☆ ☆
Disclaimer: I simply used a Google spreadsheet. You can see the data, formulas and prices for yourself. The prices are from 30 May 2018 and take into account the initial costs of the printer, the basic range in black and white and in colour as well as the costs and range for replacement toners. Where several toner variants were available, I chose the largest model. The drum unit is not included.
To prevent anyone from being tempted to play around with it, I have made the document read-only. If you want to play around with it yourself, you first need to create your own copy on Google Docs. Then you can enter your consumption values on the first spreadsheet - and the costs for the next five years will be calculated. If you want, you can adjust the data on the second spreadsheet yourself. You can also use it to compare an inkjet printer with a laser printer if you want.
So, what does it show?
Example 1: You print 100 pages in black and white and 100 pages in colour per month. Is an office printer worth it compared to the solid Brother HL-3170CDW? No. Only in 7-8 years would the Xerox C7020DN be cheaper.
Example 2: You print 500 pages in black and white and 500 pages in colour per month. What does it look like now? After just two and a half years, the first deluxe A3 large format printer is cheaper than the "small" one from Brother. And before the end of the fourth year, every A3 model is superior in terms of price!
Example 3: You print 1000 pages each in black and white and colour. Print costs o-matic 3000 shows: The HL-3170CDW no longer stands a chance against the real workhorses.
Would you like to try it yourself? Here you go.
If you find Druckkosten-o-matic 3000 useful or at least interesting - I look forward to a heart or comments.
Aurel Stevens
Chief Editor
aurel.stevens@digitecgalaxus.chI'm the master tamer at the flea circus that is the editorial team, a nine-to-five writer and 24/7 dad. Technology, computers and hi-fi make me tick. On top of that, I’m a rain-or-shine cyclist and generally in a good mood.