When a copier repair is too little, too late

As with an old car, it is often better to replace your aging office photocopier than to try repairing it one last time. Although paper-jam free copiers have not yet been developed, models today are substantially improved over those available ten years ago. Ongoing copier repairs to an outdated model can turn out to be a waste of time and money.

Probably the most notable advance has been the introduction of digital copiers. Essentially, digital copiers work by scanning the sheet of paper to be copied and creating a digital image. This digital image is then used to create all the resulting copies. What this means in practice is that digital copiers do an excellent job of photocopying graphics and photos. It also means that there is less wear and tear on parts due to this "scan once, print many" technology. Moreover, the technology has been around long enough technicians are well familiar with copier repairs needed by digital models.

One nifty advantage of a digital copier is that it can be connected to your computer network. This allows you to turn it into a high-speed printer that can produce sorted and stapled sets of prints without having to leave your desk. With the right components, these copiers can also act as faxes and high-speed scanners.

If you decide that you want these advanced capabilities, it is critical that you work with a dealer that has adequate technical expertise on staff. Check on the number of networked installations that the dealer has handled and make sure that the technicians who worked on those implementations are available to work on your project.

Copiers cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the copy speed and features. A personal copier design, which typically goes up to 10 copies per minute, can be found for less than one thousand dollars. These models are typically sold via office supply superstores, and usually can't handle the volume of even a small office. It's also difficult to get personal copier repairs – many technicians won't work on them.

Business grade copiers typically cost three to ten thousand dollars for a basic, no-frills model. While it may seem like a steep premium to pay for a copier that is simply faster, you also have the advantage of being able to get on-site copier repairs. This can translate into hundreds of dollars of savings when you factor in the cost of shipping malfunctioning equipment to a repair center.

The per-copy cost for business grade copiers is also significantly lower. While a personal copier will cost five to seven cents per copy, the cost drops to one to two cents per copy with a commercial-grade model. While this difference in per copy costs does not warrant the purchase of a business grade copier at low monthly copy quantities, given the upfront copier costs, it does pay off when you copy several thousand pages per month.

While it may not draw as many admiring glances as a new car, trading in your copying clunker for a new copier will certainly be met with office-wide approval. And you won't have to be on a first name basis with the copier repair technician.

Quick tips to help avoid copier repair:

Dress down. Remove all jewelry before trying to clear paper jams to avoid scratching sensitive components.

Authorized copier repairs. If your new machine does need service, make sure your repairs are handled by an authorized technician to protect your warranty.

Copy test. Compare reproduction quality by copying typical documents that you would copy at work.

UPS protection. Protect your purchase--buy an uninterruptible power supply to protect it from unexpected power surges.