Once you have decided what your monthly volume, speed, color, and network connectivity requirements are, you can start looking at specific photocopier models. Knowing these will allow you to base your decision on the most important factors, not on the bells and whistles offered on so many copiers that rarely serve any useful purpose.

Do not assume that buying a copier with tons of features means that you will be paying for unnecessary options. So many features are built into digital machines these days that the "extra" features may have little to no impact on price. Just make sure you stick to your requirements.

Test drive it
When deciding between two or three different copier models, ask the dealer to bring the machines for a demo, including hooking them up to your network if you plan to use your copier that way. If an in-house demo is not possible, make sure you visit the dealer to see how the machines work.

Whether you demo the machine inside or outside your office, test it with your most common tasks. For example, if you know you frequently feed 110-pound cover stock or labels through the bypass, run some through the copier and examine the output.

If you want to copy your brochures onto special paper, do so and compare the output to the quality you are used to seeing.

Evaluating color copying? Take samples of previously outsourced color jobs along with the stock you would like to copy onto most often and see how the copiers handle a typical job.

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