<span style='color:brown'>Stephen, what kind of reports are you preparing?
I have used Epsons for several years and found them to be very reliable and provide good color reproduction. And they are generally cheap. Less than $150 for one and it lasts for 4 or 5 years. I am not sure I want one to last much longer than that as technology changes so fast and the cartidges that were $10.00 whe the printer was popular become $30.00 when they quit turning over in the store. Epsons also are easily refillable and do not expire. My current cartridges have been in the printer for a year and a half.
Inkjets are far faster than lasers, but the ink is water soluble so it runs if it gets a bit wet. I don't know if you have had that problem but it is an annoyance when it happens.
I have begun charging for printed copies to new customers. I put page numbers on all my reports (I had pages removed by LO's in the past) with the page numbers reading "Page x of zzz" which allows me to prepare TWO pdf files.......one file consists of the B&W pages, one file is the color pages. The night guys at Kinkos are friends of mine, so when I e-mail the two files they print them (B&W @$.10 per page, Color @ $1.00 per page), assembles them, binds them, and has them in an envelope ready for me to deliver or mail.....there is a FedEx/UPS station in there so I come in, review my work (I always proofread the report the next day), and mail it. A URAR normally costs me between $3.00 and $5.00 per copy. A 100 page narrative will run about $15.00.
I charge $15.00 for two copies of a URAR and additional copies printed at the same time are $5.00 each. Copies printed at a later time are $10.00 set up and $5.00 per copy.
This keeps me from having a big, high speed color printer (I almost bought one a year ago for $950), plus a copy machine, a binding machine (and several sizes of the binders, covers, etc), work table, office space for all the above, maintainence, spare cartridges, and a printer that breaks down on me at midnight when I have to get a report delivered by 9:00AM. I also don't have to spend a lot of idle time waiting for the report to complete the printing cycle.....don't you hate it when a piece of paper jams and you get the entire page printed on one line?
I calculated that the $1,500 I would have invested in printing would be better invested in my retirement and the printing costs can be borne by the customer. They are the ones who insisted I do pdf. Now that I have done that, they can either accept pdf or pay for printing. My time spent at Kinkos is consumed by 1) reading the finished product, in a nice chair, with a cup of fresh coffee; 2) Filling out the delivery slip.........so I do not consider it much out of my way and I don't have to hang out in the office waiting for the printer to mess up.</span>
