Jeff Smith

In an era of multifunctional printers and decreasing color costs, does it make sense to hang onto your black-and-white copiers? By Jeff Smith Is it still viable to place a black-and-white digital copier in the in-plant environment? It depends on your organization's culture and how jobs get to the in-plant. I recently had a discussion on this very subject with the manager of a print shop in a large school district. She has had the support of the business and technical operations in her district, allowing her to use Web-based submission and the school network along with connected multifunctional devices. Her answer

Today's digital, high-speed, black-and-white copiers provide advanced capabilities at a fraction of the cost of previous analog workhorse models. by JEFF SMITH The line between office and production equipment continues to become less and less distinct. "Distribute-then-print" has effectively replaced "print-then-distribute" for most applications in most environments. One of the primary causes of this shift in print distribution is the coming of age of digital office copiers, which, along with faster network printers, have provided an effective means to print electronically distributed documents. Today's digital, high-speed, office and production copiers are providing advanced capabilities to in-plants at a fraction of the cost of

Do your homework before switching to a digital copier. And consult with your IT folks to make sure you can network it later. "The buzz word impacting everyone is digital. Digital is here to stay." That's the word from Jeff Smith, director of consumer services for Buyers Laboratory, a Hackensack, N.J.-based consumer advocate for buyers of office equipment. But don't ditch that analog copier yet, Smith says. Although copier manufacturers are beginning the phasing-out process, analog copiers are going to be around longer than most people think. "It's not going to be a short-term thing," says Smith. "I believe it will take

If you're looking into purchasing a new copier, read what the experts have to say about the growth of current technology. No longer seen as a just another piece of machinery to rest your coffee cup on or congregate next to with your co-workers, today's copiers are lean, mean, reliable machines that provide quality service. Not that the office gossip isn't still relevant, to some, but the productive and qualitative nature of copiers rules in 1998. It's a great time to buy a copier, experts say. Current technology has provided machines with quality, faster job turnaround and lower costs per page that enable