While there has been talk of the "paperless office" for a while now, it is unlikely we will see it in the next several years. There remains in business a need for printed, documented data and hard copies of information.

Before you start shopping for an office printer, determine the print needs of your business. Consider the following questions:

• Do you produce a high volume of printed materials?
• Is your office printer part of a network?
• Do you have a significant need for color copies?

A small office that has limited print needs (and occasional scanning or faxing needs) can get away with a multifunctional printer until the business begins to grow. These machines are inexpensive and can provide sufficient quality, but cannot handle a heavy print load.

For an office producing a high volume of printed materials on a daily basis, consider an "office" printer, which is typically a durable laser printer with fewer plastic parts than the cheaper multifunctional printer. While these machines cost more up front, the toner cartridges they use last longer than the expensive printer cartridges the cheaper printers burn through quickly. If you have little or no use for color, you can buy a good monochrome laser office printer that can print around one thousand pages with one cartridge.