Desktop Copier Review

Introduction to Desktop Copiers

Published by Better Buys for Business, the 91-page Low-Volume Copier and Multifunctional Guide is one of the most impressive reviews we have seen anywhere in terms of detail and thoroughness. Recommendations are based on extensive testing, the exhaustive commentary leaves no questions unanswered, and the spec charts are comprehensive and detailed. We found other solid information on desktop copiers at Consumer Guide, as well as Amazon.com and Epinions. Consumer Reports has a report on copiers in their archives, but it was published in 1997, and we judged it to be too old to be useful.

Multifunction printers are vastly more popular than desktop copiers in home offices and small offices. A multifunction printer is a good choice if you mainly print, and only once in a while need to copy, scan or fax. If you need higher volume copying of up to 10,000 pages per month, a dedicated desktop copier is a good choice. Most desktop multifunction printers are usually faster at printing than copying. Some mainstream multifunction printers only produce about four copies per minute, and that's awfully slow if you need lots of copies!

The best desktop copiers have an automatic document feeder for batch jobs, along with a duplexer for double-sided printing. We found few desktop copiers that are able to collate, although many multifunction desktop printers have electronic collation. This means you can print or reproduce several copies of a multi-page document, and the printer will stack the pages in order. The Xerox CopyCentre C20 (*Est. $1,300) does have electronic collation, but it costs far more than a multifunction printer.

While HP now no longer manufactures copiers, you might see the HP 610 Digital Color Copier (*Est. $350) still available in stores. However, this color copier gets very low marks from owners at Amazon.com, most of whom give the model only 1 star out of 5. The main complaints are that the replacement ink is too expensive and that cartridges don't last very long. While a few like the print quality of the copies, many feel the HP 610 is unreliable. Brother has also stopped making standalone copiers, and Canon only has two remaining desktop copiers. Sharp has only one model.