This article deals with the virtue or lack of it as regards owning an A3 printer. Printers come in different shapes and sizes. They even print on different sizes. The most common printers can print on Legal, Letter and A4 printer paper. Those are pretty much the common printing needs of most people.
Almost everything can be printed on those pages. That’s the keyword there, “almost”. However, there are special cases when it would be better to use an A3 printer instead of a standard printer.
Who Needs an A3 Printer
First of all, A3 printers are not only capable of printing on A3 size. It is also capable of printing on A4 printer paper as well as other papers such as Letter and Legal. This allows you more versatility in terms of media selection.
In simple terms an A3 printer is for those that require spreadsheets, posters and graphic artwork. If this is not a regular requirement then the logic of owning a big and bulky and sometimes expensive printer has to be questioned.
However it is not always the case that A3 printers are always big and bulky as you would imagine, so then we ask ourselves what harm it would do to own one even if for only occasional prints. Well truth is due to the fact that you can own a reasonably sized and reasonable priced A3 printer then maybe having one for the extra versatility is worth it.
Models like the HP OfficeJet 7000 Wide Format Printer measure as little as 5.8 x 22.6 x 7.1 inches and only weigh 15.4 lbs.
Not only is it light and compact it is also no more than many a standard size printer in price with models as cheap as $130. It is able to print on numerous paper types and has a range from 3.5 x 5 inches up to 13 x 19 inches. It is also claimed that it uses 40% less energy than a letter size laser printers. It can print borderless photos also.
The standard passes for such as graphic artwork and it is certainly no slouch with print speeds of 33 ppm black, 32 ppm color. It has to be said that as it uses a standard 4 color ink system, it is not the greatest choice for photographs. But for high quality and fast document printing this is a fine choice.
Reasons to Own One or Not
Aside from having multiple selections of media, you are open to more options into what you can print. If by having a standard printer you can only print documents and other letter size documents, by having a an A3 printer, you can print other documents such as memos brochures, newsletters and other things that need to be on large media.
This is why most A3 printers are usually bought for office use. Offices have more need for printing on different sizes compared to home printing. At homes, the printing involved may only be for reports and homework.
Those are all for buying an A3 printer. However, having an A3 printer is not all good. Like owning any other machine, there are always downsides. Most A3 printers are bigger and heavier so they are not that easy to handle.
If you seldom use the printer, then it won’t really make that much of a difference in your electric bill. However, if you’re a frequent user of printers, you can expect to see some changes in your bill but only if you’re operating on a more industrial scale. Other advantages and disadvantages may be added to this list depending on the kind of A3 printer you’re considering.
If you’re considering an A3 laser printer, it may have additional advantages such as cheaper printing costs. It also has additional disadvantages as well, such as elevated room temperatures.
But again this is on an assumption that its being used on a large volume basis, but as many readers here are largely home business people then it need not be that way at all. So assuming that I’m talking to a home business user then another ideal choice is the Epson WorkForce 1100 which again prints up to 13 x 19 inches.
Rather useful is the fact that it has dual black cartridges saving you time with changing cartridges and giving you a better chance of completing larger print jobs. With fast draft print speeds of 30 ppm black and 17 ppm color and for laser quality prints it will deliver in 13 ppm black and 5.5 ppm color.
The prints are smudge, fade and water resistant and it has 2 sided printing capabilities. This printer is tailored for business use. By using instant dry DURABrite® prints are smudge, fade and water resistant.
Again despite a lot of general beliefs about A3 printers it is compact and inexpensive. If you look around, you can find models for under $160 shattering the belief once again that an A3 printer costs the earth. If it’s for home use then they are reasonably priced. We won’t go into industrial size A3 printers here as this is articles about small printers; I will leave the larger commercial units to other sites to write about.
So to sum up there are no reasons not to own one and it will not break the bank to have the convenience of larger size prints without taking up the whole home office space either. So as times have changed and they do design them these days to be compact and affordable then it is well worth the investment.
loading...
About James Wikkee