There are two questions that I receive most often from churches concerning printers. First, what is the best printer technology to use for a church? And, then, what are the pros and cons of these technologies?

The best printer technology for your church will depend on a number of factors.

The first factor is the number of prints you plan to make monthly. In most cases, the print volume of a church easily reaches more than 1,000 prints per month, so you will likely steer away from low-end technology like inkjet.

Do you need color or black and white? If your budget is extremely tight and you are looking for the most cost-efficient print method, a black and white laser printer will be your best bet. However, if at all possible, make the move to color. In just the last couple of years, the cost of high-performance color printers has made this option more affordable.

Do you need a printer, copier, scanner, and fax or just the printer? Just recently, there have been several new products that address a number of needs for the church in one unit. Combing these functions in one device means less equipment to maintain and a lower overall cost. Go with a multifunction color printer that is designed for business.

Here is a brief overview the various printer technologies available today.

1. Laser
Laser technology has been around for some time and has proven itself to be a reliable technology for heavy printing needs required in small offices and large corporations. The advent of color laser technology has allowed these printers to gain in popularity and market share. The price of color laser technology has come down considerably in the last few years.

However, there is a bit of hidden cost that needs to be considered when looking at laser technology. The printer uses a drum and fuser assembly to print a document. These components must be replaced every 10,000 to 100,000 pages and can cost up to 50% of the cost of a new printer. In the case of a color laser printer, you can have four drums and fuser assemblies as well as four toner cartridges to replace. There are other incidental expenses like fuser oil and waste bottles that will also need to be replaced on a regular basis. These are important factors that may increase your total cost of operation.

Laser offers advantages of speed and the ability to support a work group through a network. This can reduce the total cost by sharing the printer among many users. Black and white laser can produce printing with a cost per page of approximately 2 to 5 cents, while color laser cost will top 10 to 50 cents per page.

2. Inkjet
Inkjet technology has seen the most rapid advancement in print quality and speed over the last few years. Many low-cost inkjets can produce beautiful prints from digital cameras. While speed has been improved considerably, inkjet technology is still slow when compared to higher-end printers.

In the past couple of years, the most popular inkjet products have been the all-in-one or multi-function printers that can print, copy, scan, and even fax documents in color. Inkjet technology is perfect for the small office or home office with one to five users and light printing demands.

While the initial hardware cost can be low, the consumables can drive the cost per page to 10 to 65 cents per page, depending on what is being printed and how much color is being used. The paper is an important component in producing high-quality prints, which will increase cost per page considerably. Photo papers that are 8.5 inches x 11 inches will often exceed $1 per page. However, that is still a bargain over traditional photo developing. Inkjets have become the least expensive method of printing true photo quality prints up to 13 inches x 19 inches. Inkjet printers are great as the home office printer with the ability to print daily correspondence and great photos.

3. Solid Ink
A relatively new technology is solid ink. These printers continue to gain in popularity because of their reliability, speed and image quality. The technology is popular because it overcomes some of the challenges faced by color lasers by providing a very low maintenance cost and a low cost per page.

The drawback to these printers is the higher initial expense. However, over the long haul, these printers will have a lower total cost of ownership than other high-performance color printers. These printers are typically used in a network environment with users that have a demand for large volumes of color printing. These printers come standard with options like "duplex printing" (The ability to automatically print on two sides). These are expensive additions to other printers, if available at all.

Just recently, new solid ink multifunction printers that print, copy, scan, and fax have been introduced.

Cost per page for color will run 10 to 25 cents on average depending on what you print. Black and white printing will run approximately 3 cents per print.

Solid ink printers produce very little waste and are earth friendly.

4. Dot Matrix
Dot matrix is an older impact printing technology introduced in the early 1980s that was the mainstay for many years in the computer industry. This technology is still in use today where there is a need for multi-part form printing. Cost per page is relatively low, but the drawbacks are lower print quality, slower speed, and noise. Unless you have the need to print multi-part forms, there are better options available.

5. Dye-Sublimation (Thermal)
Dye-sublimation technology is great for producing excellent-quality photo prints. It uses a thermal heat process to create the images. This is a specific-use technology focused primarily on producing photos. The drawbacks to dye-sublimation are its higher cost per print and its slow speed. This technology is not for high-volume color printing or everyday office correspondence.

Now that you are armed with some key information, you can make an informed decision about the best printer technology for your church.

Dennis Walthers is the president of FreePrinters.com, which provides free high-performance color printers and copiers to U.S.-based organizations and offers free on-site service.