roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) (07/25/86)
We've got an Apple Laser-Writer here and are considering what to do to solve our future printing needs. It essentially boils down to buying one big printer (I'm partial to the DataProducts LZR-2660/65) or several more smaller ones (i.e. LaserWriters; we're committed to PostScript). Based on purchase price alone, there doesn't seem to be much reason not to get more LW's. About the only feature a big machine will have that a half-dozen little machines won't is the ability to use 11 x 17 paper. From what I read and hear, the difference will be made up in life-cycle costs; big machines are cheaper per page to run. What I'm looking for is some insight from people who have made this type of decision before; which way did you decide, and what factors went into your decision? Obviously the amount of stuff you print a month makes a big difference. Right now, we do maybe 5000 pages a month, which doesn't justify anything more than a single LW, but we're looking to the future. I don't know what our print load will be 6 months from now, but I would imagine several times what it is now.