Do You Need a Copier that Does Tabloid Printing?

Here are some simple facts to consider about A3 tabloid prints:

1. Less than 3% of printed pages use tabloid sheets, though 24% of unit placements are tabloid capable.
2. Industry averages say you’ll spend more than 40% over three years (close to $7,000) if you buy a tabloid copier.
3. A tabloid copier will take up more space and use more power. It will also print slower than a standard A4 letter copier.

Copier companies are always trying to sell A3 tabloid copiers when typical A4 machines work fine for most companies.

What Is the Difference Between an A3 Tabloid Copier and an A4 Letter Copier?

An A3 tabloid copier will produce 11”x17” prints in size, whereas an A4 machine will do legal letter size of 8.5”x11”.

Tabloid copiers are built with more durable internals than an A4 copier. If you need to print 30,000 pages a month, a tabloid copier will be able to hand that kind of volume. However, most companies don’t produce the number of prints to justify the added expense of a tabloid copier.

Also, as we mentioned before, tabloid copiers are much larger than their letter copier counterparts. Sometimes people take a tabloid copier because the smaller variant “doesn’t look like a real copier,” even though that smaller copier would do the job just fine.

Let’s take a look at how much money using an A3 tabloid copier would cost compared to using an A4 letter copier.

Tabloid Copier with Print/Scan/Fax & Finisher

Average Monochrome costs (40 printed per minute) – $7,500

Average Maintenance Costs – $0.006 per print

Average Toner and Other Costs – $0.006 per print

With these numbers, a typical 48-month contract would look like this:

Equipment – $180 per month

Supplies and Maintenance – $120 per month

Total Cost – $300 per month all included ($0.03 per print)

A4 Copier with Print/Scan/Fax & Finisher

Average Monochrome costs (50 printed per minute) – $4,500

Average Maintenance Costs – $0.006 per print

Average Toner and Other Costs – $0.007 per print

With these numbers, a typical 48-month contract would look like this:

Equipment – $108 per month

Supplies and Maintenance – $132 per month

Total Cost – $240 per month all included ($0.024 per print)

Compared to buying an A4 letter copier, the A3 tabloid copier costs $2,880 more over 48 months, and it prints slower than its A4 counterpart.

If You Don’t Need Tabloid Prints, Buy an A4 Letter Copier Instead.

An A4 copier is 97% guaranteed to be all you need for your copying and printing needs. Take the smaller option, and you’ll save yourself thousands of dollars each year over a tabloid printer.