Nothing is as convenient as direct printing in any home or office setup. The days when wires would run from the CPU to the printer are long gone, and you can print directly from your device without having to leave the comfort of your seat. However, to be able to do that, you need to find the best 11x17 color laser printer. In addition, you need to make some considerations to get the best, wide format printer that will give you the best results. However, check out our list for the best wide format printers, and you can be sure to find exactly what you seek.
What is an 11x17 Color Laser Printer?
We can look at 11x17 color laser printers in two ways; paper size and printing techniques. An 11x17 laser printer is a wide format printer and print sizes up to A3, which not many office printers do. In addition, the 11x17 color laser can be considered an all-in-one printer because of the inbuilt and automated functions. You no longer have to manually do anything because of features like the auto document feeder.
The laser printer is linked to a device or computer and uses a laser to form a pattern of electrostatically charged dots. The dots are formed on a light-sensitive drum, attracting the toner. The toner is then transferred to a piece of paper and fixed in place by heat. A color laser printer can have features like Bluetooth, making it a wireless printer that requires no cables to connect to a computer. The print quality is not affected by the fact that the printer is wireless. Let us look at some printers that you will love working within your office or home.
What is the best 11x17 color laser printer?
Rank | Product Image | Product Name | Buy On Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|
1. |
| ||
2. |
| ||
3. |
| ||
4. |
| ||
5. |
|
Best 11x17 Color Laser Printer
1. HP Color Laserjet Printer
- BUILT TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS MOVING FORWARD – Print, scan, copy and fax consistently high-quality documents with the HP Color LaserJet Pro Multifunction M479fdw, a wireless printer designed to let you focus on growing your business
- HP WOLF PRO SECURITY – Protect company data and safeguard against cyberattacks with protection built into the printer hardware, firmware and OS
- AUTOMATE COMPLICATED WORKFLOWS - Help save time by automating all the steps in a complicated workflow, and apply your saved settings at a touch of a button via the customizable touchscreen control panel
- PRINT WITH OR WITHOUT A NETWORK – Use built-in Wi-Fi Direct to connect your smartphone directly to your wireless laser printer for easy mobile printing, even without a local network connection
- SPEED THROUGH TASKS – Stay productive with single-pass, 2-sided scanning, 50-sheet auto document feeder, 250-sheet input tray, and print speeds of up to 28 pages per minute from this laser printer
HP has produced some of the best printers like the HP Officejet that have changed the game in the printing industry. However, their HP color laserjet printer is one of the most efficient printers you can ever own. The printer is built to keep your business moving forward with wireless components that are the latest in the market. In addition, the printer has a Wolf Pro security that ensures all your data is kept safe after you use the printer. As a result, you can use the printer to print sensitive data without the fear of losing it to a malicious element.
You can count on the laser printer to speed through your print work and print directly on paper without the need for an active network. In addition, the printer is energy efficient and is the best thing for your business.
2. Brother MFC Color Laser All in One printer
- UNIT DIMENSIONS: 19.5" W x 20.7" D x 21.6" H | Unit Weight: 63.1 lbs
- ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION: The Brother MFC-L8900CDW Color Laser All-in-One is an exceptional printer for businesses that require large print and copy volume
- BUSINESS PRINTING & COPYING: This printer increases productivity with print speeds up to 33 ppm and scan speeds for double-sided pages up to 58 IPM
- CONNECTIVITY: Built-in wireless 802. 11b/g/n and Gigabit Ethernet network interface allows for easy set up and sharing on a wireless or wired network; CPU (Processor) Speed (MHz): 800
- ADVANCED SCANNING: Wirelessly scan to mobile devices with the Brother iPrint & Scan or popular destinations including SharePoint and more.
Brother MFC is one of the leading printers in the market today. The Brother MFC printer has a Wi-Fi direct connection to Alexa, adding voice control to your arsenal. In addition, the printer connects to mobile devices for easy printing and is easy to set up.
The Brother MFC printer has a 5-inch color touchscreen to make work easier and more interesting for you. The printer reviews are great, and the printer pushes the technological boundaries by printing the paper size you want in the most convenient way.
3. Canon Color ImageClass Printer
- Your purchase includes One Canon Color ImageClass MF741Cdw | Cartridge 005 CMY Starter – 1,200 | Yield/Black Standard – 2,300 | Power Cord, Starter Guide, User Software DVD-ROM & Warranty Card
- Printer dimensions – 18.8” W x 18.8” D x 18.4” H | Printer Weight – 64 lbs. | Installation Space (Desktop) – 21.4” W x 43.8” D x 29” H | Ports – 3 USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi Direct Connection
- Supported Media Types (Cassettes & Stack Bypass) – Thin, Plain, Recycled, Color, Thick, Coated, Label, Letter | Supported Media Sizes – Min 3” x 5” to Max 8.5” x 14” | Supported Media Weights – 16 lbs. Bond to 53 lbs. Bond
- Print and Copy up to 28 ppm (Letter) & 22.9 ppm (Legal)
- A unique, customized device experience with Application Library | 5-Inches intuitive color touchscreen with smartphone like usability
Canon has produced some revolutionary printers like the Canon Pixma, which is technologically advanced and efficient. The Canon imageClass printer keeps proving itself and is just as efficient. The all-in-one printer is wireless and multifunction. The duplex function, vital for any printer, is available on this canon printer.
Canon is wireless and works with Alexa. In addition, you can print various papers on the printer, making it the best feature-packed printer for your small business.
4. HP Color Laserjet
- FAST VERSATILITY – Gain control of your printed documents and make an impact with the HP color LaserJet Professional CP5225n, A color laser printer designed to cover all your printing needs
- AFFORDABLE BUSINESS PRINTING – Print everyday business documents and marketing materials as well as wide-format projects at an affordable price—often less than printing at a copy shop
- HIGH-QUALITY OUTPUT AND SPEED – Enjoy superior print quality at speeds of up to 20 pages per minute, and easily print on different types of paper with adjustable paper trays
- SPEED THROUGH JOBS – Manage print tasks more quickly with an intuitive control panel with a 2-line, 16- character backlit LCD display
- BUILT-IN TECHNOLOGY – The HP Print Cost Estimator compares the cost of printing internally versus at a copy shop, and Instant-on Technology provides a warm-up time from low-power mode that's up to 50% faster compared to competitive models
The HP color laserjet has found its way into this list as the second HP product, and for good reasons. HP keeps proving reliable by producing yet another efficient and fast printer. The HP printer is affordable and great for starting your business. You can get high-quality results from the printer, making it one of the best printers to own. The printer has energy-saving technology, including features like the power on and off.
HP color laserjet has a one-year limited warranty, and you can be sure the printer will deliver on its function.
5. Epson Workforce Multifunction Printer
- More for the money with this high quality Product
- Offers premium quality at outstanding saving
- Excellent product
- 100% satisfaction
The Epson Workforce multifunction printer is a printer you will love working with. The printer embodies its name as a workforce and delivers good results. The printer has an auto-duple function which massively saves your work and makes your life easier. Having to figure out where which print goes on the back can be a bit frustrating, and the printer gets that taken care of.
Epson workforce printer has a decent printing speed that you will love and connects to the PC via a USB, making work easier and faster.
Features to Look for in a Laser Printer
a) Automatic Document Feeder
It would be pointless to have a wireless printer, only for you to have to go and physically slot in the paper every time you want to print. A document feeder is a feature that almost all printers have in this day and age, and you can expect to find one in all the printers available in the market. However, it is vital to know how efficient the document feeder is because the efficiency of a printer will impact the printing costs in the long run.
The automatic document feeder works by slotting sheets of paper into the printer without any human aid of any kind. The automatic feeder ensures that the printer can be in another room while in your office. The automatic feeder makes work easier for everyone and reduces the time it takes to fit a paper in the printer carefully. The automatic document feeder is advanced enough to suit all the paper sizes appropriate for the printer.
As long as the printer is always loaded with paper, you can rest easy knowing your print work will be done.
b) Printing Speed
An inkjet printer does about 15 pages every minute for black ink. A wide-format color inkjet would take slightly longer than a single-colored printer. If you are printing larger documents, the printing time will take slightly longer than printing smaller ones. An A4 paper takes a shorter time to print than an A3 paper.
A laser printer prints twice as fast as inkjet printers. Laser printers use a more advanced technique than the inkjet printer and would take a shorter time than an inkjet printer.
c) Duty Cycle
Like any other machine, the efficiency depends on the usage of the printer. The printer needs to have the maximum number of printings within a month. Therefore, you can expect an office printer to work more than a home printer in terms of the bulk of printing. A home printer has a duty cycle of about 5000 pages in a given month. The print duty cycle of an office printer is about 20,000 pages in a month. The duty cycle will ensure the printer stays efficient and does not hang when used. Putting a home printer under office use with many pages to print will gradually reduce the printer's efficiency.
d) Internet Connectivity
Printers have diversified the printing options, making printing easier and convenient. Internet connectivity makes files stored in the cloud easily accessible. Before printing the images, you do not have to load files into a computer file manually. You can simply access the files from the cloud storage and go right ahead and start printing. Features like HP ePrint allow you to print files from anywhere without being too close to the printer. A printer that has multiple options makes your work easier and faster.
Additionally, having a printer that connects via an ethernet cable or a USB port is an advantage because you can still print when the Wi-Fi is low. Furthermore, having options will ensure you do not get stuck under any circumstances. Finally, having Google cloud print will be one of the best features you can get on a printer.
e) Ink Cartridges
Knowing the types of cartridges the laser printer uses will make life easier for you when the ink runs out. The printer can come with its cartridges from the manufacturer. These cartridges are sure to work because they are specifically made for the printer. These cartridges offer a higher quality print compared to the other printers. However, the cartridges are slightly expensive, making them costly components for the printer. If you have the best color laser printer, the best thing you can do is to have the original cartridges on the printer.
The other type of cartridge is the third-party cartridges compatible with the printer but are not made by the printer manufacturer. When getting cartridges, ensure the color combinations are the ones you normally use, and the cartridge is compatible with the printer.
f) Ink Costs
Odd as it may sound, ink costs are a huge factor when you own a printer. This is because you are bound to run out of ink at some point, and you will need to replace it. Therefore, you need to know the price of the ink to know how much your printing services will be in case you need to offer them. Additionally, the printer or scanner has a quality measured by the number of dots per square inch. Therefore, the printer will determine the number of dots per inch printed on paper, and in turn, how much ink you will be using in a month.
g) Printer Quality
Laser printers are pretty good. However, you need to understand that you can pick the resolution you want for your prints. The resolution you use will depend on your reason for printing. For example, if you are working at home and are printing non-commercial prints, there is no need to get a super-high quality printer that will print the crispest images. However, if you are in a commercial setting, a wide format printer with the most detailed images will need for the business to grow.
Printers have a minimum print quality of 600x600, and prints with that quality are black and white printers. A wide format printer that prints in color can have a resolution of up to 4800x2400. Such a printer prints pictures with excellent quality that can do well in a commercial setting. Laser printers do pretty well because of the printing technique, which is accurate and advanced. An all-in-one printer will get you the images that make sense in an office setting.
The standard minimum image quality you should go for is 1200x1200. That resolution will get you decent results that you can commercialize without worrying about print quality while also doing casual printing for yourself. So the resolution is one of the technical specifications that you should always try and get right.
f) Input Tray
Printing needs organization. Dual trays or a multipurpose tray will make your work easier, neater, faster and more organized.
g) Desk Space
If you are going to buy a gigantic printer, you will need somewhere to put it. Having a huge printer is great because it probably has more functions than a smaller printer. However, real estate is very expensive in an office setting. You do not have to squeeze a large printer in a corner somewhere when you could simply buy a smaller printer that gets the same work done. Technology has ensured that we can get similar results with less effort. Unless you are a printing press, buy small, wide format printers that can fit in your office.
h) Scanner Resolution
We focus on the printing function of the printer all the time and forget about other functions sometimes. An all-in-one printer can perform functions such as scanning and copying. If you are scanning a document, you need it in its best form to be stored online or physically for future use. Using a printer with a scanner resolution of 4800x4800 will be the best thing you can do for yourself. Scanning is a major function that you need to use in any office. A printer that can support duplex scanning will work even better for you.
Getting a printer that can scan for your home office is even better. Your projects need to be stored online for safety reasons and future reference. Most people who buy printers for home use utilize the scanning function more than the printing function. If you have to share physical documents with others, scanning them becomes necessary.
i) Duplex Printing
We have already established that buying a modern printer is to increase convenience and reduce the hassle of having to do all things manually. A duplex printer is a printer that can print both sides of the paper either manually or automatically. An automatic duplex printer is the best printer for offices or small business. However, duplex printing is a headache if you have to do it manually, and your small business will suffer if that is the case. In addition, you can accidentally confuse the arrangement and completely mess up the printing process.
Printing needs accuracy. If a printer can do the hard work for you, why do it at all? Printers with a duplex printing capability are the best printers for a small business, a home setting or an office.
j) Auto-Off
It is always safe to turn them off when not in use when using any electronic. Turning the electronics off increases the system's longevity and reduces the running costs tremendously. However, if you are busy and do not have the time to move around switching off electronics, an auto-off feature on the electronic will make work very easy for you. For example, you can have an easy time knowing your printer will not be running all night, even if you forget to switch it off. In addition, commercial environments can use an auto-off feature on electronics because no one will claim responsibility in a sea of employees if something goes wrong.
k) Wired Connection or Wireless Connection
A wired or a wireless printer will make a huge difference in your office. A wired printer will give you headaches that you are not prepared for. Cabling is a lot of work, and routing wires correctly will require an outsourced technician most of the time. Getting a technician costs money that may not be readily available. Having a wireless connection simply requires internet connectivity or a local area network system. Cables are prone to wear after a while. If you are running the cables behind desks or in the walls, repair causes a major disruption of activities because everyone has to pause whatever they are doing and move to create space for access.
We recommend wireless printers because they are more in sync with modern technology.
What is the difference between a laser printer and the inkjet printer?
If you will buy a laser printer, then it is vital to know the difference between laser printers and inkjet printers. The printers, more often than not, give similar results. However, a laser printer is more accurate and crisp than your typical inkjet printer.
What is the biggest difference between a laser printer and an inkjet printer? The printing technique is what makes the biggest difference between the two printers. An inkjet printer has small nozzles that spray ink droplets on the paper as the paper passes through the printer. The inkjet printer uses electricity to create heat, forcing the ink to expand into a bubble and squirt on the paper, creating a print. Once the ink bubble is out, a vacuum is created, and more ink is drawn into the nozzle. As a result, many droplets have to be released to form a single character at any given time.
On the other hand, a laser printer utilizes static electricity to create characters on the sheet of paper in the printer. Static electricity uses the principle of negatives and positives attracting to create prints on a sheet of paper. Of course, different paper types will react differently to the static charge, but that is nothing to worry about. Once the static electricity is created on the sheet of paper, you will get your print.
Take a small piece of paper and any plastic material. Rub the plastic material against your hair and hover it over the piece of paper. The paper will be attracted to the plastic. What you are seeing is static electricity at work. Printing photos can work in more or less the same way. Here is how the system works:
- High voltage circuits charge the components of the printer.
- A positive charge is built on the photoreceptor drum, a rotating drum in the printer.
- A laser is reflected onto the drum by a mirror that beams a laser ray.
- The mirror mimics the image and moves in such a manner to draw the image on the drum.
- When the beam hits the drum, a positive charge is replaced by a negative charge.
- Negatively charged shapes are formed on the drum. The shapes mimic the characters to be printed on the sheet of paper.
- The toner is released, attaching positively charged ink to the negative spaces on the paper.
- Laser printers use heat and roller to fuse the ink to the paper for longevity.
- The paper is released, and you have your printwork. Depending on the printing speed, this process repeatedly happens for the papers in the printer.
The laser printer is more accurate and faster than an inkjet printer, and that is why we are recommending laser printers for you.
What are the factors that affect the printing speed?
As we had seen before, the printing speed is a feature that matters a lot regardless of the setting you are in. There are technical and physical factors that affect the printing speed of wide-format printers. The best wide format printers are only as good as their efficiency. Here are some factors that will likely affect the printing speed of a printer.
i) Choice of Printer
This is a more obvious reason that affects the printing speed. Tabloid printers have technical specifications that directly impact the printing speed. For example, if you buy a laser printer and an inkjet printer and put them side by side, the paper will not come out at the same time. This is because the printers use different technologies to print the paper, and therefore can not have similar results. Two printers can print the same tabloid size but not at the same rate.
ii) Color Vs. Black and White
We are only interested in a color printer. However, the color printer will take slightly longer to print than the black and white printer. If you have to print a photograph or use duplex scanning with color, the printer will take longer.
iii) Image Size
If you were to print a circular dot in the middle of the paper, the printwork would take a shorter time than if you were to print a colored puzzle all over the paper. Regardless of whether you have a high-res flatbed scanner or the latest technology, the image size will remain a huge factor in the printer's printing speed.
iv) Printing Resolution
As we had established before, the printing resolution is the dots of ink that are released on the paper per square inch. Therefore, the better the resolution, the more ink will be released on the paper and the longer the printer processing.
v) Age and Efficiency
A newer printer will be more efficient than an older generation printer. While the technology may be similar, one machine can be more efficient in executing the same technology compared to the other machine. One page will take a shorter time to print on the latest technology, and the running costs will differ tremendously. Tabloid size printing speed will slightly differ in the different machines depending on the efficiency.
Final Take
Printing can be a breeze. However, the smallest feature can make a world of difference when making prints. For instance, the duplex printing feature. Imagine a world without duplex printing in a commercial environment. So, before buying a printer, do in-depth research and know what features will benefit you the most. This article is a fantastic starting point to getting you the perfect printer.
0 comments