New businesses need modern machinery and hardware to enable them to run efficiently. Some of the office equipment that you will want to purchase for your new business office includes the following:

• Office computers
• Telephones
• Copy machines
• Fax machines
• Scanners
• Any other equipment you need for your particular business

Just because you are starting a new business does not mean that you have to invest in only new office equipment and furniture. There are plenty of office furniture auctions and sales where you can purchase furniture for your office such as desks, lamps, filing cabinets, chairs and even book cases. You can also purchase some used electronic equipment from a reliable dealer or online via Ebay or Craigslist.org when you are just starting out.

Fortunately, equipment such as phones, computers, faxes and copiers are becoming less expensive. You can purchase these new if you have the budget for them, or you can choose to purchase them refurbished from a dealer or online. Another option is to lease the equipment that you need to set up your office from a leasing store. This generally ends up costing you more money in the long run, but will enable you to pay low monthly payments for the equipment. Once your business starts to turn a profit, you can then buy equipment.

When you purchase this type of equipment, be sure to get some sort of warranty. Your business equipment is vital to the running of your office and you do not want to have to go for days without a computer. Make sure you know if the warranty covers parts as well as service and how long the warranty is good for.

Computers: Desktop or Laptop?

You may choose both if you can. Desktop computers are less expensive, store more files and run faster than laptops. Also, the keyboards and screens are easier to use on the desktop computer as opposed to a laptop. But a desktop is obviously not portable. If your business requires mobility, you will want to get a laptop computer.

You can use a laptop with a separate screen, mouse and even a keyboard so that it is easier on the hands and eyes. Laptops are portable and can be carried around with ease in a laptop case. They make it easy for you to take your office work with you on the road.

Computers and Software

You should take into consideration why you are buying the computer and how you intend to use it. If you are planning to store graphics, you will need to have a large capacity of memory on your computer in order to keep a large amount of data on your hard drive. If you are only using your computer to go online and word processing, you can do with a laptop.

Software programs are created for business purposes. There are many excellent software programs that you can use to make it easier for you to run your business. These include software programs that offer payroll, bookkeeping, presentation, and more. Make some notes on what you need to make your business thrive.

Printers

How are you going to use the printer? Most printers today are color printers. There are some that offer photo quality printing as well. If you need to print up brochures and photos, you will want to get a high quality photo printer. These printers also print in black and white and regular color. There are two different types of printers. Laser jet printers use dry ink and lasers to print up your documents. Ink Jet printers use wet ink. Laser jet printers are more preferred, but also more expensive.

Copiers

• Do you need a big copy machine for your office or can you use a small copy machine sold at your local office supply store?
• Can you use an outside copying service?
• How often will you use the copy machine?
• Why are you copying? Is this for presentation purposes, marketing or just for your own records?
• Do you need photo quality copying?
• Do you need a color copy machine?
• Do you need a copy machine that can make two sided copies?
• Do you need collating abilities on the copy machine?
• Do you need a copy machine that can handle different weights of paper?

What type of speed do you need for your copying? If you plan to do a lot of copying, you will want a copy machine that can operate at a high speed. A high speed copy machine will greatly increase the speed that the copies are made.

Remember that you need to consider toner and maintenance of the copy machine. Make sure that the copy machine that you choose can handle the type of copying that you are planning to do.

For example, if you are planning on copying multi-pages of copies that need to be put in order, you will want collation abilities on your copy machine.

If you are planning on copying on transfer paper or heavy weight paper, you need to have a copy machine that can handle different weights of paper. Some of these come with multi-paper trays.

Faxes

Faxes are still being used in most offices. For regular correspondence, you can use email attachments. For formal documentation, fax machines are required.

Before you purchase the fax machine, ask for a demonstration. Take a look at the quality of the printing and find out the speed of the fax machine. Ask yourself the following questions before you purchase the fax machine:

• How many people or businesses are you able to broadcast the faxes to?
• Can you store speed dial numbers on the fax machine and if so, how much?
• What about the printing cartridges for the fax machine – how often do they need to be changed and how much do they cost?

Scanners

Scanners offer you a way to scan photos and documents into your computer where you have the ability to alter them. When you are choosing a scanner, look for high quality resolution as this will give you the best quality. The dots per inch is how a scanner is measured. You should look for a scanner with the most dots per inch.

• When you scan a copy at 72 dots per inch, you will be able to see the image on your computer.
• You need at least 300 dots per inch to be able to print the image on your printer so that it is clear.
• If you want to enlarge images that you scanned for the printer, you need a scanner that can scan at 1200 dots per inch.

If you want to scan slides or negatives, you need to use a special scanner that will use a backlight for the film.

The easiest scanner to use is one that connects to the USB port in your computer system. This will make it easier to install and get going. Most scanners come with
software that you can use for installation that enable you to follow the prompts to get it going.

Multi-Purpose Machines

There are also multi purpose machines that you can use to scan, fax, print and copy. These machines are a good idea if you are only using them occasionally but are not equipped to handle large quantities of work at a time. If you only have the occasional printing, faxing, scanning or copying to do, you will save money by getting one of these multi-purpose machines.