I try to write about trends in the office technology field. Over the years (since 1973) I’ve observed what’s hot and what’s not. Some trends fizzle out and some get legs. Scanning has gotten legs. It isn’t just the post office that’s being impacted by email and the internet. Everything is changing in that direction. Just about anything can be scanned to someone’s email or folder.
One of the nice things about selling refurbished copiers is we can pick and choose which models to sell. A new equipment dealer doesn’t have that luxury because the manufacturer dictates quotas and runs specials to move the slow selling stuff.
One of our favorite black and white MFPs is the refurbished Kyocera copiers of late. Not all document feeds are the same even though they look the same. For example, the Kyocera document feeds hold 100 originals instead of 50. Instead of flipping two sided originals the Kyoceras scan both sides at the same time. What this means to the user is double the scanning speed. In the old days people just asked “how many copies per minute”. Now they’re asking “how many scanned images per minute.”
Another new trend on refurbished black and white copiers is that color scanning is becoming a standard feature. Some people can live without the added expense of a color copier if they have color scanning available. Making black and white copiers that have color scanning ability has been one of major new trends the last few years.
So what does this mean to you? When shopping for a used copier make sure you ask about scan speeds; ability to color scan; and document feed capacity. If the copier passes those tests then make sure it’s new enough that you can get scan drivers for free off the internet. Some used copiers are too old and scan drivers aren’t available for anything newer than XP. That’s one of the dangers of buying something on ebay or craigs list. It may bee too old for Windows 7 or the Apple equivalent.
When buying used copiers from wholesalers we look for two things. We want low meters so there’s plenty of life left and we want to make sure they’re new enough to scan to the newest Operating Systems from Apple and Microsoft.
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