Upgrade Equipment Increases Productivity

In some areas of the marketplace, I am one of the first people to jump into it. For example, I've been on twitter for many years and I'm committed to tweeting and growing my following in this area.

When it comes to office equipment, I prefer to use equipment which works. As a general principle, I do not chase the newest gadget or gizmo which catapults into the marketplace. I had been using the same laser printer for years. In recent months, my printer had been groaning and throwing some extra black ink in places that were not attractive along the edges of some pages.

Several weeks ago, I decided to upgrade and change printers. As a part of that process, I switched from a laser printer to an inkjet all-in-one printer.

In the old configuration of my office, I had a workhorse laser printer, a fax machine (which I rarely use) and a flatbed scanner. I researched and did some reading about the differences between laser printers and inkjet printers and learned that much has improved in recent years with inkjet printers. I used google to go to well-respected sites and read reviews of printers from experts and customers.

In addition, I stopped by my local office supply place and spoke with one of their tech guys about printers and looked at various options and brands. I asked a few trusted friends for their input and recommendations.

Then I made my purchase and got an Epson Workforce 845. I ignored the sales person at the office supply who said I needed their $30 super installation service because of the complexity. It was not complicated to install but extremely simple and automated.

The upgrade in my office has simplified my equipment and I eliminated my fax, my laser printer and my scanner. Now all of this function is contained in a single machine.

The Epson Workforce is wireless and with little effort I was able to connect a netbook in our house to the printer.

Also this machine has a sheet-fed scanner. It's particularly handy when I receive a contract from my office. I can print the contract, sign it, scan it and send it back to the office in a short amount of time.

This printer also prints on both sides of the paper. Even though I make a number of Ebook products and read Ebooks from others, I do not like reading these products on my screen. I'm old fashion and like to print the paper, hold it in my hand and mark it as I read it.

Some Ebooks and PDF documents are longer and hard to staple or require a clip. Now I can print these documents on both sides (and save paper) and produce something easier to handle.

I still have a few more functions to learn on this printer but overall, I've found changing equipment has been easy and not disruptive. Also the change has increase my productivity. In terms of expense, I spent less than $200.

What about your office equipment? It is time for you to change to a new piece which will increase your productivity?