Over the years, Dean Office Solutions has been involved in servicing equipment from all major brands out there. We’ve been able to compare different brands of office equipment, experiencing their strengths and weaknesses first hand.
As a service company, we can get parts and supplies for every manufacturer. Throughout our decades in business, parts, and supplies from all the top brands have been in and out of our warehouse.
With such extensive experience, customers often turn to us when trying to decide on one brand over another. In an ongoing effort to assist customers, this will be the first in a series of articles where I will compare the major office equipment manufacturers. In the end, I will give you my educated opinion on who makes the better machine.
Comparing Sharp vs Ricoh Copiers
When comparing the brands, Sharp vs Ricoh, it’s important to note that both are considered to be among the top manufacturers of office equipment. To me, “top manufacturer” refers to a brand that offers office equipment as a key component of their product line. In contrast, there are brands like Panasonic that make copiers as a side business.
Individual units from Sharp and Ricoh have strong and less strong points. They both put out a good product, and I certainly couldn’t say either one of them is “bad.” However, there are things that one brand does better than the other. So deciding between Sharp vs Ricoh really comes down to what type of copier you’re looking for. Here is a comparison of the color and black & white machines from both companies.
Black & White
As far as the black & white machines go, Sharp and Ricoh are very similar in terms of reliability, ease of use, and copier features and options. Both make good black and white copiers. In the black & white copying and printing market, Ricoh and Sharp are neck and neck. I honestly wouldn’t pick one over the other because you can’t go wrong with either of them.
Color
When it comes to color copiers they both make a good machine but Sharp excels at making a terrific Commercial Color Copier. If you’re outputting more than 1,000 color copies per month then you will find Sharp to be more reliable. Consumables last longer, and there’s just a little less downtime. Ricoh still makes a very good color machine, but I have to give Sharp the nod primarily because of its outstanding reliability. Sharp makes the most reliable color copier in the industry, and Sharp copier service calls are less frequent compared to Ricoh.
In Summary
If you’re comparing copiers and trying to decide between Sharp vs Ricoh, then you’ve narrowed it down to two top-of-the-line brands. What it really comes down to is how you plan to use the machine. If you are looking for a commercial color copier then there’s no better option than Sharp. If you’re looking to print in black & white, or a low volume of color prints, then you can feel confident about having either a Sharp or Ricoh machine.
No matter which option you choose, regardless of how reliable a machine is, I would always recommend getting a copier maintenance contract. In addition to parts and repairs, a maintenance contract will cover all of your supplies for years to come.