A hybrid device gives you color capabilities for only slightly more than the cost of a monochrome machine. The benefits are clear...but what about the risks?

By Jeffrey A. Smith

1. Provide the color print drivers only to specific individuals who have a demonstrated need to produce color documents.

2. Passcode-protect the device’s color function.

Risk #2: Acceptable quality. Lack of fuser oil for color hybrid copier/printers leaves the copies and prints without that glossy look that we, as printing professionals, look for. Hybrid copier/printers are meant for “business color” applications like bar charts, not for reproducing photographs. Clearly, for in-plants, the color quality will not suffice for production jobs. Hybrids are not substitutes for the market leaders in the photo-quality production color segment.