Good news everyone! This article will point to exciting new innovations in the world of printer, toner, and ink and will also help you solve some of your oldest computer printer mysteries! With a focus on HP printer, innovations, and problems it’s a look-forward look-back article and we hope you enjoy what you learn and can even apply it!
1) Looking ahead. 3d
There is exciting new news on the digital scanning and copying front. Everyone knows and most people have enjoyed the sharper definition and pop out of the screen action that comes from a 3d movie. And thousands this year are turning to 3d TVs and computer screens as well. Its crisper and feels more real, and can even be more interesting and easier on the eyes. And now that same definition, depth, and focus can find its way into your digital images and even your printing hardware and software.
3d cameras use multiple lenses to calculate distances and compile film with motions, angles, shadows, and depth. When you run a camcorder this way you get fantastic quality home movies. When you use a digital camera you get images that look real. The human brain can fill in the gaps when it looks at two dimensional images. We can accept mentally that what we are seeing is actually a flat image of ink or toner on paper or a computer screen, yet also convince ourselves to imagine it as real. However, it isn’t the same. When you throw this new technology into the mix, however, the brain has less work to do. What we see requires less leaping to be real to us. That is the power of 3d—and it looks amazing.
The latest HP printer line, called the top shot line, actually helps you get the same quality images from a scanner instead of a camera. Best for use with small items the scanner has an arm that comes up over a white platform instead of the normal glass scanner pane. You set your item on the white and select your options, and then you should see three flashes from different angles as the camera takes information regarding the orientation of the objet distances, color, shadow, and reflection. Three other pictures are taken without the flash to compare data. After about thirty seconds you get a print out of your object that has shadows and texture, depth and reality, and believable contours to it. This technology is fantastic for anyone who needs small objects and images for marketing purposes—and it does great with text as well.
2) Current events. Volume
Genuine Inks are getting better! New options from Hp as well as other companies are providing ink and toner cartridges of much greater capacity! Genuine products have always had lower fail rates and higher print quality than refurbished or remanufactured cartridges, but have often been criticized for low volume of ink. Yet HP 60XL Black ink, for instance, has been sown to print more than 65% more pages than the bargain inks in similar categories. This saves you huge replacement time and money and has the potential to boost the quality of ink and toner cartridges across the market. When you also take into account that remanufactured HP 78 ink and HP 97 ink cartridges have demonstrated failure rates of 10-33 percent out of the box in various studies, whereas genuine HP inks work every time, investing in high quality OEM cartridges may be the way to go for high volume, high quantity printing environments.
3) Ye olde printer problems. Stalled jobs
Many of us have used HP printers in the past and they have a number of little quirks that can bother you to death. Here is the most famous problem, why it happens, and what you can do about it.
You have your term paper finished and go to select print, only to discover that your printer queue is already open and there is a file there which is apparently “Spooling” and has been for a very long time. Your new document just sits behind it, not moving and definitely not printing. Turning off the printer or computer doesn’t help and telling your files to pause or cancel doesn’t do a single thing either. What’s going on? There are three basic possibilities. Your drivers are corrupted, your network settings are off kilter, or perhaps a cord is misplugged (you’re printer may also be frozen but a reboot should solve that possibility). In any case the problem is that your computer and printer cannot communicate to resolve the pile-up in the queue. In the past you had to turn them off and hope that something would dislodge eventually, and it usually did. Now however you should look for the Stalled printer repair act which should flush all of your printer jobs and leave the system ready to go. Cool huh.
The Hewlett Packard DesignJet Colorpro GA is a color inkjet printer designed for the home or office. It can be used for a wide variety of applications due to its versatility and extensive list of features. Whether the DesignJet Colorpro GA is being used in a professional or personal capacity, its capabilities are tailored to meet almost any requirement.
The Hewlett Packard DesignJet Colorpro GA can print on several different types of paper or other media. This functionality makes the Colorpro GA ideal for business applications or for a home office. It is able to print professional quality transparencies that can be used to give displays visual appeal. The DesignJet Colorpro GA can print on photo paper which can be used by families to create photo albums that rival the results of a photography studio.
The DesignJet Colorpro GA is also well suited to meet the needs of graphic designers. It can print up to 11 by 17 inch spreads with top quality definition due to its 600 dpi Hewlett Packard inkjet technology. This allows a graphic designer to realize their creative vision whether in a freelance or business capacity.
The DesignJet Colorpro GA is also ideal for personal home use. It sports two input trays with automatic size detecting technology. This means that no expertise is required to print excellent copies. It can store up to 400 individual paper sheets and print up to 150 sheets. In addition, the Colorpro GA comes standard with 4 MB internal memory to store favorite designs or ideas. All these features combine to make an effortless, error-free printing experience.
The HP DesignJet Colorpro GA is designed to deliver exceptional results no matter what the application. Whether in a professional capacity or simply an amateur’s design, this printer transforms colorful ideas into printed reality.
The HP Photosmart C3193 is a great, affordable, easy to use printer for the home. As the name suggests, it is great for printing photos, and the 4800 by 1200 DPI quality is amazing, but that is by no means all it does. With this powerful little inkjet printer one can expect to get black and white reports in record times with speeds up to thirty pages per minute. In addition to this, the user is able to scan at a crystal clear 1200 by 2400 DPI, which will allow the user to make extra copies of his or her favorite pictures from an old photo album.
The printer is a bit dated now, but still rivals some of the newest inkjet printers available in terms of quality. The only issue with the printer’s age is that it is not compatible with Windows 7, so it must be installed on a computer running Windows Vista or older. Overall, this is a great printer for home use, but should not be considered for high volume or a small business.
The ink cartridges are not the cheapest out there, but what they lack in price point they more than make up for in quality. Because this is an inkjet printer, the prints do come out a little bit wet, so one must be sure to allow them to dry before handling. If the prints get wet at some point, the ink will run down the page, so if this is a problem one might consider trying a laser printer instead.
The Canon imageCLASS D880 is the perfect printer for any business looking for a powerful device that can get the job done fast. Known for its higher quality laser based print jobs, the D880 is one of Canon’s most powerful machines on the market today.
For business owners that are looking for a printer that doesn’t require a lot of maintenance, the D880 is one to highly consider. With a simple toner installation process, this printer can be up and running within minutes straight out of the box. Being able to print more than 16 pages a minute, the D880 can hold up to 500 sheets, accommodating all types of paper sizes and types. Not only do its multi-purpose paper trays make printing in various paper sizes easily, it can also be programmed before a print job even starts.
Printer at more than 16 pages per minute, the Canon imageCLASS D880 does more than just print. As an all-in-one printer, the D880 can also fax, copy and even scan. Known for its speed and cost efficiency, business owners can be assured that they aren’t going to be wasting precious time while faxing or even copying papers.
With a host of other great features such as a 12 speed dial, a high speed modem line and a 255-page memory backup feature, this printer is not only going to be easy to for businesses to use, it’s going to get the job done right every time. This is a great printer to consider for those that want something small, reliable and also for businesses that are looking for something that can do all tasks within one machine.
Did you know there are two major types of printers out there, whether you work in business or at home? A good blog like this one should tell you the difference between Inkjet vs. Laser Printers and help you understand how they work as well—right? Not that you’ll probably be able to fix either type if they break. Lots of little moving parts and software to glitch after all.
First we have your inkjet printers. These the printers that entertain animals so much because of their stuttering sound as they pull the paper forward little by little, adding to the text or images in lines. Inkjets literally print using tiny tiny jets that fire ink droplets onto the paper as it is pulled forward. The ink comes in fairly low quantity cartridges, stored in liquid form. Unfortunately the ink does sometimes tend to clog. But picture quality for inkjet printers is great which is one reason they are so often paired with scanners and copiers.
On the other side of things you have the heavy duty laserjet printers. These use powdered ink, called toner, and yes they do actually print using lasers. The machine draws the image of the text onto the paper as it slides through using a tiny negative charged laser. Then the positive charged toner sticks to it and is melted and basically heat-fixed onto the paper forever. This way it can print fast and wont smear with water. But it will smear if you rub it with your fingers while it is still warm.
Modern Printing can help you do tremendous things, as this ink and toner blog should prove. You can make posters, print novels, do creative artwork (my roommate once made a wall-sized banner with normal printing paper, a laserjet, and rubber cement) and you can give children a magical holiday as well.
Craft sites are full of patterns and instructions that you can print out and use to entertain children for bible studies, Sunday schools, Christmas parties, or elementary school crafts. I mean, you have your classic angel pattern which, with some glue and macaroni noodles can make a great ornament. Investing a little ink and toner and you can print outlines that are pre-decorated and colorful.
Another great idea is far simpler. Just print out a whole sheet of red ink and cut it into squares. Put these into a cube with some tape and you can have your kids make and decorate Christmas Box ornaments. Or, you can just go crazy and make up a big tall stack of Santa or Rudolf themed coloring pages—because what kid wont just go crazy with those? Plus, if you like pin the tail on the donkey, why not play pin the clothes on the printed out snowman? Just grab some thumbtacks (with supervision) and you’ve got a great game going.
Entertaining kids doesn’t have to be long and hard and it doesn’t need to involve sharp glass, paint, or other dangerous messy items. Just get a printer and some imagination and you should be all good to go.
What are the advantages of a digital printing expo
? Well, think about what role printer and print plays in the world right now? It’s a huge multinational market that has huge employment opportunities and niche marketing, with innovations appearing daily. Which office doesn’t have a printer? What school or what home doesn’t have some printer sitting in the corner with its fair share of ups and downs? And everyone who makes and sells and reviews and follows those printers gets to come together a few times a year and compare notes.
Expos are also great for something else. Swag. Going to a digital printing expo can basically guarantee that you’ll get certificates for discounted printers or toner after the show. Otherwise you can get deals on whole printer systems or can plan for what your office or business might be using in a few years.
Plus you have your normal selection of t-shirts and pens and bags and Frisbees. It’s all pretty great, and it helps people and innovators get their name out there.
But you should beware. A lot of expos involve styling or promoting things past their actual potential. No one will admit their new system is buggy or that the printing quality is low, or that the system they are showing off doesn’t really have a future due to cost/benefit or market volume or a thousand other reasons. People who show off aren’t always honest, but even with that in mind any expo is a ton of fun to be at.
This is just a quick heads up to any office staff out there who use a lot of ink and toner supplies. There are people who very much want to get a hold of your information.
It’s known as the toner phoner scam and it’s been around for at least thirty years. What will happen is you or your secretary gets a call from someone who looked up your company online or in the phone book. They’re usually pretending to be someone involved in your printer or your ink ordering chain—although they probably won’t even know who your typical supplier is (which you should always question them about, it usually gets them to hang up pretty quick).
No matter how they approach you they go after what type of printer you use and the name of a manager with ordering powers. Once they have these delightful pieces information they’ll typically mail you toner which will work with your printer. Once you get it typically looks good, so you use it. And then they think they have you on the hook.
Because, with that information from before, they can invoice you for double the value of the toner they sent you, but because you used the toner many secretaries will simply put it into the shuffle. Once they get paid you typically get more unsolicited toner, and the cycle is begun. Never give out company information. It is always incredibly valuable. And if you are stuck in this scam, just stop paying. They can’t make you and anything they send without a contract can be considered a gift by US law.
You may be wondering why anyone in their right mind would bother to blog about ink as much as some people do. I could chose to tell you about the importance ink and toner have played in the modern human society getting to where it is, or I could tell you about how many organizing use ink and toner for so much.
But I will not. I’m going to give you the real reason why ink and toner blogging has eaten up so many pages and so much of everyone’s lives.
Cats like printers. That’s really all it is. Everyone has memories from their childhoods in suburbia laying on the wood floor and watching the household cat stalking the rather businesslike printer as it hummed and printed away, though occasionally when the two really got into it the printer would land a killing blow and frighten the cat out of the room entirely. Although, in my experience our cats always got bored and then discovered the printer was warm, so that before long we’d have cats sleeping on the printer and pressing buttons whenever they shifted position.
The other reason is equally formative. Remember MS paint? Of course you do. We all drew rocket ships and stars in MS paint and had a great time doing it. And we all remember the joy when that paper came incrementally out bearing in dark in our masterpieces so mom or dad could take them to work and put them up on the wall. Printers affect us all.
Did you know that buying a printer is relatively small potatoes as far as Epson Corp or dell or hp or all the rest are concerned? They are. Printers are actually, or at least they have become, a bait and hook market. The printer bait and when you buy it you are hooked into that type of toner or ink for as long as it keeps working. It’s similar to shavers and replacement blades, game consoles and games, or a bunch of other product/resupply markets out there.
These aftermarkets are fiercely competitive. After all, many times the printer seller lost money to bring down the price to hook you and they are very protective of the opportunity to keep you paying through the nose to keep that printer running. However, any captive audience invites those who would like a piece of the action—and printer markets are famous for their aftermarket ink and toner competition.
You basically have the OEM (original manufacturer) ink and toner vs. generic remanufactured cartridges. The former are high quality and expensive. Guaranteed to work but at premium prices. The later are not guaranteed to work—but they are far cheaper and, ironically, their lower construction actually often results in more ink being available for your printer to use. You get more pages for less by accident!
It’s hard to know which toner pack to invest in when you are looking at the whole market, but if you can find reviews for each option you can always come out ahead. Just head to consumer review sites or large ink retailers (not the homepages) who have a comment section below their prices. The middle road is always the best way to go.
My favorite people are the curious ones. The ones who need to know how things work and how to take them apart and put them back together again. And it’s these people who ask the question What is ink? it’s a pretty common question, or at least you think it would be.
Our world runs on ink as much as it does on electricity. Its ink on my coffee cup telling me what kind it is and advertising and decorating it. Its ink on the sugar telling me it’s not splenda or some other crime against nature. When I edit a paper I like to have it in hard copy in front of me so that I can open a pen and add ink to it, drawing arrows from here to there over the toner covered page and pointing out additions, subtractions, suggestions, and just crossing parts out.
Honestly, without ink our civilization would look a little different. Earliest record from our ancestors are in basic plant dye inks on cave walls after all, painted in or sometimes used to decorate carvings. But carving never had the potential of ink. It wasn’t portable and couldn’t be done quickly enough to generate a written language.
We would never have had the Bible without ink. And without ink in a printing press we would never have had the enlightenment. Ideas, knowledge, inventions, blueprints… even today they spread using ink in someone’s hand, on a solid non electric media. Things may change, but human curiosity and the ink it is recorded using will not.
This blog is dedicated to ink and toner and printer blog, to shopping for and finding replacement toner cartridges or looking up printer information. But let me divert you for just a second to talk about something unfortunate that makes me furious.
It’s something that has happened more than once around the world. And it makes sense why it would. Large organizations typically have banks and banks of printers and they order a lot of toner pretty consistently. Someone has to be in charge of doing this, and as they are in charge they actually oversee the transfer of a lot of property. And that creates the potential for a lot of graft.
So when I can go online and find three separate stories about people in charge of ordering replacement toner for hospitals and ordering sometime twenty percent more than is needed just to skim it away in their cars and hawk it on eBay for hundreds of thousands of dollars, I get pissed. Especially that one guy in New York who worked at a Childrens hospital. Essentially he got rich taking money away from sick children, using printer toner? It’s a messed up world.
And the worst part is how hard it is to make it right. When someone steals a lot of money in a transaction or a few the money is easily traceable and can be returned as fraudulent transfer. But hundreds of laserjet print cartridges all disappearing together? That bit sucks. That money is gone and putting the jerk in the slammer for the rest of his miserable life doesn’t get it back.
So here I am sitting in a coffee shop trying to figure out how best to go about buying toner for my home office. It’s really nothing new, we all go out toner shopping sooner or later, whether hit up a department store or office supply shop. But really, you should always check online first—unless it’s some kind of emergency and you need toner STAT. In which case, go grab the car keys and hope that the pack you buy prints well off the get go.
There are three main things to shopping for, well, anything. You have quality, you have price, and you have speed. You get to pick two. You can find quality stuff fast, if you are willing to pay premium prices. Or you can get cheap things fast, but the quality will be pretty questionable. Finding anything that’s quality and that is cheap, on the other hand, takes time and research and quite often it has to ship from far away.
When you’re shopping for printer and toner supplies I recommend going for the middle road. Whether you’re looking for dell or hp or Lexmark or this or that or the other thing you probably don’t want to buy from the homepage of whoever made it. It will ship fast, and it will be great quality, but you will pay out the nose for it. Shopping on eBay, however, may sacrifice both quality and speed for the price. Go for online retailers—it will be fast and you can pick from your quality levels, and usually they keep the price down too!
Toner ends up costing every office and everyone with a personal printer quite a bit of money over time. With so much profit out there to lose or to make it isn’t surprising that different toner sellers are locked in fierce competition with one another over your sale. First they fight over which printer you’ll buy, then they fight over what kind of toner you’ll keep feeding it over time. But what about you? How do you a consumer come out ahead? You do it with toner research.
The companies do their own toner research too. Go to an office max site or some other remanufactured toner seller and you’ll find information that their printers are just as good as the cartridges that the Original manufacturers put out and SO much better when you take price into account.
But go to your HP or Lexmark or Samsung homepage and you’ll find studies that say that original cartridges never fail while imitation cartridges don’t work out of the box five or ten or twenty percent of the time… Who can you believe?
You need to turn to someone a little more impartial. For instance, to go a consumer protection site or blog and look up what they found. Or you can go to online tech magazine, as these often run their own quick studies once in a while. You’ll tend to find that the genuine cartridges are expensive and low in. Remanufacture have more ink, they’re cheaper, but the quality and reliability goes way down. What you buy will always depend on your own research and your own situation, however.
For a while there printers were all basically created equal. They were all clunky tan colored boxes that hummed and shook and smeared ink everywhere. For a while there typewriters actually had a leg up on them. But they’ve gotten better, right? Well, some have, but that only increases the importance of finding a great Printer Review Site so that when and if you or your office invest in a printer you know that it will stand up to the test of time.
Because the market has been so flooded with tech companies jumping on to the printer market, now that they’ve become fairly accessible to build and toner and ink sales have become increasingly lucrative, many companies get away with producing bottom-quality printers, hoping that they’ll be lost in the crowd. Many of these low quality printers are actually bundled in with computer sales or given away with promotions. If your printer is troublesome, constantly breaking, or uses ink inefficiency it can become much more of a liability than it is worth.
On the other hand, a market this diverse and this competitive will create great deals on great products as companies jockey for market share. How do you figure out what printer is worthwhile and which is a waste? You ask people who have tried them before.
Or, more actually, you go to a website where people record their experiences with the printers in question. Don’t just run out and try any old printer, do some research and make sure what you are getting is worthwhile.