If It Prints, I'll Let You Know

We have reviewed the Lexmark C543dn, and we’d like to introduce to you another printer that is more or less in its league.

The Dell 3130CN color laser printer is also an ideal model for a small work group. It is more expensive than the Lexmark, especially since it does not come with a built-in duplexer like the former. While an optional duplexer will set you back almost a couple hundred dollars at this point, the Dell 3130CN has its own good points. The printer is very much capable, and it has room to grow as your business does.

This model has one of the faster print speeds when compared to its counterparts, at 25 to 30 pages per minute for a text-only document. A document with graphics is churned out at 5.7 pages per minute. It is able to do this while maintaining crisp black text and realistic colored images, even if the images are printed on plain paper.

Both the Dell 3130CN’s input and output trays can accommodate 250 sheets, and there is a built-in multipurpose tray that can hold 150 sheets. Should you want to expand capacity, there is an optional 550-sheet second output tray available.

The quality and speed are not the only good things about the Dell 3130CN. After using it for a while, you will start to notice a decline in toner spending. Printing costs average at 2 cents for an all-text page, and 12 cents for a colored printout. These estimates are all based on the standard-sized toner cartridge that comes with the machine. A higher capacity cartridge will bring costs down even further to 1.5 cents per monochromatic plain text page, while color printouts will amount to less than 10 cents.

The Microsoft Surface tabletop has captured the techie world, and it was given even more exposure as it helped the world stand still. The latest techie wonder was featured in the Keannu Reeves sci-fi film ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’, used by the US government to study the alien-in-human-form character Klaatu, played by Reeves.

Jennifer Connelly’s character, the scientist Helen Benson, uses the Surface to retrieve growth speed charts. Kathy Bates’ character, the US Secretary of State, and her team then place three markers on the Surface which then showed officials where the aliens have landed.

These scenes are practically a more realistic version of what we saw in Tom Cruise’s ‘The Minority Report’ – facts and figures pulled up and slid around a screen. The technology is certainly earning a lot of hype. Videos of the Microsoft Surface are also widely circulated on YouTube, and establishments such as hotels and banks are now using it. A hotel in Seattle apparently already uses a Microsoft Surface with printing capability.

Taking a cue from Microsoft, Sony recently patented a new gadget that seems to be inspired by Surface technology. Rough sketches of the new Sony inkjet printer with touch screen display are now circulating on the internet. A prototype is yet to be displayed, but the printer is expected to be able to automatically retrieve photos when a digital camera, most probably a Sony Cybershot, is placed on its surface. The registered patent is for an “image forming device, having an ejection tray, and a display is mounted to a cover”. The ejection tray will receive the printed digital photos.

This innovation comes at an opportune time for Sony, as the company is reportedly not in good shape at this time. There is no word as to when this patent will actually make it to manufacturing, and only time will tell as to whether this will eventually become a consumer must-have or a passing trend.

A lot of people prefer laser printers to inkjet printers but are put off by either the high price or, if the price is low, the inability to do colored prints. Small offices will now have the opportunity to purchase a colored laser printer at a reasonable price with the Lexmark C543dn.

The printer is ideal for small offices that engage in simple, everyday printing. Those who will require a printer capable of producing high-quality complex graphics at high speeds will find it better to invest in a different, more expensive model.

Setting up the printer is relatively simple, which can be a plus especially if there is no dedicated IT staff in the office, or if this is an investment for a home office.

Speed and print quality is competitive enough when compared to other colored laser printers for black and white documents. It can print 19.8 pages per minute of monochromatic documents, and the text is crisp and clear.

The same does not hold true for colored prints though. At 2.8 pages per minute, this is incredibly slow, while the quality is passable. So if you don’t need quality colored prints and do not do colored printing all that often, but you need high-quality black and white documents on a budget, then the Lexmark C543dn will serve your needs.

In my book, though, the best feature of this printer is standard automatic duplexing. Not all printers offer this convenience, and if you’re one to do a lot of double-sided printing like myself, then this is a bonus.

The input tray can accommodate 250 sheets, while the output tray can receive 100 sheets. Should you need to increase your input paper capacity, an add-on second drawer that can hold an extra 550 sheets with a 100 sheet multipurpose feeder can be purchased separately.

When at times you think that it seems Barbie is everywhere, well, she really is. She even found her way into the printer industry, with the release of the Barbie B-Nail Printer from Mattel. It is basically an inkjet printer for the nails. It takes a focused snapshot of the fingernail and has the ability to print a custom, stock or imported image onto the nail through its finger opening.

Lauren Dougherty from Mattel explains how the Barbie B-Nail Printer in this video clip from YouTube.

The electronics company Sharp, which used to offer only electronic devices for the home, is set to join the printer bandwagon through the HN-PP100 printer.

This photo printer is set to make its mark by giving the added ability to connect to your TV, which might mean that you will be able to play slide shows or view images on your TV from a memory card or laptop.

It also boasts of background music and a remote control that can be used to manually browse through images through the TV. It is now available in the Japanese market, but there is no news as to when it will be launched in the US.