If It Prints, I'll Let You Know

We started out yesterday with a few things that one will need to remember when choosing an office printer. Here are a few more.

One thing you will want to check out is connectivity. Before choosing a printer, decide how you would like to connect to your printer. Most printers nowadays have both USB and Ethernet connectivities, and quite a handful are wi-fi ready. Once again, just keep in mind that these features are available and choose what makes the most sense for you and your organization. What you will want to note is that if you have a wireless access point in your office, then you can print wirelessly to a printer within the network regardless of whether the printer is wi-fi ready or not.

The next thing to consider is the quality of output. Various printers have various qualities of output, and it will be best if you consider quality of text, graphics and photos separately until you find the combination that will work best for your needs. Offices who more often than not use printed materials for internal use only can make do with a printer that only has average print quality.

For print speed, consider print volume and what your expected productivity level for your employees is. If you have a rather heavy print load and few employees, then you will want a fast printer; otherwise, you can do away with the extra cost that fast printing might entail.

Also consider your print volume versus the maximum duty cycle of the printer you would like to get. Pcmag recommends choosing a printer with a maximum duty cycle that is thrice your average monthly print volume. You will also want to look at the availability of replacement cartridges with larger yields so that you don’t have to change cartridges often.

Lastly, always keep in mind total cost of ownership, which we featured in a previous post.

HP is committed towards providing its users with an enhanced printing experience, especially for large format printers. It is for this reason that they announced the expansion of their DesignJet certification program to include the new HP DesignJet T1120, 4020 and 4520 Printer series, as featured in a press release on Directions Magazine.

The latest certification initiative includes solutions for production workflow and cost control which will give graphic professionals, print service providers and technical designers with improved levels of “functionality” and “interoperability” if they use any of these third-party products.

Three production workflow solutions were certified by HP to support the new HP DesignJet 4020 and 4520 Printer Series. The new certified solutions are as follows: SCP reprocontrol.net, RATIO PLOTBASE PM and PLP PlotWorks. All these solutions have the ability to meet critical performance and image quality expectations of new HP DesignJet printers. In addition, they have the ability to provide advanced job editing, print management and accounting capabilities for enterprise and repro-house customers alike.

Three solutions for cost-control and cost-recovery were also certified: Sepialine’s Argos Cost Recovery System, Technesis Print Control System with iBridge for HP Designjet and Capella Technologies MegaTrack. All these software applications support the HP DesignJet T1120, 4020 and 4520 Printer Series. The press release indicates that the applications are able to provide advanced accounting features that enable job tracking, billing and usage data designed to work with the HP DesignJet devices.

HP made the announcement at the Annual Trade Show of the International Reprographic Association in Pittsburgh. Receiving HP DesignJet Certified Status means that a third party company has demonstrated adherence to HP’s test criteria.

The certification program is an expansion of an already extensive solution development program that gives third-party software developers with access to hardware, software development kits and additional resources to help create solutions compatible with HP large-format printers.

I am someone who generally prefers that things be kept simple, so at first glance, I immediately loved the Dell V305W. Truth be told, I would not mind seeing it on my desk at home.

The Dell V305W can print, scan and copy – basic things that are now considered important by grad students such as myself as well as those who are either working from home or have home-based businesses. Since it is a compact machine, it will be ideal for cramped work or study spaces; wireless connectivity will also be an added convenience. It can directly read most memory card types, such as SD, MS, xD, MMC, CF and MD. A PictBridge port will allow you to print directly from a camera. There is also a LCD display for navigation purposes. And all this somehow blended well into this simple and elegant machine.

One downside this printer for those who prefer that feature is the absence of an automatic document feeder. There is a 100-sheet front loading tray for media input, and the small side arm inside the feeder can adjust to fit various media types such as tabloid all the way to postcard size. One will have to manually swap media in order to print, though, as there is no separate tray for other media types such as photo paper or envelopes, a feature that is present in other all-in-ones.

Print speed is up to 25 pages per minute for black and white documents and 18 pages per minute for color prints. For photo printing, one can choose to print borderless photos, and print large photos up to 8.5” x 14”. Photo printing is also made even more convenient with the previously-mentioned ability to read memory cards or connect directly to cameras via PictBridge; there is no need to connect to a PC.

With the wide range of choices available for printers, what should have been a simple task of choosing what office equipment to purchase has become a gargantuan one. One’s choices will not only entail budget and aesthetic appeal but will involve a wide cross-section of features, and PCmag has some very useful tips.

One of the first things a small office should ask nowadays before choosing a printer is – what do I need it for? To some the answer might be all too obvious – “I’m buying a printer so that I can print, duh!” – but that will not be a good answer, because nowadays, a printer can do more than just, well, print. Remember that standard all-in-ones can copy and scan as well. For an office, one might want to go for an all-in-one that can also serve as a standalone fax machine.

You will also want to make sure that you have an automatic document feeder if you are going for an all-in-one. This way, you can copy, scan and fax multiple pages with relative ease. Another good feature will be standalone e-mail feature, where a printer has the ability to either e-mail scanned documents directly or launch an e-mail message on your PC and attach a scanned document. Some printers can even do both.

Remember, though, that an all-in-one will only be a practical choice if your office has plans of replacing the copier, scanner or fax that your office is currently using. If the equipment are still in excellent condition and there are no plans to replace them yet, then you should be able to do away with a plain single function printer.

The other choice you will need to make is whether you need a color or a monochrome printer. The attraction to have the ability to print dazzling colored photos and documents can be tempting,  but if the most that you need it for is a couple of random pages a week then you don’t need it the extra cost. One thing you might want to look at, though, is if your needs will change given the type of printer you can afford. For instance, if you can afford a colored multifunction laser printer, then you might want to simply print your own flyers and brochures on demand instead of having these done in bulk at a local printer. Do a little math and see whether this will become a more cost efficient choice in the long term and make your decision based on that.

We are not quite done yet… watch out for more tips tomorrow.

If you are a fledgling hobbyist who is only beginning to discover the wonders of photography, then the Canon PIXMA iP3600 may be a good partner for you. It is compact and very affordable, and yet has the ability to deliver excellent photo prints.

Introduced in August 2008 along with the Canon PIXMA iP4600, the Canon PIXMA iP3600 is marketed as an easy to use printer that will enable consumers to produce lab-quality photo prints in the comfort of their homes. Both the iP4600 and the iP3600 are fitted with ChromaLife100 enabled ink set and Easy-PhotoPrint EX software, features that ensure the printing of great and long lasting photographs even by the most amateur of users.

One great feature that is integrated into the Easy-PhotoPrint EX software is Canon Auto Photo Fix which makes creating the perfect photo a breeze. Activating Auto Photo Fix enables the printer to detect the type of photo being printed – whether its portrait or scenery – and automatically correct red eye, enhance facial tones, optimize brightness and contrast and improve color saturation. The result is a better looking photo print even without the benefit of manual editing. Come to think of it, this is probably the best printer for someone like me who finds it challenging to take a decent-looking photo.

The iP3600 has the ability to deliver as much as 9600 x 2400 dpi color resolution. While it is primarily marketed as an affordable photo printer, it can accommodate various media types and can print excellent-quality documents. In order to support this feature, it is also equipped with dual paper paths so that users can easily and conveniently switch between paper types or sizes, which make it ideal for use in home offices where work and personal printing needs normally overlap.

The printer is also Energy Star certified and uses individual ink cartridges and has a built-in hardware recycling program. For PC-less printing, you can opt to connect your camera to the printer directly via PictBridge.