Tuesday, December 9, 2008

HP introduces a new generation of Business Printers

HP has introduced a new line of monochrome business class printers.
The HP LaserJets 4250 and 4350 are being replaced with the next generation of printers, the HP P4014, P4015 and P4515. Their life cycle is anticipated to extend beyond the current 2 years by an additional year.
The new business class printers are expected to have a greater market presence than the LJ 4250 of about 1.5 million units.
HP is supporting the concept of building a heavy duty printer which is designed to be repaired in addition to the disposable printers costing under $700. The disposable printers are better replaced than repaired.
HP is maintaining the same price at $1099 for the P4015 base unit, up to $1629 for the ‘dtn’; duplex, extra tray, and network additional features (now the X model)
All three of the new printers use the same print engine, however, the duty cycles range from 175K for the P4014 at 45 ppm to 225K for the P4015 at 52 ppm and finally 275K for the P4515 at 62ppm. All three printers use the same maintenance kit, using the same parts. A separate kit includes the tray 1 roller and sep pad.
All three printers come with the same CC364A, 10,000 page cartridge. This should be replaced with a CC364X, 24,000 page cartridge priced at $287 or 1.19 cents per page. Compare that with the 42X used in the LJ 4250 and 4350 rated at 20,000 pages and costing $235 or 1.18 cents per page virtually the same, what a coincidence!!
Although the toner savings is negligible there is some energy savings as the new formulation toner has a lower fusing temperature.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

HP LaserJet 2600 Series Cartridge Out Override

Avoid disposing of partially full HP color laser cartridges
One of my customers complained that the HP 2600 series printer will not print more than about 2000 pages with the black cartridge, even though it has plenty of toner left. The first symptom of actually running out of toner is smeary light gray band running down the page. Replacing the black cartridge clears up the poor print problem but at a considerable expense.
To avoid this unnecessary waste of toner and your money enable the ‘Cartridge Out Override’
HP LaserJet 2600 Series Cartridge Out Override
Cartridge Out Override can only be enabled from the printer's control panel menu.1. From the main menu, press (Right arrow) to System setup and press (Select).2. Press (Right arrow) to Print quality and press (Select).3. Press (Right arrow) to Replace Supplies and press (Select).4. Press (Right arrow) to Override out and press (Select).5. Press (Select).If Stop at out is selected, the printer will stop printing when a cartridge reaches the recommendedreplacement point. If Override out is selected, the printer will continue printing when a cartridgereaches the recommended replacement point. The factory default setting is Stop at out.
Use on these printers:
HP Color LaserJet 1600 Printer; HP Color LaserJet 2600n Printer; HP Color LaserJet 2605 Printer; HP Color LaserJet 2605dn Printer; HP Color LaserJet 2605dtn Printer ;HP Color LaserJet CM1015 MFP; HP Color LaserJet CM1017 MFP

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Protect Your Laser Printer from Damaging Voltage Spikes

According to HP “Problems or issues may arise when an HP LaserJet series printer is connected to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), a power strip, or a surge protector”.

That is good advice, however, how can a user protect his printer from damaging power surges?

Undersized or over utilized surge protectors and UPS’s will lower voltage to a printer which can cause a number of problems. HP lists a few:
High pitched squealing, beeping sounds, or alarms (UPS)
NOTE: Noise over the phone line can also cause high-pitched squeals and beeping sounds.
Inexplicable or false error messages
Printer will not "wake up" from sleep mode
Printer appears to be DOA
Incorrect printout
Slower than normal printing
The printer control panel display is blank or shows garbled characters
Accessories, such as attached copier/scanners, do not function properly
Monitor loses power or shuts off
Computer reboots when job is printing
Job only prints half way, causing a paper jam

HP’s solution to these symptoms is to: “Plug the printer directly into a wall outlet to test. The surge protector or UPS may not be allowing sufficient voltage through to the printer”
HP should go one step further.
If plugging the printer directly into a wall outlet eliminates the problem do NOT keep it there. Get a dedicated surge protector and plug the printer in to it. A UPS will keep a computer from crashing and loosing work time and data. Loss of power to a printer powers it down but does no further damage, however, a voltage spike can be a big problem. Using a properly sized surge protector diminishes the chance a voltage spike will damage the circuitry in the printer.
A printer doesn’t need all the benefits of a UPS but it does need surge protection.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Which HP ink cartridge costs the least to use?

Before purchasing an HP inkjet printer use this table to see what the ink will cost.
The following prices were taken from Staples web site. The yield is the number of pages it will print with a 5% ink coverage. The average color page has 20% coverage. The cents per page is arrived at by dividing the price by the yield.


Cartridge Nick Name Color Price Yield Cents Per Page

c8721wn 02B Black 17.99 650 2.77
c8771wn 02C Cyan 9.99 350 2.85
c8773wn 02Y Yellow 9.99 350 2.85
c8772wn 02m Magenta 9.99 350 2.85
C9364W #98 Black 19.99 420 4.76
C8766WN #95 TRI COL 24.99 240 10.41
C9361WN #93 TRI COL 19.99 230 8.69
C9362WN #92 Black 14.99 220 6.81
C9396AN 88XL Black 34.99 2580 1.36
C9391AN 88XL Cyan 24.99 1840 1.36
C9392AN 88XL Magenta 24.99 1840 1.36
C9393AN 88XL Yellow 24.99 1840 1.36
C4844A #10 Black 33.99 1750 1.94
C4836A #11 Cyan 33.99 1750 1.94
C4837A #11 Magenta 33.99 1750 1.94
C4838A #11 Yellow 33.99 1750 1.94
CB336WN 74XL Black 29.99 750 4.00
CB338WN 75XL TRI COL 34.99 520 6.73
C6656A #56 Black 19.99 450 4.44
C6657A #57 TRI COL 34.99 400 8.75
C8767WN #96 Black 29.99 800 3.75
C9363WN #97 TRI COL 34.99 450 7.78

Use this table next time you purchase an HP inkjet printer and know you are getting the most ink for your investment.
Further savings are afforded by using remanufactured cartridges

Monday, July 7, 2008

What is the best option for refilling inkjet cartridges?

Find out why Professional Refilling Plants are more reliable than Refill Shops & Kiosks.

5 Critical Factors to Consider
Refill Shops & Kiosks Vs Professional Refilling Plants

INSPECTION
Critical Factor #1: Do they test each empty cartridge for visual AND electrical defects prior to refilling?

Kiosks: NO , Reman plants YES

Why this is important: Each cartridge must be free from electrical and visual defects or it may not work in your printer.

CLEANING
Critical Factor #2: Do they use a variety of cleaning systems (Steaming, centrifuge, flushing with reverse osmosis system, etc.) to ensure every last bit of ink is removed from the cartridge prior to refilling?

Kiosks: NO , Reman plants YES

Why this is important: Cartridges that are not properly cleaned often have a shorter shelf life and result in higher failure rates.

INKS
Critical Factor #3: Do they use inks that are specially formulated for each type of cartridge?

Kiosks: NO , Reman plants YES

Why this is important: If the same type of ink is used to refill all types of cartridges, the print quality is going to be inconsistent. You run a higher risk of having colors that don’t match, and the cartridge may not last as long as it should.

FILLING
Critical Factor #4: Do they have filling machines specifically designed for each type of cartridge – to ensure consistent and accurate filling?

Kiosks: NO , Reman plants YES

Why this is important: It’s important that cartridges are filled with a precise amount of ink each and every time. If a cartridge has too much ink – it’s more susceptible to leaking. If there isn’t enough ink – the cartridge won’t produce an acceptable page yield. If there is air in the ink, the cartridge won’t print properly.

TESTING
Critical Factor #5: Once your cartridge is filled, do they print a test page to verify the quality?

Kiosks: NO , Reman plants YES

Why this is important: This is the only way to verify that the colors match, and to make sure there is no smearing or streaking.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Steps to follow when laser print quality is poor

Laser Printer Maintenence.
Trouble shoooting check list

It is as Easy as 1-2-3

1) Trouble shooting check list

Verify cartridge source/manufacturer
Visually inspect the cartridge for external damage
Verify the toner seal is completly removed.
Reset the cartridge and check the alignment in the printer
Insert problem cartridge in another printer
Does problem follow the cartridge?
Replace the problem cartridge in the same printer
Does the problem persist?
Some print quality problems can occur when a cartridge is changed or a paper jam is cleared. Print at least 5 pages to see if problem diminishes.

2) Media Trouble Shooting

Some media can be too coarse for the toner to stick on to the page causing an uneven print.
Other media can be too glosy, not allowing the toner to grab onto the paper leaving a partial image.
Fuser lamp may be burned out or fail to heat to prescribed temperature.

3) Printer maintenance

Remove buildup of toner and paper dust inside printer on and along the paper path. Failing to vacuum or wipe with a damp cloth can result in buildup.
Squeaking noises can be caused by worn parts, toner buildup or paper dust in the printer. This does not indicate a damaged cartridge.

Worn fuser rollers can cause poor print, ghosting and textural deficts. Page count can be found on 'Configuration Printout', 'Suplies Status Printout'or 'Self Test' to determne whether the fuser life has expired.

Some examples of fuser life expectancy in pages are:
EX:200,000 pages; HP 4000: 200,000 pages, WX: 250,000 pages, HP 4250: 250,00 pages.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

HP OfficeJet K5400 not printing boarders

One of my customers called to complain about a recently purchased HP OfficeJet K5400 which I had recommended for her. The ink cost per page was the best deal we could find, however, she had a problem printing one of her docs.
The doc has a rectangular boarder around the perimeter but the printer was cutting off the line running across the bottom of the page. This ruined the artful effect of the boarder. The solution is easy enough. She converted the word (.doc) document to .pdf document and the boarder printed perfectly.
She said the problem is mentioned on HP’s web site with no solution and the HP help desk did not have a clue.
If you have Adobe writer on your work station you can ‘save as’ to make the conversion, otherwise there are a number of sources on the internet with free software and/or free trials for the conversion

Monday, May 19, 2008

Exploring the real cost of color printing

The recent introduction of a wide variety of color laser printers into the market has confused the decision of what printer to purchase for color printing. Previously color printing was sent to a commercial printer or done in house on a slow ink jet printer. Although all of my graphic design customers prefer the quality and have stayed with their ink printers, many of the commercial and industrial accounts have purchased color laser jet printers.

When purchasing a color laser printer, printer price should not be the only factor to consider. Printer speed and print quality will eliminate many candidates but other factors should be taken into consideration.

One of my customers purchased a $300 color laser printer. After a short time he received a ‘toner low’ message and purchased a yellow toner cartridge for $79. He installed the toner and before printing a single page got another error message telling him to purchase a $179 drum. He threw the printer away!!

The quick and dirty comparison is to check out the cost of toner on a per page basis. To do this, simply, go on line to one of the office stores and check out the price of toner for that printer. Divide the price by the page yield. Be aware that the page yield is based on 5% coverage and the average color coverage is 20%. Many times the printer comes with ‘starter’ low capacity cartridges which can be replaced with hi capacity cartridges at a much better price per page yield.

Since most printing is black the cost of the black cartridge yields a lower cost per page. Only the high end, expensive, color laser printers achieve a monochrome cost per page approaching the cost of the heavy duty workgroup laser printers.

A more accurate measure of the total cost of ownership takes into account the cost of all the consumables such as toner, drums, waste bottle, transfer belt, fuser, ink and print heads. Lyra Research performed this analysis on a dozen color laser and ink printers priced at under $500. They assumed a printer life of 5 years, monthly page volume of 450 pages and 50% black and 50% color printing.

Printer CPP Black $ CPP Color $ Printer $

HP Officejet Pro K550 0.015 0.08 200

Brother HL 2700CN 0.015 0.09 500

The results from Lyra Research on total cost over the 5 year period were revealing. The HP business inkjets were the least expensive with a total cost of $1500. Brother HL 2700, Ricoh Aficio G500, Dell 3100 and Samsung CLP 600 all stayed under $2000. Dell 3100 and Konica Minolta Magicolor 2400 were under $2500 while the Xerox Phaser 6120 and Lexmark C510 approached $3000. The highest total cost of ownership went to the Samsung CLP 300 at an astounding $3340!
total cost of ownership for these low priced printers varies considerably. The Samsung CLP is the least expensive printer but has the highest total cost of ownership. As a result of this type of comparison many of my customers have decided to purchase inkjet printers over the laser printers.

Further savings of approximately 30% can be realized with the use of aftermarket cartridges. Lyra Research and Recharger Magazine took a survey of small and medium business users of aftermarket cartridges. A large majority of these users rated the aftermarket cartridges the same or better than the OEM (original equipment manufacture, ie HP et al) in five different metrics. Print quality was the highest rated metric with 55% saying the print quality was as good as the OEM, 16% saying it was better and 22% saying it was much better. Aftermarket cartridge life was the lowest rated metric of the five with 82% of the respondents saying it was the same, better or much better than the OEM’ life.