Month: November 2009

Economical and environmental concerns change consumers’ buying pattern. Discount ink cartridges and toner cartridges invade the market of OEM cartridges.

Discount ink cartridges and toner cartridges are in great demand these days. Due to the drop in price, many families and small business owners can buy an inkjet / photo printer for under $100 and a discount laser printer for under $200. Increased number of printer ownership means that there is a larger aftermarket for printing supplies.

Nevertheless, consumers who bought a cheap printer would soon find out that their spending did not end there, but rather have just begun. For examples, many OEM laser toners are selling at $100 a piece, the same price of an inkjet printer or one-half of that for a discount laser printer. A family who print a lot of color photos with their photo printer can easily spend more than $100 on OEM ink cartridges in several months. Think about this, it is absurd that one would spend more on replacement cartridges than on the printer itself in such a short period of time. As a result, many consumers are looking for economical alternatives to expensive OEM cartridges.

There are two main groups of discount ink cartridges and toner cartridges in the market these days: compatible cartridges and remanufactured cartridges. Compatible cartridges are also called generic cartridges. They are manufactured with the same specification of name brand cartridges but without the brand name. These cartridges are offered at one-half or one-third of the price of OEM cartridges.

On the other hand, remanufactured cartridges are name brand cartridges which have been through one cycle of service. They are usually disassembled, cleaned, repaired and refilled before releasing to the market again. Consumers who buy remanufactured cartridges are not only concerned about the price, but their benefit to the environment as well. One consumer was quoted saying “I buy the remanufactured cartridges because it is good for the environment. The lower price is just a bonus”.

It is a well known fact that printer manufacturers cut price in printers but maintain a very high profit margin from cartridge sales. Instead of lowering the price of OEM cartridges to make them more competitive, they use different tactics to ban the use of compatible and remanufactured cartridges from third-party manufacturers. For examples, printer manufacturers may install software in your computer that warns you of the use of compatible cartridges as if they could damage your printers. Some manufacturers incorporate smart chips into their cartridges so that consumers cannot refill or recycle their cartridges. Others have sued the third-party manufacturers of printer cartridges or smart chips claiming that they have violated patent technology.

Consumer advocates have pointed that that these tactics only serve to protect the profits of printer manufacturers but provide no benefits to the consumers at all. In fact, consumers should have the freedom to choose the replacement cartridges they use.

There are many compatible and remanufactured cartridges in the market today. Be a smart consumer, you should always compare an apple with an apple. For example, some manufacturers produce compatible cartridges without the smart chips. These cartridges are usually cheaper than 100% compatible cartridges with new replacement chips. However, compatible cartridge without new replacement chip may have problem communicating with the computer as the latter would think that the cartridge is always low in ink. It is also wise to shop only with vendors who can provide a good refund policy and extended warranty.

To get highly compatible printer ink cartridges for all major printer brands, visit: ink toner cartridges. Our ink toner cartridges is dedicated to bringing you the highest quality brand name; toner cartridges, laser toner cartridges, inkjet printer cartridges, laser toner, and other inkjet printer supplies at huge discounts. Go to our ink toner cartridges store now!

Have you ever wondered how your inkjet printer works?

How does the ink get from the inkjet cartridge to the paper? Why is the print quality is so clear? Why the printing is so quiet?

Generally, all that most people know is that there’s some movement and a faint high pitched sound when it’s printing something — and then the finished document comes out.

Unlike dot matrix and character printers that strike ribbons to create an image, inkjet printers do not physically touch the paper.

All inkjet printers function using the same basic principles. Tiny ink droplets are “jetted” (or pushed) out multiple holes onto paper in a controlled and systematic fashion. This is where the term “inkjet” comes from.

The size of ink droplets, speed and reliability of this type of printer has been continuously improving since its inception in 1976. In 1993, Epson was the first manufacturer to produce an inkjet printer using micro-piezo technology. The Epson Stylus 800 was the first printer to use the multi-layer actuator printhead (the printhead is the part of the printer that holds numerous tiny nozzles that actually squirts the ink onto paper).

This specific printhead utilized an electro-mechanical element that acted like a tiny control room. When pulses of electricity passed through, it that gave specific signals to fire individual or multiple nozzles loaded with ink.

Micro-piezo technology utilized a tiny crystal in each individual nozzle that when electrically energized, would vibrate or bend causing a controlled amount of ink to be forced out onto paper. When the electrical current is off, the crystal bends back to its original shape, creating a vacuum, thus pulling ink into the nozzle from the reservoir for the next commanded fire.

The Epson printhead was fixed to the carriage so it never needed replacing (the printer carriage is what moves laterally across the paper). This also kept the cost of ink cartridges low since they were little more than reservoirs of ink.

This breakthrough printer produced a whopping 360 dpi (dots per inch) that was deemed, almost “letter quality” at the time. With a printing speed of 150 – 180 characters per second, the new Epson became the user favorite printer for home and office.

At the same time, HP was using a similar technology. A thermal jetting system was utilized in their printhead. The printhead still acted like the control room but each individual nozzle was instead independently super heated by electricity, which caused the ink to explode onto the paper. HP claims the temperature of a fired inkjet nozzle approaches that of the surface of the sun.

HP elected to put the printhead on the inkjet cartridge itself instead of mounting it permanently to the carriage. Since each inkjet cartridge would have its own printhead, replacement cartridges would be more expensive for these printers.

HP inkjet cartridges also could not print as fast as Epson because each nozzle needed to cool after firing. This heating technology also limited the types of inks that could be used.

In the 1990’s, Canon, Epson and HP engineered printheads that applied even smaller droplets of ink, drastically improving dpi and resolution.

While Canon and HP could produce a 6 – 10 picoliter droplet size from one nozzle, Epson was about half the size (between 3 – 6 picoliters). Currently, there are printers available which will produce an amazing 1 picoliter droplet! To get an idea of how small this is; a human hair is about 12 picoliters in diameter. Most human eyes can’t see one jetted droplet of ink on paper.

Inkjet printers have come a long way since their first inception.

Printers today are twice as fast as their predecessors were, and are cheaper than ever. Many printers can easily produce color photo quality images in at an incredible 6000 dpi.

As time goes on and as demand for printing remains high, the quality, speed and features of inkjet printers will only continue to improve.

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Digital photography has exploded, exceeding all forecasted figures and many of us have one or more of these great devices, but one of the basic values of photography has been lost in the transfer from film to digital cameras.

Research shows that the majority of digital photo’s are not printed or published in any way, instead billions of photos are sitting on computers and memory cards all over the world, hidden away in cyberspace.

This is a sad prospect as passing photographs through friends, family and generations has been a tradition for many years, reminding us of our ancestors and memories of times gone by. Photographs gain importance with age and there is a pleasure in flicking through old photos. It should be remembered that it may not always be possible to view photos held on today’s digital media, as progress may backdate the media type and the compatibility to read them. We should therefore not overlook the importance of making actual prints of our precious digital snaps.

The major reason for our reluctance to print digital photos is the perceived complications in printing a quality digital print, but with digital photo kiosks, affordable photo printers and easy to use software, it is really not that hard. It is entirely possible for the novice computer user to produce great quality prints from their digital camera using the home photo printer.

Generally speaking, getting a picture from your digital camera to your printer normally involves these simple steps:
1. Copy images from camera to a folder on your computer.
2. Load up your printing software and choose the images you would like to print.
3. Select the size and type of paper you are using (always use photo paper).
4. Print your photos.

A great new function on many of the latest cameras and printers cuts the process right down. The PictBridge print system is probably the easiest way of getting your images from your camera on to photo paper. This system does rely on having both a PictBridge compliant printer and a PictBridge compliant camera, but most new photo printers and cameras on the market will have PictBridge as standard – but it’s worth checking out if you are about to buy a printer or camera.

The PictBridge system allows you to print directly from your camera to the printer without the use of a computer. You can select photos, print size and quantities, all from the screen of the camera and process the print with a button!

The great thing about printing your own pictures is that you have total control, choice and discretion. You can print as many copies as you like, choose various sizes and finishes and using photo editing software, you can tweak your pictures as a dark room technician would, or even get creative! In fact half the fun of digital photography is what you can do with the printing of the photo.

To get highly compatible printer ink cartridges for all major printer brands, visit: ink toner cartridges. Our ink toner cartridges is dedicated to bringing you the highest quality brand name; toner cartridges, laser toner cartridges, inkjet printer cartridges, laser toner, and other inkjet printer supplies at huge discounts. Go to our ink toner cartridges store now!

Thermal paper is cleaner than your standard ink, produces a crisper resolution, and is ultimately cheaper. Though thermal paper used to be considerably more expensive, the price has come down in recent years, thanks in part to better technology that allows its manufacturers to produce it at a more reasonable cost. Moreover, a thermal paper roll is quieter than bond paper, which is an added bonus for any shopper at the end of a long day.

Most direct thermal papers require a protective topcoating to:

Reduce fading of the thermal image caused by exposure to UV light, water, oils, grease, lard, fats, plasticizers, and similar causes
Provide improved printhead wear
Reduce or eliminate residue from the thermal coating on the thermal printheads
Provide better anchorage of flexographic printing inks applied to the thermal paper
Focus the heat from the thermal printhead on the active coating.

Thermal paper is paper that is impregnated with a chemical that changes color when exposed to heat. It is used in thermal printers and particularly in cheap, lightweight devices such as adding machines, cash registers, and credit card terminals.

The paper is impregnated with a solid-state mixture of a dye and a suitable matrix; a combination of a fluoran leuco dye and an octadecylphosphonic acid is an example. When the matrix is heated above its melting point, the dye reacts with the acid, shifts to its colored form, and the changed form is then conserved in metastable state when the matrix solidifies back quickly enough.

Most printer manufacturers offer ribbon/label combinations which are known to work well together, which is particularly important as some combinations produce no image at all. Plastic labels with resin ribbons will survive outside in full sunlight, can stand immersion in water and may be resistant to chemicals and oils dependent on type. Often used in Automotive and Aircraft parts manufacture, any items stored outside and essential for the labelling of hazardous chemicals which must remain identifiable, for example, after being submerged in sea water for extended periods.

The type of thermal paper you choose depends largely on the specifics of your business. The width, length, and grade of thermal paper varies widely depending on the manufacturer and the type of machine the paper is used for. Many online wholesalers, however, can customize your order so that you get the product you need to keep accurate records of all your transactions.

To get highly compatible printer ink cartridges for all major printer brands, visit: ink toner cartridges. Our ink toner cartridges is dedicated to bringing you the highest quality brand name; toner cartridges, laser toner cartridges, inkjet printer cartridges, laser toner, and other inkjet printer supplies at huge discounts. Go to our ink toner cartridges store now!

We would have been still constructing the Panama Canal but for the modern gigantic construction equipments. These Herculean machines made life easy for us by their enormous strengths and capacities for long drawn heavy duties under all torturous conditions.

To think that these engineering marvels work for reclaiming lands from bays, striking piles into the hard sea beds or drilling tunnels deep below the sea beds (Trans European Tunnel connecting England to France), is mind boggling. The list can go endless but for the scope of this article which is limited.

Equipments to Suit All Needs
Construction equipments may be classified as per needs and further by capacities.

1. Excavating and Earth moving: These gigantic machines are hydraulically operated to safeguard from shock failures. These are the first machines to be employed for preparing the construction sites. Land leveling by digging and cutting terrains are done by excavators of appropriate capacities which run into 1000s of HP. Basic earth movers include dozers, tippers and loaders.

2. Concrete processors: Batch or continuous concrete mixers are computer programmed for consistent precise mix. These are stationed permanently near the site or in the factory depending on convenience. Small batch mixers of less than one quintal capacities are portable. The concrete is transported from far off plants in transit mixers of minimum capacity 6 cubic meters by volume. Concrete is poured to the spot using concrete pumps.

3. Bar bending machines: Small high torque generating bar bending machines are handy in bending and forming construction steel bars. These are available in various specifications.

4. Rollers and compactors: Rollers are employed to compact the ground after dozers have leveled it. Some rollers are also equipped with vibrating compactors eliminating the need for separate compacting. For small areas like indoors vibrating plate compactors, which generate up to 1000kgf maybe used.

These are just about the equipments fundamentally required for construction of homes and offices.

Road Construction
For road construction, depending on whether the road is being asphalted or concretized, the equipments change. Asphalt mixers and asphalt pavers take-up the job of road laying to perfection.

Concrete road pavers, although work on similar principle, can’t finish the road-laying as concrete needs setting time. There is a need for faster laying technique. Road surface finishing is by a technique called VDF, which stands for vacuum dewatered flooring. Smoother finishes are given by power trowels and anti skid finishes by brooms, mechanized or manual.

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Printer ink cartridges aren’t cheap. If you’re like most people, you wouldn’t mind saving some money on your printer ink cartridges. In this article, I’m going to show you several great ways that you can trim a few bucks off your printer ink cartridge budget.

Money saving tip #1: Choose the correct print quality
When you print a document, you can choose various print qualities. Generally, the higher quality you choose, the more ink your printer will use. Not to mention that higher qualities take longer, as well. For many documents, you can change the print quality to the lower quality setting. Depending on your printer, the low quality setting might be called “draft”, “low quality”, “quick”, etc.

Here is how to change the print quality when you’re printing a document. Once you click print, a box will pop up. Select the printer you wish to use, then click “Preferences”. Another window will then pop up. What the window looks like will depend on what printer you’re using, but most of them will look at least somewhat similiar to each other. Choose your print quality, then click OK.

Note: You will not want to use the low quality setting for and of the following documents:
1: Adobe PDF files
2: Any file that you will want to copy, fax, or scan later
3: Most images
4: Any document that you need a sharp, quality print on

Money saving tip #2: Shop around for the best deal
If your printer is like most, it pops up a window when your ink is low, and gives you a button to buy replacement ink cartridges. Instead of buying your ink via clicking on that button, try shopping around for your replacement ink cartridges. There are many places that offer substantial discounts on ink, and you could save some money, just by visiting http://www.ink-guide.com

Also, keep in mind that your local office supply store will likely be an expensive source of ink. You’ll do much better shopping for replacement ink catridges online.

Money saving tip #3: Consider buying another brand of ink
Just because your printer was made by XYZ Company doesn’t mean that you have to buy ink from XYZ Company. You can shop around for different brands of ink cartridges, and you might save some money. You may not want to buy generic ink, but at least check out the other brand names of ink cartridges. Just be sure that the ink cartridge you buy says on the label that it will fit your printer.

Money saving tip #4: If all else fails, buy a laser printer
If you use a fair number of ink cartridges, you might want to consider buying a laser printer. Laser printers use toner (like a copy machine), instead of ink cartridges. Toner for a laser printer costs about a quarter as much as for an inkjet printer (per sheet printed).

The draw back to laser printers is that they are often more expensive than inkjet printers. I have a bottom of the line Dell black and white Laser printer, and I’ve been very pleased with it. We bought it for less than two hundred dollars. Based on the money we’ve saved on replacement ink cartridges, buying it was a good decision. However, it would only make financial sense to buy a laser printer if you printed quite a few documents every day.

I hope that these tips will help you save some money on your printer cartridges!

To get highly compatible printer ink cartridges for all major printer brands, visit: ink toner cartridges. Our ink toner cartridges is dedicated to bringing you the highest quality brand name; toner cartridges, laser toner cartridges, inkjet printer cartridges, laser toner, and other inkjet printer supplies at huge discounts. Go to our ink toner cartridges store now!

Long an essential tool for businesses, laser printers are becoming more and more popular with home users because of their speed, accuracy and precision. Laser printers are increasingly affordable, too. If you’re contemplating buying a laser printer, here are the answers to the common questions about the all-important subject of laser toner cartridges.

How Long Do Laser Toner Cartridges Last?

Laser printer toner cartridge life is measured in terms of yield. This measurement has two numbers, the first is the number of pages that can be printed with that cartridge. The second is a percentage which refers to the ratio of the page that is printed on. For example, a yield of “35000 pages, 5%”, indicates that the cartridge will print 3500 average quality pages with text that covers five percent of each page.

One good thing about laser printers is that not using the machine doesn’t result in reduced cartridge life. This is because laser toner is powder. So unlike the liquid ink in inkjet cartridges, it doesn’t dry up if unused for a long time.

What Are My Options For Replacement Cartridges?

Your first option is to get what are called OEM cartridges. These are made by the printer manufacturer and tend to be very expensive. This is because the printers themselves are sold as loss leaders. So the manufacturers need to make up their profit on the sale of replacement toner cartridges. With your laser printer having a life of around five years, you’ll probably spend up to seven times the cost of the unit on replacement OEM cartridges.

An alternative is to get what are called “compatible cartridges”. These are new toner cartridges but manufactured by a third party. As they are made to the specification of the manufacturer, the quality is generally very high, especially with the application of ISO 9001 in recent years. However, they are much cheaper. The price of these compatible cartridges are usually less than half that the OEM item. These are your best option.

You can also find what are called remanufactured cartridges. These are different from compatible cartridges in that they are used OEM cartridges that have been refilled. Good remanufactured cartridges consist of more than simply filling a used cartridge with ink or toner, though. Reputable manufacturers also clean and quality check the cartridges, too.

One good thing about remanufactured laser toner cartridges is that they’re environmentally-friendly. Just think, UK users alone throw away over two million printer cartridges each year. In fact, many organizations now pay you for returning used laser cartridges.

Where’s The Best Place To Buy Replacement Cartridges?

You have a number of options here. Your high street discount chain will have a wide selection but prices tend to be very high. Likewise for the office supply chains. Then there’s ordering from an online supplier which offers many benefits. For one thing, as these online dealers don’t have the expense of maintaining a shop or showroom, they can offer you very attractive prices.
(Better still, they’re not caught in the loss leader trap so they don’t need to mark up their prices so much). What’s more, reputable suppliers will have online catalogues so you can browse conveniently and order from the comfort of your home. Plus, delivery is very fast. Orders are usually shipped within 48 hours.

But not all online suppliers are created equal so there are a number of caveats. Firstly, you should be wary of companies that offer their laser toner cartridges at well below market prices. Check, too, to make sure that the supplier guarantees that their compatible cartridges match the life and print quality of the OEM items.

Laser printing is becoming increasingly popular and by judicious shopping you can make it very affordable. By shopping online for your laser toner cartridges, you can get the fastest, quality printing done at prices that don’t break the bank.

To get highly compatible printer ink cartridges for all major printer brands, visit: ink toner cartridges. Our ink toner cartridges is dedicated to bringing you the highest quality brand name; toner cartridges, laser toner cartridges, inkjet printer cartridges, laser toner, and other inkjet printer supplies at huge discounts. Go to our ink toner cartridges store now!

Buying a printer can be a complicated business, there are more shapes, sizes and types of printers available to the home and small business user than ever before. Printers have also become specialised for their intended purpose.

It is no longer a case of “a printer is a printer”. Printers are now designed to be good in a particular area rather than a “Jack-of-all trades”, which will do everything.

An often overlooked issue, is the very serious consideration of cost of ownership, which is all about of how much it will cost to keep your printer running (see below). So making that decision on which printer to go for can be a seriously arduous task, especially if you are keen to buy a printer that is not only affordable to buy but also cheap to run.

So here is the information that you need to know and consider, but no one tells you! We have not expanded on which printer is the best at any given time because models constantly change and you can find that information in any current glossy PC magazine off the shelf. Instead, here you will find the good, bad and ugly bits from the different types of printers available so you can make an informed decision yourself.
Inkjet Technology

Inkjet printers form images by spraying tiny droplets of liquid ink onto paper. The size and precision of the dots of ink and the type and quality of the ink itself govern how good the print quality is. A quality inkjet printer can produce very near photo-quality images using specialist photo coated paper. In general there are two types of inkjet printers, those with the printhead built into the printer like Epson, Brother etc and those where the printhead is actually on the ink cartridge like HP and Lexmark. There are many arguments for and against both technologies, but in our experience we have found both to be very good, the major difference seems to be that the cost of running a printer using the “printhead” type ink cartridge is usually higher.
Inkjet ink is specially formulated for specific printer models and their purpose, much technology is involved in the development of these inks to improve print quality, longevity, drying speeds and printing speeds etc. Most inkjet ink is produced using dye based ink which can flow easily through the tiny nozzles of the printhead, this type of ink is good for photos and colour shades but not so good for longevity or solid vibrant colour, think of it like a water colour painting. In recent years pigment ink technology has advanced considerably to enable use in inkjet printing. Previously ink pigments were too large and would block up the nozzles. This type of ink is good for solid colours and longevity, think of it like an oil painting.

Manufacturers like Epson, HP and Jet Tec are now increasingly using a fusion of dye based and pigmented inks to create superb quality photo printing with vibrant colours and longevity too.
Inkjet printers use anything between two and eight ink cartridges to do their job. Generally speaking the entry-level machines use two cartridges, good all round machines use four and specialist photo printers use six or more. The two cartridge system works fine though can be a bit wasteful on the colour ink, so go for a four-cartridge system where possible especially if you do colour printing. The six or more cartridge systems produce outstanding photos, but can be costly and a pain to keep changing cartridges (printer does not work if any one cartridge is empty).

Inkjet printers are the best solution for most people and are usually the most cost effective way to print – unless you are printing large volumes.

Portable Inkjet Printers
These printers are small, lightweight and ideal for people on the move. Although the printing of high quality photographs is usually beyond this type of printer, basic colour printing is of good quality and the quality of text print is mostly outstanding considering the size of these tiny portable A4 printers. These printers are not suitable for high volume printing.

Inkjet Printers
The Inkjet Printer is the most commonly used type of printer among home and small business users. With excellent all round printing capabilities, from black & white text print and good colour prints through to very hi-resolution, high quality photographs using Inkjet Photo Printers. Inkjet printers are available from cheap entry level to high-end business use machines and can print from photo size prints to massive A2 and bigger sizes, there are models for occasional use and others for high volume print jobs too. One of the many great things about Inkjet printers is that you can use a wide variety of media to print on, including standard paper, photo paper, card, t-shirt transfers, canvas, projector film etc, achieving different looks and textures for your prints and print for different purposes. Most Inkjet printers are USB connections and not suitable for networks, although models are also available for networks and with parallel connections.

Multi-Function Inkjet Printers
Multi-Function Inkjet Printers have been built to meet the needs of home offices and small businesses. These excellent value machines provide multiple solutions in one compact and easy to use machine i.e. printing, scanning, copying and some also have built in fax machines too. Not only are these machines great for saving space on your desk, but they are also very good for printing too using the same technology as standard inkjet printers. The only thing you should be aware of is that you can only use one function at a time and if anything goes wrong with an “All-in-one” machine, you may lose the all the functions at once!

Laser Printers

Laser printers work in a similar way to photocopiers, except they use a laser instead of a bright light to scan with. They work by creating an electrostatic image of the page onto a charged photoreceptor, which in turn attracts toner in the shape of an electrostatic charge. Toner is the material used to make the image (as ink is in an inkjet printer) and is a very fine powder, so laser printers use toner cartridges instead of ink cartridges.
Laser Printers have traditionally been the best printing solution for heavy office users as they produce a very high quality black text finish and offer relatively low running costs. However, laser printers have advanced a great deal recently and their prices have steadily dropped, as a result there are now compact laser printers, multi-function and colour laser printers all at very affordable prices. Laser printers make sense if you need to do a lot of high quality black or colour prints, not photos. The great thing about a colour laser printer is that they can print a very good quality colour image on standard copier paper, so you do not need to use expensive photo paper for large jobs. Do check the prices of the consumables before you buy the printer as these can be very expensive for colour laser printers.

Laser printers are the best solution for people who are printing in large volumes, that is, in 100’s of pages at a time or 1000’s of pages per month. Colour lasers also take quite a while to warm up, so are not ideal for printing single pages.

Solid Ink Printers

Solid ink printers use solid wax ink sticks in a “phase-change” process, they work by liquefying wax ink sticks into reservoirs and then squirting the ink onto a transfer drum from where it is cold-fused onto the paper in a single pass. Solid ink printers are marketed almost exclusively by Tektronix / Xerox and are aimed at larger businesses and high volume colour printing.
Solid ink printers used to be cheaper to purchase than similarly specified colour lasers and fairly economical to run owing to a low component usage, today it is not necessarily any cheaper than a colour laser printer. Output quality is good but generally not as good as the best colour lasers for text and graphics or the best inkjets for photographs. Print speeds are not as fast as most colour lasers.
Dye-Sublimation Printers

Dye-Sublimation printers use heat and solid colour dyes to produce lab-quality photographic images. Dye-Sub printers contain a roll of transparent film made up of page-sized panels of colour, with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black dye embedded in the film. Print head heating elements vaporize the inks, which adhere to a specially coated paper, as the ink cools it re-solidifies on the paper. Colour intensity is controlled by precise variations in temperature.

Dye-sublimation printers lay down color in continuous tones one color at a time instead of dots of ink like an inkjet, because the colour is absorbed into the paper rather than sitting on the surface, the output is more photo-realistic, more durable and less vulnerable to fading than other ink technologies.

The downside of Dye-Sub printers is that they are generally more expensive to buy and run, usually limited to photo sized prints only and can only print onto one type of specialised paper as well as being quite slow to print.

Dye-Sublimation printers are best for those who want to link up their digital camera to a purpose built printer and print out the finest quality photos at home without fuss.

Dot Matrix Printers

Dot matrix printers are relatively old fashioned technology today with poor quality print, slow and very noisy output. This type of printer is no longer used unless you wish to create invoices using the continuous paper with holes on both sides. The good thing is that they are very cheap to run!

Cost of Ownership

Many printers today are very cheap to buy, but people are sometimes shocked to discover the cost of replacing the consumables (ink or laser cartridges, imaging drums, fuser, oils, specialist papers etc). The cost of replacing the ink can sometimes cost more than the printer itself! This is one of the most commonly overlooked factors when printers are reviewed and yet one of the most important things to consider before handing over your hard earned cash. Tests run in 2003 by Which? magazine famously compared the cost of HP’s ink with vintage 1985 Dom Perignon.

A Sheffield City Council report aimed at helping schools decide on the best-value printers to buy, calculated total cost of ownership over the lifetime of a printer (not sure how long that is!). Adding up all the running costs, ink or toner, paper, maintenance and even electricity, SCC worked out that a colour inkjet costs approx 38p per page to run compared to a colour laser which costs approx 7p per page. Sheffield City Council advised its schools that if they printed more than three colour pages a day (assuming a 40-week academic year) they should buy a laser.

These figures cannot be taken hard and fast due to the many variables involved, but it is generally accepted that the cost per print of a laser printer is cheaper than that of an inkjet, which is in turn cheaper than that of a sub-dye printer. However, you would have to do a fair amount of colour printing to take advantage of the economy offered by a laser printer.

Summary

When buying a printer, firstly carefully consider its use, is it mostly general printing or for photographs, is it for occasional use or high volumes, will it be a stand alone device or connected to a network? Then using the guideline information above you will be able to decide on which type of printer is most suitable for you at the time.

To get highly compatible printer ink cartridges for all major printer brands, visit: ink toner cartridges. Our ink toner cartridges is dedicated to bringing you the highest quality brand name; toner cartridges, laser toner cartridges, inkjet printer cartridges, laser toner, and other inkjet printer supplies at huge discounts. Go to our ink toner cartridges store now!

If you’re in the process of setting up a home office, you’re not alone. There’s a growing trend in the U.S. to achieve a better work/life balance; in fact, the home worker and telecommuting population is expected to grow to 40 million U.S. workers by 2010, according to JALA International and the International Telework Association and Council. Many of these home-based businesses or telecommuters will not have access to regular IT support and need some tips on how to make the best decisions.

Do More In Less Space

When outfitting a home office, home workers should consider technology that is versatile and easy to set up and maintain without compromising valuable desktop space. While computers are an essential component of the typical home-office arrangement, home workers also need to consider other essentials such as printers, faxes or scanners. You may find that moving to a multifunction printer, also known as an MFP or an All-in-One, offers the convenience of having everything in a single device and a small “footprint” that is home-office friendly.

MFPs allow you to do more in-house; the ability to print, fax, copy and scan saves time by reducing the number of trips to the print shop, which results in time you can spend building your business. For instance, HP estimates that businesses are able to save 20 to 40 percent over the combined cost of four single-function products.

Look “Beyond The Box”

While the device you choose is important, it’s equally important to look beyond the box and assess supplies, services and support to get the most out of your home-office experience. All technical products, including printers, should come with access to support the way you want it: via phone or online. Replacing supplies can be time intensive, especially if you are caught without ink or toner and you’re on deadline. Look for a printer that offers automatic alerts when the toner or ink is low and reminds you to replenish before you run out.

To keep your printer humming along, investigate options for warranties. If the printer can’t be fixed, does your manufacturer offer a one-time replacement? For example, HP offers a service option that provides for a one-time complete replacement of any covered printer, as well as telephone support.

Outfitting your home office with essential technology needed to run your business is an important decision that need not be a painstaking process. With the right equipment, your only worry will be your business.

Check It Out: Before you set up shop, assess your printing needs, such as quantity of paper. Will you need to fax? Scan? Do you require color?

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Epson started as watch making company Seiko Epson Corporation, Japan. Epson was established in 1961 to manufacture precision parts for Seiko watches, back then it was called Shinsu Precision Manufacturing Company.

Epson’s first foray into the printing and imaging business was the Olympics of 1964 held in Tokyo. The company was awarded a contract to develop a precision timer for the Games. The printer they developed for the Olympics – EP101 is also, where Epson derives its name! It was one of the first printers for electronic calculators to hit the commercial market. It was the beginning of Epson’s journey in the printing and imaging business.

The TX-80, Epson’s first dot matrix printer hit the market in 1978, then in 1984 came the SQ 2000 it’s first inkjet printer. The TM 930 Epson’s pc-pos package printer launched in 1990 created a new market in the printing business. Epson gave a number of first printers to the world among which is Epson stylus 800- an inkjet printer equipped with micro peizo technology launched in March 1993, and then the Epson Stylus Color in May 1994 was the world’s first 720 dpi color inkjet printer.

September 1998 saw the launch of TM-H5000 its first hybrid printer which featured fast quiet printing and copy functionality.

Epson’s Technological Breakthrough

The Ultrachrome K3 Ink

The Epson UltraChrome K3 Ink is a high-density resin coated pigment ink. It comes in two types Black & White and Color. It has a wide color gamut for both types. The black palette consists of three shades of black- Black, light black and light light black. The color palette consists of the standard cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta and yellow. Oh and it has two user exchangeable black ink modes- photo and matte!

Now you will wonder what is so special about Ultrachrome K3. A simple comparison between the traditional toner manufacturing process and the ultrachrome K3 process will answer the question – traditional toners were manufactured by grinding the toner particles mechanically to the smallest possible particle size that can be achieved mechanically; now the major disadvantage here is the energy and hence cost. You would wonder how energy comes into picture. The process being mechanical and done under pressure requires considerable amount of energy and the smaller the particle size the more energy required and energy is expensive!

The second disadvantage is that the particle size is not uniform and cannot be controlled, again because the process is mechanical put simply a grinding process!

Both of the above disadvantages are overcome in the Ultrachrome K3 manufacturing process. The process is chemical process requiring negligible energy. The resin is placed in a water-based environment where the particles are allowed to grow in a controlled environment. Once the particles have achieved the desired size, they are removed from the environment and processed to give the Ultrachrome K3 ink! Sounds simple right? However, the process is not as simple as it sounds!

The Customer’s Advantages:
Energy and cost conservation are the Epson’s advantages; what benefits do the customers get. At the end of the day, the customers have to be very satisfied, if they are going to buy “the system”.

8-Color Ink System
* High Density pigments for an extremely wide color gamut
* Professional print permanence ratings for truly sellable quality prints
* High-gloss Microcrystal Encapsulation Technology for reduced gloss differential
* Superior scratch resistance from improved pigment and resin chemistry
* Color is stable immediately after printing – no short term color shifting
Three-Level Black Ink Technology
* Simultaneously uses Black, Light Black, and Light Light Black inks
* Significantly improves the printers gray balance
* Impressive midtones and highlights for a smoother tonal range
Two User-Exchangeable Black Ink Modes
Two specific black ink modes – Photo Black or Matte Black

Optimizes black ink density for various media types dramatically improving the final print quality

It is goes without saying that Epson like all other top brands in the market too encourages its customers to use only original Epson ink and Epson media to achieve best results. It claims that the ink and media are manufactured to work hand in hand to achieve the best results as compared to their competitors!

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