Four Things You Need to Know Before Buying a Wide-Format Printer

Before you buy a wide-format printer, or a large-format printer for that matter, there are a few factors that you need to consider before you make your purchase. As you know, these special printers are not inexpensive and they require an entirely different kind of inks, printer mediums and accessories. It is a must that you find the wide-format printer or large-format printer that works for you and your business and is sustainable for you to maintain so that you can get the most out of it in the long run.

So, what do you need to know before buying a wide-format printer or a large-format printer? There are a good number of factors that can come into play when you consider your purchase, but here are at least four things that you need to think about. These four things are your company's needs and working conditions, the kind of ink and media products required to operate the printer, the extra software you may have to have, and the product support available.

Your Company Needs and Working Conditions

Before you make an investment on an expensive and specialized printer like a wide-format printer, you need to know if your company really needs it and if you can manage its operation on a long-term basis. A lot of these printers require a special environment for it to work.

So, if you are going to buy a wide-format printer, you would need to consider if you can provide a space in your premises where you can control environmental factors such as heat, humidity and dust.

Also, you would need to determine who the printouts you will be producing will be for. Will your clients be students and ordinary consumers? Or will they be companies that require a higher degree of quality from the printouts, such as museums, engineering firms and the like?

Special Inks and Media for the Printer

Many large-format printers and wide-format printers use inks and toners with different formulations. Also, while some printers are versatile, there are others that work only with paper, some with cloth, some with vinyl and other such printing media. It is a must for you to know which materials the printer you are thinking of buying work with to see if you can afford them in the long run.

A great way to do research on what inks and printer media you should buy is to attend trade shows. A word of warning, though: Do not always believe what you see in trade shows. Many of the people managing booths in trade shows use tricks and gimmicks to make the products they are marketing look better than they really are.

Additional Software and Accessories

When you buy a wide-format printer or a large-format printer, you may need to buy extra accessories as well as software to make the most out of your printer. Basic printer accessories that you must have would be a laminator and a cutter. A laminator makes your printouts look more gorgeous as well as protects them from scratching and fading. Cutters help you trim the edges of your printouts more neatly.

You will also need a raster image processor or RIP, color management software and probably a spectrophotometer. RIPs make sure that your files will be rendered accurately by the printer. Color management software and spectrophotometers ensure the accuracy of the colors and shading on the printouts.

Available Product Support

It is very, very important that when you buy a wide-format or large-format printer that the dealer or the manufacturer from which you will be buying it offers product support. You will need this product support, one way or another, in the course of your using the printer.

This is the reason why you should be wary of buying your wide-format printers or large-format printers from a cheap source. Many dealers that offer cheap specialized printers do not offer product support. They just deliver the product to you and you will not hear from them again.

Also, before you buy a wide-format printer or a large-format printer, make sure that the dealer or manufacturer you are getting it from has a decent return policy. This is your protection in case the printers are not working as they should.

This Article is written by John C Arkin from PrintCountry the contributor of PrintCountry Articles. More information on the subject is at PrintCountry, and related resources can be found at Printer Inks.

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Buying a New Printer on a Budget

Many computer packages that are sold in stores do not include a printer as some people do not need them or are not very fond of printing pages and photos on a daily basis; but as the computer gets more used often, those demands may change and your only hope would be to bring the files that you need to print on a storage media and head to a local shop that offers printing services for a small fee. It doesn't hurt to pay a small fee, but the expenses can quickly add up to an amount that is beyond the cost of a budget printer and ink cartridge.

Getting a budget printer is good if you don't plan on using the printer every day so that you can use it whenever you need to without going out of the house. However, it is not a good idea to blindly buy the cheapest printer you see in your local store without checking out the features. Follow this guide to ensure that you get the best possible printer for your budget so you won't need a replacement any time soon.

Find out what type of Budget Printer you need

All of the types of printers by top manufacturers have their own budget versions. If you are unsure on what type of printer to get or wish to use it for various purposes then a budget inkjet printer is your best bet. If printing speed is a concern, then laser printers are preferred. For printing photographers, there are plenty of budget photo printers to choose from as well. Even the old technology dot matrix printers have budget versions that are well suited for industrial environments. Don't forget the multifunction printers too because these printers may have scanning and copying functions attached to them.

Make a List of Needed Features

Some budget printers are more basic than others and it is a waste to go buy the most basic printer and then upgrade later when you find out that you need that feature. Making a list of needed features early helps you pick the right one for the long term future. Consider the paper sizes that you want supported as well as the desired print speed. If you need network or borderless printing features then add that to the list as well.

Compare Several Budget Printers that have the Features you need

Now that you have a complete list, you can start heading to your favourite local or online store and find low-cost printers that have the features that you need. Each printer should have its own specifications so it is just a matter of matching the specs with your list. You might find several printers that match what you need, but remember that your final decision should be within your budget. If you find several printers that have similar costs, do a background search on each and see which printer has the most positive comments.

From there you should be able to narrow down the right printer for your home or office. You can use it with confidence knowing that you purchased the right printer that will last for a long while.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For a wide range of printers and products by brand, he recommends Printware Ltd, a leading provider of Inkjet and Laser Printers.

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What to Look For When Buying a New Inkjet Printer

Having an inkjet printer in your home can make your life much easier. It is always nice to have an inkjet printer handy when you need to print something off, be it a document or a picture. There are a range of inkjet printers on the market. Choosing the one that is right for your needs can be a challenge if you have no idea what to look for.

There are many factors that you can consider when buying a new inkjet printer. Considering all the important factors will help you to find the printer that meets all your needs and that will serve its intended purpose. Some of the factors to consider include:

- cost of cartridges

- image quality

- print speed

You will notice that the cost of the printer itself is not included on this list. The reason for that is that the printer cost is a one time cost. Many people save up the money to buy a printer and most people will already have a price range in mind.

Ink cartridges range in price and the price of the cartridge is not comparable to the price of the printer. Some people believe that if they buy a low cost printer they are getting the best deal. However, this is not always true. Lower cost printers often use expensive cartridges. This is where the printer company makes their money. They get you to buy the printer, which is a one off purchase, for a reasonable price and then they get you with high cost cartridges, which you will buy multiple times. Always check out the price of the ink cartridge before making any printer purchase.

Image quality is very important. After all, you are buying the print so you can print off documents and other items that you will want to be able to read after printing. You do not want a poor quality print job. Fuzzy images, smeared letters and uneven printing can all bring down a printer's quality. You should always try to get a sample page printed from the printer before making your purchase so you can ensure good printer quality.

Print speed may be more important to some people than others. If you are not going to be printing large amounts of material then speed may not be that important to you. If you will be printing large amounts of materials then you should check into the speed of the printer before you make a purchase.

You may find other factors that are specifically important to you. These are just the three most common factors that people consider when buying a new inkjet printer. You should look over all the features of the printer and decide what features are important to you. When you shop smart by considering the different printer features and functions then you will be able to find the inkjet printer that meets your needs and you will end up getting the best value for your money.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For a wide range of printers and products by brand, he recommends Printware Ltd, a leading provider of Inkjet and Laser Printers.

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Why it is a Good Idea to Do Printer Reviews Before Buying One?

In today's world we cannot think of living without certain things. Science has blessed us with many items, like cell phones, PC and other devices. Can you live without your cell phone? We buy many devices and gadgets to fulfill our requirements. But we should be aware of certain things. Electronic devices may get damaged if proper care is not taken.

You may find it a total waste of money. To avoid such circumstance, you need to be aware of certain issues. So it is important that you read printer reviews before you buy one as that will ensure that you know the maintenance tips. You need to buy a printer after enough considerations. There are basically four types of printers - Dot Matrix, Thermal Transfer, Laser and Inkjet printer. You need to buy the one that can fulfill your requirement. Apart from that, you need to read laser printer reviews before selecting one. So, invest your hard earned money wisely.

The price of the printer can vary depending on its type, durability, performance, operation cost, specialty jobs, speed and initial cost. You need to check out these issues before purchasing any printer. HP printer reviews or dell printer reviews can help you choose between the models. A laser printer can serve your purpose, if you want to print in Black and White. They offer lower cost of operation, crisper text and faster print speed. An Inkjet is less expensive than the good one. But the cost of ink cartridges can be much higher. A B&W (Black and White) printer for office-home type use will give twenty to twenty-four pages / min and will run 300 to 500 dollar. For huge works, you can expect over 1,000 dollar and 30+ppm. 1200x1200 resolutions can also be achieved.

You can get crisper text with higher resolution. You need to decide what amount of work you will do in your printer. Depending on that, you should buy the printer. Ratings on the laser printers are given on its monthly volume. This is an important factor that you need to consider before buying any printer. For example, using a printer which is rated for ten thousand pages per month will be insufficient for you if you want to print twenty thousand pages a month.

Color laser printers are also used by many people. Now, color printers are available in affordable prices. They are used for business purpose. Many people like photo inkjet for printing photos. Thermal and Inkjet have smaller cartridges. It also runs quicker than the laser toner. For this reason, the price of printing each page is higher. It also has another great feature - the ability to print onto DVD/CD. Apart from that, its duty cycle is lesser than the laser. It is suitable for both office and residential printing purposes. For business purpose, B&W text is suitable. They are cost-effective. But their maintenance and operation cost is higher.

Dot Matrix printer is used by many people. These printers are mainly used for multi-part forms and invoicing. They are little noisy, as they are 'impact' printer. Some of these printers are really expensive.

There are so many types of printers that you may find it difficult to select one from a long list. You need to keep in mind certain points before opting for a printer.

1. You need to check the printer reviews before taking any definite decision. There are many sites that give printer reviews.

2. It is very essential to check the speed of the printer

3. You can also read the customer feedback on the printers. It will help you to find the right printer for you.

4. Before making a purchase decision, you need to know price of the replacement ink cartridges.

Know before you make a buy. At printcountry.com we offer our viewers reviews on almost all the printers available in the market. Read reviews on the printer reviews, inkjet printer reviews etc written by professional editors.

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Factors to Be Considered Before Buying a Laser Printer

There are several factors to be considered before choosing the right laser printer. So, it is wise to choose the one that caters one's needs. Nowadays, printers come in varied sizes and shapes ranging from the small compact desktop printers to large workgroup printers. Apart from these, printer resolution and speed specifications add on to the confusion of choosing the right one.

Before availing a printer, the basic requirements must have to be in consideration, as not all the printers have all configurations in them. The matter of printing- text, graphics or photos should be decided first, followed by choice of color or monochrome printing and the frequency or the workgroup-size the printer is going to be used, for there are heavy duty and light duty printers to choose from.

If the prints are primarily taken in black and white, then monochrome printers would be the best and the least expensive option, but taking color printouts occasionally can't be possible. Choosing a monochrome printer will save the time of printing and the cost of printing per page. Color printers are relatively of higher cost and are for printing graphics with high quality.

Functionality based choices can also be considered. Multifunctional printers with scanning, copying and faxing facilities are available apart from the standalone printers which perform only printing. The next criterion to be considered before choosing a printer is to check the availability of a duplex printing which will allow printing on both sides of the paper, thus reducing the cost. Auto duplex facility is preferable than the manual duplex printers (in which the papers are manually reinserted for the printing on the other side).Toner cartridges costs should also be considered before purchasing. It should also be checked whether separate toner and drum units are provided since if both are given in the same unit, both has to be changed even if the toner has to be replaced which can get costly.

The paper type that can be used for printing is also another consideration. Less expensive printers allows printing only on standard size and weight sheets. If that's all needed by the customer, then the less expensive printers will serve the need. If there is a demand for range of printing sheet sizes and weights, high potential printers can be opted which are expensive.

The quality of the output is based on the resolution which is the measure of number of dots present per inch (DPI). A DPI of 600x600 gives an acceptable resolution while the higher qualities for graphics can be attained with a 1200x1200 DPI printers. Higher the resolution, higher is the quality with higher cost. Printing speed is also an important factor to be considered. The print speed is the average number of pages that can be printed in one minute. The time taken to print the first fresh page varies from this average time and hence the printer's warm-up time should also be considered. The ability to print huge graphics depends on the RAM of the printer. Internal memory chips are present in the laser printers, the amount of which controls the printer's resolution and print speed. A laser printer with a 4 MB and a page rate of 20 PPM (pages per minute) will be sufficient for general use. Higher PPM printers can be opted for printing large graphics with high speed.

Network adaptability is the criterion to be considered when a single printer is to be utilized by more than one computer. So, a built in network connection facilities will help us to connect to office or home networks. An in-built wireless network card facility will help us in the Wi-Fi enabled network. Keeping these considerations in mind one can purchase a suitable printer to serve their needs.

Read exclusive reviews on latest Laser printers and compare prices on Brother, Samsung and Canon laser printers at Laser Printer Reviews website.

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Laser Printer Buying Guides

If you are looking to purchase laser printer, here are some features of laser printers which would be helpful to those who are purchasing laser printer or those who need information about laser printers.

Laser printers give the highest quality text and images among the printers. Laser printers got different model. Some of them are perfect for small businesses and home offices. Some reliable low-cost models are also available that are perfect for everyday personal printing.

Some of the features of Laser Printers are

Resolution, Quality, and Color: -

The standard resolution of leaser printer is 1200 dots per inch (dpi). For everyday printing, including small DTP jobs this type of laser printer is well-suited. But still some laser printers have a resolution of 300 dpi. Resolution enhancement technology is used in such laser printer with a resolution of 300 dpi because such printer causes rough edges on the images. RET are used to smooth the rough edges.

Color laser printers are more expensive as compared to black-and-white versions and require a great deal of printer memory to produce high-resolution images

Speed: -

As far as speed is concerned Lasers printer is the fastest among the printer. One can get full-color results as fast as 3 to 4 pages per minute (ppm), and black-and-white output as fast as 25 ppm. But it needs time to warm up the fuser to operating temperature when the printer is turn on. It generally takes 5 to 30 seconds to warm up the printer. But now laser printer with "instant on" fuser is available. This instant on fusers has been design to reduce the warm up time of a printer

Paper handling, size and capacity: -

Most laser printers use letter-size, cut-sheet paper. Supplementary paper trays or feeders can be added to increase the capacity.

Laser printers can print on a variety of papers sizes, types and weights, such as transparencies, labels and card stock. They can also handle non-traditional media like envelopes. But papers, such as iron-on transfers, are not suitable for laser printers, as the heat used in the transfer process could damage the paper and gum up your printer.

A laser printer with duplex printing can print on one side of the paper, then turn the paper over and print on the other side. Most laser printers, however, use the simpler manual duplex printing.

PCL or postscript:-

PCL - "Printer command language" is the standard printer language for HP's and most other laser printers. PCL is used for printing letters, database printouts, spreadsheets and simple graphics. A laser printer that uses only PCL can be upgraded to Postscript by installing a software driver provided by the manufacturer of the laser printer.

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Information On Selecting And Buying Computer Printers

This article attempts to answer some of these questions by running through the various types of printers out there. We'll cover both ink jet and laser printers, so read on and find out more about these two categories of products.

A selection of some computer printers

Ink Jet Printers

Ink jet printers are the slowest type of printer, but are also the most affordable. Ink jet technology shoots sprays of colored dyes through tiny holes in a print head onto pages, giving resolutions of up to 4800 by 1200 dots per inch. This makes them capable of print high-quality graphics and photos.

Here are some of the considerations to think about when buying an inkjet printer.

Print quality

Always try to print out a sample from the ink jet printer you intend to buy. Check that the printout does not smudge and gives good color tone.

Maximum print resolution

The maximum print resolution (the number of ink dots in a square inch of paper) is another factor to look out for. This is especially important if you're printing a lot of detailed graphics and photos.

Cost of Replacing a Cartridge

Remember that the ink in the printer is a consumable. Many manufacturers cash in on the replacement ink jet cartridges of ink jet printers. Before plunking down your cash, ask how much the replacement ink cartridges cost and how many pages each cartridge can print.

Monochrome Laser Printers

Monochrome laser printers are a necessity in the business world. They are now extremely cheap and affordable even for home users. Compared to ink jet printers, monochrome laser printers are faster and produce much better text quality. Also, the laser toner cartridges are cheaper to replace than ink jet cartridges. Let's look at the key factors to consider when buying a monochrome laser printer.

Printing Speed

The speed at which the laser printer can output full pages of text is a important consideration when you're looking for one. Always check this specification out before purchasing one.

Maximum print resolution

Similar to ink jet printers, the maximum print resolution is also a key consideration in monochrome laser printers. Pay attention to this specification if you're printing out a lot of graphics.

Paper tray capacity

Although not critical to home users, the paper tray capacity is important to corporate users of laser printers. In large offices where many employees share the same printer, it is vital that the printer can hold a lot of paper.

Color Laser Printers

Color laser printers are catching on recently with small business owners, with once sky-high prices coming down to reasonable levels. Color laser printers are useful for printing color brochures, photographs, or graphics. These printers are also prohibitively expensive - so if you're a home user, you'd most likely want to stay away from these. Let's look at the key factors to consider when buying a color laser printer.

Print speed

If you own a publishing business, printing a lot of graphics, then spending extra money on a fast color laser printer makes good sense. Usually, the less-expensive model print at a rate that is too slow for a business.

Print quality

Print quality is very important for business owners who need to print crisp, detailed graphics. Remember to check out sample prints from the color laser printer you intend to buy.

Maximum print resolution

Again, the maximum print resolution is also a key consideration in color laser printers. You need to consider this when buying such printers.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has shown you the differences between ink jet printers, monochrome laser printers and color laser printers. If you're out shopping for a printer, keep the above shopping tips in mind and you'll be able to pick a model that's just right for you.

Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site on building computers. Visit his website at Build-Your-Own-Computers.com for tips and tricks on assembling a PC, as well as buying good computer components.

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Buying HP Printer Cartridges

Are you looking for the best deal on HP Printer cartridges? When you get an HP printer, you know that you are getting the top of the line quality. HP makes many different types of printers, some that include scanners and copiers as well as photo printers. No matter what your printer needs, HP has a printer that is perfect for you.

One thing that is unique about HP Printer cartridges is that many of the printers offer single colors instead of all colors in one cartridge. This can work well for you if you tend to use one color in your printing more than others. For example, if you have a logo that has red ink in it and do a lot of printing with your logo, chances are that you will use up the magenta cartridge faster than the others. By giving you the option of changing just the magenta cartridge instead of all of the color cartridges, HP can save you money.

There are hundreds of different printers and models when it comes to Hewlett Packard. You have to be sure of the model number before you can find the best printer cartridges for your HP printer. Take a look at the manual that came with the printer or on the printer. You can also pull out one of the old cartridges and shop for cartridges using this number. Each cartridge on HP printers is numbered, making it easier for you to find the right printer cartridge for your printer.

By shopping online for HP printer cartridges, you can expect to save at least 20 percent or more from store prices. It makes more sense to shop online for these printer cartridges as you will not only save money, but be sure to get the right printer cartridges for your printer. If you have an older model HP printer, you may not find the cartridges for the printer in the store. Stores that sell printer cartridges often do not carry cartridges for older printers as they want you to get a new printer. When you have an HP printer, however, you have a quality instrument that does not need to be replaced often. Your HP printer can last as long as your computer.

Take a look at the online vendors before you order your HP printer cartridges and get an idea of the prices. You may want to order more than one cartridge so that you do not have to worry about running out. When you run out of ink with one cartridge, you can simply replace it with the other and order another cartridge.

If you have been using computer printers for years, you are probably surprised to see how much the cost of both the printers as well as the printer cartridges have dropped. Now, thanks to the internet and vendors who sell HP printer cartridges, you will be pleased to find that you can save more money when buying printer cartridges than ever before.

Amber works largely on PPC and guerilla marketing campaigns. However, she is quickly becoming an expert in online marketing for local merchants and small businesses. Originally from Seattle and currently a student at SDSU, Amber is heavily involved with her business fraternity, AKPsi. She is also a Libra. Visit http://www.pacificink.com for HP printer cartridges.

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A Guide To Buying A Consumer Printer On A Budget

Almost every home today makes use of a consumer printer for educational, personal, work or home business related reasons. Buying and maintaining a consumer printer can get to be rather expensive however it is possible to purchase a consumer printer and not have it take a huge bite out of your budget.

First of all when considering your consumer printer purchasing options think of exactly why you are needing to purchase a printer. Are you going to be needing a printer simply to print reports and other projects for school? Are you going to be printing things like new recipes or colouring pages for your children? Perhaps you are looking into an inkjet printer to print marketing materials for a brand new home business. Some consumers need a printer for a combination of these reasons. Once you have a good idea of why you need a new printer you will have a better idea of which type of printer will best meet your needs.

Purchasing replacement printer ink cartridges for your consumer printer can lead to be quite an expense so many consumers are turning to the option of compatible printer inks and inkjet refill kits. A quality compatible printer ink cartridge is often less of an expense then a ink cartridge made by a manufacturer. Most compatible printer inks offer exactly the same print quality (if not sometimes a little better) as manufacturer cartridges. Compatible printer inks are a smart money saving option for those looking to purchase a consumer printer on a budget.

Comparison shopping is a very smart idea for those looking to purchase a consumer printer on a budget. Do not feel compelled to buy the first printer that you come across. The internet is a plethora of great options for purchasing a new consumer printer. Ebay can be a great resource for those seeking a printer or printer supplies at a great price. There are also many great online stores that offer printers, ink cartridges and other printer supplies for very reasonable prices.

Another thing to consider if you are on a budget while shopping for a consumer printer is that while a more expensive printer may take a large portion of your budget it could save you money in the long run as a less expensive printer could be more expensive to maintain.

If an inkjet printer will let you change the ink tank it can save you more money than printers that require just the ink cartridge to be replaced. If you are buying a multifunction printer keep in mind that if for example the copier fails the other functions might not be that far behind. This could end up costing a consumer a lot of money so carefully research the printer you plan to purchase before making your final decision.

These are just a few great ideas for purchasing a printer if you happen to be budget. Making sure that you do your research and shop around will help you find a wonderful consumer printer at an even more wonderful price.

Carla Weaffer manages a business supplying Epson compatible printer inks [http://www.merseyinks.co.uk]. This article is brought to you in conjunction with Web Design Liverpool and UK Complementary and Alternative Therapies Directory [http://www.123-therapy.com]. It is free to republish within the boundaries of the terms and conditions of the source. The content and resource box must remain unchanged and all hyperlinks active.

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What You Need To Know When Buying A Printer

While at work, I help a lot of customers pick out a new printer. So in this article I will cover some of the most commonly asked questions I get. But... Before you go out looking for a new printer, here are some of the things you should ask yourself.

1. What are my printing needs? You really want to know what you'll be printing before choosing a printer. Some printers are more efficient for certain types of printing then are others. Some can be quite costly to maintain if all you are going to do is print out your homework.

2. How many pages per day, week, month will I print? Your printing volume is important. For example, if your print volume is high, you may want to consider a laser printer for long term cost savings.

3. Do I want to print photo's or just documents. While photo quality printers will print any document, it may be costly to do so in some printers, as the black ink cartridges often tend to be different prices, sometimes higher sometimes lower then the color.

4. Do I even need to print in color or just black and white? Small black and white laser printers have come way down in prices these days.

5. What type of paper will I want to use? (Cardstock, photo paper, mailing labels etc.) If you intend to print out greeting cards on cardstock, you need to go with a slightly higher end printer. Cheap printers can't handle that thickness of paper.

6. Does the printer I am replacing use a USB Cable or does it have a Parallel (big fat Plug)? Printers no longer come with the cables to hook them up to the computer.

7. It also helps to know the age of the computer you will be hooking it up to. If you are still using Windows 95, your pretty much out of luck and would be better off looking for a used printer on eBay, Windows 98, it's going to be hard. If you are using XP, your USB ports may still be out of date and need to be upgraded, at a cost of aprox $30 bucks for a USB 2.0 card and $30 for an install. (If you bought your computer in the last 3 years or so, you should be ok with this.) It can also be helpful if you know how much memory your computer has and how fast your processor is. This can be found out by going to the control panel on your start menu and clicking on the system icon.

Once you know this information, you are ready to go choose a printer. The first thing you will notice is that there are a lot of differences between printers.

Laser Printer vs. Inkjet

For the average home user an inkjet printer is adequate. Most people I deal with want to be able to print out the occasional photo from their digital camera and their documents. Some just want to print out their homework. An ink jet printer is great for this.

Laser printers are more designed around the needs of a business. They are more cost effective for higher volume printing. They do not use ink, instead they use a powdery substance called toner. Many are black and white only, and take a single toner cartridge, color laser printers take four toner cartridges, black, cyan, magenta and yellow.

Laser printers are usually a lower resolution print and are not considered photo quality. However they give a permanent bond, so if you intend to print out brochures, they are better done on a laser printer. If the paper gets wet, it can still be read, unlike an inkjet. A few of these such as Oki, use a waxed based toner which gives you a nice magazine quality glossy print, most however give a flat finish.

A toner cartridge can range in price from $50 on up. Although toner is usually more expensive per cartridge, page yields average 3000 to 5000 plus pages printed per cartridge. Inkjet cartridges get you between approximately 200 to 600 pages per cartridge. These page yields are usually based on printing text only at 5% page coverage.

Photo Printer vs. Document Printer

In the ink jets, there are differences between the two. This has mainly to do with the ink. There are two types, dye based inks, which are better for photo's, and pigment based inks which are better for documents. Some inks are chemically formulated to work with the manufacturers brand of photo paper, but most brands of photo paper will work with any printer. Hewlet Packard for example has put kind of a bar code on back of their photo paper which the printer reads, claiming a chemical bond with HP Photo Paper and therefore the fastest print.

Another difference is in the print heads (where the ink sprays out from). With Canon, Brother, Epson and some newer HP's, the print heads are actually a part of the machine. This requires regular printing, meaning at least a page a month (weekly would be better), otherwise the print heads could dry up, and then it can actually be cheaper to replace the printer, if the replacement print heads are even available. These printers are generally better for photo printing.

With Lexmark and most HP's the print head is a part of the cartridge. So when you replace the cartridge, you get a new print head. These tend to be better document printers, although they will print out good photo's the others tend to be better at it.

The market trend in home printers is pushing more towards photo quality. With print resolutions reaching 9600 DPI, (Dots Per Inch), you would never know the difference between a photograph printed from your printer vs. one that is printed out at your local photo shop. However, many of the new features of some of these printers can be confusing.

Features

Photo printers are coming with a range of new features including card readers and LCD screens. With this combination, you can take the card from your digital camera and put it in the printer. Your pictures then show up on the screen and you can print out the photo from that.

Picture bridge capabilities is another common feature. With this type of set up, you plug your picture bridge compatible camera into the printer and tell it to print the picture from the camera. Pretty much any name brand digital camera 2 to 3 years old will have this capibility.

All in One machines, can print, copy, scan and some even have fax capabilities. To fax you plug a phone line into the printer. Many of these may not work properly with older computers because of the outdated USB ports.

Some printers are network ready. You can plug them into a router and print from any computer on the network. Others can be used in a network with a print server.

Attachments

Although most printers come with a set of cartridges, these are usually starter cartridges. This first set has about half to a third of the ink in a new set of cartridges. So the sales person will try to talk you into buying a set of cartridges.

You will also need to buy a USB cable to hook the printer up. Although older printers came with a parallel cable to hook up to the computer, these cables are outdated. So you may also have to be prepared to buy a cable.

Patrick Rafferty is webmaster for http://www.specialtysites24-7.com And is otherwise known as the Blogmaster for http://www.VoodooWhoDo.com

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Printer Buying Guide

Printers are essential peripherals, performing a critical role as they render electronic information into tangible records or material output. You're simply not using your computer to its fullest potential if you are unable to print reports, presentations, letters, photos, or whatever it is you need to output. Choosing a printer can be confusing, however, in today's competitive, ever-changing landscape. This buying guide rounds out some of the more important criteria to consider before you make that all-important purchase decision.

Printing Technologies

This is the biggest decision to make before anything else. Your choice should be based on how you work and the kind of output you will be expecting from the printer.

o Inkjet: Inkjet printers can deliver stunning color, so this is the way to go if you are mostly concerned with printing photos. Inkjets can be used for printing text, but the print speed is too slow if the primary purpose of the printer is document printing. To obtain more photo-realism, choose inkjets with an expanded range of colors that includes light cyan and light magenta in addition to the standard four-color CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). The extra colors deliver more subtle color gradations in blue skies and skin tones. And if you print a great deal of black-and-white photos, consider photo printers with more than one variation of black ink or with gray inks. Many photo printers use color inks to produce a composite black, resulting in a muddy tint. A second black-ink cartridge and different shades of gray help maintain a neutral tone, with the gray ink allowing for subtle shading and thus improving the quality of black-and-white photos.

o Dye-sublimation: Dye-sub printers can print continuous tones and a superior range of colors that laser printers are unable to, making them ideal for more demanding graphic applications or color printing. Dye-sub prints are also less prone to fading and distortion over time than dye-based ink prints. In addition, many consumer-based dye-sublimation printers can print directly from digital cameras and also accept memory cards. They are, however, more limited in the range and size of printing media that can be used -- usually letter-size paper or smaller.

o Laser: Laser printers are the perfect choice if you need to print large amounts of text documents. They print faster than inkjets and have a lower cost of operation over the long-term -- even though they may cost more to buy initially. There are trade-offs, however. Monochrome laser printers produce crisp black-and-white text but cannot be used for color printing. Color lasers deliver excellent text and graphics but are much more expensive and can be costly to maintain.

Printer Usage

Some printers are good for general printing, while others are better at specialized tasks or combine several functions into one machine.

o Photo: If you take lots of pictures, consider getting a photo printer. Photo printers can be in the form of photo inkjets -- which can print both photos and text; snapshot photo printers -- for outputting small 4x6-inch prints; or professional photo printers -- for large, tabloid-size photos and often including network connections to enable printer sharing. Most consumer and professional photo printers use inkjet technology, while most snapshot photo printers that print 4x6-inch prints rely on dye-sublimation technology. Regardless of the type or technology that is used, the most important thing to look for in a photo printer is photorealistic quality. Everything else is secondary.

o General Purpose: As the name implies, general purpose printers can be used for printing almost anything, including text and photos. Choose a general printer with a laser format if you print more text than photos; and choose an inkjet format if you print more photos than text.

o Multifunction: Multifunction printers (MFPs) combine in one device several functions such as printing, scanning, faxing, and copying. MFPs cost less than buying separate stand-alone devices and cut down on the hassle of setting up individual machines. If you are strapped for budget or space, consider these all-in-one devices. Take note, however, that a malfunction with one component takes down the whole device, and individual components may not be upgradeable. MFPs are available with either laser printers to emphasize speedy text printing and the occasional graphics output; or they are available with inkjet printers for vibrant photo printing.

Environment and Applications

When deciding on a printer, think about where and how you plan to use it. The home user will have different printing needs from that of the office worker, photographer, or traveler.

o General/Basic home use: Versatile, affordable printers are the best choices here, and inkjets usually satisfy the printing needs of most home users looking to output photos from their digital camera or for other light printing needs. Ink cartridges can be expensive, so look for inkjets with separate cartridges for each color. This way, you need not throw out entire cartridges -- simply because one color has been used up ahead of the others -- but replace only the ones that run out.

o Home office: An MFP may be a great device to have in your home office, especially if it comes with an automatic document feeder that can process multipage documents unattended. Extra onboard memory increases efficiency and allows for processing of larger graphics and documents with ease. And if scanning and photocopying are important to you, get an MFP with a higher resolution.

o Photography: Photo printers are the obvious choice if printing photos is your main thing. Choose either the smaller, snapshot photo printer that produces 4x6-inch prints; or choose larger-sized, professional photo printers that are capable of delivering tabloid-size 11x17-inch prints -- even up to full-bleed 13x19-inch prints that include a border to allow room for registration marks.

o Text printing: If printing large amounts of text is what you'll be doing most, monochrome standard laser printers are your best bet -- as they can turn out page after page of crisp text fairly rapidly. These printers are ideal for printing black-and-white text and simple graphics, so you may need to get a separate inkjet or photo printer in order to print color photos - unless you wish to invest in the more expensive color lasers that can print both black-and-white and color documents.

o Small network: A workgroup laser printer can be what you need if your home office or small office is built around a network. Workgroup lasers pack faster print speeds and have more memory to handle multiple print jobs. They also offer more advanced handling capabilities such as larger trays, and may offer duplex (double-sided) printing, sorting, and stapling. More expensive than standard laser printers, the majority of workgroup lasers are monochrome -- designed for printing text and simple graphics.

o Traveler: For the businessperson on the go and looking to print, portable printers provide the solution with their compact size (small enough to fit into a briefcase), light weight (less than 5 lbs.), and handy power (operates on batteries or with a car charger). Newer models can print wirelessly -- making it a non-issue if you forget your USB cable at home. Some portables offer great extras such as a sheet feeder for automatic page feeding, are able to handle transparencies and envelopes, and even support an optional scanner cartridge that replaces the ink cartridge and turns the printer into a scanner. Portable printers are more expensive and print more slowly than standard printers, but convenience is what you're paying for.

PC-free printing

With something called PictBridge support, photo printers do not need to be connected to PCs to be able to print photos. PictBridge is a standard adopted by manufacturers of printers and digital cameras for PC-free printing, allowing photos to be printed straight from the digital camera to the printer by simply connecting them through a USB cable -- as long as the printer and digital camera are compatible. A variation to this idea is the ability for printers to read memory cards directly from a digital camera or other image-storing device by simply inserting the cards into designated printer slots.

Once the camera is connected to or the card is inserted into the printer, photos can be reviewed in a number of ways, depending on the printer model. Some may feature a built-in LCD screen that allows shots to be reviewed, edits to be made, and the ones to be printed chosen directly from the screen. Other models may let you create an index sheet -- similar to a contact sheet in film printing -- so you can mark the ones you choose for printing and rescan the sheet. Other printer models let you decide which shots you want to print straight from the digital camera. Many types of memory cards are available on the market today, so make sure the printer accepts the kind used by your camera for you to enjoy card-direct printing of photos.

Paper Handling

Paper is obviously an important issue in printing. Here are some important tips on paper handling for printers:

o When buying a printer, make sure that it's equipped to accommodate all the paper sizes and types that you'll be using. If you need to print on heavy stock, for instance, make sure the printer can handle the heaviest paper you use. For this purpose, a printer's paper path can give an indication of how it handles paper: Inkjets generally use straight-through paper paths, while lasers use S-shaped or U-shaped paths. Generally speaking, the straighter the path, the thicker the media that can be used. However, the curved paths typical of laser printers also makes it possible to have more flexible configurations for input and output trays.

o Using the correct type of paper will also make a difference to your printing. Inkjets can print on a variety of matte or glossy photo paper, but make sure you choose the right kind of paper for your printer to obtain optimal print results. For example, matte papers are suitable for both pigment and dye-based inks, while luster finishes are generally more suitable for dye-based inks.

o In terms of size, most inkjets and lasers can handle printing of letter and legal sizes. If you need to print larger prints, however, consider a printer that can handle sizes like 11 by 17 inches. You may also consider getting a printer with multiple paper drawers if you'll be switching between different paper sizes on a regular basis. For a laser printer, multiple output trays, duplexing (double-sided printing), collating, and automatic stapling can be additional useful features.

o If you plan to use third-party paper, make sure it works well with your printer. Before you buy a large quantity of third-party paper, try a few samples by printing the same photos on both the printer manufacturer's paper and the third-party paper, and then compare the results.

Printer Specs and Key Features

Printers feature various specifications, so navigating the spec sheet intelligently requires familiarity with what each specification entails according to the printing technology involved or for the type of usage planned for the printer.

o Resolution: For laser printers, 300 dpi is adequate if all you need is to print black-and-white text, but choose at least 1200 dpi for photorealistic grayscale or color printing. For inkjets, choose one featuring 1200-dpi or higher resolution with a droplet size of 4 picoliters or smaller for sharp, clean output. With photo printers, resolution varies according to technology: Output at 300 dpi by photo printers using dye-sublimation technology is comparable to photo printers using inkjet technology outputting at 1200 dpi or higher.

o Speed: Speed ratings vary greatly, and the print speeds cited by manufacturers usually refer to printing in draft mode or at the lowest resolution. For laser printers, a more accurate way of measuring actual print speed is to time just how long it takes from the minute you hit "Print" -- to the time that it takes the printer to warm up, spool the job into the print queue, and for the printed output to finally come out. For inkjets, print speed is not one of its stronger suits; so don't be overly concerned with this spec.

o Memory: Extra memory will come in handy for laser printers to enable them to handle large graphics and documents more easily. Check the maximum upgradeable memory allowed for your printer, if it features a hard drive with similarly upgradeable memory, and if the printer can use generic memory or needs the manufacturer's brand. In the case of inkjets, memory is built-in and not upgradeable, but this is not an issue inasmuch as processing occurs on the side of the computer -- so there's no need for large amounts of installed RAM to begin with on inkjets.

o Connectivity: Most printers today no longer support the older parallel connection but feature instead USB 1.1 or Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) -- either of which should work fine with USB computers. For printers to be used on a network, it will need to have an Ethernet port to enable printer sharing. For more flexible printing options, you may want to look for printers with infrared input/output ports that allow wireless printing from notebooks or other devices with infrared ports. And if high-speed or long-distance printing is what you need, consider printers with a FireWire port.

Consumables and cost per page

The purchase price of the printer is just the beginning of its overall cost because over time, the hidden cost of ink or toner, paper, and parts will add up. These "hidden costs" are the consumables; dividing the total cost of consumables by the number of pages that can be produced from the consumables gives you the cost per page. Laser printers offer the lowest cost per page, using relatively inexpensive toner and normal-weight, uncoated paper. On the other hand, cost per page for inkjets can be four or five times as much, depending on how much ink you use and the cost of the paper -- normally more expensive, coated, glossy paper for higher-quality color output. The tank configuration for inkjets should also be taken into consideration. Inkjets with a single cartridge for the colored inks will incur higher replacement costs because the cartridge must be replaced as soon as one color runs out -- even if the cartridge still contains plenty of ink for the other colors. To save costs, get an inkjet with separate cartridges for black and each individual color.

Print Quality

All the specs and fancy features in your printer won't mean a thing if you don't have good, solid print quality -- whether of text or photos -- to back it up.

o Text: Text should be smooth and crisp. At the smallest font sizes, the individual letters should be clearly readable, and they should not bleed into one another. Medium-size fonts should have no fuzzy edges, and the largest fonts -- especially bold ones -- should be filled with solid black, not a muddy brown or bluish tone. You should also be able to see well-formed and well-rounded counters (the openings) in letterforms; if you don't, it's usually a sign of the printer laying down too much ink. (Remember, however, that inkjet printers will display some wicking on plain, 20-lb. paper, as the ink bleeds along the paper fibers.)

o Graphics: For color printing, look for gradients -- or areas where a color goes from dark to light. Color should transition smoothly, and you should not see any color banding, where distinct bands progress from dark to light. On a test page, you will likely see a gradient bar that goes from black to white through a series of progressively darker gray shades; the transition from shade to shade should be smooth without a noticeable line. Also, look for a nice balance of colors in color-graphic printing -- something that's not overly saturated nor flat and washed out.

o Photo: A good photo print should like the original photo. Colors should be accurate and balanced, vivid but not oversaturated. Good detail should be present in all areas, with no jagged lines or pixels or any other visual artifacts. Good contrast should exist between shadow and highlight areas -- not muddy or flat and without color. You may not always be able to tell the difference from one great print to another, but almost everyone can recognize a bad print when they see one. Trust what you see.

Microtek Lab Inc. is a consumer electronics company focused on scanners, plasma and lcd televisions, digital projectors, lcd monitors, digital cameras, home theatre equipment, and accessories. You can view their online store at [http://www.store.microtek.com]

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Guide to Buying a New printer

One of the more perplexing decisions when faced with choosing a new printer is which print technology is going to suit you best. At the moment there are two main printing systems: the laser technology, using toner cartridges and a transfer drum assembly; and ink jets using ink tank cartridges and fine-spray nozzles. The method that will suit you best will depend largely on what you plan to print on your new printer, and cost factors that affect the costs of running it. Laser printers are possibly better for high-volume printing, with lower 'per page' costs and they better black intensity text than most ink jets. Laser printers tend to have a faster page rate but ink jets still offer the important advantages in affordable colour printing.

For home use, you'll probably want to print out digital photos or graphics, which makes colour a must. The traditional differentiation between lasers and ink jets has been office versus home use; however, colour offers obvious presentation advantages for business use as well. Fortunately, prices for both categories of printers have come down enough to make it practical to purchase both a laser and an ink jet if you absolutely need both colour and high-quality text.

The work you do

There are a number of different printer configurations available today, many of them quite specialised in the applications. There are specialised photo printers, direct disc CD printers, Multifunction printers, desktop ink jets and high-speed lasers.

If you want a printer that is specifically designed for printing photographs, you will most likely look for a colour ink-jet system that is a photo printer, allowing very high quality colour output and capable of printing all the way to the edge of the page. Recent releases by major brands now include all-in-one Multifunction devices that include scanning and printing capabilities. Many smaller units that are designed purely as a photo-printer to plug directly into your digital camera are also available. Much the same can be said for CD or DVD printing, with specialist printers available for printing directly onto discs, saving label application.

On the other hand if you are a small home-office worker, then your requirements may be more general, in which case you need to make a printer decision based on the types of documents your produce and how many. In general terms, ink-jet printers offer high quality colour outputs at a low hardware cost, but high consumable cost. Lasers offer significantly higher speeds but at a much higher hardware cost. High volume usage however, reduces the cost per page considerably.

Multifunction printers (MFP) are often ideal for home office or student needs because they combine multiple functions into one unit, usually a scanner, printer, copier fax machine, doing a little bit of everything, and saving considerable desk and office space in the bargain. Generally ink-jet style printers, some MFP may trade-off performance for price and convenience (e.g. lower resolution, slower print speed) than if you were to buy a printer and scanner individually.

You can buy Multifunction printers specially configured for printing photographs, with some machines providing the ability to scan directly from 35mm slides and store digital files and print them, which is ideal for archiving old photo libraries. However, the scanned images may not exhibit the same clarity and brightness of digitally capture photographs, or as the kind of quality that you can obtain from a deidcated scanner. Search Myshopping.com.au for the specifications you require and compare prices and performance between brands and technologies.

Dealing with Technical Talk

One of the specifications that you will be faced with, is that of resolution. Up to a point, a printer's resolution determines aspects of its print quality. Images are made up of tiny dots of ink or toner that is applied to the page, and resolution is the term given to the number of dots per inch-quoted as dpi. This usually represented in a two-dimensional matrix (eg: 600 x 300 dpi). Most printers today support a basic 600 x 600 dpi resolution that produces adequate quality in most instances. Many ink jets, however, especially photo printers and high-end plotters, offer higher resolutions and more dots in the vertical plane than the horizontal.

Resolution ratings are not the whole story however. Many printer manufacturers now incorporate smoothing and enhancing features through software algorithms. This means that some output from printers with a lower dpi looks just as good as that from a higher dpi unit. And, although some printers have very high resolutions, you're not likely to notice any difference in quality with common print jobs once you go above 600 x 600 dpi resolution. What you will notice however, is much higher consumption of inks or toner. It is noteworthy, and perhaps obvious to some, that the higher resolution you are printing at, the higher will be your consumable consumption, and this is the most expensive part of your printer.

Speed is another important consideration. Vary rarely will you find that your printer performs at the 'pages-per-minute' rate (ppm) that is advertised or cited in the specification. There are a number of reasons for this including the size of the file being printed, the amount of ink coverage on the page, the proportion of black to other colours, the weight of the paper stock and possibly even the constancy of the power supply of electricity to your premises. This is not to day that the manufacturers, under laboratory conditions are not able to make the machine perform at spec, just not to rely on the claim as a gospel figure. However you can use the speed ratings to make some judgement of performance differences between brands and models. If speed is an important consideration, then you can short-list printers that claim to perform above a certain rate and the compare other factors. You can do this at Myshopping.com.au simply by searching for printers that offer a certain ppm speed.

Laser printers use powder toner that is electromagnetically attracted to the page by an image temporarily made on a transfer drum through a laser scanning process, and then fused to the page with a heat-setting system. This toner is supplied in cartridges, usually one for each of a four-colour printing system (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Manufactures give some estimate of how many pages of a given size each toner cartridge will print, based on a predetermined proportion of coverage (say 10%). As with the speed claims, these estimates are rarely accurate, but can be used to make some judgement between makes and models. The higher resolution of image you are printing, the more toner will be used in the process. Ink jet printers use a liquid ink stored in tanks that are sprayed by very fine nozzles onto the page as they are required. Just as you replace the toner cartridges in the laser system, you replace ink tanks when they're depleted in an ink jet printer.

It is important to understand that even thought the printer might be cheap, consumables is where the manufacturers actually make enormous profits, so be sure to consider replacement consumables when doing your cost comparisons. With ink jet printers, some have colour cartridges in one unit, others have separate colour units. In the long run, separate tanks will most likely work out cheaper, because as one colour runs out, you replace only that colour. When all colours are housed in the one cartridge unit, you may have a nearly full tank of cyan when the yellow is completely gone, and you have to throw away unused ink. Not only does this waste your money, it can also be environmentally expensive.

Cost

There are two parts to your cost assessment of a printer. The first is the purchase price of the printer itself. This can vary considerably between brands and models, and is usually differentiated through different features being offered. Use Myshopping.com.au to search for a printer based on a given price range and compare the features. However, possibly more important is the ongoing cost, often measured in cost per page. A typical ink jet printer may cost you 40-50 cents per printed page, depending on how much ink you are using on the page, it may even cost more. By comparison, a colour laser may work out to 15-20 cents per page. These costs don't usually include the paper stock, and are based on consumables and maintenance costs. Companies like Xerox often supply large colour Laser printers for a cost per page fee.

One cost assessment technique is to estimate how much printing you will do in a given period, load your calculations with a percentage of ink coverage (if you are printing all full gloss and high resolution photographs, for example, you might load the cost per page by a factor of 8-10), factor in the machine cost and make a comparison of what you will spend in a year, including the cost of the printer.

Other things you might consider

How paper travels through a printer can affect your whole printer experience. The closest you can get to a 'straight through' paper path, the more trouble-free your printer will be. If all your printing is only on plain white bond paper, then paper path will possibly not be a major consideration. But if you're printing on photographic stock, thick paper, envelopes, transparent film or other materials, then be sure the print path is compatible with your requirements. How you connect to your computer might also be a consideration, especially if you work with large files where connection speed is a consideration. Most printers today offer relatively high-speed USB interfaces. But you might want to consider wireless connections or networking capabilities.

When choosing a Laser printer, on-board RAM (read only memory) might be a consideration. A printer with a standard 64 Megabytes of RAM will be slow to print a quantity of documents that are larger in size than the printer's memory. If large documents are a consideration, make sure you can upgrade the printer's memory. The printer driver provides the software interface to your printer, offering you on-screen control over copies, page size, orientation, resolution, text smoothing and paper thickness and type. Many drivers now include advanced features and enable you to create your own custom-setting profiles for quick selection. Moreover a good driver provides complete printer management from on-screen, including paper jams and job queue management. Ink-jet drivers often provide graphical indications of remaining ink levels for each colour.

Search using Myshopping.com.au

Consider any bundled software offerings when you're choosing a printer, for this can mean a significant bonus in value-added software. Bundled applications might include greeting card, poster, and banner creators, and photo editing programs. With computing becoming a major component of education, software for kids that provide a user-friendly way to create word processing and graphics documents can be a major bonus. Space may be an issue in your office, in which case you should consider the amount of space the printer will need to operate efficiently. This is often more than just its footprint. You need to also consider access to paper trays and airflow around the machine. While basic printer configurations may be fine for your immediate needs, take a look at the options available and their costs for each unit before you buy. You may see future applications. This is easy to do using Myshopping.com.au where you can simply compare types of technology, prices, vendors and the options each one offers.

Andrew Gates for comparison online shopping service MyShopping.com.au. MyShopping.com.au helps you compare the different value offers from different brands in terms of specifications and accessories. You can also compare prices from hundreds of different brands and vendors.

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CD Printers - 5 Tips to Use When Buying a CD Printer - Part 1

There are many factors to consider when making a decision on which CD printer to purchase for your business. This article will touch on a few of the basics like choosing the right printer manufacturer, cost of CD printers, inkjet or thermal, productivity, speed and durability. Part 2 of this article will dig in deeper on the basic criteria listed above as well as on more advanced points like print quality, color matching, unique printing on each disc, total cost of ownership, used DVD / CD printers and buying from a reputable dealer.

For the purposes of this article I'm focusing on just DVD / CD printers, not duplicators with printers that can print and/or copy CDs and DVDs at the same time. I will save that topic for a future article.

The goal of this article is to give you a basis for making the best decision when purchasing a CD printer so you get it right the first time. In this economy, you can't afford to make the mistake of buying the wrong printer for your CDs and DVDs. Spending money on the wrong CD / DVD printer for your needs and wasting time figuring it out is both frustrating and a misuse of your company's resources.

The research for this article was acquired over 13 years of selling, using, testing, supporting, and repairing CD and DVD printers. My experience is with mid-level and high-end professional disc printers, so these tips may not be relevant for potential purchasers of entry-level hand feed on-disc printers that sell for $300 or less. Sub $300 disc printers clearly have a niche, but for professional CD printing needs they tend to have high consumable costs, poor technical support, slow print speeds and in many cases poor print quality.

Tip #1 - Start with the Big 3 Manufacturers

Rimage, Microboards and Primera have been in the CD printer and duplicator manufacturing business since it's infancy. In my estimation they have over an 80% market share of the CD / DVD printers sold in the world. The "Big 3" are the leaders in their respective print technologies and offer the most stability in the disc printer marketplace. These three manufacturers are in a better position to be in business and support you than their less stable competitors in the coming months and years. They also have proven technical support and post-warranty support that is superior to the other manufacturers in the CD / DVD duplication and printing market.

Tip #2 - Cost of the CD / DVD printer - Inkjet or Thermal

Costs vary widely, but the main defining points are the type of print engine technology employed in the printer - inkjet or thermal transfer, and whether or not the CD printing system is manual or automated. Inkjet based CD / DVD printers are less expensive than thermal transfer CD printers. A good automated inkjet printer costs $2500, while a good color thermal transfer CD printer costs $8500 or more. Disc capacity and software features also play a role in cost. Part 2 of this article will dive in deeper on the pros and cons of inkjet and thermal based printers.

Tip #3 - Automated or Manual?

Choosing between a printer that you manually hand feed the CDs or DVDs, or picking a automated CD printer with a robotic arm or mechanism that moves and prints the discs for you is a big decision in regards to upfront costs, labor, and productivity. Good hand-fed manual disc printers start at $699, whereas an entry-level automated CD printer with a 20-disc capacity costs about $999. Larger and faster automated systems that hold as many as 300-discs can cost up to $9500. So how do you decide which is best for you?

First, estimate the number of discs you will need to print per week, per month and per year. Factor in any growth in that number quarter over quarter or year over year. I have found that many organizations under-estimate their usage projections because they fail to take into account that other departments or employees will need the services of the new CD printer as well. Second, determine if you will have intense peak periods of CD or DVD production. Many organizations need to produce discs only 1 once a week or month, but need all 100 or 500 in a few hours or just one day. Third, determine what is the value of your time. Do you have the time to put each disc in the printer by hand, or is your time or that of your employee better spent doing something else?

Tip #4 - Speed

A question I get over and over again is how many discs per hour or day can a CD printer print? The speed at which a CD or DVD is printed depends on a few factors. (1) Print coverage, (2) the resolution chosen in the printer driver, and (3) the actual printer itself. For example, an inkjet printer that prints a CD label with a small color logo, just a few lines of text, with the print driver set at a lower resolution, can print 200 CD's per hour. That same printer may only have a print throughput of 50 CD's an hour with a full color edge-to-edge graphic and the print driver set to the highest resolution.

To a lesser degree the same holds true for thermal CD printers. The Rimage Prism thermal CD printer will have greater throughput with less print coverage, but will not suffer as drastic a drop off in throughput while printing a graphic with more print coverage like inkjet printers do. Interestingly, the Rimage Everest thermal printer has the same disc per hour throughput with one line of text in the graphic label as another artwork featuring 100% print coverage. The Rimage Everest III and Everest 600 printers will each print about 65 discs per hour regardless of print coverage.

Tip # 5 - CD Printer Durability

Generally disc printers that are made out of plastic are less durable than those made out of metal. Most inkjet printers that I have used and tested over the years are made mostly of plastic components whereas most of the thermal printers are made from metal parts. That being said we have had good success and our customers have had success with Primera and Microboards inkjet printers with an average useful in-service life of 3-5 years depending on how the users treat them. We have some Rimage Prism thermal printers in our CD / DVD production room that are well into their 10th year of service. As a footnote, these thermal and inkjet CD printers have had scheduled cleanings and parts replacement over the years.

In Conclusion

Begin your DVD CD printer research with the three major manufacturers - Rimage, Microboards, and Primera. Forecast your daily, monthly and yearly CD and DVD printing needs and determine whether a manual or automated printer makes more sense. Look at both inkjet and thermal options, while keeping in mind your budget and how long you would like the CD printer to last. If you do not have the budget for the CD printer that best fits your needs, try looking for a good used printer or you may find that outsourcing your CD and DVD duplication and printing to a professional service company makes more business sense.

After 13 years of providing CD and DVD Printing and Duplication Service and CD Printer and Duplicator equipment sales and consulting, Kevin Gabrik has amassed a wealth of information on what works best in many different CD / DVD production scenarios. Get more information by visiting http://www.techwaredist.com This article may be freely distributed electronically or in print as long as you leave the article title, author name, body and resource box in tact (meaning NO changes) with the links made active.

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Office Printers Buying Guide

Are you planning to buy a printer? Well, the selection of a right is not easy as there are many types of printers available with different specifications depending on different printing needs. This article will discuss various technical aspects and other factors to consider while buying a printer.

Evaluate your printing needs: Every organization has different needs for printing. Before buying a printer, you should analyze your needs and answer some questions - Do you need a printer just to print text, graphics printing or both? Need to print documents in large or small volumes? What is the priority - the quality or quantity? Do you need a printer that is shared by a working group or do you need for home users? Need a color printer or black and white printer? What is your budget? Once you are well versed with their needs, next door, you must upgrade the technical aspects of a printer.

Printer types: The market is packed with various types of bar code printers, such as printers, scanners and Med-matrix printers, label printers, laser printers and ink jet printers. The latter company is the multifunction printer. For printing text documents, inkjet printers and dot matrix printers are an appropriate option. For printing graphics and images, color laser printers make the best choice. Printing large number of documents that directly affect the speed and cost of printing. Again, if you need to print large volumes, but the quality is not a problem - for example, retail stores that need money to print the notes, etc. - dot matrix printers are the best option. However, if you're looking for then the quality of laser printers are adequate. Multifunction printers or All-In-One printer can print, scan and fax too. They are very cheap and suitable for any office

Resolution: The quality and clarity of printing depends on the resolution of the printer. Top of the dpi (dots per inch) for the best printing quality. A monochrome laser printer, which normally has a resolution of 600 by 600 dpi to 1200 by 1200 dpi while a color printer has a low range of resolution 1200 by 600 dpi to 2400 by 1200 dpi. High-end laser printers to give you the best resolution is that between 2400 by 1200 dpi to 2400 by 2400 dpi. If your work requires professional ultra bright, clear printing of text and graphics, you should opt for a high resolution printer.

Speed: The speed of a printer is measured by the number of printed pages per minute (ppm). Inkjet and laser printers have three levels of quality, that is, the project settings, normal and best. Print speed is on the decrease with the increase in the level of quality. A reasonably priced ink-jet printer has a speed of approximately 28 ppm for black text and about 20 ppm for color graphics. A typical color laser printer in the other party has a speed of between 6-20 ppm for black text and 12 ppm for color graphics.

Paper Handling: In general all printers have the ability to print on standard paper, with letter and legal sizes. Most printers have personal input and output paper trays for paper handling facility. Paper-handling capabilities of inkjet printers is lower than laser printers. Purchase of inkjet printers by reloading the paper tray with more frequency than in a laser printer. High-end printers have a better paper handling and have an available option for both sides printing and printing on tabloid-sized papers too. If your need for printing is above average, to buy printers that have high capacity for handling paper and verify that the printer should print without bending or folding the sheet.

Report: High-capacity memory helps to increase the speed of the printer and it is very beneficial to the needs of printing graphics. If you are planning to change your printer with a printer of high memory, review your current printer for memory expansion. Some printers have the option to upgrade the memory. It is advisable to buy everything in one printer with large memory capacity and greater functionality.

Connectivity and compatibility: Buy a printer that is compatible with your system. Also check that the printer has software that matches your network if you plan to install a printer from working. Buy printers that have a USB port so that they can be easily connected. USB 2.0 connectivity provides faster than USB 1.1 port. To fulfill their needs for network printing, it is necessary to have an Ethernet port.

Compare prices: Review and compare prices before buying a printer. Calculate the gross expenditure, which includes cost of the printer, the cost of packing and shipping cost. Often dealers add hidden fees to the cost of the printer after you place the order. Compare the cost with other vendors before making the final agreement. To meet their printing needs in its budget, buy multifunction printer that meet their need for a scanner, fax and printer.

Buy online: for the safety of the printer shopping online, be sure to ask everything regarding mode of payment services, technical support, warranties, guarantees, shipping policy, private and the policy of return policy . Buy only reliable printers distributors to make sure you are buying genuine high-quality printers and not the duplicate ones.

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In-Depth Printer Buying Guide

Working in Printer Consumable retailing, you would think that the majority of questions we receive would loosely revolve around "Which Ink should I use?", or "What cartridges will give me the best printing results?" If you find yourself agreeing with that statement, then come and keep me company in the I-was-wrong-corner. That's right. The number one topic of conversation we find is "What printer do you recommend?" Whether they're buying a new one themselves, or searching for a business contact, or just one of those people that really - REALLY - wants to be up to date with the top technology information, we get asked non-stop.

Whilst the temptation would be to fulfil our capitalist desires, recommend the printers which provide us with the highest margins and be done with it, amassing an untouchable army of customers utilising Printer-X to their own cost along the way (mwahaha), this is not how we do business. In fact, quite the opposite. We believe that our experience in the cartridges field, coupled with the fact we are not involved in the retailing of printers, leaves us in a prominent unbiased position for recommendations.

Whilst the following is not intended to denigrate or damage any manufacturer's reputation, it is our honest opinion which will hopefully lead you in your printer browsing task.

So, capitalist army-building aside, the actual question - What printer do we recommend? I wish I could put a single printer here, an all encompassing beast of a machine that excelled in anything you ever needed, and even did your Monday morning emails for you. But alas, my dreams are yet to reach fruition. The ideal printer for you is going to depend on a range of factors, which we will discuss and find out.

Firstly - what will you be using the printer for?

Now, stop your laughing at me for one moment, I know 99% of you read that and thought "Well, for Printing, idiot", and I accept your mocking tones and counter with:

o Purely for home use - letters, kids homework, neighbourhood watch pamphlets

o Quality printing, whether it is photos or image intense documents

o Small office use - mainly business documents on a reasonable scale

o Larger business use - high speed documents

Aha! Not as simple as you thought is it. Whilst you decide which of these areas you fit into, I will cheerily carry on with this article, thinking of my next way to stump you.

I'm a home printer:

Now that you've got that truth out in the open, and can move on with your life as a computer hardware (I'm a funny man), this category of printer means you need to focus on ease of use and cost. You don't want to be spending £'s each time your child prints a new spell-checked version of their homework, or you try out the new letterhead for your family Christmas letter X number of times. I shall start with the short and sweet part of this section:

AVOID - Old Hp and Lexmark printers, and Dell altogether

Now just imagine me shouting that at you, possibly accompanied by violent shaking, and you should get the sincerity of the warning. Just don't buy them. These manufacturers use an ink cartridge with a built in head, with all 3 different colours placed within this single cartridge. When one colour runs out, the cartridge is finished. Finish all your magenta printing, as who doesn't love red everywhere, and wave goodbye to any cyan and yellow you had stored away for a rainy day. This obviously means much higher printer costs than a system where the print head is built into the printer, with separate ink tanks for each colour so you just top up where needed. This system is utilised by Epson, Canon and Brother, making them immediately better value for you, and our recommended starting point for home printing.

Next you must consider what you want your printer to be able to do. Did you manage to stifle your "print things" laugh this time? I hope so. With multi-function printers offering a range of extras nowadays, such as scanning/copying/wireless networking, you really get a diverse choice. We do recommend spending the few extra pounds and getting one of the multi-function devices. In the long haul, the multi purposes it provides will tailor for any home needs you may encounter, and with all manufacturers providing them, their costs are competitive already.

Another advantage of these printers is a saving on following printing costs. With original cartridges approaching the actual cost of the printer, many can be tricked into an apparent bargain, then double their printing outlay as soon as the first cartridge runs dry. Home use printers opens up the avenue of compatible/refilled cartridges. With the only difference in quality being noticeable towards high end photo printing, they will be perfectly adequate for all home printer needs, and are significantly cheaper than manufacturer's original cartridges.

So what do we know? We are looking for a multi-function printer, made by Epson, Canon or Brother. Normally we would go into the hows and whys of using the printer, but the range of models for these manufacturers have really fine tuned the user experience, and we feel they all draw level on the usability test. So all 3 manufacturers carry on to the next stage, hooray. Multi function printers for these 3 providers is a great way to filter your browsing time, and anything after this is really more down to personal preference than a definitive answer.

For our overall recommendation, we would go for Canon each time.. They are reliable, cheap to run, and quality output! If you just want a printer that prints, go for the Canon ip4700. Want a multi-function? The Canon mp640.

Now that you've had my Home printing two-cents, I am going to break open the piggy bank in a splurge of valuable information for High Quality Photo printing.

Quality Image Printing:

Many people don't realise, but there are two types of imaging printers to choose from, outlined in the following to make you knowledgeable on all things image based.

The first to cast your mind's eye over is a process called dye sublimation. Ignoring the scientific jargon, it transfers dye onto your paper/card/fabric with heat one colour at a time. If you're really wondering, and want to show off, it's called sublimation as the dye goes from solid, to a gas state, to solid in the printing sequence, without ever being a liquid. Fancy. This printing method produces very high quality photo prints, typically equivalent or actually better than that produced by the traditional printing method employed in photo processing shops - the silver halide process.

In addition due to the sublimation method, there is very little mess, and the photos are instantly dry and ready to handle as soon as printing is finished. Also, due to the design of the printers, fewer moving parts than other styles of printers limit the potential for break down, maximising the longevity of the printers. However, this method is limited by sizes that you can print in, typically only found in the 6x4 print sizes, and can be expensive with the method utilising numerous panels for each colour. Couple this with a fact these panels cannot be reused, no matter how small an amount of ink was used of that colour, and your costs can quickly accumulate. Ultimately though, if you are looking for a pure photo printing experience, you can't go wrong with this printing method, and we recommend Canon as the manufacturer to side with.

If photo printing isn't the only quality image you're after, then dye sublimation may not be for you. With the transfer from a gas state to a solid, a small amount of diffusion (funny, and a scientist!) is unavoidable. Whilst this is not an issue with photos as it produces a very natural finish, when applied to sectors which require pinpoint accuracy, such as an architect's graphical outputs, this discrepancy is a weakness. Additionally, this technique of printing only works on special-coated paper, meaning an unavoidable inflexibility in what you print. This leads me on nicely to the alternative method of image printing, Inkjet printers.

In the past, this method was so inferior to dye sublimation that it would not have been considered, especially in the realms of photo printing. This was due to dye sublimation utilising "continuous-tone technology" where, in layman's terms, any dot in the photo can be any colour. This is contrary to inkjet printing which, as the name suggests, jets ink onto the page in droplets in scattered layers to create the image you are printing. Whilst this creates a smooth looking photo, focusing in on the photo would reveal visible droplets and not one smooth progression of the image. However, large advances in the technology of inkjet printers have seen the implementation of microscopic droplets, and a more diverse range of injected ink colours, providing a far superior picture than previously seen. Coupled with its accurate printing for the aforementioned architects drawing, its ability to use numerous materials to print onto, and the flexibility of image size, the new range of inkjet printers provide a much better overall package for your diverse printing needs.

If you trust us implicitly, and need no more information than the gold mine you have just treated your eyes to, then our best choice would be the Epson Stylus Photo R2880. Hard working, reliable, quality output, even my manager has one!

From the beauty of image printing, with the limitless potential of stunning scenery from photography, our exploration of purchasing a printer leads us naturally onto.... small office printing. What better way to dismiss the notion of grandiose panoramic views, than to the black and white (I'm sure they need colour at some times) monotony of the small office environment.

Small Office Printing:

Those of you whom have read the whole article will be glad to know that the requirement of these printers is very similar to that of the home printers, with low costs and good performance top of the agenda. You will be less pleased to note that these points will be repeated for those who skipped straight to this section. I will make it as painless as possible.

Firstly, the important points:

Do not purchase a Dell Inkjet printer, or the old range of HP and Lexmark printers. Whilst being good printers, they will not be cost effective for you. Utilising an ink cartridge with a built in head and three onboard colours, once one colour runs out you need a new cartridge. Infuriating in an environment specialising in black and white, with the occasional flash of colour for a company emblem or staff photo. This used to limit you to Canon, Epson and Brother printers, but the new ranges from HP and Lexmark mean that you have a very wide choice. All of these take advantage of separate slots for each colour, meaning that once one runs low, you just replace the individual colour.

So this is where your choice gets more difficult. Let us start with the simple decisions. Try and side towards the multi-function printers, which can cater for all the needs your office environment will place upon it. For only a slight increase in price, the additional practicality of the printer will be invaluable. The availability of compatibles for this range of printers is also worthwhile to note, with no degradation in quality for your office printing needs and a huge saving on overall printing costs.

Now, which manufacturers to look at. HP and Lexmark have a healthy dominance of this area of printing, with HP edging ahead with their latest range of printers. Interestingly, they differ completely in the type of ink they use, meaning your preference can easily help you choose which to side with.

Lexmark printers utilise dye based inks, the traditional ink found in the majority of inkjet printers, whilst HP printers utilise a newer pigment based ink. First used by Epson, this pigment based ink is made up of miniscule, encapsulated particles which sit on top of the paper, opposed to dye inks which are absorbed into the papers fibres. "Why should I care?" I hear you ask? Well, for your office environment, whilst these differences which typically only impact longevity of the prints and the colour quality, they also have implications for your costs. Dye based inks are known to soak into the page, lowering the efficiency of the cartridge per page, whilst pigment based ink has no such problem. Furthermore, pigment based inks typically have larger cartridges meaning you get even more prints for your money.

Whilst this is occasionally reflected in price, we tend to recommend siding with the pigment based inks, with a higher value for money being experienced.

This soaking effect leads onto another advantage of pigment ink. As soon as the page is filtered out onto the tray, it is touch dry. With no risk of smudging or ink dispersion that you can get with dye based inks, pigments guarantee the cleanliness and professional appearance of documents you print within your office. The longevity of prints is also a variable worth considering. With the filing systems employed at most offices you want your printed records to be durable and long lasting. Whilst advances in dye based ink have shown an increase in the lifetime of prints, pigment based inks still have the advantage.

Finally, dye based inks are not waterproof! Now I realise most offices do not work in downpours or go swimming for meetings, but the advantage of a pigment based ink being used to print a letter, which gets posted and delivery on a rainy day and stays legible, cannot be frowned at.

Ultimately we suggest the HP Officejet Pro 8500. A solid reliable printer from the new range of HPs, with fantastic per-page costs, backed up by quality pigment based inks.

In our final section we will be looking at the heavy duty office printing, for business's who scoff at any print speed lower than 15 pages per minute.

Business Use:

Colour Laser Printers. Thank you for reading. I hope this section was helpful for you.

In all seriousness though, with the fall of colour laser printer prices for under £200, your choice is made for you. Small footprints, networkable, and outstanding results from the chemical toners now in use, all lend itself towards a fantastic business printer.

The benefits of these printers just roll off the tongue:

o Faster print speeds

o Lower cost per page

o More robust

And this is just the starting point. An excellent quality range of compatibles presently available for a wide number of these printers means you can further save on your printing costs. In fact, the only reason we would say don't go for these printers is their apparent fussiness about the quality of paper being run through them. Ignoring the obvious "my printer is telling ME what I can print on?!?" issue, we found them to be temperamental when trying to print on the very cheapest 80gsm copies paper. However, upgrade to the 80gsm LaserJet paper which we use in all of our machines and the colour LaserJet's return to their serene performing best, causing us no problems at all. If you can afford it, stretch to the multi-function range of these printers, adding even more benefit to the small space these printers now take up.

This section may be the shortest, but it's because we believe your decision is such a formality. If we had to pick one and save you the effort, we would side with the Oki range, brilliant printers. With a superb output, nice gloss finish, and very cheap running costs with our excellent quality compatible range, your business will try and find reasons to print. That may be stretching the truth, but you got the idea. Specifically, the Oki c5650, but they are all quality products.

We hope this article has been useful for you, and that you all stop asking us what printer to buy.

Read articles like this and more at http://www.stinkyinkshop.co.uk/blog/

John Sollars is the Owner and Managing Director of StinkyInk.com, an online retailer of Ink and Toner cartridges. They specialise in Printer Consumables whether original or compatible. Having been selling online since 2002 he brings a wealth of online experience to internet sales, marketing and the printing world.

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