Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

About 2059 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Power Up: Laptop Battery Life Is Improving

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Call it the Achilles’ heel of laptop technology: battery life. While considerable improvements have been made in processor speed, screen quality, and wireless connectivity, batteries seem to be the one lagging area in mobile computing. That’s not to mention the largest component recall in the history of the PC last year, when thousands of laptop batteries were recalled by manufacturers because of the potential for spontaneous fires. There is some good news, however. While alternative sources of power –such as fuel cells — may be a few years off, there are some advancements in lithium-ion battery technology, not to mention CPU breakthroughs, such as dual-core processors, that can also help your laptop last an entire day. “Batteries are probably the slowest moving technology because it’s chemistry rather than silicon, the latter of which tends to see greater strides,” says Bob O’Donnell, vice president of clients and displays at IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based technology research firm. That said, 12-cell batteries are considered top-of-the-line today for laptop users, says O’Donnell. Available as an upgrade among many PC manufacturers such as HP and Dell, a 12-cell battery may extend the life up to 10 hours of use, depending on the applications running: typing in a word processor, for example, is a lot less taxing on the battery than, say, playing a DVD movie or surfing the Internet wirelessly in a hotspot. “The best way to think of 6-, 8-, 9- or 12-cell batteries is as units of power, like having a toy that takes 12 AA batteries instead of 6 batteries,” explains O’Donnell. “The higher the number, the longer the battery life.” But there’s a trade-off, as 12-cell batteries are generally larger than the regular 6- or 8-cell that ships with the unit, therefore users can expect a protrusion on the bottom or back of the laptop. While this might be the case today, O’Donnell says some PC manufacturers might figure out a way for multi-cell batteries to be less obtrusive. “As we need less space for circuitry because of advancements in components, theoretically, there can be more space available for a [bigger] battery.” Alternatives, CPU advancements Some manufacturers offer a different solution, such as a thin battery that lies along the entire bottom of the computer or the ability to insert two “bar” batteries instead of one. HP’s Compaq 2710p tablet notebook, for instance, offers roughly 5.5 hours with its standard battery, but more than 12 hours when coupled with HP’s thin extended run time battery. “Polymer lithium ion cells have now become viable for notebook PC applications,” explains Kevin Clancy, senior notebook PC commodity engineering manager at Hewlett-Packard. “They allow for much slimmer battery designs, such as the 2710p extended run time battery, and offer similar discharge capacity.” On conventional lithium ion, “we see also continuous improvements in design and chemistry to add incremental discharge capacity,” adds Clancy. Clancy says laptop owners will likely see a 10 percent improvement in battery life in 2008. Laptops with dual-core processors, such as those powered by Intel Core 2 Duo technology, may offer up to 40 percent more energy efficiency than past processors, which results in greater battery life. “CPUs are getting much smarter today, too, where they sip battery power instead of gulping it,” says O’Donnell.  

About 2151 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Wireless Printing 101

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Not long ago, wireless printing was an impractical dream for most business owners. Costs were high. The hassle factor was even higher. But with the push for all things mobile, and therefore wireless, the days of category 5 cable (Cat5) snaking all over the office through walls and ceiling panels may be finally on the endangered list. “All the technology pieces are in place now and people are starting to take advantage of it. Connecting is a lot better than a few years ago,” says Larry Jamison, director of the Hard Copy Industry Advisory Service at Lyra Research, an IT research firm in Newtonville, Mass. “Wireless printing is ideal for the fast growing startup that needs to be nimble to move or reconfigure its existing physical office space.” Jamison points to three areas where improvements have been dramatic in recent years:  security, speed, and ease of use. Security Some forget a wireless printer on the network is a hole in the network unless properly secured. According to AMI Partners, a marketing intelligence firm based in New York City, three out of four companies with more than 50 employees now has a secure virtual private network (VPN). Securing a wireless printer can be as simple as adding it to the VPN. The other big reason wireless printing is increasingly safer are the advances in the 802.11i standards for wireless networking. 802.11i (sometimes referred to as WPA2 or RSN), unlike its predecessor Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), is much more secure using the Advanced Encryption Standard adopted by the U.S. government. Speed 802.11i wireless devices, which most wireless printing technologies comply with nowadays, are also increasingly faster. There are three versions of the standard: 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.  The higher the letter of the alphabet, the more speed. 802.11g is probably the best bet for most businesses right now. 802.11n is comparable to a cable network in speed, but it hasn’t been fully approved as a standard yet. Therefore “g” is the more stable option, albeit a little slower. Important to remember, however: as the number of users increase, the network slows down. Despite improvements, wired printing is still faster overall. Ease of use This is probably the biggest factor pushing wireless printing to the forefront. With the help of a VPN already in place and the standardization from 802.11i compliance, configuring routers and wireless kits have become easier. Although experts still advise investing in an IT consultant for set-up. “It’s definitely worth the money,” says Michelle Warren, a senior analyst from InfoTech. In fact, even the so-called experts still struggle. Todd Carter, author of the Wireless All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies, recently tried to upgrade his office printing to wireless. “I just couldn’t get it to work,” admits Carter. Despite his own struggles, Carter offers the following sound considerations for business owners thinking about taking the plunge. Get a printer server. Any printer can be used on a wireless network. It just needs to be hooked up to a printer server. A printer server is a small appliance with an antenna that acts as the wireless go-between among all the printers and users. Printer servers sell for as little as $50. An even cheaper option is to convert an older desktop into a server, by simply adding a wireless card. Multiple access points. Remember the signal has to make it to the server’s antenna. This may require any number of antennas set up around the office relaying the signal from one location to the next. Think through the physical office space and location of both all the users and printers during the planning stage. Check your walls. The good news is, yes, the signal does go through walls. The bad news: it doesn’t go through every kind of wall. “Metal within walls will diminish the signal,” says Carter. “Concrete walls are problematic, too.” Set it up first. Then do security. Obviously, you want as little of a lag between the two as possible. However, set up is a lot easier without configuring security at the same time, Carter says. Make it work, then quickly work to make it safe. Remember for most operations, printing is a core technology. Warren, from InfoTech, advises businesses to keep the big multifunction printer wired. “Wireless printing is slower,” she says. “Save the big 100-plus page jobs for the wired printer.” In other words, don’t count on those Cat5 cables going extinct just yet. There may always be one or two gathering dust along the baseboards after all.

About 2242 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Tips to Reduce Printing Costs

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Before you hit “file” and “print,” consider this: The going rate on a bottle of Cristal Champagne is about $350, but if you filled that same 750ml bottle with black ink for your office inkjet printer, it would cost you roughly $1,350. If it feels as if your business is constantly undercut by printing costs, it’s probably not your imagination. Chances are that the costs are eating into the bottom line even more than what you’ve already budgeted. “Printing costs tend to happen under the radar, because so much of it comes out of petty cash,” says Steven Reynolds, a senior analyst from Lyra Research in Newton, Mass. “For example, someone from the office picks up a toner cartridge or a ream of paper at Staples and just gets reimbursed in their next expense report.” Figuring ink into the bottom line Printing poses a quandary for small and mid-size businesses, which rely on in-house printing but are constantly watching costs. The printer business has long been profitable for the leading hardware manufacturers, such as HP, Lexmark, and more recently Dell, largely driven by sales of custom-fit ink cartridges. But the market has been changing more recently as small and mid-size businesses have more options for printing needs, including outsourcing printing jobs, laser printers, and multifunction equipment — the latter of which not only prints but can also scan, copy and fax from a single device. The inkjet printer market in the U.S. is expected to be flat through 2010, as inkjet printer sales decline by a compound annual rate of 4.2 percent while multifunction product sales grow by 2.6 percent, according to Gartner Inc. Still, many major manufacturers are actively courting small and mid-size businesses, by rolling out new printer products with new features. Often, these companies are touting cost-saving features. In February, HP unveiled seven new inkjet printers for small businesses, promising higher quality color printing for 25 percent lower costs than laser printers. HP said the company said these printers could average 1.5 cents per page for black and white and 6 cents per page for color. More options for printing can mean the potential for cost savings for small and mid-size businesses. But where can you cut the fat while ensuring that your business has the tools it needs to grow? Tips for cutting costs Some small and mid-size business owners get pretty creative trying to get around that ink bill. Zelda Cook, a partner with the Austin, Texas-based 9 Point Mesa Land and Cattle Company, still relies on her six-year-old dot matrix printer for all her in-house documents. “Even though I’m ridiculed by some of my more tech savvy friends, I like my printer,” says Cook, who is undoubtedly getting the last laugh. Her Epson uses a $7 ribbon that’s good for about 400 copies, adding up to less than two cents per page. Cook’s advice may not be for everyone. With the new, improved tools on the market today smaller businesses can often take advantage of tools that were once the purview of their larger brethren. Here are five steps that can help you manage costs while raising the sophistication of your business printing: Invest in laser printers. “Laser printers have really come down in price in recent years,” says Joshua Feinberg, of Delray Beach, Fla, author of The Computer Consulting Kit. “And as a general rule of thumb, they are always going to have a lower cost per page than an inkjet printer.” Study those manufacturing specifications on both printers and cartridges. Check things like the duty cycle (the maximum number of pages a printer can handle a month). “You don’t want to overtax a device,” says Reynolds, who warns clients not to challenge that duty cycle load more than a couple of times a year. In addition to avoiding unnecessary machine downtime, look for specifications on the average cost per page on cartridges. Set all your computers to duplex printing. You may not save on ink.  But at the very least, printing on both sides will save a bundle on paper — not to mention storage space for archived documents, says Feinberg. Keep print jobs in-house as much as possible. It’s almost always cheaper to print in-house than to outsource most printing jobs, experts say. Outsourcing print jobs to a print shop on average runs about three times as much as printing documents in-house, according to Gartner Inc. This is especially true for small businesses, which tend to print in small amounts. It may not pay to outsource unless you need a very large quantity — such as 500 multi-page copies or more. Top quality printers have come down in price so much in recent years that a lot of the higher-end print jobs can now be done in the office without a loss of quality. HP advises small business customers to create their own marketing materials, such as business cards or calendars, with the help of their sophisticated models for small business. Beware of hidden costs. There are software programs available to track consumable expenses like ink and paper. But, small and mid-size business owners need to be aware of the “headache factor.” Installation, maintenance, compatibility, and lost productivity during a paper jam are just a few of the headaches, according to Feinberg. It adds up fast over time. Most small and mid-size businesses have come along way in moving away from paper processes and relying more on email and digital archiving. But the move to electronic information hasn’t necessarily cut into printing needs. “It’s a sheer proliferation problem,” Reynolds says. “It’s also because of email, and the Web, they’re finding more to print… you have to look at what and why you print.”

About 2454 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Best Printers for Your Business

It’s fairly difficult to buy a computer these days without a printer being “thrown in,” like a used car dealer of old “throwing in” a set of tires. But free printers can end up impacting the bottom line. That’s because they often use smaller ink cartridges that require more frequent, expensive replacement purchases. A good rule of thumb is that the cheaper the unit, the smaller the ink capacity — and the more expensive (and proprietary) ink that needs to be purchased more often. There are some cheaper online resources for ink, but check the replacement cartridges for price and capacity before you buy. Here are 10 inkjet and photo printers that are backed by reputable manufacturers with good track records: HP Photo Smart 7960 Inkjet Printer – $249 Prints photo, plain paper, envelopes, and CDs. Ink-jet, 21 pages per minute, 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution – color 4800 x 1200 dpi. What’s cool: 21 pages per minute is fast for its price. Canon Pixma iP5200R Inkjet Printer – $249 Photo printer. Ink-jet, 30 ppm, color pint speed 24 ppm. Quality low-nd photo printer. What’s cool: Strong resolution with 600 x 600 dpi for back & white, and color resolution at 9600 dpi x 2400 dpi. HP LaserJet 1320 – $299 Compact monochrome printer, built-in duplexer, a high resolution for grayscale graphics, option to buy wireless networking pre-installed. What’s cool: An inexpensive laser printer. Canon N1000 Inkjet Printer – $349 Three cassettes hold 750 sheets of paper. 10/100 Ethernet network card as option. Midsized fast printer. What’s cool: Features high-speed printing 20 ppm, 18 ppm color. Epson Stylus Photo R800 Inkjet Printer – $399 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi, eight individual cartridges, including matte black ink and a unique gloss optimizer. It also prints borderless photos in frame-ready sizes. Good photo printer for midsized office. What’s cool: Epson’s “UltraChrome” Hi-Gloss pigment inks on virtually any media, including ink jet printable CD/DVDs and 4″ and 8.3″ roll paper. Epson Stylus Photo R1800 Inkjet printer – $499 Photo printer. Inkjet, resolution 5760 x 1440 dpi. Another good midsize office option. What’s cool: Also prints CDs, Watercolor paper, Heavy-weight matte paper, Luster photo paper. HP OfficeJet 7410 All-in-One – $499 Print, copy, and scan from digital-media cards and PictBridge slots, faxes through your PC’s software. What’s cool: Prints on both sides of a page, makes legal-size scans and copies, connects to a wired or wireless network, and accepts a stack of pages to copy through its automatic document feeder (ADF). Lexmark Optra Color 45n Inkjet Printer – $599 Prints at a resolution of 600X600dpi with 1200 dpi image quality. A bit slow for the price. What’s cool: Expandable memory, eight ppm, four pages per minute in color. Lexmark T430dn Printer – Duplex Laser – $799 Two-sided prints, compact, weighs 31.5 pounds. 250-sheet main tray, 100-sheet multipurpose tray for manual feeds, envelopes, and special media. What’s cool: 150 pages of output on the top tray. Sony UP 895 Inkjet Printer – $899 High resolution black and white video graphic printer. It accepts both NTSC and PAL signals. 508 lines x 1280 dots (NTSC) high quality prints. Professional graphics printer. What’s cool: Print time of 3.9 seconds (standard print mode).

About 2454 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Eye-Catching Digital Cameras

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Whether you’re a cash-strapped entrepreneur or are managing a multi-million dollar budget, the great news about buying a digital camera for your business is you don’t need to spend a lot of money to take professional-quality photographs. The number of digital cameras sold worldwide last year hit 94 million and could reach 103 million in 2006, according to ICD, a research firm in Framingham, Mass. The market has been eroded some by the surge in sales of cell phones with digital cameras — there were 381 million sold last year — but the quality on those may not be fine enough for businesses purposes. “The problem with cell phone cameras is the quality is really substandard compared with even the cheapest digital camera,” says Christopher Chute, research manager at IDC. “If you’re using this for business purposes, a digital SLR is worth the $500 to $1,000. You can take photos for a company website, you can print out posters and most have auto modes so that you don’t have to take a photography course to shoot decent photos.” These days, even the pricier digital single lens reflex cameras (D-SLRs) are under a $1,000 these days, while decent point-and-shoot digicams may only be a few hundred dollars. With dozens of manufacturers and hundreds of models on store shelves — each with unique features and varying price points — choosing the right one that suits your needs seem like a daunting task. Here are eight hot digital cameras worth considering to get the job done: Prosumer Favorite Nikon’s D80 ($999.95; www.nikondigital.com) is the company’s flagship digital single lens reflex camera for businesspeople who demand professional quality. Along with its 10.2-megapixel CCD imaging sensor (yielding photos as detailed as 3,872 x 2,592 pixels), this attractive D-SLR features a new 12- bit image processing engine, instant 0.18-second start-up times (with fast 80ms shutter response) and a high-efficiency rechargeable battery that can last up to 2,700 images per charge. Well-Rounded Pick Canon’s first-ever point-and-shoot digital camera with digital image stabilization — the PowerShot SD700IS ($499; www.usa.canon.com) — helps prevent shaky or blurry images while capturing shots for business or pleasure. This 6-megapixel digicam features a 4x optical zoom lens, ISO equivalent speed settings from 80 to 800 and a bright 2.5-inch color LCD screen to bask in your handiwork. Alpha Male Sony’s first digital SLR — the Alpha DSLR-A100 — is a prosumer digital camera with a 10.2-megapixel APS CCD image sensor and supports 19 Sony lenses and most Konica-Minolta Maxxum mount lenses. The A1000, which costs $900 for the body or $1000 with an 18-70mm zoom lens (www.sonystyle.com), is also the first to features Sony’s new Dynamic Range Optimizer for bright and colorful shots. Scenic Shooter Businesspeople in need of a powerful, versatile and affordable digital camera should consider Canon PowerShot SD630 ($399; www.usa.canon.com), a 6-megapixel compact cam with a huge 3-inch screen, 3x optical zoom and a touch- censor control wheel for the iPod generation. What’s more, the digicam comes loaded with shooting modes that range from portrait and indoor to night photos and up-close digital macros to panoramic stitch assist and sepiatone. Room for Some Zoom Get up close and personal with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 ($500; www.sonystyle.com), a 7.2-megapixel camera with an incredible 12x optical zoom lens and focal length range of 36 to 432 millimeters (35 mm equivalence). Relish in your shots after you take them with the huge 3-inch LCD screen with anti-glare. Um, did we mention 12x optical zoom? Night Lite The Fujifilm FinePix F30 ($399; www.fujifilmusa.com) is a 6.3-megapixel digital camera that works well with motion or in low-light situations thanks to its full-resolution ISO equivalency speeds as high as 3200. Couple this with picture stabilization, a 3x optical zoom Fujinon lens and smart i-Flash system (that lights the subject according to the environment) and you’ve got a perfect pocket-sized pick. Steady as She Goes This slim, 7-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T10 ($400; www.sonystyle.com) features Sony’s Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization to help prevent blurring caused by motion or low-light conditions. The T10 houses a 3x Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optical zoom lens, a large 2.5-inch LCD and long battery life — up to 250 shots per charge. Atkins Shmatkins If one of your failed New Year’s resolutions was to shad a few pounds, you may be happy to know a HP digital camera can help you achieve the effect. The HP Photosmart R927 ($300; www.hpshopping.com) is not only the company’s first 8.2-megapixel digital camera but it has a number of photo effects built right into the digital camera ranging from auto red-eye removal to a “trimming” feature to have your subjects look more svelte. Um, can you say “perfect for online dating”?

About 2454 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Top Copiers for Your Business

There are many questions to ask when purchasing a small office copier for your business and the most relevant one isn’t always, “How much does it cost?” Copiers can go through ink cartridges rather quickly. Checking the capacity and cost of replacement ink cartridges is a key piece of information to have before making a purchase. Some business supply stores have started to offer generic versions of ink, but by and large many models still require proprietary cartridges that can ultimately add to the bottom line. Another line of questioning is how fast a unit can print — i.e. how many pages per minute. The answers can sometimes make a $1,000 laser printer worth the extra money if it can print more rapidly than a $250 ink-jet model. The added functionality of many of today’s copiers also increases their office value. With a fax, scanner and copier typically included, the following units can usually solve a number of issues at once: Canon Pixma MP780 – $249 Fax, copier, printer, scanner, 25 pages per minute, ink-jet, 300 paper sheet capacity. What’s cool: It’s small, easy to use, has fast page per-minute stats, and good capacity for a small office. Samsung SCX 4521 – $299 Fax, copier, printer, scanner, 20 ppm laser, 150 sheet capacity. What’s cool: It’s small, easy to use, has fast page per-minute stats, and good capacity for a small office. Canon MultiPASS MP 730 – $349 Fax, copier, printer, scanner 22 ppm ink jet; capacity 150 sheets. Good copy speed. What’s cool: The Canon “Think Tank System” claims that it combines individual ink tanks with ink management for lower printing costs. HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One – $399 Fax, copier, printer, scanner 32 ppm, ink jet, 120 sheet capacity. Fast copier for the money, good for a midsized office. What’s cool: Prints from cameras and memory cards. Scans 35-mm slides and film. HP OfficeJet 7410 All-in-One – $499 Print, copy, and scan from digital-media cards and PictBridge slots, faxes through your PC’s software. What’s cool: Prints on both sides of a page, makes legal-size scans and copies, connects to a wired or wireless network, and accepts a stack of pages to copy through its automatic document feeder (ADF). Brother MFC 8840 DN Multifunction – $599 Fax, copier, printer, scanner, 21 ppm, laser, 550 sheets. Nice capacity, midsized office unit. The laser makes it attractive, albeit a bit slower than the HP. What’s cool: Laser print with speedy page per minute stats. Sharp AL 1661 Multifunction – $599 Fax, copier, printer, scanner, 16 ppm, laser, 250 sheets. What’s cool: Electronic Sorting automatically sorts multi-paged documents by scanning them into the copier’s memory and then copying them in order. Brother MFC 9420 – $699 Fax, copier, printer, scanner, 31 ppm, laser, 780 sheets.What’s cool: Built-in networking, multiple users can share it for printing, PC Fax sending and scanning over the network, including walk-up copying and faxing. Panasonic Panafax UF 7000 – $999 Fax Fax, copier, printer, scanner, 15 ppm , laser, 800 sheets. Nice capacity for a midsized office. What’s cool: Super fast scanning at less than a second per page and a transmission time of 2.7 seconds. Xerox Pro 412 Digital Laser – $2,000 Manufacturer’s recommend monthly volume is 4,000 pages per month, resolution — 600 dpi, warm up time — 10 sec., zoom printable documents from 25-400%, standard/maximum copier memory 16MB. Standard paper capacity 550. What’s cool: It’s also a fax/printer/copier machine.

About 2454 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Peripherals: Inkjet or Laser?

Choosing the right printer for your business starts with understanding your company’s needs. An ideal printer for a small Internet startup may be quite different than the kind of printer required by a toy company’s distribution and sales office. A freelance photojournalist will likely require something more geared to her business than a boutique hotel, cookbook author, or music teacher. You get the idea. With this in mind, the first decision you must make when buying a printer for your business is whether to invest in an inkjet printer or a laser printer. There are other technologies, too (such as dye-sublimation or thermal wax printers), but inkjet and laser are the biggies. And, of course, you will need to make further choices, such as black-and-white or color, desired paper size, and if you want an all-in-one multi-function printer that can also copy, scan, and fax. This discussion, however, focuses on the pros and cons of buying an inkjet or laser printer. Inkjet How it works Inkjet printers work by spraying small amounts of quick-drying ink through a nozzle onto a sheet of paper; tiny deflective plates alter the ink’s path to create the desired shapes. Ink is stored in disposable ink cartridges. Low-end inkjet printers use three ink colors (cyan, magenta, and yellow), and usually black as a fourth, compared to a “photo printer” that will have anywhere from a 5- to 10-color ink system (e.g. light magenta, red, blue, or light cyan). Because a business user may print certain colors more frequently, single-color cartridges have become more common, as you only need to replace these individual tanks as needed. Pros and cons “Inkjet printers offer outstanding photo and document quality at a great value,” says Justin Joseph, spokesman for Canon’s printer division. “With features such as automatic double-sided printing and individual ink tanks to limit wasted ink, inkjet technology has really grown for the business consumer.” Another advantage to inkjet over laser is they can be used on all types of paper and enjoy quality that rivals your local photo mat; this is why inkjet printers are more ideal for photos than laser printers. While inkjet printers are relatively inexpensive (typically about $100), be aware replacing ink may become costly as you’ll burn through these cartridges faster than laser printers. Laser How it works Laser printers apply lasers to an area of a photoconductive drum. The electrical charge causes toner particles to cling to the rotating cylinder, forming a shape that will be transferred over to the printed page through heat and pressure. Multi-pass color laser printers use one imaging drum repeatedly for each CMYK color (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). A faster solution, however, is single-pass (a.k.a. inline) color laser printers that contain four imaging drums, allowing the page to be printed in just one pass. Pros and cons Laser printers are ideal for producing high volumes thanks to the high-yield inks, plus they are faster at spitting out documents than inkjet printers. If you only need black-and-white printing, consider a monochrome laser printer over an inkjet printer. Other advantages to laser printers include high-volume paper trays, multiple finishing options, and more network options than inkjet printers. “Another key advantage for a business using a laser printer is that the cost per page can be reduced by using laser technology,” adds Joseph. But laser printers cost more than inkjet printers. A decent monochrome laser printer typically costs about $300 on the low-end (add another hundred or two for a good color laser printer), which is considerably more than a sub-$100 photo lab-quality inkjet printer. It should be noted prices for color laser printers have dropped considerably over the years. And don’t forget about the laser printer shortcomings — inkjet can print to more paper types and are overall better picks for printing photos. Key questions Before buying an inkjet or laser printer for your business, be sure to ask yourself these questions: * What is my budget for a new printer and its consumables? Hint: Inkjet is a cheaper investment to start, but likely more expensive in the long run. * How many documents will I be printing on a day-to-day basis? Hint: If you print a lot — especially documents (not images) — go for laser instead of inkjet. Laser printers are also faster than inkjet printers. * What kind of paper will I be printing on the most? Hint: Inkjet printers offer more paper options, including photo lab-quality prints. * Do I need black and white or color (or both)? Hint: For black-and-white print jobs, go with a monochrome laser, but if you need color for photos go with inkjet. * How many employees will be using this printer? Hint: Laser printers are easier to network than inkjet printers, plus they offer more finishing options.

About 2454 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

USB Drives: A Guide

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They go by different names: thumb-drives, thumb-sticks, flash drives or USB drives. But regardless of what you call them, they’re one of the handiest inventions for computer users. These tiny devices are ideal for those who want to transport documents, spreadsheets, presentations, photos or music from one PC to another. About the size of an iPod Nano, the thumb-length flash drives consist of a minuscule printed circuit board inside a metal casing. Simply plug one into a computer’s USB (Universal Serial Bus) port and a new drive letter appears on your computer’s menu, such as F: or G:. No software is necessary to begin dragging and dropping files onto the removable memory. “My USB flash drive is like the automobile to my business,” explains Joel Brodie, the San Francisco-based founder and editor of the Gamezebo (www.gamezebo.com (http://www.gamezebo.com) ) online magazine. “It gives me the personal freedom to transfer and backup files everywhere — from my laptop in the coffee shop or my desktop at the home office to the print shop where I get my presentations and brochures professionally created.” For entrepreneurs on the go, these portable flash drives have a number of advantages over other removable storage devices, such as the CD or floppy disk. Here’s what it means for your business: Faster copying. Copying files to the USB drive is much faster than it takes to burn a CD or copy files onto a floppy disk. This is especially true with the newer USB drives that work with a computer’s USB 2.0 port, offering roughly 40 times faster speeds than USB 1.1. Platform versatility. USB drives work with both Windows and Mac PCs. They’re cheap and hold more data. A 2-Gigabyte (2GB) drive can be found for under $30. Did we say portable? Fast-moving entrepreneurs can keep a USB drive on their keychain, on a lanyard around their neck or stuffed into their jeans’ pocket and will always have their important files with them wherever they go. See something you want on a client’s PC? Pull out a USB drive and copy the program or files in seconds. Easy to back up data. Working on a laptop? In case something happens to the computer – such as a power surge, theft, nasty virus, fire or if accidentally dropped – a USB drive can be used to quickly and easily back up data. Back in the office, just plug that USB stick into a desktop PC and copy the contents over to a new computer to continue working. Let’s recap: USB drives are fast, inexpensive and tiny. They work with virtually any PC with a USB port and require no software to be recognized. What’s not to love? According to Semico Research (www.semico.com), 174.6 million USB drives are expected to ship worldwide in 2006, netting an estimated $5.5 billion dollars in revenue. By 2008, that number is predicted to grow to 220 million units sold, yielding nearly $9.1 billion dollars. What more, USB drives come in all shapes and sizes for the entrepreneur who wants to express their individuality. Cool (and wacky) USB devices * The SanDisk (www.sandisk.com) Cruzer Micro USB flash drives also include preloaded software such as the CruzerLock 2, a data encryption solution that password-protects selected files and folders. The SanDisk Cruzer Titanium USB flash drive includes Skype software to make calls over the Net. * Similarly, the Vonage V-Phone (www.vonage.com) is a 256MB USB flash drive and phone in one; Vonage customers simply plug the orange drive into a computer’s USB port and, with the aid of a little earpiece microphone (included), can use the PC to place (or receive) calls. * Some USB flash drives also double as MP3 players. Creative’s MuVo TX FM is a flash drive that also lets you plug in headphones (included) to hear your favorite digital audio or FM radio. A small battery pack snaps onto the unit in order to play the music. * And now for something completely different: from Tokyo comes the Sushi Disk (www.dynamism.com), flash memory drives hand-crafted to look like pieces of sushi. Take your pick between Ebi (shrimp), Maguro (tuna), Uni (Sea Urchin) and more. A delicious idea!

About 2485 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Choosing a Business Printer

Buying a new printer for your business may seem like a daunting task. But answering a few basic questions about your needs before you buy will help narrow down your choices considerably. In other words, because every company is different — the type of business, office size, number of employees, and so on — the printing needs will also vary greatly from one office to another. “Different businesses will have different needs when it comes to print quantities, expected quality, speed, features, paper types and even size of the actual printer,” says Justin Joseph, spokesman for Canon’s printer division. “For example, a realtor’s home office may print hundreds of Web pages each day with photos of properties. For such a business, print resolution will be very important,” Joseph says. “On the other hand, a law office may spend the majority of the day making copies, scanning documents, and printing briefs. For such a business, speed is just as important as the ability to multitask.” With this in mind, consider the following a simple guide designed to help you make an informed purchase. Volume The first question you need to ask yourself is how many pages do you expect to print on a day-to-day basis? If you’re a small, virtually paperless office, then you might want an inexpensive inkjet printer to start until your business (and printing needs) grow. If you print out more than 100 pages a day, then invest in a laser printer, which offers a low per-page printing cost but will cost you more initially. B&W or color? If you only need to print out crisp black and white text, then you should consider a black and white laser printer (often referred to as a monochromatic laser printer). They cost a little more than an inkjet printer, but print pages faster and enjoy a lower per-page printing cost over time. For color, an inkjet is the more affordable solution (many under $100 even offer “photo lab” quality prints). But replacement cartridges will be costly (often a third of the price of the printer itself). A color laser printer will cost more initially, but they’re faster than inkjets and don’t require as many costly ink cartridge replacements. Speed When shopping for an inkjet or laser printer, you’ll notice a PPM rating for each choice, which stands for Pages Per Minute. The higher the number, the faster it can spit out pages. Therefore, an inkjet printer with 37 PPM is better than 28 PPM. Higher-end office printers offer between 80 and 100 pages per minute. Be sure to read both the black and white and color PPM rating, as they will differ (B&W being the faster of the two). Print resolution The higher the print resolution, also referred to as “dpi” resolution (dots per inch), the better your prints should look, especially when it comes to photos. A rule of thumb is as follows: 300 dpi printers are fine for general-purpose text; 600 dpi is ideal for higher-quality text and graphics; 1,200 dpi is for photo-quality prints, while 2,400 dpi is what you want for professional photo-quality applications. Size, functionality Where you’ll be using the printer may affect what kind of printer you buy. Entrepreneurs who travel often may prefer a portable inkjet printer for late-night presentation preparations in the hotel room (instead of using the business center). If you have a small office, you might opt for an all-in-one “multi-function” printer to save space because it also serves as a copier, scanner and sometimes a fax machine. Have four or five PCs at your office? It may be ideal to invest in a network-ready printer so all employees can print remotely to one printer over the LAN. Bells & Whistles Finally, your specific needs may call for a printer with specific features. Not all printers can automatically print on both sides of the paper, nor do all have collating functionality (arranging the pages in precise order before binding). Some companies may need film and negative scanning capabilities out of their printers, while others may need to print on paper much larger than the standard letter- (8.5 x 11-inch) or legal-sized (8.5 x 14-inch) paper. Other companies may need a printer that can print labels, receipts or business cards. And then there’s the number of input trays: the bigger the tray (or more than one tray), means more sheets are ready to be fed into the printer.

About 2485 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Screen Vision: Six Hot Monitors

Question: Name something you likely spend more time looking at than your colleagues, clients, and even your own family. The answer is your computer monitor, of course. It’s your window to cyberspace, every single business contact and calendar appointment, and other software that keeps your company alive and kicking. So, shouldn’t you be spending more money on what you’re staring at for a good eight hours a day (or more)? “Many people sleep on the same low-cost mattress for decades, without realizing that few other items are used as regularly or have such a direct effect on their general well-being — you can make the same argument for a computer monitor that an employee looks at for five days a week,” says Young Bae, senior LCD display product manager at ViewSonic. Bae, with 16 years of experience in the display industry, says LCD panel technology has improved so much in recent years, in terms of both performance and cost, that many business users don’t realize how greatly an upgrade would enhance their productivity and space utilization. “It seems contradictory to see cutting-edge business and IT professionals still using a 10-year-old CRT monitor,” Bae says. If you’re ready to make the upgrade, consider the following a look at a half-dozen hot displays for your business: WIDE PLAYER ViewSonic’s latest monitor — the VX2235wm ($450; www.viewsonic.com) — is a stunning 22-inch widescreen LCD that features a fast five-millisecond response rate, which is perfect for CAD users or movie animators. By day, the 1440 x 900 widescreen view is ideal for simultaneously managing multiple documents on the screen. “Widescreen displays boost employee productivity with a relatively inexpensive investment on behalf of the company,” says Bae. “Users are able to view documents like sales reports, spreadsheets or Web browser windows side-by-side, allowing for faster analysis and research.” FAST AND CHEAP Samsung’s affordable19-inch SyncMaster 931BF ($299; www.samsung.com) for Windows or Mac is a deceptively cool analog/digital LCD monitor, thanks to its lightning-fast two-millisecond response time, an impressive 2000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and Samsung’s proprietary technologies — MagicTune, MagicSpeed, MagicBrightIII and MagicColor — to ensure high-quality images. THE BIG APPLE Apple’s award-winning Cinema Displays (www.apple.com/displays) include the 20-inch ($799), 23-inch ($1,299) and 30-inch Cinema HD Display ($2,499), all three are designed to be connected to DVI-equipped Power Mac G5 desktops, MacBook Pros, PowerBook G4 notebooks and Windows-based PCs. All three offer a stunning 16:10 aspect ratio, while the 30-inch has an industry-leading 2560-by-1600 pixel resolution. GO BIG OR GO HOME Remember when 15-inch LCD monitors were a big deal? Take a gander at Dell’s 30-inch UltraSharp widescreen display ($2199; (www.dell.com/); model 3007FPW), the company’s largest available flat-panel LCD designed for business professionals. Native resolution tops out at 2560 x 1600, while contrast ratio is an impressive 700:1. And the monitor supports multiple video and peripheral inputs. TELEVISION, TOO Entertainment meets productivity with Sony’s sleek MFM-HT205 ($899; (www.sonystyle.com), a 20-inch high-definition display that can be used as a computer monitor (with digital or analog connections), television, or with any other video source, including a DVD player, video game system and so on. Features include picture-in-picture options (football game in the corner of a spreadsheet?), Xbrite LCD technology for bright a colorful images and SRS WOW 3D audio. PRICEY BUT NICE The Philips Brilliance 230WP7 ($1,499; www.philips.com) is ideal for small-to-mid-sized business: it’s ergonomically adjustable, includes a built-in USB hub and lets administrators track, adjust and support Philips displays over a network, if desired. The price, however, is quite steep for a 23-inch widescreen monitor. But it’s stunning nonetheless, with images that spring to life with clarity and color, an impressive 700:1 contrast ratio and a reasonable eight-millisecond response time.