Archive for June, 2010

Our Clients are Winning Awards!

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Summer is here - with a vengeance!  I heard on the radio this morning that they’re predicting this will be the hottest June on record.  Hopefully, the heat is energizing you to turn up the heat on your business.

Congratulations to our clients who have recently been recognized for their accomplishments.  This is a much better type of “hot” than the weather!

Boy, do we do business with some great folks, or what?!?  Have you been in the news and I’ve missed it?  Please let me know so I can share in an upcoming newsletter.

We would also like to welcome our newest client - Altadis, USA.

Know someone who’s been frustrated with their IT support?  Looking for ways to stabilize their business/cash flow?  We encourage you to share our name with them - we just might be able to help.

Stay cool!

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Green Printing: Ink-Based Printers

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Ink

Did you know there are two types of printer ink?  Ink Jet and Solid Ink.  Ink Jet printers still use cartridges, but they are much smaller than toner cartridges.  Solid Ink is the newest technology and doesn’t use cartridges. 

Ink Jet - these printers typically have the lowest page yield per cartridge and print quality is middle of the road.  These printers are often the cheapest and you can get better print quality by spending more on the printer itself.  As with Toner cartridges, you have a choice.

  • OEM (New) - more expensive.  However, uses the ink the printer was designed to use.  Very low defective rate.

  • Refilled - the cheaper option.  Vendor refills the ink with “closely comparable” ink.  There is a much higher probability of being defective.

Green Factor: Reduce, ReUse  Smaller cartridges means less plastic.  And the Refilled provide the same benefits as Toner Cartridges.

Solid Ink - these printers tend to be pricier.  Their cost per page is higher and the page yield per ink block is middle of the road.  However, the print quality is much higher - especially with color printing. Although there are no cartridges, there is still an option for OEM or non-OEM ink.  Like Ink Jets, Solid Ink printers are designed to work specifically with the OEM Ink.  Non-OEM ink is “closely comparable” and the print quality reflects it.Green Factor: Reduce  Since there are no cartridges or parts, there is no plastic to discard, reuse or recycle.  There is some waste as the Solid Ink is melted onto the page.  However, it is minimal.

The Bottom Line

The best choice depends on your business needs and priorities.  Many companies will use a variety of options.  For example, we use a Xerox Solid Ink for our color printing (and are able to do the majority of our “printing” in-house), a Xerox multi-function toner-based printer as our office work horse, and HP Laser-Jets (Toner-based) at Todd’s and my desks. 

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Green Printing: Toner Based Printers

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

All printers use either Ink or Toner.  Sounds simple…until you realize there are multiple choices for both.  Following is an overview of not only Ink vs. Toner, but also the different Ink and Toner solutions.  Thanks, Mason, for compiling this information!

 

Toner

Toner-based printers typically provide the lowest cost per page and higher page yields per cartridge.  These ”work horse” printers tend to be middle of the road when it comes to pricing. However, the print quality is generally not as good as with Ink-based printers.

Toner is toner is toner.  However, the cartridges it comes in have distinct differences.  Cartridges are available as New (OEM), Refilled and Remanufactured.  Which should you use? 

  • New (often referred to as OEM)- the most expensive option.  However, all parts are new and print quality is virtually never a problem.

  • Refilled - typically the cheapest option.  No parts are repaired or replaced, only the toner is replaced (refilled). As a result, print quality is sacrificed.

  • Remanufactured - middle of the road on price. Not only is toner replaced, but so are parts.  Print quality is good, but sometimes there are defective cartridges.

Green Factor: ReUse  It’s all about the cartridge.  This plastic container is typically not recyclable (definitely not around Richmond).  New cartridges have no green factor - unless you donate them to companies who refill and/or remanufacture.  An added green factor with Refilled and Remanufactured - their vendors typically will pick up the used cartridges when they deliver the “new” ones. 

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