There are plenty of ways to go about choosing your ideal printer for the office or your home, from perusing the weekly circulars to following links that say you can view more products here if you like the one you’ve found on Amazon. No particular strategy has been proven the best or most effective, and everyone has varying levels of comfort when going online to carry out major purchases, but an awareness of certain types of outlets and a small degree of foreknowledge will definitely put you ahead of other prospective printer buyers that are going in completely blind. The very resource that will allow you to score awesome prices for printers is the same that will give you a chance to brush up on the basics that industry professionals use when making bulk orders. Search engines can open all kinds of doors for you as long as you have the right key, or in this case, search terms. And thankfully, it isn’t that hard to become a savvy power user in a very short amount of time. Most major search engines are designed to be highly intuitive and invite curious experimentation from users. And many companies, specifically in the printer and ink industries, are taking advantage of being found through these resources by awarding great prices to those who visit their websites.  For great Oki prices check out http://www.247inktoner.com/okidata-toner-cartridges.

Asking yourself a few questions will be a great framework for starting your journey towards printer happiness. How often do you need to print a large load of documents on short notice? Students and office workers will obviously feel they are dealing with that scenario quite often, and they should probably narrow their scope to machines that are able to keep up with their document pace. Hobbyists, on the other hand, don’t need a device that can produce over 30 pages per minute, and there is no reason for them to shell out the considerable amount of cash that would cost them. Are you hoping to phase out your local pharmacy for getting your family photos developed? Many printers are giving photo developers a run for their money by putting out pictures that rival what you would normally pay someone else to create. As long as you buy the right kind of glossy paper and spend a little extra on ink, you can quit having to go to your nearby Walgreens to finally get a look at the snapshots from your last vacation. Remember, though, that the more specialized a printer is, the more expensive it will probably be, so don’t automatically assume you will need all the bells and whistles if you will never end up actually using expensive features. Write down the core components you want in a device, such as printing, scanning, and copying, and treat anything beyond those core functions as discretionary.

That short list will be extremely important if you are planning on going into a retail space to buy the printer rather than ordering one online. It isn’t unheard of for customers to get amazing deals at an electronics store, but the large majority of people going into those environments are doing so because they are not entirely sure of what they need or how much they should be willing to spend. This is something that sales personnel work hard to capitalize on. If you don’t know some hard facts about hardware, you aren’t going to stand a chance against some young employee that works on commission. They will scare you away from going with something too basic by saying it won’t end up fulfilling all your needs, or that such an inexpensive model will surely break within a short amount of time. Suddenly, you’ll be looking at devices that have arcane features and asinine accessories, wondering how exactly you were talked into spending three times what you had budget just an hour earlier. Don’t fall victim to this everyday scam. By knowing what you need and how much you are willing to pay for it, you have a hardline to stand on if a salesperson gets a little too pushy.

Following the selection of a printer, you will obviously need to purchase supplies. For the Xerox Phaser 8560, try http://www.247inktoner.com/xerox-phaser-8560-ink-sticks. Basic desktop models usually use ink cartridges to produce documents, while more sophisticated machines make use of toner. Be certain of whether you are buying an ink or laser device, and make note of the manufacturer and model. Those details will comprise your search queries online that will point you towards inexpensive retailers. Most importantly, always verify a vendor’s legitimacy before handing over personal information.

However, this brings up the second major issue: solid ink printers constantly consume electricity to keep that ink warmed up.  According to the Xerox service manual this uses slightly less power than a 60 watt light bulb left on 24 hours a day.  Unfortunately, a solid ink user will have to choose between wasting ink or wasting power, there is no easy solution for this dilemma.

Additionally, keeping a small reserve of ink in liquid form also means that moving the printer when it is turned on can result in damaging the print head.  This happens when the liquid ink splashes around inside the printer, thus coating the internal mechanisms before solidifying when it cools down.  Always turn your printer off and give it 30 minutes to cool down before moving the machine or you may need to purchase a new print head.

Sometimes your print jobs with a solid ink printer may have light vertical lines across the length of the paper.  With a laser printer this would signify that the toner cartridge and/or drum needs to be replaced, but Phaser solid ink printers don’t use cartridges.  Fortunately this is an easy fix, and generally only requires adjusting the options in the menu.  Go to the Troubleshooting menu and select Eliminate Light Stripes under the Print Quality Problems section.  Try running this option several times and print a test page to ensure the problem is solved.

These are just a handful of the common printer problems that solid ink users may have to deal with while using their Phaser printer.  Generally speaking Xerox Phaser printers are extremely user-friendly and not prone to many problems beyond the wasted ink or wasted power dilemma.  Encountering any real hardware problems may require seeking the assistance of a technician to fix your printer, so consult your warranty for more information.

There are several advantages to using solid ink sticks that may make them more attractive many consumer than traditional liquid ink or toner based printers.  The biggest selling point of Xerox Phaser ink has always been the vibrant colors and high print quality.  Because solid ink sticks use a wax-like ink they are able to make even the lowest quality paper stock appear to be high quality professional print jobs due to the glossy finish of the ink.  This is a large part of why the early, and even many late model, Phaser printers were marketed toward the graphic design industry.  This also allows the solid ink printers to print on a wider range of paper quality that includes recycled papers that inkjet printers would have a hard time using.  And lastly, solid ink printers are widely hailed as being possibly the most environmentally friendly printers to use due to a lack of waste and emmissions during the printing process.  Solid ink sticks do not require a plastic cartridge to contain the ink or deliver it to the print head, thus reducing the amount of waste clogging landfills.  By comparison, each toner cartridge results in 3 pounds of plastic, metal and rubber waste that usually takes centuries to decompose in a landfill.

However, Phaser solid ink printers also provide their users with a range of unique problems and complications that may occur, which can easily take first time users by surprise.  The following are some of the most common issues that solid ink printers have, and some of the solutions you can use to avoid or fix them.

First, solid ink printers are often criticized for wasting an excessive amount of ink.  This is because the printer needs to keep a certain amount of reserve ink in liquid form to be ready to print, and once that reserve ink drops below the freeze point it is no longer usable.  Repeatedly turning the printer on and off wastes more ink than is necessary.  In order to reduce the amount of ink you waste simply set the printer to sleep when it is not in use, which will keep a small reserve of ink constantly liquid and ready to use.

Xerox Phaser Ink Review continued in part 3

Although when most people think of printer ink their minds instantly go to the liquid ink sold for inkjet printers, Xerox Phaser ink is swiftly changing peoples’ perceptions on how ink should work.  The solid ink stick technology used by many Phaser model printers is emerging as a fantastic alternative to the traditional inkjet printers for both home and small business use, and has long since carved out a niche in the graphic design industry as a leading contender.  This is due to many factors, chiefly the high quality results and low long term costs associated with solid ink printers.

Interestingly, the Xerox Phaser ink that we know of today was actually developed way back in 1986 by the Tektronix company for use in the first solid ink printers.  These printers were often extremely expensive, with some of the early Phaser models costing as much as $10,000, and aimed specifically at the graphic arts industry rather than general consumption.  However Xerox eventually bought the Phaser line and invested significant research into the development of the line as an alternative office printer.  As a result the cost of both the ink and the printers themselves were drastically reduced, making them available to larger markets and ultimately personal use.  Interestingly, the solid ink Phaser printer models seem more resistant to the prevalent razor and blades marketing model that most printer manufacturers engage in, wherein the printer is sold at a reduced rate and the cost of the ink is increased to be much more profitable.

Review of Xerox Phaser Ink continued in part 2

Dragging out a shopping process can really take it’s toll on the average customer, which is why you should streamline your printer selection and accessory purchasing by figuring out the best dealers and prices. There are hundreds of manufacturers out there for desktop machines, and maybe a dozen widely known and respected brand names. If you are looking for Xerox cartridges check out http://www.247inktoner.com/xerox-toner-cartridges. Traditional wisdom generally tells people to stick with the names that they know in order to end up with a quality product, but as technology becomes easier to produce and price points become more varied, there is no reason you shouldn’t think about exploring what companies besides HP and Ricoh are doing. Just because your budget allows for you to go all out on an expensive printer doesn’t mean that you should, nor does it mean you will end up with the best device. The bang-for-your-buck factor is less cut and dry than it once was. You could theoretically spend two thousand dollars on hardware that is geared for producing professional grade photography prints and be completely unhappy with its performance. Conversely, you could spend as little as one hundred dollars on a device that claims to be able to do a little bit of everything and find yourself entirely pleased by its capabilities. Sometimes there is simply no telling what you can expect of a unit coming out of the box, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest the time and effort to understand the ins-and-outs of a product as much as possible before confirming that final purchase.

Usually when you come across a listing for a printer on a major website there will be a tab below the picture and price that says something along the lines of Expanded product detail available here. Looking at that information will prove to be extremely valuable moving forward, so don’t take it for granted. You will see important details like the physical measurements, which will be good for making sure you will have enough space in your office configuration. Pages per minute is another popular statistic, and for those in business settings where every second counts, the faster and more reliable the machine, the better. Other minor notes such as power saving settings, tray loader capacity, and warranty information will be listed. If you are unable to locate a certain detail that you feel is important, you should absolutely put off buying a device until you have the information you need to make an informed purchase. There is nothing worse than assuming a certain aspect will be fine, only to realize upon setting up the machine that you really should have taken the extra few minutes to figure out what you needed. Space dimensions may not seem that important, but if the real estate on your desk is already coming at a premium, you should either measure out what is available or figure out the next option for where your print can be situated.

After you have put your money down on the hardware, you still have a few other things that will need to be taken care of before you can go off into the sunset with successful print jobs. Cartridges, either ink or toner depending on the type of device that you bought, will be a required additional component. Not many machine manufacturers, large or small, include any cartridges in the box, so the responsibility is on you for figuring out what accessories are compatible and where to find a fair price. Ink cartridges are available at practically any store that sells other forms of stationary like paper and pens. Even some chains of convenient stores stock up on ink for people coming in during the middle of the night in a panicked rush to finish printing an important document. But laser device accessories are more specialized, so if you have a brand name piece of hardware that doesn’t run on ink, you may need something along the lines of Dell 1110 toner or a generic equivalent which can be found here: http://www.247inktoner.com/dell-1110-toner-cartridges. These types of cartridges are invariably more expensive than the more basic ink variety, but they tend to last far longer and generally create print jobs that are way more sharp and colorful than the sloppy scattershot ink patterns inferior devices churn out.

You can pay a huge price simply by sticking with the original device manufacturer for your accessories, so try to avoid that scenario if at all possible. Businesses that are locked into contracts with vending companies have little recourse, but individuals can easily get on the internet and find compatible cartridges without the huge added on expense that a recognizable logo commands.

which is both healthier for employees in the immediate surroundings and better for the environment.  And since solid ink sticks do not use plastic cartridges each printer helps keep countless pounds of plastic waste out of landfills.

Some of the flaws of the Xerox 2424 Workcentre can be offset by careful usage and prudent shopping that minimizes the cost of the printer while maximizing the effectiveness.  For example, solid ink printers can often waste much more ink than other types of printers, but you can minimize this by keeping the printer on and in sleep mode most of the time.  This allows the printer to keep a small amount of reserve ink heated up in liquid form rather than dumping the waste ink and reheating more as it turns back on from a full shutdown.  The high initial cost of original Xerox ink sticks can be offset by purchasing compatible sticks from other vendors, which often sell 7 sticks of ink for about half the price that Xerox sells 6 sticks.

As such, all in all, the Xerox 2424 Workcenre all-in-one printer offers small businesses an ideal option for their printing needs.  The printer is less expensive than many comparable models, and if used correctly will offer a better price per page than inkjet printers, on a similar level to many commonly used laser printer models.  Although the warm-up time may be long, once warmed up the printing speed can reach upwards of 24 pages a minute, which is a great rate for a high gloss color printer (but don’t expect that rate for full color photographs!).  The built-in scanner and copier are above average in quality for many all-in-one printer models, and add additional office utility to the machine beyond simply being good for promotional materials.  Aside from the space issue this printer is fantastic for any small business needs.

second printer on hand to handle immediate copies or printing. 

However, most consumers seem to find these flaws quickly overshadowed by the benefits that the Xerox 2424 Workcentre offers to a small business.  As with all solid ink printers the quality of print jobs is well above average, particularly with full color media such as photographs or brochure printing.  Xerox solid ink printers have a reputation for producing vibrant colors, and the wax-like ink makes even the lowest quality paper stock look glossy and professional.  In fact, solid ink printers are able to print on a wider variety of paper than more sensitive inkjet printers.

The multi-functionality of the printer also receives high marks from many users.  The printer is able to multitask by scanning one document while printing another, allowing you to work on multiple projects simultaneously.  The scanner comes complete with a dual scan head system that makes it possible to scan both sides of a document in one pass, and a booklet printing option that makes producing promotional material much simpler.

The Xerox 2424 ink also works to many printing advantages simply by virtue of using solid ink technology.  Although the solid ink sticks may cost more money for the consumer up front, they have a lower cost per page than inkjet printers and hold up well against laser printers, too.  Another advantage is that, unlike laser printers, Xerox solid ink printers do not emit ozone during the printing process,

Continued in part 3

When it comes to small businesses a multifunction printer is often a wise investment in order to cut down on the initial cost of equipment and to save on space, but a wise selection can also have additional benefits like reduced long term costs.  The Xerox C2424 Workcentre printers are a great example of combining functionality with cost cutting measures to maximize the utility of the printer for the average small business, particularly one that needs to print the occasional promotional material.  Xerox 2424 ink utilizes the exclusive solid ink technology that has made Xerox such a popular brand for media in recent years, providing numerous quality, cost and environmental benefits for the company that employs it.

To be clear, the Xerox 2424 Workcentre does have it’s drawbacks.  To begin with, the machine is quite simply very large, meaning that it will require its own space in the office rather than sitting on top of an employee’s desk.  In fact it is large enough that many common parcel carriers will only deliver it as freight, so expect to see a semi-truck dropping off your order.  Another disadvantage is that Xerox 2424 ink does have a high up-front cost, with 6 sticks sold by the original equipment manufacturer costing over $100.  These printers are also significantly slower than the common laser printers employed by many offices, with warm-up times lasting as long as 5 minutes from a complete shutdown, or 3 minutes from sleep mode.  As such some companies opt to have a

Continued in part 2

but cannot be cleaned up as easily as dust.  Remember that toner bonds to a surface when heat is applied, meaning that using warm water to wipe down a surface covered in toner will only cause the toner to melt onto that surface, making it very difficult (or more likely, impossible) to remove afterward.  It can, however, be washed off of skin and clothing using cold water without a ton of friction, which creates heat.  Never use a vacuum cleaner to deal with a toner spill!  Toner particles are designed to have electrostatic properties for use in the laser printer, and as such they can develop static charges if they interact with other particles and objects such as dust in a vacuum.  The static discharge from charged toner particles may result in the dust in the vacuum igniting, or even a small explosion if enough toner is suspended in the air!

With all of the problems with cleaning, breathing, and (the very small chance of) potentially blowing yourself up, one might reasonably wonder why in the world anybody actually uses laser toner.  The answer to that question is very clear: toner powder offers a much less expensive page yield than traditional liquid ink can.  Laser printer cartridges generally count their page yields in the thousands of pages, rather than hundreds like most inkjet cartridges.  Toner powder can also last almost indefinitely if stored in the proper conditions, such as in a cool dark place.  As a result some consumers have reported still using toner cartridges after several years of ownership.  All toner users report getting much more bang for their buck.

and are then transferred onto the paper when it rolls through the drum.  The paper is heated up at a fuser, which melts the toner onto the surface and creates the finished product that we see at the end.  This is why pages printed in a laser printer are always slightly warm when they come out of the printer.

So what does all this fancy talk about laser printer toner actually mean to the user?  Since toner is composed of entirely different chemicals and particles, it functions slightly differently than regular dried up ink and needs to be given special consideration.  For example, every toner manufacturer has a slightly different formula which results in variations between toner particle size and melting point, making it important to never mix two types of toner in a cartridge after refilling it.  Additionally, toner is also a mild irritant if it is inhaled.  Since it is a very fine powder toner can actually hang suspended in the air for a surprising amount of time after cleaning a printer, and breathing it in can aggravate breathing problems like asthma.  As a side note, many laser printers also emit ozone into the air during functioning, which is part of the reason why laser printers are often kept away from general working areas.

Another factor to consider when handling toner powder is how difficult it is to clean up toner if the toner is spilled.  As a fine powder toner can get into just about everything when it is spilled

Continued in part 3

Everyone who uses a printer is familiar with the visual difference between regular printer ink, such as the types used in most inkjet printers, and the powdery laser printer toner that you see in offices around the world.  To many people that difference might seem small enough–one is liquid and the other is dust–but in reality the two types of ink are actually worlds apart from each other in both composition and function.  This has a significant impact on how the different types of printers work and are maintained, and can cause the average user a fair amount of consternation if they are not prepared for those differences.

Laser printer toner is far more than simply powdered ink, it is actually specifically engineered chemical material that functions very differently than dried up ink would.  Although in the early days of laser printers toner was simply a carbon powder, over time plastic particles were introduced into the mixture until all toner became a carbon polymer mixed with black or color particles to create the end product.  The reason why plastic was introduced into laser printer toner is a result of how the printers work: rather than squirting the toner onto a page like an inkjet printer, laser printers function by using an electrostatic charge to draw the image to be printed on a drum inside of the machine.  The drum is then exposed to toner particles which are attracted to the image drawn by the laser…

Continued in part 2