OkiPrintMyRide

How much should you pay for an inkjet printer? What inkjet printer is the best? There are no easy answers to these questions. Much will depend on what brand you buy, what you intend to print and even where you buy it.

Four major companies supplies the majority of inkjet printers on the store shelves today. Canon, Lexmark, Epson and HP (Hewlett-Packard) have perfected the art of inkjet printing. They all have low end models priced from $50 to $149, middle of the pack models priced from $150 to $349 and highend models that can range from $350 and up. Some are stand alone (printers only) and some are multifunction – often referred to as all-in-one (typically space saving with a printer, fax machine and copier combined into one unit).

HP inkjet printers are typically rated to be a good all around choice. Text printing as well as photo printing is considered good and the cost of operation is acceptable.

Personally I like my stand alone HP inkjet printers (I have purchased several Deskjet models) with the bottom paper tray. Envelopes and labels are easy to align and the paper does not curl if not used quickly. I can fit it into a smaller space. My refill inkjet cartridges cost on average $25 for black and $40 for color and for around $60 I can buy a combo pack.

A lesson learned that saves money on replacement ink cartridges is to ignore the ink level indicator as it shows the ink levels getting very low. Many pages of black text can be printed without any degrigation even after the indicator shows empty and after the “low” ink warning pop up on the monitor. Have a new cartridge on hand however, because the ink will eventually run out and it will always happen suddenly. The same goes for the color cartridges except they tend to start changing the colors in the photo before they just give out completely. I have tried to refill cartridges myself – also to save money – but I prefer to just buy them pre-filled.

Epson printers are considered to be good quality photo printers. Epson typically uses the “fixed-head” technology which simply means that the print head is not part of the ink cartridge. It allows for higher quality printing and accurate ink placement on the paper. The upside of this design is lower cost ink cartridges and the downside is that if the print head is damaged it will cost more to replace it. Some Epson inks are rated to last for 100 years or longer and some Epson printers can print a photo as large as 13″ x 19″ compared to most inkjet printers that can only print as large as a standard or legal size sheet of paper.

Low cost printers are synonymous with low quality printing results. Canon’s entry-level inkjet printers can withstand some scrutiny due to their text printing. Canon is also a good choice for small compact and somewhat portable models. My experience with such a printer was good. The expensive part was the ink cartridges. Since I did not use the printer for everyday printing the ink tended to dry out even when I removed the opened cartridge and stored it in the container meant for such a purpose.

Every inkjet printer has upsides and downsides. The cost of the consumables (ink cartridges) is one of the largest expenses experienced after the initial purchase of the printer itself. But that it not the only extra expense encountered. Most brick and mortar stores as well as online stores do not include the USB cable need to attach your inkjet printer to your computer. A USB cable can cost anywhere between $5 to over $30. So my advice is to keep your USB cable once you dispose of your old printer.

When you shop for an inkjet printer keep in mind what you want to print. If you just print text that does not have to be top quality you can go for a low-end, low-cost printer. But if you need higher quality text and an occasional photo printed spend more on the printer. If you print a lot of photos spend the extra money to get a printer highly rated for photo printing. If you need to save space and need the ability to print, copy and fax you may want an all-in-one inkjet printer. In any case, the re-fill ink cartridges will eventually be your biggest ongoing expense.

Nowadays many companies that produce photo printers supplement these devices with a very useful feature such as direct CD printing. Thus a great number of models of ink-jet printers come with the ability to print images on a CD surface that has a special covering. Such CDs or DVDs are called the printable ones.

It should be noted that the method of CD/DVD printing gives them an inimitable individuality. Such discs with a printed image on them look very presentable and informative. It is one of he best ways personalize the user’s photos, video or music.

Epson being one of such companies offers its customers direct CD/DVD printing. The EPSON Print CD software that comes with EPSON photo printers allows printing your favorite images on CD/DVD. After the creation of your image for a CD, you can print it out on the CD with 12 or 8 cm diameter.

CD Printing Guide

· Use only such CD/DVDs that are specially designed for printing. Usually they have the following indications: “Printable on the label surface” or “Printable with ink jet printers”.

· As opposed to printing on a special Epson paper, images on CD/DVD are printed with less saturated colors.

· Print out images on CD/DVD only after data record. In other case fingerprints, scratches or dust on a disc surface may cause write error.

· If you are going to print out a great number of compact discs, first you should print images on several unnecessary discs and then check the result of the printed surface the next day.

· Do not use CDs and do not touch the printed surface, till it dries out completely. Do not dry the printed CD/DVD by the bright sunlight.

· If the printed surface remains sticky after drying, it may be that the colors are excessively saturated. In this case you should lower the color saturation in EPSON Print CD.

· Ingress of moisture on the printed surface may cause the color smearing.

· The repeated printing on a compact-disc will not necessarily improve the quality of printing.

· Depending on the type of compact-disc and color saturation the image may become smudged.

· With the help of EPSON Print CD you may adjust the printing area on a compact-disc. Adjust the area of printing in such a way, so it coincides with the print area of a compact-disc that you are going to use. Wrong adjustments may stain the disc tray or a compact-disc.

Why Should You Use Printer Covers?

If you operate computer equipment like work stations or printers in a dusty work area , you should be aware of the hazards caused by dust. Dust sticks to every surface until it clogs up cooling vents and coats electronics in a blanket of insulation , causing them to overheat and possibly even fail. You’ve taken steps to protect your company’s computers, but when a good laser printer costs $500 or more, don’t neglect dust protection for your other equipment. Printer dust covers come in a number of different styles based on your needs and the severity of the dust problem.

Vinyl Covers

Anti-static Vinyl printer dust covers are the smooth, waterproof slip covers that are available in several different colors and can be used to protect your printers when they are not in use . These are the least expensive printer covers, but must be taken off for access each time the printer is used. This makes them inconvenient for frequent-use printers. Vinyl covers may be all you need for a printer in a dusty environment that is not used often, as long as you remember to put it back on after using the printer.

Breathable Dust Covers

Companies like Computer Dust Solutions, Amazon, BestBuy sell a breathable non-woven polyester dust cover for all kinds of computer equipment including inkjet or laser printers. These products are designed to remain installed 24 hours per day, seven days a week , eliminating the necessity of remembering to reinstall the covers at the end of each workday when it’s time to shut the shop down. These breathable polyester “mesh” dust covers act as filters for the cooling fans in CPUs, printers and monitors to keep dust out.

Don’t Neglect Dust Protection

Dust buildup inside printer or computer cases is invisible to users. So, it is easy to forget about cleaning and dust protection until equipment overheats and/or breaks down. Prevent headaches in the future by getting in the habit of using printer covers today.

Web hosting has become a huge industry in these last few years, which is really no surprise at all if you consider how connected we all are to our screens of all shapes and sizes. The internet is working to keep us all connected wherever we are. This is very useful for businesses who want to spread the message of their products and services. It makes it very easy for these communications to be sent when it can be done from anywhere.

This is why VPS cloud hosting can be such a benefit to you and your company. There are some things you can get through this source of internet technology that you cannot get with other kinds of hosting companies. Here are just three of the important benefits you will find from this incredible variety of web hosting. They are especially pertinent to small companies and private business owners.

Low Cost

Everyone is looking to save a buck or two these days. It is just the nature of this economy. Even though high speed web hosting will help you make more money, it is wise to try and get a good deal. When you loot at VPS cloud hosting companies, there are some that offer some very affordable deals. Many of these lower priced deals will even allow you to pay for upgrades here and there if you need the higher cpapbilities from time to time, but know that having it all the time will not be worth the investment. Companies like Sparknode try to make sure that you can get what you need, whatever your level of need and budget amount. This will help you save money while also increasing your capacity to make money. That is a win-win situation if there ever was one.

Personal Service

Just because you are working in a high level in any office, whether you own the business or not, does not mean that you know anything about computers. This can make choosing a web hosting company confusing and frustrating. When you work with companies that offer different levels and are ready to work with you the way Sparknode will, then you will be able to get the personal service you need form people who do know what they are doing. This will allow you to continue devoting your time to what you do best while still getting the web and communication speed you need.

Training Aids

Any manager or business owner will tell you that one of the most important things they do with their employees is train them. Knowing that the people who are working for you are well trained and equipped to represent you and your company is paramount to the continued success of the business. VPS cloud hosting allows you to do that. You have better communication and vast array of options to help teach and guide the people working with and for you. Easier training methods will make for better employees which will make for success. This is what you are really looking for when choosing a web hosting company- a more clear path to success.

So many computer systems are infected by viruses and people will never know. Their computer runs slow and just basically starts to drag overtime. Viruses can cause boot up issues, slow performance, and even destroy data. Luckily they make many different types of virus removal software. The hard decision is which one to choose and how does it work?

The best Free Anti-Virus softwares and services for virus removal that I recommend are AVG or Avast. AVG & Avast Free Anti-Virus gets my vote when it comes to removing threats and maintaining my computer. The program is pretty user friendly and does not require a lot of effort. You will need to know a few settings on the board but other than that just about anyone can run it. When you first install it gives you the option to do a full computer scan. You should take advantage of this and get a head start on the virus removal process. It will take some time so try and be patient.

Hopefully once the scan finishes you will be left with the option to reboot your computer. Do this after saving all open projects that you may have minimized. Upon reboot you will notice avg loads up and can be viewed as a small icon in the task bar. This is where you can double click on it to open the program settings up. Once you have it open you will want to look for the update section and ensure that your virus protection is current and up to date. If you let your software get to far out of date your vulnerability rate can increase.

So you should be good to go now. You have a nice clean protected computer and real time anti-virus software that is running in the back ground. A good rule of thumb is to scan your computer at least once a week to ensure that your computer is not re-infected. Many viruses can come in stealthy and have a huge impact on our systems. So please make sure you are protected and remember you never have to pay for an anti-virus there are plenty of free ones out there.