OkiPrintMyRide : All About Computer, Printer and Buying Guide

Brother MFC-5890CN A3 Printer – A Cheap All-Rounder

May 2, 2019James13Leave a comment

Brother releasing MFC-5890CN has achieved something quite remarkable with its. Everything needed in the small office is in this printer, A3, A4 printing, scanning and fax functionalities as well. A3 scanning was left out so if you’d like to do that often, the bigger version of the model is a better choice. Quite a multi-purpose machine, as it prints in both B&W and color modes too.

The unit itself can be called compact, but that doesn’t mean you can put it into your backpack after work. It’s just smaller than similar printers with similar capabilities on the market, and I have to say there are not that many that can do everything this printer can. It is equipped with USB 2.0 connectivity to be able to print from digital cameras or thumb drives without a computer and reads SD, CF and MMC cards for the same reason. An RJ-45 ethernet connector makes operation in network printer mode possible.

There are four different cartridges installed with all the pros and cons of the technology. These cartridges are easy to replace one by one after use, there is no need to throw out a half full casing only because the black tint is empty. It also takes some more space than a single cartridge system, but it definitely produces less waste.

The paper tray can take up to 150 sheets of paper and the device prints away at an agonizingly slow 10 pages per minute or 6 in color mode. Brother is one of the manufacturers that measure their printers’ official performance assuming draft mode. I don’t know if you print a lot in draft but I don’t really find myself doing that a lot. The official numbers are 35 pages in black and white or 28 in color.

This printer has no remarkable features, nor it is the fastest printer on earth. The print quality is not the best either, color mode pages are vivid, filled, while text mode prints are only decent with a strange fragile look to the letters. Under magnifier glass the cause is easily spotted, the lines are a bit thin causing the serifs to almost fall off of letters. Maybe it has to warm up before starting to produce proper quality papers, maybe it’s inherent from used technology, I don’t know. Scans are done in good quality both from the flatbed and the 50 pages document feeder on the top.

Brother has done nothing extraordinary other printers can’t do. Some of the features are almost weak, but I’d like to add, that this is a very cheap A3 printer model, and that’s the great thing about it. It does everything for only $180.

3D Printers: What is the hype about?

March 31, 2019James13Leave a comment

The world of technology and science is expanding and changing exponentially. Futuristic inventions that were talked about for generations have arrived. Telephones you could carry around with you, computers in every home, and the ability to see your family when you talked to them on the phone.

That future has arrived, and the things of science fiction are a reality. Printers have evolved from the mimeograph machine, with a roller and purple ink, to electric copiers, with black ink that didn’t smell funny. Now they collate, staple, print photographs and send faxes. Enter the world of 3D printers and pens. No paper or ink required.

What is 3D printing?

In a normal printing process, information is fed to a printer, via computer generated instructions. Ink is laid onto paper, and your 2D document is generated. With a 3D printer, an object is scanned or created in a CAD (Computer Aided Design) program. The object is then divided into .15mm thick slices, hundreds of one dimensional layers. Each layer is a set of instructions that are fed into the 3D printer.

A layer of powdered polymer is distributed evenly across a platform. Infrared lasers scan across the layer creating the pattern from the first layer of instructions. The laser melts the polymer. A second layer of powder is applied, crystallizing the materials. The process is repeated until the object has been completed. The excess powder is removed, and the completed object emerges.

What can be made with a 3D printer?

With a 3D printer, a company can design and create their own prototypes. Something that looks good on paper may not actually look as nice, or work as well, in reality. By creating a prototype, a manufacturer can look at a physical representation of their final product, and make changes to their products. The cost associated with prototypes and new product development can be greatly reduced with the purchase of an affordable 3d printer.

In the world of kitchen appliance, the manufacturers can develop new kitchen appliance, print the sample products before the real products released to the market, they can make a new design on various products including electric kettles, teapots, cookware sets, microwave ovens, gas stove and more from their computer with ease..

In the world of science, archaeologists can use the 3D printer to recreate artifacts, dinosaur bones and fossils. Forensic science can recreate objects destroyed at a crime scene, enabling them to reconstruct what may have happened. Crime television and their fictional experiments meet forensic pathologists using 3D modeling.

In modern medicine, they are using layers of living tissue to recreate organs and body parts. Organ printing, or Computer Aided Tissue Layering is in development. One day, in the very near future, a limb will be regenerated with help from 3D printers. The applications are endless limited only by the imagination.

The Different Types of Printers

March 27, 2019James13Leave a comment

What I’m going to introduce is the different types of computer printers for home use. If we have computers, then most likely, we also have printers connected to our computers. Sometimes, it is packaged with the PCs we buy but sometimes, we just buy one because we know we are going to need it.

Printers either use laser or inks. Laser printers are much more expensive than inkjet printers but they are much faster and ideal for business use. In most homes and offices, inkjet printers are what are typically used.

Laser printers have two kinds of printing method, the monochrome (black and white) and the colored. Some laser printers have built-in duplexer for two-sided simultaneous printing capability. Monochrome is ideal for large volume printing and since you are basically going to print texts only with a monochrome printer, it is most ideal for office use. Colored laser printers are also fast but slightly slower than a monochrome laser printer. It is ideal for both business and home use but are basically very expensive. Most of us probably can’t afford it, but there is a cheaper option; the inkjet printer.

Inkjet printers are categorized by home printers and office printers. Office printers will generate you fast printing results while home printers are slower in the printing process. Some brands give you 4 ink printers and some give you 6 ink printers. 4 ink printers are generally ideal for everyone to use. 6 ink printers are probably a better choice if you need to print graphic illustrations and high resolution photographs. 6 ink printers, though, are more expensive than 4 ink printers.

Before buying printers, it is advisable to weigh your options. An inkjet printer may be less expensive but you might experience frequent paper jams, and cartridges can also be very expensive. So if you are printing in large volumes of texts and photos, you might want to consider a laser printer. A laser printer might be more expensive but they are more efficient especially if you are printing in large volumes.

Features of Printers

The cheapest kind of printer is a printer that can be interfaced with the computer but doesn’t have other features. Without the computer, it won’t function at all. It can’t function independently and at the same time, it doesn’t have other functions except printing only.

For multi-function printers, they can be interfaced with the computer but they can also perform different function independent from the computer. There are different kinds of multi-function printers. One kind of multi-function printer has the scan, photocopy, and printing functions only. It can be used independently without the computer. Second kind of multi-function printer has print, scan, photocopy, pictbridge and card reader slots. And then there is the all-in-one home and business printer. It has print, scan, photocopy, pictbridge, card reader slots, and fax functions. Duplexers (for double sided printing) may be built-in or added depending on your printer brand and model.

For laser printers, they don’t have pictbridge and memory card slots. But you can choose a laser printer that can scan, photocopy, fax, print, and has built-in duplexers.

Wireless Printer Routers – How to Setup

March 19, 2019James13Leave a comment

In this guide I’ll show you how to setup most typical wireless printer routers. Wireless networks and wireless printer routers provide users with many options including being able to print to a wireless printer in another room without all the long network cables. Wireless printer routers may be set up in a central location making it easy for all users to access the wireless printer on its own or through a wireless printer router.

Once the setup is complete you can then access and print to the wireless printer. Running a WLAN or a Wireless Local Area Network requires a strong encryption like Wi-Fi Protected Access or WPA2. Wireless printer routers have become a popular way to eliminate all the cables and share one central printer over the entire network.

Components Needed:

– Wireless computer or computer connected to wireless router
– Wireless printer router
– Printer software
– USB cables
– Wireless printer

Step 1

Once the user has already setup a wireless network with his or her existing wireless access point or wireless router, setting up the wireless printer router can be done easily. Once the wireless printer has been unpacked and assembled, proceed to the installation of the printer software on any computer on the wireless network. Most wireless printers will include proprietary software including the drivers. Insert the disc that came with your wireless printer and run the setup.exe program.

Step 2

To set up wireless printing most wireless printer routers will usually require connecting the wireless printer temporarily to the wireless printer router with the Ethernet cable that came with it. After Setup has finished the installation of the software, click on ‘Finish’. Lastly, click on ‘Print Test Page’. When the wireless printer prints the test page, click on ‘OK’.

Step 3

To connect a wireless printer to typical wireless printer routers in most cases you will use the included software or your internet browser too access the wireless printers settings. You will need to configure your wireless printer to connect to your wireless printer routers SSID through the wireless printer routers settings. Most wireless printer routers allow access to the the SSID settings via your web browser. This is required in order to tell the wireless printer which network it is supposed to join.

Step 4

Disconnect the cable of the Ethernet from the printer and then launch the Wireless Setup Wizard. Once the printer detects the wireless network, its SSID or Service Set Identifier or network name is displayed. The SSID or network name may be found in the settings of the wireless printer router. If the wireless printer is unable to detect the WLAN then you will most likely need to enable on the broadcast feature of the SSID which is controlled by most wireless printer routers as well.

Step 5

According to www.bestnetworkinghardware.com, since your Internet Service Provider assigns a global IP address to the wireless printer router that you are using, you will need to enter the password and the username in order to access the settings of the router. This URL is usually 198.162.1.1. Typically wireless printer routers will use encryption by default but be sure to check this feature and make sure it is enabled for security. The type of encryption used by your wireless network is located in the router’s settings together with the shared key or the passphrase.

Step 6

If the wireless printer is unable to locate the wireless network even after having manually typed in the SSID, it may need to be moved nearer to the wireless printer router or the wireless printer’s IP address may need to be added to the Media Access Control or MAC address filtering list of the wireless printer router.

Step 7

Once the wireless printer has been successfully and wirelessly connected to the wireless neteork, try to print a test page again and then upon re-enabling the anti-virus software in the computer system, try printing another test page.
Not all wireless printer routers are the same. Make sure the wireless router you choose has all the features you will require and the latest wireless technology. There is a wide selection of wireless printer routers available on the market covering every feature in a wide range of prices.

Pros of the Brother HL-2140 Personal Laser Printer

March 16, 2019James13Leave a comment

I bought this printer almost three months ago and have used it frequently since that time. Because of my experience with and use of this laser printer, I feel qualified to offer my review of the Brother HL-2140 Personal Laser Printer.

This is my honest opinion and appraisal of this laser printer, offered here as a review to help you make a better, more-informed laser printer buying decision. With that in mind, here are the pros of the Brother HL-2140 Personal Laser Printer:

I bought the Brother HL-2140 Personal Laser Printer from Amazon.com for $79.99 with free shipping included. As I write this, it is selling on Amazon for $88.98 + $11.99 shipping, so the price has gone up slightly since I bought mine. I received my laser printer via UPS two days after ordering, so shipping was quick and there was no damage to the printer upon arrival.
This printer is economical as the purchase price is reasonable and the costs of printing are acceptable, in my opinion. The replacement Brother TN360 High Yield Black Toner Cartridge, touts a lifetime yield of 2,600 pages based on 5-percent coverage and can be purchased at most office supply stores, or online at Amazon.com. The current price (as I write this) for the Brother TN360 High Yield Black Toner Cartridge on Amazon.com is $43.80 with free shipping included.
The Brother HL-2140 Personal Laser Printer is easy to set up and begin using. From the time I opened the box to the time I printed my first page, only 30 minutes had passed. The Quick Setup Guide was well laid out, and the setup instructions were very easy to follow. The setup and installation of the printer and the printer software on my Windows XP computer was simple and quick.
The laser printer is very fast. It only only takes about ten seconds for warming up and the printer spits out the copies are very fast and it even faster than my much more expensive, previous (but older) laser printer, the HP LaserJet 4M.
Print quality is excellent with the 2400 X 600 DPI resolution and page curl is minimal and about average for a laser printer. I always lay my printed sheets of paper flat on a table and that takes out almost all of the page curl and what remains is minimal and acceptable. I am printing documents, after all, not museum pieces.
The Brother HL-2140 Personal Laser Printer uses a USB cable interface to connect to the PC so it easy to connect and is Windows and Mac compatible.