Posts filed under: printer
Tips for saving ink!
Posted on June 30, 2014 | Posted under printer, saving ink | 64 Comments
We often hear from our customers that they cannot believe the cost of printer ink. We do our best to keep the prices as low as possible, but unfortunately there is no getting around the fact that ink and and toner cartridges are expensive. But not all is lost - What we can do is give you some helpful tips on what to do to save on your ink consumption.
1) The best ink saver is not to print at all. This might sound odd coming form a company that sells ink but we suggest you be selective about your printing needs. If you can proof read a document on the screen rather than on a print out, it saves ink. Also, if you only need 1 page of a 20 page document, don't print all 20 pages! Just select the 1 page you need and print that. this may sound silly to some but a lot of people waste ink and print ours that they do not require.
2) One of the best ink savers is to print in "draft" mode. If you are not concerned about the quality of a print out this can be a great way to save printer ink. It will be slightly lighter in colour and less accurate. But as an added bonus it will print faster!
3) Select black and white printing. Even when you are printing a black and white document, some printers may add in colour ink, even though you are not printing anything with colour. So the easy way to fix this is to choose black and white print from the properties.
4) Some people suggest to turn your printer off when it's not in use to save printer ink - and in some cases this is true! But not always. A recent british study tested the cost of printing 50 pages of coloured documents continuously, over a few weeks turning the printer off and over a few weeks leaving the printer on. There were dramatic differences depending on what printer you have. Basically the message is, if your printer sounds like its cleaning its heads each time it is turned on, it may be cheaper to have the printer put itself to sleep than turn it on and off.
5) When your ink starts to get low, take the cartridge out and give it a very gentle shake. This allows the last ink to be redistirbuted within the cartridge and may give you some extra life from your cartridge.
6) This isn't a ink saving tip, but it is a paper saving tip! If your printer has duplex mode - Use It! Duplex mode allows you to print on both sides of the page saving on paper. Not only will you save paper but also helping the environment at the same time!
Well there are a couple of tips that might help. Does anyone else have any suggestions?
What is the most cost effective printer I can buy?
Posted on June 27, 2014 | Posted under cost effective, ink, printer, toner | 5 Comments
A lot of people don't consider this question when buying a printer. They might find a cheap model, with all the functionality they need only to find that it is costing them a huge amount to keep it running. So what printer is a good one to buy? Well it depends.
Unfortunately there isn't really one answer on what the best printer to buy is however we can help point out the things to look for so that when you do purchase a printer, you can find one that is cost efficient for what you need.
One of the first things you should do is work out what the cost per page is for the replacement inks. The manufacturer may provide a standard yield and a high yield ink cartridge so it is worth working out what the price of the pages will be. As mentioned in a previous post, to do this you need to take the yield of that cartridge divided by the cost of the cartridge and that will give you your cost per page. It is amazing how different printers can have huge variations in the cost per page. Also do not that the higher yield cartridges are not alway a cheaper alternative! It is worth doing your homework!
Another factor to consider is the type of printing you are doing. Tests by Consumer.org showed that the Lexmark Z1420 gave the most cost effective text printing at 3.7 US cents per page. While the HP Photosmart D&560 produced the most cost effective photo prints at US$1.2 per page.
The final consideration is whether there are compatible or remanufactured cartridges available for the printer that you are looking at. Compatible and remanufactured ink and toner can be a great way to print cost effectively. If bought from a reputable supplier, like ourselves, they can provide good quality print outputs and extremely cost effective prices.
Well - there are a couple of things to consider when purchasing a cost effective printer.
Do you have any other suggestions?