Digital office equipment and document management solutions specialist Ricoh Americas announced the release of two color laser printers, the Aficio SP C430DN and SP C431DN—network printer systems that offer a broad range of media support. The SP C430DN and SP C431DN offer two printer engine options, allowing users to choose the print speed that works best, and they turn out full-color and monochrome prints at 37 pages per minute. The SP C431DN addresses busier workgroups with a color and black-and-white output speed of 42 pages per minute.
Users can install up to three optional 550-sheet paper feed units for a maximum 2,300-sheet capacity that supports up to 120 lb. index. For increased versatility, the system also accepts up to 140 lb. index through its 100-sheet bypass tray, which is capable of handling special media such as static cling, waterproof and coated papers. The SP C430DN has suggested price of $1,499, while the SP C431DN is priced higher, at $1,999.
As users look to minimize expenses, Ricoh has driven down the cost per page by employing three color cartridges that yield 21,000 prints each and one black cartridge that yields 24,000 prints. Additionally, Ricoh’s Economy Color modeis designed to help businesses save on consumables by reducing the amount of toner used while still producing legible documents.
Businesses demanding reliable document security can look to the device access and data protection options the SP C430DN and SP C431DN offer. The SP C430DN provides network data encryption and user authentication. For increased security, the SP C431DN comes standard with additional features, including an 80GB hard drive and 768MB of RAM for increased document storage and queuing, Enhanced Locked Print-NX (ELP-NX) for password-protected print release on any ELP-NX-enabled networked device, and Card Authentication Package (CAP) for device access via user identification card swipes. These features on the SP C431DN are also available optionally on the SP C430DN at an additional cost.
“Speed, versatility and reliability are important business requirements when looking for printers to maintain a productive office environment,” said Shun Sato, senior vice president of marketing for Ricoh Americas. “Whether you are a small business in need of a secure and dependable network printer, or a larger enterprise looking to enhance the productivity of individual workgroups, the Aficio SP C430DN and SP C431DN color laser printers are designed to fit into any setting and produce high-quality output while realizing savings for our customers.”
Eco Factor: Printer uses recycled paper for packaging.
Instant Cartridge Printer makes printing as simple as ABC. The recycling printer concept by designer Yuexun Chen is based on the idea that ‘package is part of the product’ and hence tries to simplify the process of recycling printer. The printer’s packaging is made from recycled paper and is tough enough to protect the printer inkjet inside the package.
The size of the printer varies according to the size of the paper while the numbering on the package shows the number of pages it could print. The easy to use printer only needs to get connected to a USB to lend out a fresh print. Once done with the requisite prints the printer can be easily disassembled to recycle.
June 16, 2010 – Staffordshire, United Kingdom (June 11, 2010) – Prink, leading UK suppliers of cheap ink cartridges and high quality compatibles for a number of brands, comment on research that suggests changing fonts can save on printer ink.
A study carried out by Printer.com suggests that varying fonts and sizes can use up different amounts of printer ink from printer cartridges. By using Ariel as the standard font, they deduced that switching to Times New Roman saved up to twenty per cent in ink costs whilst Ecofont (which leaves small holes inside the letters can save up to thirty per cent. Century Gothic was one of the most impressive performers saving up to thirty-one per cent of ink as opposed to Ariel.
One of the worst performing fonts however was Franklin, which uses more ink than any other standard font. Prink feel that although it may be wise to adjust fonts to save on inks, they also suggest using compatible ink cartridges for printers as not only do they deliver the same quality as a branded cartridge but are also much more affordable than official ones bought from retail stores.
“The research carried out by Printer.com is a very interesting read. Not many people would have thought that the font they used would have such a large effect on their ink levels,” commented a spokesperson for Prink. “So while it may be worth switching font, it’s also worth stocking up on cheap and affordable compatible ink cartridges so you don’t have to compromise your text. We have a wide range of compatible ink cartridges at Prink and you can view our full selection on our website today.”
Tired of hearing customers whine that printer ink is too expensive–and facing competition from ink-cartridge refillers–executives at Hewlett-Packard’s printing division would like to buff up the print giant’s reputation with consumers. So the company recently sent Thom Brown, who specializes in “competitive media intelligence,” on a media tour with a presentation called “Why Does Ink Cost So Much?” Opening a bag of props including a trio of shot glasses, squares of foam and some disassembled print heads, Mr. Brown earlier this week explained the complex workings of H-P print heads, and the billions of dollars the company has spent over the years developing them.He talked about the challenges in shooting drops of printer ink at moving pages of paper, and the perils of refilling ink cartridges rather than buying new ones from H-P. Refilling involves poking a hole in an H-P cartridge and filling it with a god-knows-what mixture of non-H-P ink–a process that can lead to smudging and other poor performance, Mr. Brown said. H-P, he added, has heard from plenty of customers who tried refilling. “A lot of them don’t have good experiences,” he said.
In addition to research-and-development, the expense of printer ink cartridges comes from H-P’s high-tech testing of cartridges that break. The company uses electron microscopes, Mr. Brown said, to figure out what made a printhead malfunction. H-P has started what it calls an “Ink Amnesty Program” to bring back customers who have left H-P for refillers. In exchange for sharing your bad-ink story, the program will give consumers a 20% discount coupon for H-P ink.Of course it’s not just R&D that makes H-P’s ink costs so much. With more than 40% of the worldwide printer market last year, according to research firm IDC, H-P doesn’t face serious competitive pressure that would force it to drop prices.
Mr. Brown said his area of knowledge is printing technology, not profits.
But in the company’s last quarterly earnings report, H-P’s printing division booked more than $6 billion in sales and more than $1 billion in operating profit. Its operating profit margin was 17%, but Shaw Wu, an analyst with Kaufman Brothers, said that includes sales of low-profit printers. On ink alone, he estimates that H-P’s margin is somewhere between 20% and 30%.
Both companies and consumers are focusing more and more on being environmentally-friendly, keep electronics out of landfills, and recycle components that can be recycled and re-used. HP is known for its ink and toner recycling program, and the company is now taking its efforts one step further by joining forces with Staples Business Depot to create retail drop-off locations.
As part of the pilot program, consumers can return used HP ink cartridges and LaserJet toner cartridges to more than 300 Staples stores across Canada. Once returned, the cartridges will be recycled through HPs own recycling facility, and will thus be diverted from landfills.“We introduced HP Planet Partners long before ‘going green’ was a trend, and over time, HP has made print cartridge recycling easier and more widely available,” says John Solomon, Vice President and General Manager, North American Consumer Business, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “As environmental awareness and customer participation have increased, we’re proud to offer customers authorized retail recycling locations as a natural evolution of the program.”
Previous to this initiative, HP would include envelopes in cartridge packaging so that consumers could mail used printer cartridges back to the company. The company says it will no longer do this in order to reduce the amount of shipping material required for recycling returns. Postage-paid return options will continue to be available at www.hp.com/recycle, and return labels will still be included in LaserJet toner cartridge packaging.
HP estimates that if all ink cartridges returned via in-box envelopes in 2008 were returned in bulk from authorized retail recycling locations instead, the amount of shipping materials used would have been reduced by more than 600,000 pounds. This equates to enough cartridges to fill more than 15 tractor trailers!In order to accommodate the increased recycling efforts, HP will be doubling the size of its North American ink cartridge recycling facility to more than 80,000 square-feet.