Does your Printer rate well with the BUZZ METER?

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When it comes to color laser printing, the buzz meter always provides users timely information and feedback on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), the latest development in print speed based on output pages per minute (PPM), cost per page (CPP), and updates on state of the art printing technology such as the single pass array. The list goes on and on.

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Lexmark C770 Toner Refill Kit: Cuts Network Color Printing Expenses by 70%!

Depending on workforce size, a typical office layout might just need only a single network laser printer to serve intermittent color printing requirements. The Lexmark C770 is one such printer. Designed with a powerful 800 MHZ processor that directs the series of information coming from networked PCs, the printer is also supplied with onboard RAM of 256 MB. Should network complications transpire in line with limited memory status, RAM can be expanded up to 768 MB. And since a network of this magnitude regularly handles severe traffic information streams, the manufacturer included a 40GB hard disk as an option to increase capacity of its storage bank.

Nevertheless, the most important consideration in the aspect of network color processing is the maintenance of the color laser printer, particularly that of its consumables. The bundled toner cartridges designed for the Lexmark C770 laser printer is retailed at $1400. Each cartridge comes with a rating of 6,500 pages at the standard page coverage of 5%. Therefore, an office that requires monthly cartridge replacement would have an annual toner consumable expenditure of as much as $16,800. Despite the exorbitant pricing, one positive aspect would be the minimal Cost Per Page (CPP). CPP for OEM color cartridges is pegged at 12 cents and 2.6 cents for the monochrome cartridge. By industry standards, said CPP readings are already tolerable and much cheaper when compared to the charge of offset printers if print jobs are outsourced.

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In House Printing: Take the Xante Ilumina 502 and Toner Refill Kit Duo

As the US business climate is gradually showing signs of recovery, big name corporations are now working to rebuild their financial infrastructure. One important issue affecting any U.S. business entity involves corporate printing expenditures that could eat up a decent share of operational expenses. Corporate printing expenditures take a leap in the production of inter-office memorandum, reports, and marketing materials that would likely hit an astounding figure if not handled prudently. Before the economic downturn, print jobs such as marketing brochures, product packaging, and even business cards have been outsourced. But in line with reduced economic activity, companies are turning towards ‘In-House Printing’ as a way to manage printing expenses.

In-House Printing becomes necessary as businesses are just starting to rise from the ashes and could therefore not really afford to stock up on brochures, packaging and several other collaterals. Most businesses often produce printed materials on an as-needed basis. To this end, in-house printing becomes a sensible option. In line with this urgent need, the Xante Ilumina 502 Digital Color Press can effectively fill the void and deliver astonishing printouts on any medium of up to 502 gsm and along affordable cost parameters. This is a proven fact, because whether a print job involves 50, 100 or even 1,000 pages; the cost per page (CPP) stays the same with the Xante Ilumina 502 - unlike local printers where CPP drops only once a particular print volume is reached. This makes the total cost of the print job restrictive.Another approach that could drastically pull down printing expenditures is the use of Xante Ilumina toner refill kits. Compatible toner supplied with toner refill kits replenishes an empty cartridge's toner supply. The simple refill procedure can help extend the serviceable life of a Xante Ilumina cartridge by up to 3 print cycles.

The bundled cost of the OEM monochrome and color toner cartridges is a little over $1,000 for an expected yield of around 15,000 pages at the industry yardstick of 5% coverage. Meanwhile, the rainbow pack of a 100% compatible toner refill kit is available for only around $300. This cuts color printing expense by as much as 70% without sacrificing print quality and yield. Ultimately, the use of toner refill kits on an empty 502 OEM cartridge will prove beneficial for business entities shifting towards the use of the Xante Ilumina Digital Color Press.

In the end, shifting to compatibles such as the Xante Ilumina toner refill kit for in-house print jobs is one practical way of managing burgeoning business printing expenditures.

From Commercial Printers to Laser Printers

It took 60 days to print a single book in 1456.
Today, it would take less than 60 minutes to do just that.

Although the Chinese and Koreans have carried out some form of printing called the moveable wood blocks technique in the early 13th century, it was in 1456 that the Western World saw a more progressive printing technology. The pioneer who made it all possible was Johann Gutenberg, a jeweler who crafted a metal alloy that allows the casting of individual letters. The mirror images of the letters are grouped together into a matrix to produce a single page. The whole arrangement of letters is then applied with ink, and then paper is pressed against it. Gutenberg started his printing business by redesigning a winepress and turned it into the first printing press. And the first books that came out were 200 copies of the Holy Bible.Six Hundred years later, printing has progressed several notches higher; particularly with the development of laser printers. Printing could no longer be singled out to large printing presses of the type operating in Gutenberg’s time. Instead, the task of printing has been delegated with offices and even households through laser printers and inkjet printers. Thanks to the advent of desktop publishing; now with just a push of a few control panel buttons of the laser printer, an office personnel can produce hard copies of documents saved in the hard disk of a personal computer or laptop.

A typical example of a trusty color laser printer is the OKIDATA 3000 series that loads with a toner cartridge accessory to produce those fine laser prints. Instead of liquid ink as employed with inkjet printers, toner powder is loaded into cartridge cavities which in turn supplies toner during printing. This technology has therefore made printing so simple. At the onset, offset printers would charge exorbitant fees to produce several hundreds of documents. But then this is understandable considering all the requirements needed to initiate the printing process. Producing the final print of the document is not really intricate per se. And that is why the cost per page (CPP) for print jobs drops with every increase in copy requirement. But then again, this is hardly felt in laser printing since a single toner cartridge may have a rating of say over 3,000 pages that reduces CPP dramatically - even lower than the CPP of large offset printers. Whether an office requires 100 or 1000 printed pages, the CPP is therefore sustained. The OEM toner cartridge for the OKIDATA 3000 series costs $80, but given its yield of 3,000 pages at 5% coverage, the CPP should be affordable.

A growing number of laser printer users nowadays prefer to refill empty toner cartridges with the use of compatible toner supplied with third party manufactured consumables such as the Okidata C300 toner refill kit. With its 4 pack retailed for only $69.95, the cost of printing will definitely be reduced at this rate. And since no considerable difference in terms of print quality and yield is apparent between the OEM toner and compatible toner, using a refill kit is a practical option.

We are now into the first decade of the current century, certainly printing a whole book today is peanuts compared to what transpired in 1456.

From Commercial Printers to Laser Printers

It took 60 days to print a single book in 1456.
Today, it would take less than 60 minutes to do just that.

Although the Chinese and Koreans have carried out some form of printing technology called the moveable wood blocks technique in the early 13th century, it was in 1456 that the Western World saw a more progressive printing technology. The pioneer who made it all possible was Johann Gutenberg, a jeweler who crafted a metal alloy that allows the casting of individual letters. The mirror images of the letters are grouped together into a matrix to produce a single page. The whole arrangement of letters is then applied with ink, and then paper is pressed against it. Gutenberg started his printing business by redesigning a winepress and turned it into the first printing press. And the first books that came out were 200 copies of the Holy Bible.

Six Hundred years later, printing has progressed several notches higher particularly with the development of laser printers. Printing could no longer be singled out to large printing presses of the type operating in Gutenberg’s time. Instead, the task of printing has been delegated with offices and even households through laser printers and inkjet printers. Thanks to the advent of desktop publishing; now with just a push of a few control panel buttons of a laser printer, an office personnel can produce hard copies of documents saved in the hard disk of a personal computer or laptop.

A typical example of a trusty color laser printer is the OKIDATA 3000 series that loads with a toner cartridge accessory to produce its fine prints. Instead of liquid ink as employed with inkjet printers, toner powder is loaded into cartridge cavities which in turn supplies toner during printing. This technology has therefore made printing so simple. At the onset, offset printers would charge exorbitant fees to produce several hundreds of documents. But then this is understandable considering all the requirements needed to initiate the printing process. Producing the final print of the document is not really intricate per se. And that is why the cost per page (CPP) for print jobs drops with every increase in copy requirement. But then again, this is hardly felt in laser printing since a single toner cartridge may have a rating of say over 3,000 pages that reduces CPP dramatically - even lower than the CPP of large offset printers. Whether an office requires 100 or 1000 printed pages, the CPP is therefore sustained. The OEM toner cartridge for the OKIDATA 3000 series costs $80, but given its yield of 3,000 pages at 5% coverage, the CPP should be affordable.

A growing number of laser printer users nowadays prefer to refill empty toner cartridges with the use of compatible toner supplied with third party manufactured consumables such as the Okidata C300 toner refill kit. Retailed for only $26.95, the cost of printing will definitely be reduced at this rate. Since no considerable difference in terms of print quality and yield is apparent between the OEM toner and compatible toner, using a refill kit is a practical option.

Printing Cost Per Page (CPP): Dissecting a Print Job's CPP

What constitutes CPP?
Reckoning the cost per page (CPP) of laser print jobs is not an easy task as there are a number of variables involved in the computation. It would have been easier if CPP is measured only based on consumable costs (e.g., toner cartridge, toner refill kit) against the number of pages printed. But then this is not the case since the cost of paper is also factored in along with the energy consumed to process the print job. Perhaps, what is most daunting is determining the depreciation cost of the printer unit as printer components like the OPC Drum and fuser do not expire at the same time. Each time you print, these components also share some degree of wear and its life cycle is dependent upon the number of pages printed. If the rated capacity of the OPC drum is 6,000 pages (an assumption) then CPP for the OPC drum is cost of component divided by the number of pages printed. Therefore, one will have to rely on calculated assumptions to get a fair cost analysis of these consumables.

Is the standard Page Coverage of 5% realistic?
Take the case of the HP CB540A black toner cartridge that loads the HP LaserJet CP1215 color laser printer. With the consumable's rated capacity of 2,200 pages at 5% coverage, the standard page coverage of 5% is too conservative against the actual coverage. Most likely, coverage borders between 30% to 35% which brings actual yield in printed pages to only around 1,400. So, if the print job is over 2000 copies, then in-house printing will be more expensive considering the need for another replacement cartridge to produce the remaining copies. In this case, it becomes more economical to outsource the print job. On the other hand, if the print job only involves 20 to 30 pages, then in-house printing using the CP1215 laser printer is really the most sensible option.

HP Laser Printer CPP versus offset printer charge per copy?
To help laser printer users appreciate the value of CPP, printing giant Hewlett Packard prepared a printing cost footprint - a cost computation that covers all the variables relevant to the print out of a single color document.by the CP1215 color laser printer. HP’s computation of cost per page (CPP) include toner requirements, cost of paper, energy required to sustain printer operation as well as the depreciation of printer components. HP’s cost computation for a color print job that covers 50 copies at 30% page coverage comes at $0.295 per page; with the print job's aggregate cost estimated at around $14.72. The acquisition cost of the color printer is valued at around $300 - so it will take 17 print jobs of the same volume to offset the cost of the printer. The CPP is definitely much cheaper in this case compared to the local printer's $0.66 charge per copy for the same print requirement.

For users intending to reduce on printing expenses, CPP is even lower with a compatible toner refill kit - cheaper by 50% than OEM toner cartridges. Toner refill kits are produced by third party manufacturers and are intended to refill empty OEM toner cartridges. The CB540A cartridge is retailed at $75 while an equivalent toner refill kit sells for only $39.95. Nonetheless, the consumable delivers similar print quality and yield as the OEM toner cartridge. Read more about toner refill kits from this post.