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OFFICE EQUIPMENT GUIDE

About Laser Printers
Laser printers have become the industry standard in office printing and can be connected either to a personal computer or a server. And because of great improvements in price, size and features, laser printers are a realistic option for home users as well.

Compared to other printers, laser printers offer better print quality and are less noisy. And industry-standard True Type fonts guarantee a better WYSIWYG connection between the computer screen and the printer output.

Page for page, laser printers are more reliable and cheaper than inkjet printers. However, ozone production is an inherent byproduct of the laser printing process so, if air quality and environmental concerns are a factor in purchasing your laser printer, you should research emission levels on the products that best fit your needs. Some companies provide better filters to aid in this problem.

Unattended laser printers can also use a lot of power. For best results, turn the printer on only when ready to send files, or consider a model with "power saving" options.

Before making a decision on purchasing a Laser Printer have a clear idea of the following:

Function of the printer - either connecting to a single PC, workgroup or as a print server.
Number of pages you will be printing.
Whether you require high-definition photo quality or not.
Whether you require a printer with a large paper feeder tray.
Whether you require additional trays for alternate paper (envelopes, etc.)

The Basics

Varied paper thickness
Monthly volumes of 30,000 pages
600-1200 DPI resolution
Inexpensive print cartridge
Connection options to PC ports
40 ppm or faster printing
Multiple automatic feeder trays

About Fax Machines
Facsimile machines have come a long way since they were first introduced in the mid-1980s. Today, fax machines are as common an office feature as computers.

Most modern fax machines use a flatbed scanning technology, in which the document moves veritcally using a stepper motor, scanning each line at a time. While early faxes took about 6 minutes to scan page, most fax machines today can accomplish that task in under 10 seconds.

Which size or price range of fax machine you buy will depend primarily on your budget and the number of faxes you send. Faster machines with automatic feeder capabilities will naturally cost more.

For the home office user, a principal consideration will also be phone line use. Smaller faxes that are used infrequently won't need their own phone line, but should come equipped with a splitter that allows it to share your regular phone line.

The Basics

Transmission speeds (at least 14.4 kbps)
Forward/Paging capabilities
color capacity
Memory size
Replacement ink cartridge costs

About Photocopiers
Today's photocopiers are a far cry from the hulking, slow and noisy office machines that typically needed a room unto themselves - and seemed to be always malfunctioning. Both standard B&W copiers and color copiers have taken advantage of digital imaging technology and superior engineering to create a new generation of compact, high-speed machines that produce sharp copies at a price that most home office consumers can afford.

These new supermachines also offer a wide assortment of features and functions to improve productivity, including multiple feeder trays, collating, sorting and stapling functions. Files can often be sent to the copier from your computer desktop, and can be output on paper or to alternate sources such as fax machines. Most copiers today have an easy-to-use interface that makes copying a breeze.

Choosing a home or office copier usually comes down to how many bells and whistles you can afford with your budget. You'll also want to consider space limitations, paper size requirements and whether you'll really need color copies or not.

Perhaps your biggest consideration will be the long-term cost of maintaining your new copier. Check your warranty coverage carefully and be sure to shop around for low-cost toner refills. You might also want to look into extended warranty options and even leasing opportunities for larger machines.

About Flatbed Scanners
A scanner is a component that can be added to a personal computer to digitally copy images and/or text. Scanned material can be rendered into graphic or text files and formats.

Flatbed and digital scanners have revolutionized the home office environment, allowing users to access - and share - pictures, logos and graphics and to turn documents into computer files that can be edited and formatted to suit your needs.

Today's flatbed and digital scanners typically offer exceptional quality at a modest price. However, if you plan to use your scanned images in high-end print jobs, you might want to use the services of a graphics firm that is equipped with a state-of-the-art drum scanner.

There are several types of scanners suitable for the home office environment:

Flatbed Scanners, the most popular scanning technology available, are designed with the scanner horizontally mounted (like a bed!) to scan in pictures, documents, book and magazine pages, and other material.

Photo Scanners move a photo over a still or stationary light source.

Transparency Scanners are especially useful for slides as they pass a light through an image to scan.

Handheld Scanners are usually about the size of a hand. These scanners are the most inexpensive scanning device, and can be especially useful where space is limited.

The Basics

High-quality glass optics
PMT or CCD technology
600-1200 DPI resolution
24-bit or better
Dynamic color range 2.8 or higher
Connection options to PC ports
Automatic feeder trays

About Digital Cameras
The world is going digital. Paving the way is one of the hottest consumer products of the 21st century - the digital camera. Digital photography has evolved over the past few years into a highly affordable luxury that some could not be without.

Price ranges are a very big consideration and are mainly based on high-end specifications such as resolution, compression and zoom options. Cutting corners on some of these details will save you in the long run, but you should be sure what you are missing out on before you make that decision.

Important Items to Keep in Mind about Digital Camera Technology:

Interpolation is a method in which a camera will fill in the color holes in the pixels of a picture by estimating color blends. While this can improve resolution, it will also reduce the sharpness and contrast of a picture. Never get a camera that is low in resolution but high in interpolation if you want sharp bright pictures.

Compression routines are the way the picture is stored digitally. Some companies maintain their own proprietary compression method, and this can make sharing images difficult. JPEG is the standard, but also as with most standards can have less clarity in a picture. Consider cameras that also offer the ability to print off images at no compression for best results.

SLR is short for single-lens reflex viewfinder. Many cameras have two views: that which the user sees to set up the shot, and that which the camera sees. If you have an SLR camera both what you see and what the camera shoots are lined up as one, and not slightly off on a different angle.

The Basics

Megapixels - 5 or more are highest available.
Memory stick or mini-disc writing? Sticks are faster!
Exposure control, focus range and zoom options will vary. Be very careful with the small details.

Ink & Toner Supplies
All office printers require ongoing maintenance to operate effectively. And the most common maintenance task is the period replacement of ink or toner cartridges.

Shopping for ink and toner suppliers online is a good way to find great discounts on a common office expense. However, online shoppers need to know exactly what they are looking for - and who they are buying it from.

Every office printer, fax machine or photocopier has its own proprietary brand of ink or toner cartridge. And most suppliers will not let you return unused toner cartridges if you make the mistake of purchasing the wrong one.

Inkjet Cartridges

No matter what printer you use, producing a high-quality printout on paper requires good quality ink with excellent banding and quick drying properties.

Today's inkjets used dyes based on small molecules that have high brilliance and a wide color gamut but are not as waterproof or light-fast as larger molecule inks. Two entirely different types of ink are available for inkjet printers. One option is slow-drying, taking up to 10 seconds to set and is useful especially for monochromatic printing.

The second option is fast-drying ink requiring about 1/100th drying time and operates best with color printing. This is why you'll find black inks slower drying on inkjet pages and more prone to smearing if not treated carefully.

Most companies selling inkjet printers guard their ink formulas jealously, so the consumer often feels compelled to use only replacement inks produced by the original manufacturer. However, a little research will help you determine whether there are cheaper refill kits that will work for you.

Can you refill your ink cartridge?
Does your printer require proprietary ink brand?
color, monochrome or B&W cartridges?
Check average replacement cost

Inkjet Refill Kits

Ink refill kits are an inexpensive way to extend the lifespan of your cartridges.

Reconditioned cartridges are compatible with many name brands like Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Lexmark and Xerox. Typically, refill kits offer a couple of tools, easy instructions, one or multiple bottles of ink, and a nozzle for injecting the new ink into your depleted cartridge.

Take some time to research ink refill kits, and make certain that the ink they offer is compatible with your inkjet system. Remember that most companies have their own formula for ink, and therefore have specific heat and drying times, thickness and depth to their ink.

Most ink replacement kits will warn you to refill cartridges as soon as they are empty so that the cartridge does not dry out, and become unable to be used. Once refilled, print several test pages to verify that the cartridge is not overfilled or bleeding through the paper.

Make sure inks are compatible with your printer brand.
Research the number of recommended times a refill should work with a spent original cartridge.

Laser Printer Toner Cartridges

More than just the toner cartridge, it is important to check the organic photoconductive (OPC) drum of a laser printer. When used, the light-sensitive coating on the surface of the drum begins to wear out and print quality quickly deteriorates. Sometimes the OPC drum is located inside a toner cartridge, and this makes replacing toner a considerably expensive prospect.

color lasers can exasperate the problem as they can have up to four different color toners. Companies like Kyocera have tried to improve laser printer technology by making drums more durable and eliminating all consumables except for toner. Consumables in a laser printer include toners, the OPC Belt or drum, the fuser unit, fuser oil and the waste toner bottle. Check carefully the consumable replacements and durability of any product before purchasing.

Look at the price range and yield for compatible toner cartridges before purchasing
Look for long-life OPC drums
Are OPC drum and cartridges separate or one assembly?

Toner Refills

If you are looking to save money when refilling toner, purchasing remanufactured toner cartridges is a viable option.

Compatible toner cartridges for all the main brands are available. For example, you will have little difficulty finding toner replacements for HP, Canon, IBM/Lexmark, Brother, Epson, Apple, Minolta, Samsung and Xerox products.

One caveat to remember when purchasing toner refills, however, is that each brand can have wildly different toner cartridge and bottle assemblies. Do some research to make certain the refill that is being offered fits your machine.

If you have an OPC/Toner assembly, find out if the refill has a good replacement drum. Make sure the yield of the refill replacement is not significantly less than the original cartridge.

Copier Toner Cartridges

Considering the best toner for your copier is much more complex when you are using a color copier than a monochrome brand. Four complimentary tone colors are used to mix all other colors. Cyan, magenta, yellow and black (referred to as CMYK) are the primary colors used in the toner.

When color copying you must be concerned with not just the black toner, but all colors. Usually each toner comes in a separate bottle or cartridge so that they may be replaced individually. If you look at the yield available for the tone, which is usually labeled on the container, you will have the best gauge as to how long the toner will last.

Yield identifies the life expectance or total number of assumed copies you can make in a month and the percentage of coverage. For example, one bottle of black toner might advertise that it yields 2,500 copies assuming 6% coverage.

Coverage refers to the amount of a page surface that is covered with ink. For example if you have a regular black and white copy of a double-spaced letter, the coverage will be between 5-7% ink on the white.

color Coverage typically covers much more of a page than standard monochrome copying. Assume that instead of a 5-7% coverage basis, coverage for a colored copy would be between 25 - 35%.

Developer is the substance that is mixed with toner to magnetically attract to the copier drum and then fuse to paper. Most copiers require separate developers for each toner color. When copiers become too light, often the cause is the developer needs to be changed. If there is an overall unevenness in color, the toner is usually run dry.

Check if you need color and monochrome or just b&w cartridges
Know the Yield required for your copying needs; low yields require more servicing
Look at the price range for copier toner cartridges
Identify any media limitations, ie. paper thickness, quality, etc.

About Paper Shredders
Paper shredders are no longer found only in an office environment.

With more and more people working from home, and dramatic reductions in both size and price, paper shredders are becoming a common and useful home office product. Whether your purpose is to assure the confidentiality of discarded documents, or to minimize waste paper in your garbage, shredders are a helpful tool.

Paper shredders today range in price from $10 to $200 or more. Depending on your needs, there are shredders that can take care of single or multiple sheets. Most shredders have simple controls for moving paper forward, backward, or using an automatic forward and off button.

As with other home office products, it's a good idea to look carefully at the warranty. In most cases, you should expect at least a 90-day warranty on cheaper home models and a one-year replacement warranty on higher-end models.

The Basics

Minimum speed of 5-10 seconds for 5 pages
Basket attachment.
Paper tray or automatic feeder

About Office Furnishings
Shopping for office furnishings online has become increasingly easy in the past few years. Major name-brand supply chains offer vast online catalogues of office furnishings, often at discounted prices. And shipping within the U.S. is now a simple and common task, even for bulky items like office furnishings.

There are numerous ways to improve your home office environment by carefully selecting the proper office furnishings. From office chairs to desks, mats, chairs and even filing cabinets, there is a huge variety of options to choose from when buying office furnishings online.

Office Desks
Office Chairs
Ergonomic Chairs
Chair Mats
Filing Cabinets

About Office Accessories
These days, a home-based office is much more than a desk, and chair and a computer. In fact, there are endless ways to spend your money outfitting your office with accessories!

Shopping online for office accessories is a great way to find out what products are available, determine what you can afford and find some bargains in the process.

This section will help you make the most informed choices when shopping for such office accessories as:

Briefcases
Calculators
Labellers
Laminating Machines
Staplers
Shredders
Surge Protectors
Paper Cutters
Projectors

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