One of my most treasured comedic film moments comes from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Michael Palin, after witnessing considerable carnage in and around his castle makes this plea: “Let’s not bicker and argue about who killed who.”
Anyway, since I was broken in under the direction of Arthur Kallet (a co-founder of Consumers Reports), I have deep roots in the consumer-testing industry, and have always reviewed products from the perspective of the end-user. As Wirth Consulting has reported, there’s currently a movement among some consumers that ink-jet printer/All-in-One vendors label the actual amount of ink contained in their ink cartridges. And, since, its entry into the market in 2007, Eastman Kodak has been aggressively claiming that their ink-jet printer/All-in-Ones have the most affordable ink costs, and alleging that other vendors are actually overcharging customers for ink.
First, I’d like to point out that I’ve been involved in the testing of copier and printer ink/toner yields for many, many years. I was also heavily involved in the development of American Society for the Testing of Materials (ASTM) F.05 page-yield test methods and procedures. My (former employer’s) lab and efforts were instrumental in basic R&D/marketing claims for the ICRA (International Cartridge Recyclers Association). In summary, I have printed/copied enough page-yield test targets to pave the streets of London.
The development of page-yield standards was always a dicey proposition and it took years of work at ASTM before any kind of consensus could be reached. This is because the ASTM charter specifies that each subcommittee consist of a specified mix of consumers, manufacturers and observers, and there were monumental economic issues at stake for many members. One vendor would insist on using their internal test method as a foundation, another would insist on using their test target, somebody else would challenge the test method or page coverage/composition of the test target as not realistic and the conversation would devolve into a debate about how to measure original page coverage. This went on for many years while myself, as committee chairman, looked out for consumer interests. Finally, once our committee hashed out test methods and procedures, it took ANSI/ISO to stick a fork in it with ISO/IEC 24711, a standard that has been adopted for ink-jet and solid-ink devices. ISO/IEC 24711 is described as “a method for determination of ink-cartridge yield for color ink-jet printer and multifunction devices that contain printer components.”
Thankfully for consumers, the Wild West of vendor-reported ink yields was over and they could actually compare the ink cost-per-page of various products on a level playing field. Using these recently replicable numbers, let’s do a cost-per-page analysis on ink-jet MFPs from the major vendors that are priced in the range of $125-$175 using the the hardware and cartridge pricing that we obtained from the Staples® Web site.
Ink Cost Per Page for MFPs from $125 to $175
*Staples® Web Site pricing**At 5% page coverage per color for a total of 20% coverage***Multi-color ink cartridge houses cyan, yellow, magenta, and photo black inks, as well as a protective coating, in a single cartridge
And the Winner Is . . .Indeed, Kodak at 5.829¢ (followed closely by HP at 8.090¢). The ESP 5250 has a considerably lower cost per page and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) than the other five other All-in-Ones in this comparison.
Houston, We Have A ProblemHowever, there is a big problem with taking these numbers at face value. While it is indeed valid to compare all the numbers above, you can't include Kodak in the comparison because it employs a multi-color cartridge. Why is this so?
The multi-color (or chamber) cartridge that has been used by many other vendors in the past has been largely abandoned in favor of individual cartridges for each color because of a single glaring weakness: The multi-color cartridge houses roughly equal quantities of the various ink colors in a single cartridge. While this may keep down the cost of cartridge manufacturing, it doesn't do the user any favors at all unless they print documents that require the exact same ratio of all of the ink colors. This is because as soon as one color runs out, you need to change and dispose of the cartridge even though it may still contain considerable quantities of the other ink colors. In theory, you can still print with a muli-color cartridge that has run out of one color but your color image quality will be hideously wrong (think psychedelic) and the software/device will continuously nag you until you relent and change the cartridge. The bottom line is that nobody, I repeat nobody in the real world is going to be able to wring every last drop of color ink out of a multi-color cartridge and their cost per page will suffer accordingly. How much it will suffer can't be determined, but you most certainly don't have a leg to stand on when you start pointing a finger at who is overcharging who for printer ink.
What’s Next?Wirth Consulting has purchased a Kodak ESP 5250 and will shortly be performing a WYSK Hands-On test on the device Using our standard test method, we’ll look at the aspects of performance that are important to users including image quality (especially photo image quality for this class of products), reliability, ease of use, and maintenance procedures. And yes, we'll let you know when and if the ESP-5250 runs out of ink during the printing/copying of our standard test suite when compared to similar products that we’ve tested from HP and Lexmark.
Happy reading and stay tuned . . .Terry Wirth
©2010 · Wirth Consulting, LLCReproduction is Forbidden · For Copyright Release Information, Contact sales@wirthconsulting.org
At first glance, our What You Should Know (WYSK) product evaluations may look like simple spec sheets to you. However, we want you to know that a great deal of research and analysis goes into each and every one of them.
For the most part, what's contained in a WYSK can be found in a product brochure--albeit with considerable parsing. (We know you and your salespeople cannot afford to wade through four-page marketing brochures endlessly praising a given device's virtues.)
However, our WYSK Evaluations also contain considerable strategic information that is not found in a brochure, and which your salespeople must know in order to succeed against the competition.
Device and accessory pricing – Because they wish to protect their exclusive dealers (and third-party leasing companies), many vendors do not publish list or suggested retail pricing for their digital-imaging devices or pricing for optional accessories and solutions. Of course, as any purchasing agent can tell you, the cost of acquisition is an important gauge of value. As a result, we at Wirth Consulting spend a great deal of time contacting vendors and Googling the night away in our quest to obtain pricing. Consequently, even if a vendor does not publish pricing, we will eventually find it.
Supply types, pricing and yields – Once again, in order to protect their exclusive dealers, many vendors do not publish supply pricing. Some will publish the various types (toner, developer, drum, transfer belts, etc.) but not the page yields. Others will publish the types and page yields, but not the pricing. As a result, we at Wirth Consulting devote considerable time combing the Web for this information. We have found that many third-party consumables' vendors publish the OEM consumables types and yields as a competitive advantage for their products, while others price and sell the actual OEM supplies. Under these circumstances, pricing can be all over the place, so we publish the average pricing found in the top tier of all the pricing we have found.
Maintenance items, pricing and yields – Some users don't know that they need more than toner or ink in order to produce images on paper. Many devices, primarily toner-based devices, require regular replacement of components such as fusers (highly-stressed components that apply heat and pressure to a page), feed rollers/friction pads, ADF feed rollers/belts, waste tanks, etc. While most of these components are covered under the typical service contract, many devices are sold business-to-business (B2B) and the customer is responsible for purchasing and installing Customer Replaceable Units (CRUs) or “Maintenance Kits.”
Cost Per Page (CPP) – The cost and yield of supply and maintenance items determine a device's Cost Per Page. While many people only consider the cost of ink and toner, the price and yield of maintenance and other supply items must be considered as well. While the CPP in our WYSK Evaluations includes only ink or toner and/or imaging drum, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculations (see below) factor in the cost of all supply and maintenance items.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) - We use all of the above--toner or ink, imaging drum, and maintenance items--to calculate Total Cost of Ownership, or how much it will cost to run a device at various monthly volumes over the course of five years. TCO can be eye opening, as even a $100 printer can cost you tens of thousands of dollars to operate throughout its life span. TCO is critical information that every buyer must know.
Energy consumption, security features, maximum media weight and more – Finding this critical information generally involves parsing every line of a product page or brochure, and may even involve downloading and searching through user manuals. This is something that nearly anybody would be loathe to do, but not to worry, the experts at Wirth Consulting do this for you.
All of the above consumes considerable time and we’re sure that you don’t want your salespeople spending time surfing the Web looking for product info that is conveniently supplied in our WYSK along with the insight that comes along with our 30+ years of experience testing and evaluating digital-imaging devices. We also use our considerable expertise to award scores of 1-5 in our exclusive Feature Analysis Ratings and scoring system for the following areas of performance:
Our mission is to provide a service that will save you considerable research and time in your quest to obtain competitive information, and for end-users, enable you to purchase the most appropriate digital-imaging device, and we hope that you take advantage of our services.
Happy Reading!Terry Wirth
Considering the state of the economy, the forthcoming holidays are as good a time as any to invest wisely in a family holiday gift that is both fun and productive. That is indeed a rare combination of traits for any product to have—until now. The recent introduction of two innovative All-in-Ones equipped with groundbreaking Web connectivity, as well as with great color photo-printing capability, has rewritten the ground rules for this market segment, and injected some much-needed fun into color MFPs for small-office and home/home office use.
Lexmark Platinum Pro905 - $399.99
Lexmark International’s Platinum Pro905 is the flagship model in Lexmark’s new family of color ink-jet MFPs, and features an automatic document feeder and Web-connected touch screen. With the Web-connected touch screen, and Lexmark’s free SmartSolutions applications, the Platinum Pro905 makes both routine and more advanced document-imaging tasks easier, and also enables users to access Web content without using a computer workstation. Some of the business apps include one-touch scan and copy keys, and Print A File (automatically print a designated file without having to use a computer workstation), while Web apps include access to real-time MSBNC news feeds and Google maps.
As an A4 desktop MFP (or All-in-One) the Platinum Pro905 incorporates color network print, color copy, color scan, and Super Group 3 walkup fax. It uses color ink-jet imaging technology and dye-based cyan, yellow, and magenta dye-based ink for more vibrant color output.
Business-class capabilities include standard Ethernet networking for sharing among users, 300-sheet paper capacity for longer uninterrupted operation, and standard, paper-saving automatic duplexing. Also standard is convenient wireless network connectivity. Users can share documents with color scanning (including scan to e-mail) and Super Group 3 walkup fax.
Touch Screen and Web Application Photos
HP Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web - $339.99
Hewlett-Packard’s Photosmart Premium Touchsmart All-in-One Printer is for photo-printing and for home and home-office use, and features a revolutionary Web-enabled touch screen—it's actually the world’s first Web-connected printer. At the same time, this color ink-jet All-in-One incorporates all of the functions required for home-office use—print, copy, scan and fax all in color—making it suitable for satellite employees, home finance, small business, students, etc.
The system incorporates a 4.43” color touch screen that is used for programming copy, scan and fax jobs. However, HP has expanded the touch-screen functionality with ground-breaking Web applications, enabling users to access and print Web content without a computer workstation. This makes it faster and easier to perform typical Web tasks such as printing Google maps and calendars, coupons, and movie tickets, and accessing, viewing and printing photos stored on HP’s free photo-storing Web site, snapfish.com.
HP has also taken the Photosmart Premium a step further, incorporating entertainment applications for both adults and children. These includes downloadable Web Sudoku games, coloring pages, paper crafts (include model car-making), and more. With the Disney Web app, we watched and listened to Disney movie trailers on the touch screen. We also see this is a great entertainment center for children, and far more creative and educational than most television programs and video games. What's especially nice is that with the Web apps, new content will be available on a continuing basis (for instance, new movie trailers and associated paper crafts), and HP is also working on new apps for the future. This means that it'll be a gift that will "keep on giving."
The Photosmart Premium Touchsmart is also a first-rate photo-printing system, with state-of-the-art color photographic image quality. It also uses dye-based color inks for more vibrant color output, and HP has incorporated features that make consumer photo-printing easier and more enjoyable. These include borderless printing on up to 8.5”x11” paper, PictBridge port for direct printing from digital cameras, and photo-editing software so that users can adjust and adjust photos. To top it off, the Web-enabled photo application enables users to download, view, edit and print photos stored on Snapfish.com, HP's free photo-storage and sharing Web site.
Both of these state-of-the-art devices must be Internet connected. With the Lexmark Platinum Pro905, customers must download the applications they want at Lexmark’s Web site. With the HP Photosmart Premium, all the apps are pre-loaded, and HP says new apps in the future will be automatically downloaded (users can remove and replace apps at will). Both devices feature Wi-Fi wireless network connectivity, which is great, since both can be located anywhere in the home, such as in a home office, and other family users can access them with a Wi-Fi-enabled computer without having to be hooked up with cabling. They also provide print-and-distribute applications that normally require the use of a PC
In testing, we found that both devices are both remarkable and affordable. Ink costs are moderate and the feature sets and image quality are state-of-the-art. The Lexmark system is geared toward more office use, while the HP system is more consumer-oriented.
Which One to Choose?
If you want to have fun and the cost of ink be damned, the Hewlett-Packard Photosmart Premium is for you. It will be great for home/home office use and photo-printing. With the required Internet connection and a healthy application library, the potential for new applications is virtually unlimited. Ink-cartridge pricing and HP's estimated page yields are as follows:
Black Ink Price/Yield*: $34.99/800 pages.Cyan Ink Price/Yield*: $17.99/750 pages.Magenta Ink Price/Yield*: $17.99/750 pages.Yellow Ink Price/Yield*: $17.99/750 pages.*Pages at 5% area coverage.
Black/Color Supply Cost Per Page: 4.4/11.6 cents
If you want to have a little less fun but more business use, the Lexmark Platinum Pro905 has what it takes for business and personal use: 1) an automatic document feeder; and 2) dual paper trays with a total capacity of 300 sheets of media. With the required Internet connection and Lexmark SmartSolutions applications and customizable one-touch keys, the Platinum Pro905 can serve as either a family, workgroup or small office communications hub/photo printer. Ink-cartridge pricing and Lexmark's estimated page yields are as follows:
Black Ink Price/Yield*: $4.99/510 pagesCyan Ink Price/Yield*: $17.99/600 pages Magenta Ink Price/Yield*: $17.99/600 pagesYellow Ink Price/Yield*: $17.99/600 pages*Pages at 5% area coverage.
Black/Color Supply Cost Per Page: 1.0/9.9 cents
Parental Warning! – You are forewarned that both of these devices make it exceptionally easy to make copious quantities of non-supervised color prints. Keep in mind that even though cost per page is comparably inexpensive, ink costs can be more than 10 cents per page when printing an average color page containing 20% area coverage. Add in the cost of photo paper at approximately 40 cents a sheet and hopefully you see where I’m going with this.
We love the challenge of testing the new capabilities offered by these devices. Stay tuned for What You Should Know Hands-On Test Reports for both systems in the very near future.
We’ve all been aware of how pricing for digital-imaging equipment (printers and MFPs) has dropped over the years, especially those of us who remember that the first B/W Hewlett-Packard 8-ppm LaserJet cost $3,495 in 1984 while the 8-ppm B/W Apple LaserWriter PostScript printer (right) cost $6,995 in 1985.
Why revisit this phenomena now?
Consider this: Wirth Consulting completed a Head2Head Comparison Report in January 2009 on B2B Duplex/Network MFPs for under $500. Here's the list:
We just completed the research for a second round of evaluations on the same product category. Here is the list of B2B Duplex/Network MFPs for under $500 as of September 23, 2009:
I know, long time no new post but we have been working feverishly on making our reports, web site and services as useful as possible. One of our most recent innovations had been a redesign our Wirth Consulting Gold Medal logo for Overall Winners of its Head2Head Comparison Reports.
What do you think? We think that the new Best In Class Gold Medal better reflects that a digital imaging device bested the competition, and is far more effective than generic awards that are often awarded to multiple devices in the same category.
Simply put, when Wirth Consulting issues a Best In Class Gold Medal Winner, we have pinpointed the BEST device within a segment--and there is only ONE winner. While some firms issue multiple awards to different products within the same segment, we believe the value of this to your company is very limited. Add to this the fact that Wirth Consulting painstakingly evaluates office-imaging devices, so that we back-up Best In Class Gold Medal Winners with documentation, research and experience.
Please keep in mind that Wirth Consulting Gold Medals are not arbitrarily awarded for some nebulous achievement such as “Best Occasional Digital Color Printer”--a product earns a Gold Medal after recording the best score in a multi-product side-by-side comparison using our exclusive rating system.
If you are an end-user, you can be sure that any product that earns a Wirth Consulting Gold Medal will be state-of-the art and the first product that you should consider in its class. That way, we can save you considerable time in your quest for the best digital imaging product for your organization.
If you are a vendor and your device earned Overall Winner designation in a Head2Head Comparison Report for the Winter 2008-2009 period, you can receive distribution rights to a Best In Class Gold Medal free-of-charge (a $5,000 value!). Best In Class Gold Medals can be used in in product marketing, on your Web site, in sales collaterals, etc. In return, all that we ask is that you publish a press release describing the achievement of your product.
We have updated all previous Overall Winner Gold Medals and the What You Should Know Reports and Head2Head Comparisons on our website to reflect the new Best in Class designation.
If you are eligible and interested in receiving your FREE Best In Class Gold Medal(s) please contact either myself (terry@wirthconsulting) or Kathleen (kathy@wirthconsulting.org) to obtain your Best In Class Gold Medal. Vendors of the following imaging devices evaluated in the Winter of 2008-2009 are eligible to receive Best In Class Gold Medals free-of-charge:
We recently received a bound printed booklet from Xerox filled with image-quality samples printed by its ColorQube solid-ink light-production MFP. Overall, ColorQube has fast print speeds and a very low Cost Per Page (CPP) coupled with innovative pricing for color usage. There's no doubt that ColorQube will be a hit in the office but is the image quality good enough for commercial-printing purposes?
We took RAW TIFF photos of the output and converted them to GIF format for the Web. You be the judge. Check them out here and decide for yourselves.
Up until recently, Wirth Consulting has relied on our considerable experience in the testing and evaluation of hundreds, perhaps thousands of imaging products to produce our What You Should Know product evaluations and Head2Head Product Comparisons that are gleaned from publicly available information.
However, we also felt that those of you who were not familiar with us personally may have missed the point that we know digital-imaging products inside-and-out, and that perhaps you would like us to put these devices through their paces in a hands-on test.
Consequently, we are pleased to announce a significant new product to add to our portfolio of services found on the Wirth Consulting Web site – What You Should Know Hands-On Test Reports.
If you’ve visited this blog, in the last month or so, you’ve probably noticed that there hasn’t been a new post for quite some time. This is because I was busy developing a test program and a report format for our new What You Should Know Hands-On Test Reports.
What You Should Know Hands-On Test Reports are approximately 12 pages in length and contain tested performance data as well as useful photos of the device and screen shots of the software. The first page of each report will be freely viewable on the Wirth Consulting Web site and the entire report will be automatically delivered to the e-mail inbox of our subscribers (BTA members automatically qualify for a 25-percent discount). Initially, we will concentrate on testing the business-to-business (B2B) and small/mid-size business (SMB) market segments in our facility, and plan to eventually move upwards and evaluate office/dealer digital-imaging products. This step will involve on-site testing at a location designated by the equipment vendor.
Following is a description of the methodology that we will use. You can view the complete version here.
General
Installation
Office products are delivered and set-up by dealers. For B2B and some SMB products, Wirth Consulting records the procedures and time it requires for our evaluators to:
Installing a test unit's duplex unit. Installing a test unit's print head.
Image Quality
Our reports feature RAW TIFF (uncompressed) photos taken of the actual printed output.
Printer Productivity
Copier Productivity
Ease of Use
Software
Maintenance
Misfeed access in the duplex unit Adding media to the media tray
Media Handling
Cost Per Page
Space and Power Requirements
Eco-Friendly Features
Recommendation
Scheduled Reports
We have decided that it makes the most sense to initiate the new testing program with B2B devices, as they are are easy and inexpensive for vendors to ship to our facility. Our first report is for the Hewlett-Packard's Officejet 6000 Series, and will be followed by a report on HP's Officejet 7000 A3 Ink-Jet printer.
HP Officejet 6000 Wireless Printer test unit.
Send Us Your B2B/SMB Digital Imaging Product(s)!
B2B/SMB vendors who wish to participate in our testing program should contact us. We will gladly evaluate any B2B/SMB digital-imaging product that at a minimum has a network interface. You will also get an opportunity to review the report in its entirety before we publish it.
Note that we also prefer to evaluate devices equipped with automatic duplexing, so please arrange to ship any automatic-duplexing options as well. Last, in testing, we will print 100 to 200 pages, many with 100-percent color area coverage. This means that it is advisable to ship us a second set of toner/ink cartridges so that testing can continue without delay.
We hope that you will enjoy our new service. Look forward to publication of the first What You Should Know Hands On-Test Report within the next week.
Happy reading!Terry Wirth
I had a typical “how’s business?” conversation with a well-respected business associate today. After we exchanged niceties, he asked me “What is your business model? How do you generate your revenue?” Afterwards, it occurred to me that maybe we should explain this to our readers and customers as well.
In case you didn’t realize, you can view, but not print, any of the content found on the Wirth Consulting Web site, which includes What You Should Know (WYSK) Product Evaluations and Head2Head (H2H) Comparison Reports. Should an individual be interested in obtaining printable reports, they can be purchased via credit-card for personal consumption or commercial use.
Also available are packages that include a What You Should Know Evaluation, the corresponding Head2Head Comparison Report and the Winner Gold Medals (if any) for “Overall Performance,” “Lowest TCO” and “Lowest CPP.”
Aren’t Winner Gold Medals awards? No. Winner Gold Medals are earned, not awarded. The bottom line is that Wirth Consulting earns its revenue by requesting payment from those who wish to use our products for commercial distribution purposes, and that’s only fair. Everybody else can enjoy the fruits of our labor for free.
Terry Wirth
As you probably know by now (here), somebody (Xerox) finally introduced a high speed ink-jet page printer/MFP (as opposed to roll-fed printer) for general consumption. While it may not be the first of its kind, the fact that it's from Xerox, replete with all the trimmings (top-notch engineering, marketing and support), makes this especially big news.
I recall that following my first exposure to ink-jet printing with the original HP DeskJet many years ago, I thought that it was the beginning of the end of toner-based printing. When I got a chance to see Canon’s high-speed Bubble-Jet prototype with page-width print heads in Canon's Tokyo R&D lab in the early ‘90s , I thought that the end was surely near.
At the same time, I also realized that there was a huge "infra$tructure" already in place to support service-intensive toner-based imaging devices' inherent reliability issues. This led to my belief that it would take somebody from outside the established industry (e.g.: Hewlett-Packard), or a player with nothing to lose (e.g.: Panasonic) to finally get the ink-jet ball rolling.
Until recently, it never happened. Once Canon figured out that ink-jet imaging would kill its LBP laser-printer cash cow, the Bubble-Jet popped. HP's attempts at penetrating the traditional office-imaging dealer market with toner-based products came and went. Even today, HP's Edgeline ink-jet printing system is more legend that reality, as their revenue is derived primarily from the lucrative toner-cartridge market.
We at Wirth Consulting have generally fawned over Xerox's Phaser solid-ink devices during our repeated testing and evaluation of them. The technology is inherently fast, especially in duplex mode because drying time is not an issue and image quality is more than competitive (as is the case with all other Xerox products). With ink-jet imaging, there are fewer parts, and the critical components are subjected to less stress--the outcome being a device that is more reliable overall. As I mentioned earlier, the service cash-cow is nearly impossible to kill, but Xerox managed to overcome that by compensating for that revenue with more profit from ink sticks, as ink sticks are less expensive to manufacture, store and ship than toner cartridges. It also doesn’t hurt that Xerox has millions of toner-based devices out there generating service and supply profits with each and every page click, so they are one of the few players that can take such innovative steps that will ultimately benefit the end user.
However, we also recognize that there are still shortcomings that are inherent to ink printing technology regardless of its flavor (aqueous-based, dye-based, solvent-based, solid ink):
PermanenceInk on paper is a natural. Our ancestors have used this method of imaging for thousands of years. The ink is absorbed by the media's fibers, and is nearly impossible to remove. Sounds great doesn’t it? I hate to burst your Bubble-Jet but things aren’t as rosy as they sound.
Solid ink (employed by the Xerox ColorQube and Phaser products) lays primarily on top of the media and has more adhesion than absorption. This means that it is more susceptible to cracking, scuffing and abrasion than liquid inks that penetrate deeper into the fibers of the media. While the image is more durable than most toner-based technologies, it is difficult to write on because the surface of the media is coated with a wax-like substance.
Aqueous inks that are commonly used in consumer-based ink-jet printers are extremely sensitive to light and will fade in a matter of months if exposed to direct sunlight.
Dye-based inks solve the light fastness issue through the use of carbon-based dyes that emulate the ink formulas developed over the millennia. Dye-based inks currently offer the best solution in terms of permanence and ability to archive images.
Solvent-based inks have superior permanence ,but their volatile compounds can cause the media to prematurely deteriorate out from under it, resulting in major problems with archiving.
How Long Will The Image Last?The long term durability of ink printed on paper has proven itself over time. For example, I seriously doubt that if the Dead Sea scrolls were printed using today’s technology, there would be even a scrap left for us to marvel over today. Why is this? Toner-based and ink-jet images stored face-to-face and subjected to heat and/or pressure can cause image transfer from one sheet to another. Certain volatile compounds in today’s ink and toner formulas can eventually cause degradation of the substrate and presto, no more image. The use of natural ink formulations on natural media material, bound with chemical free means and stuck on a wooden shelf in a dark place somewhere has proven itself. This finely-honed tradition has proven time and again that properly composed analog documents can survive for thousands of years.
The Permanence ConundrumToday’s digital printers produce images from a digital document. These documents must be stored on digital media. Wouldn’t you would think that this could be the solution to the issues involved in archiving documents? However, today’s scientists are struggling with the concept of digital storage. Here’s a few examples: how would you print a document today that you created 10 years ago in WordPerfect (probably your resume) and stored on the ubiquitous floppy disk? What if it was stored on a 5-1/4” floppy disk? How many of your hard drives have given up the ghost in your lifetime? Can your older CD-ROM drive read CD/RW discs? Can your common “CD-Burner” read or write the DVD format which is already about to go the way of the dinosaur with the emergence of Blu-Ray and holographic storage formats? Enough already. Can’t you see that in this day and age, we’re still probably better off printing and storing data in the aforementioned manner that has endured over the centuries?
The bottom line is that all of the hoopla over high-speed digital ink-jet imaging isn’t new, and toner-based imaging is not going away any time soon. Nevertheless, we applaud Xerox and its efforts that have helped ink imaging clear a couple of hurdles in a big way, and we can’t think of any better company that can achieve this. However, the race is not over yet.
One of the perils of being an evaluator of office-imaging solutions is that, gradually, your PC becomes bogged down with the detritus of software that is left over from previous evaluations. The question is, at what point does this detritus downgrade the performance of your test PC enough so that it affects the performance of the product that you're trying to review?
There are several ways around this. You can use virtual PCs, which is great if you have the time and resources. You can use a “mule” PC that is dedicated to evaluations and nothing else. You can set system restore points, and restore your system to the point that it was before you began the evaluation. Unfortunately, the aforementioned solutions require that you have spare time and spare PCs, something that I have found to be an absolute luxury throughout my career. Nine times out of 10, I've found that you're resigned to the fact that you have to run tests and write reports as quickly as possible using the same PC. Under these conditions, you become quite good at maintaining the performance of said PC through persistent and diligent maintenance.
Sure, you can un-install all of the software when you have finished evaluating it. Afterwards, you can edit your program menu to get rid of unnecessary Startup items. You can delete orphan folders from your “Program Files” folder. You can scan/edit/clean the Microsoft Windows registry. Nevertheless, that’s not quite good enough and there eventually comes a time when you have to go the extra mile to really remove unneeded software from your system so that it doesn't degrade your PC's performance when used as a test unit (or as a word processor for that matter).
One of the biggest offenders is print drivers, which most cleanup programs are loathe to touch. You may be thinking “Print drivers—how can they affect my PC's performance” Let me count the ways. I have seen PCs with so many print drivers installed on them that evaluators (not me of course) make mistakes during the evaluation process and waste time and prints sending jobs to wrong or non-existent printers. I've seen PCs with print jobs lined up in print queues for non-existent or non-connected printers. I've spent many hours (days?) cleaning up bosses' and/or road warrior PCs that have so many print drivers installed on them that they cannot print once they return to the office. I've had instances where the existence an older PostScript print driver has compromised exhaustive testing by corrupting the performance of a newer PostScript printer.
So what’s the big deal? Can’t I simply go into the Printer Folder and delete the offending printer? The answer is “yes you can.” However, this method only removes the printer icon from your Printer Folder--it doesn't actually remove the print driver software from your system, which eventually leads to PC performance issues.
How To Completely Remove Print Drivers From Your System
Let’s assume that you have deleted the print drivers from your Printer Folder in the traditional manner and that your Printer Folder is still open.
Microsoft Windows Printer Folder
Next, select “Server Properties” from the “File” drop down menu. Then, click on the “Drivers” tab.
Here you can see that there are three print drivers installed for a single printer, the Hewlett-Packard 2500C Series.
But wait, there is only one icon for this printer in the Printer Folder. How can that be? This is a result of failed attempts to get the right print driver installed for this cranky but reliable and versatile printer, and a perfect example of why you need to periodically perform advanced maintenance chores on your PC. However, which drivers should I delete? Deleting the wrong driver is not a good thing. However, Windows usually complains (what else is new?) if you try to delete the drivers for an active printer. Just to be sure, I will verify which version of the print driver is currently in use. Back in the Printer Folder, I click on the printer icon, select “Properties” and navigate to the “Advanced” tab.
Here, we can see that the driver in use is called “hp psc 2500 series.” Now we will go back and delete the unused “HP 2500C Series” and “HP 2500C Series PCL5Ce” print drivers from the system.
Highlight the the print driver in question and click “Remove” to really delete the print driver from your system.
Once you click “Yes,” it’s over and done with. Now let’s remove the other unused print drivers from my system.
But wait! What is this “PCL 6 Driver for Univers…” all about? Is it related to the HP Universal Print Driver that I have chosen to remain on my system? I highlight the print driver and click “Properties.” The following screen shot explains it all and clearly shows who the culprit is.
This driver is left over from my evaluation of Ricoh's Universal Print Driver. Since I am not using the driver, and the icon has been deleted from the Printer Folder, I conclude that it can safely removed.
Absolutely!What does this mean? This message means exactly what it says. Even though the icon is not in the Printer Folder, the system is still using the software. Now we must take the process a step further in order to completely eradicate this print driver from the system.
My experience has shown that when this happens, there are several complicit factors: 1) there are jobs in the print queue; or 2) another printer is attached to the port to which this print driver was previously assigned. I discover that there are no print jobs in any queue so let’s once again take a look at the port settings under “Server Properties.”
Nothing looks too out of place here except a “PrinterSwitcherPort” that was created during the Ricoh UPD evaluation. Sounds like a likely suspect! Let’s click “Delete Port” and see what happens.
(At this point, I realize that I haven’t rebooted the PC since I removed the Ricoh UPD. Ten minutes later after the reboot process, the “Delete Port” process works successfully. Now I can try to delete the remnants of the printer driver once again.
As you can see, I was still not able to completely delete the print driver from my system.
At this point, I really don’t know what more I can do to get rid of the useless print driver. I know that I’ve got more research to do and suspect that I may have to ultimately edit the Windows registry to get things straightened out. I do remember that in the past, I’ve had to reinstall a print driver and then repeat the arduous process outlined above to truly eradicate it—and I don’t want to go through that particular installation process again (see previous post).
For now, I’m down but not out and I guess I’m just going to have to live with it. After all, I did get rid of a couple of useless print drivers that I do not use or need. You may be wondering “what’s the big deal?” The big deal is that this is a perfect example of how over time, your shiny new PC can turn into a overweight slug and you can’t do anything about it. Oh, I just thought of a surefire solution—I could buy a new PC! Somehow I get the sinking feeling that this is what “they” really wanted me to do in the first place . . .
Before we begin the final leg of our investigation into Universal Print Drivers (UPDs), you need to know that the Xerox Mobile Express Driver (X-MED) only works with PostScript printers. You also need to know that I have high expectations for Xerox, since I regard them as the best in the industry when it comes to software, solutions and user satisfaction (including end-users, IT and management). What has always impressed me about Xerox is their foresight and how they transformed themselves with seemingly little effort from a copier company (no software) to the leading provider of office solutions for everybody (including software)—from home users to for-profit production printers.
Xerox is one of a handful of companies that we Americans should be proud of. In spite of decades of relentless competition from powerful domestic and offshore vendors, it has prevailed and thrived. Under these conditions, Xerox could never sit back on its laurels for even a second or it’s game over. Never content with business as usual, Xerox’s focus on the end user, attention to detail and investment in research and development has continually resulted in innovative new solutions. Needless to say, we just set the bar pretty high for Xerox. Let’s see if they can clear it.
Xerox Mobile Express DriverCompany Line - “Download one, print to many. A single printer driver is great on the go.”
InstallationThe X-MED download was by far the largest of the group. However, Xerox offers Web install or download and install options on their Web site. We chose to download the 49.3 Mb file so that we could install it at a later date.
Because this was a Xerox software product, I felt little or no apprehension when I clicked on “X-MED_Enu5.79.16.exe.” This confidence stems from the fact that I have used tons of Xerox software over my career and have rarely been disappointed. Note that unlike some other software packages, it is pretty easy to identify what software you are installing simply from the file name.
As seen in my last few posts, I did quite a bit of griping about the installation process. It pleases me to tell you that what I’m seeing is reassuring, as I didn’t have to worry about unzipping locations, program or folder names or anything else. Since the X-MED installation files were unzipped to a temporary folder that will be automatically purged by a Microsoft Windows' cleanup procedure, I don't have to worry about finding and deleting useless detritus on my computer hard drive.
Above is the Windows Printer Folder showing the newly installed X-MED UPD. Note that it is the only one of the three UPD drivers that we've evaluated that was not automatically shared over the network. This is yet another example of how Xerox adds value to their products by paying attention to details.
Printer Discovery As previously stated, we have three printers on our network that span the range of network connectivity options. In this exercise, we'll attempt to use the X-MED with the only PostScript printer in the bunch—the Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 3700dtn.
Configuration and Use
The “Saved Settings” option is pretty remarkable. It allows you to save and recall print settings by printer or application. For example, I nearly always print in duplex mode from Microsoft Word and always print in simplex mode from Microsoft PowerPoint. Sometimes I print using printers that are not equipped with duplex. The use of “Saved Settings” in conjunction with the “Manage Locations” allows me to virtually set it and forget it, and simply print without worrying about what's going to come out on the other end.
Strengths and Limitations
SummaryXerox has easily “cleared the bar” that we set by providing yet another outstanding product. We’re not just talking about the end result of successful printing to a Diaspora of printers, but in typical Xerox fashion, the entire process was outstanding from beginning to end—expanding the definition of “click to clunk.”
Since Xerox refrains from using the “Universal” nomenclature, I had no expectations of using this print driver on my desktop. Would I install in on my laptop? Absolutely! Xerox’s Mobile Express Print Driver should be a required tool on the laptop of any mobile user that uses Windows. Nevertheless, Xerox surely knows by now that we are never satisfied. How about a Debian/Ubuntu/OS X version for the rest of us “liberated” end-users?
Day 3/Part 3 of our evaluation has us dipping our toes a bit deeper into the world of Universal Print Drivers (UPDs). Why paranoia today and nirvana yesterday? For starters, Ricoh’s Universal Print Driver (by far the smallest download of the bunch) has two components: 1) Ricoh Universal Print Driver v 1.0; and 2) Ricoh Printer Switcher. In an attempt to find out what I’m getting myself into, I searched for “Ricoh Printer Switcher” and basically came up empty-handed. Aside from a sentence or two from a Ricoh exec that made it sound like it was the Universal Print Driver, I found no real clues about the functionality or need for this component. As you know by now, I hate installing stuff on my PCs, especially when I don’t know anything about the program I am about to reluctantly install in the first place.
I suppose that the only thing that I can do about it is to suck it up and install it. However, I think that I’ll start out with the Ricoh Universal Print Driver and hope that I won’t have to install the Ricoh Printer Switcher after all (fat chance!). With apprehension and bated breath, I am about to click on Ricoh_z36954L6.exe to see what happens. Here goes!
Ricoh Universal Print Driver Company Line - “Provides a single intelligent advanced driver, which can be used across your fleet of Multifunction Products and Laser Printers”
Once again, I was immediately faced with my first big decision--where to unzip the archive. I chose the default and the archive was unzipped to the root directory of my machine. Now, I have to remember to go back and delete that folder after the installation completes successfully. I hate when that happens! What’s worse, I now have to root around for the executable file to begin the installation. At least Hewlett-Packard's UPD installer automatically started the installation after the files were extracted. Anyway, here goes—locate the folder and find the installation executable. Turns out that there is no installer located in c:\temp\x36954L6\32-bit folder after all and once glance at all of the *.inf files tells me that I must use the “Add Printer” installation wizard (the Wizard of FUD) found in the Microsoft Windows Printer Folder. A glance at “Readme.htm” verified this and includes installation, upgrade and removal procedures along with an extensive list of Ricoh-only supported devices.
Uh oh, does this mean that it won’t work with our HP network printers? We’ll soon find out. I’ll be back after I’ve dealt with my old buddy, the “Add Printer Wizard” . . .
That’s it—the drama of the installation process is over and it’s one that I’ve endured hundreds of times. Even though I’m all too familiar with the Wizard, it doesn’t mean that everybody else is. As expected, the new “PCL 6 Print Driver for Universal Print” was right there when I opened the Printer Folder and like the HP UPD, the installation process did not create any icons or program items, or create an entry in the “Add or Remove Programs” applet. The only thing that I’ve got to do now is search and destroy the temporary folder that was created during the installation process.
Yes!
Configuration
Like any other print driver, you right click on the PCL 6 print driver for the Universal Print icon and select “Properties" in order to configure it. Before the dialog opened, an “Updating Now” dialog briefly appeared. We also found that if a designated printer is not switched on, the “Updating Now” dialog took longer to go away. Once that was over with, I was presented with the standard printer configuration dialog (above left). However, even though the driver was connected to the HP Color LaserJet 3700dtn’s Jetdirect port, there was little or no information about the printer (above right). Not a good omen for a “Universal” Print Driver at this moment.
So if there’s only one driver and I want to print to several different printers, how would I do that? Normally, you would go to the “Ports” tab and manually connect to the desired printer's port in order to do this. I think that this is my first hint about the role of “Ricoh Printer Switcher.”
Unfortunately, it appears that the Ricoh Universal Print Driver in itself does not really see the garden- variety HP printer that I’ve connected it to. I don’t have any Ricoh printers on my network. What to do next? I can always try “Ricoh Printer Switcher.”
Ricoh Printer Switcher
You would think that the egg-headed “experts” that program and package computer programs that we annoying peons run by the billions every day would be a little more thoughtful in the naming of critical files. Somehow I identified the Ricoh Printer Switcher installation executable and clicked on it. Thankfully, I had organized the downloads into a folder and didn’t have a lot of trouble finding the files. Nevertheless, see the screen shot below.
Which one is the Ricoh Printer Switcher? I assume that its the smaller of the two “Ricoh_zXXXXXXX” files.
Man, I hate installing stuff on my PCs, especially when they’re equipped/infected with Windows. As usual, I held my breath and clicked on “Ricoh_z36952en.exe” (at least I was a bit comforted by the fact that the “en” suffix meant that I was installing something whose user interface was in English!). Don’t these programmers realize that they must maintain a database in order to catalog and identify their own creations? What about users who don’t have access to that database? How difficult is it to name the file “Ricoh_Printer_Switcher_Vxx?” It’s not just Ricoh, it’s a widespread problem throughout the PC world.
Clearly, I am in an ugly mood today. However, it’s stuff like this that make me even uglier. In spite of seeing similar screens a thousand times, it makes me stop and wonder even though I can clearly identify the publisher of the software as Ricoh (and I trust the integrity of Ricoh’s programmers). Maybe a click on the “How can I decide what software to run” link will help ease my paranoia? I’m sure that it will (cough, cough). Anyway, I trust Ricoh. Here goes! CLICK “Run.”Just run the installation will you! Why force me to worry about this stuff? In a cowed state, I click “Unzip” because I am too cranky at this point to worry about the consequences. At least HP’s installation has a check box to make the process run the unzipped executable! C’mon eggheads! How about a little consistency for us peons!
Whoa! The program reports “1 file(s) unzipped successfully.” Cool! Now where the heck is it and where is the best place to move it. Clearly, I do not want to run it from a temp folder that I am compelled to seek and destroy ASAP.
Right about now, I’m seriously considering a career switch even though I greatly appreciate the remarkable achievements of Ricoh Company, LTD. Sigh. Here goes, I click on “PrinterSwitcher1010.exe” in order to take the installation to the next level.
Why not a folder named “C:\Program Files\RICOHPrinterSwitcher”? I take the opportunity to rename the folder so that I know what the heck it is on my next search-and-destroy mission to find useless programs that muck up Windows. FYI, it's common for “Add/Remove” programs to leave folders like this on your system even after they have been supposedly uninstalled. If you don’t believe me, take a look at your “Program Files” folder some day.
Who the heck wants a start menu entry with this name?
Finally! However, “PrinterSwitcher 1.0.1.0 appears as an item in the “Add/Remove” programs applet which means that it has been stitched into the Windows DNA.
The resident PrinterSwitcher program is represented by an icon on the left. You must right click on it in order to start the discovery process and select and configure your printers. FYI, nothing bugs me or IT more than required resident programs.
Printer Discovery As previously stated, we have three printers on our network that span the range of network connectivity options. In this exercise, we'll attempt to use the Ricoh Universal Print Driver/PrinterSwitcher to discover and use all three devices:
In order to begin the discovery process, you right click on the PrinterSwitcher icon and select “Configuration.” In the dialog box that appears, you can enter the IP Address/Host Name or simply click on “Search.” The “Advanced” button allows you to tailor subnet settings in order to refine your search.
Printer Search also found printer #2! This looks promising in spite of the fact that the HP 2510 is a color printer.
Now that printers #1 and #2 have been discovered, I enter the host name of shared printer #3 that effectively has no IP address. No dice on the discovery. I discover later that printer #2 doesn’t print anyway.Configuration and UseIf you hover your cursor over the PrinterSwitcher icon, the currently selected printer is shown. If you left-click the icon, you can choose from the list of installed printers. It looks as though PrinterSwitcher is doing a workmanlike job thus far.
In order to use a printer, it must be first selected with PrinterSwitcher. You configure your print settings in the traditional manner by clicking on the “Preferences” button.
“Printing Preferences” UI for the Ricoh UPD. While easy to understand and use, a notable exception is the lack of grayscale and B&W graphic-printing options.
SummaryThroughout my career, I’ve been an unabashed fan of Ricoh office products. While their software has been spotty at times, it was always competitive and better than the software developed by other off-shore vendors. Ricoh’s UPD is another matter. I can hardly come up with a single compelling reason to implement this software in any office. OK, maybe if your network is stacked with Ricoh network printers and your staff regularly uses multiple printers. However, Ricoh’s own feature-rich RCPS (Refined Command Print Stream) print driver offers a superior and consistent user interface that is considerably easier to install and use. So what if you have have multiple print drivers installed in your printer folder when you consider the alternative?
The HP and Xerox UPDs are intended to make things easier for users to locate and use printers when they are on the road, and and judging by the discovery process, the Ricoh UPD is not. Finally, not many IT departments are willing to install and support resident program of dubious value on users' computer desktops, and the Ricoh UPD is virtually unusable without the resident PrinterSwitcher component.
Since it is so hard for us recommend any suitable scenario for use of the Ricoh UPD, maybe we are missing something? Even so, we can’t see how making it harder for users to print while simultaneously facilitating color printing has any benefit whatsoever.
We welcome feedback and will gladly publish information that can provide a counterpoint to our findings.
NEXT POST – Xerox Mobile Express DriverCompany Line - “Download one, print to many. A single printer driver is great on the go.”
While the very notion of a Universal Print Driver has a calming effect on me (assume the lotus position, stabilize your breathing and chant “”UPD, “UPD,” “UPD”. . .). However, as with meditation, is a Universal Print Driver all that it’s cracked up to be? Let’s begin our investigation.
Hewlett-Packard Universal Print DriverCompany Line - “Spend less time managing multiple devices with just one driver.”
I held my breath and clicked on “HPUPD47PCL632.exe.” I was immediately faced with my first big decision-- where to unzip the archive. I chose the default and the archive was unzipped to the root directory of my computer. Now, I have to remember to go back and delete that folder after the installation completes successfully. I want you to know that I hate having to do that and I can’t count the gigabytes of useless temporary installation folders that I’ve deleted over the years. Personally, I prefer when programs un-archive into a temporary Windows folder that I know will be automatically purged some time in the near future during a typical Windows disk cleanup operation.
Seconds later, the next big decision . . . Even though I wasn’t entirely sure if I really wanted a “special” object in my Printer Folder, I decided to go all out and install the HP UPD in “Dynamic Mode.” Hopefully, I’ll be able to get rid of this special object if and when I decide that I don’t need it any longer! Heaven knows that stuff like that has happened one too many times in the past.
Yes, it took several minutes--a virtual eternity in today’s hard drivin’ business world . . .
The Printer Folder automatically opens after the installation process. Sure enough, the “special” printer object showed up in the Printer Folder. Other than the automatic printer sharing (which I immediately deactivated), it doesn’t look too special yet. Other than the few decisions that I’ve had to make thus far, installation was pretty painless. Thankfully, the installation process did not create any icons or program items, or create an entry in the “Add or Remove Programs” applet. Sweet and neat! The only thing that I’ve got to remember to do is search and destroy the temporary folder that was created during the installation process.
You betcha!
The “special” (or dynamic) part of this printer object. With dynamic mode, this dialog appears every time you choose the HP Universal Print Driver as your output device. Once you locate printers using this dialog, they can be permanently saved in your Printer Folder. Future use of the saved printers allows you to skip this dialog altogether and use it like any other printer. However, what will the User Interface (UI) look like? How much will it differ from the standard issue HP PCL 6 print driver? Read on . . .
The “Settings” link reveals options that let you tailor the HP Universal Print Driver's workflow.
Printer Discovery As stated in the previous post, we have three printers on our network that span the range of network-connectivity options. In this exercise, we will attempt to use the HP Universal Print Driver with all three devices:
Configuration and UsePrinter #1 – HP Color LaserJet 3700dtn with wired JetDirect interface. This is as close to the typical enterprise installation as it gets. If you can’t trust HP’s UDP to work with this printer, then who can you trust?
On the left, is the HP UPD Printer Discovery Dialog. Note that a list of recently used printers automatically compiles. We chose the “Search for Network Printers” option to search for printer #1. On the right, the printer was found in a matter of seconds.
Thanks HP for reminding me that I’ve still got to come up with $150 for that black toner cartridge! Note the check box that adds the discovered printer to your Printer Folder so that you won’t have to rediscover the printer's bountiful harvest of printing goodness a second, third or fourth time (as I had to do in order to obtain these screen shots).
MAJOR NOTE: You can quickly print directly from the UPD printer-discovery dialogue. However, you cannot change any critical print settings from here. This means that you may end up with color duplex prints when you actually wanted B&W simplex prints. The margin for error is significant, especially if the printing defaults have been modified on the printer. Worse yet, if you're printing at a hotel or a convention center for example, you may even be charged some undisclosed amount for your printing mistakes. Consequently, after discovery of the printer you must install it to your Printer Folder and use it in the traditional manner in order to ensure that your document prints correctly, or to access the printer's advanced feature set. This can eventually lead to a Printer Folder littered with unidentifiable printer drivers attached to a printer out in the ether somewhere.
Now that I’ve installed the print driver to my Printer Folder, let’s open it up and compare the UI’s of the UPD driver versus the standard HP PCL 6 driver for this printer.
Standard Issue HP PCL 6 Print Driver
HP PCL 6 Universal Print Driver
At first glance, it appears that the options and layout on the “Advanced”, “Paper/Quality,” “Finishing,” and “Effects” tabs are nearly identical. But wait! The UPD has more tabs than the standard issue PCL 6 print driver, promising me a bonus feature set extension for the old girl? It turns out that the new UPD “Printing Shortcuts” tab is called “Print Task Quick Sets” in the standard issue PCL 6 print driver, and is located on the “Color” tab, while the new “Services” tab has links to a variety of useful HP Customer Care resources like “Check for driver updates” and “Product manuals.”
This is more like it! The new “Job Storage” tab in the HP UPD actually adds valuable features to the Color LaserJet 36000dtn that are not available with the standard issue PCL 6 print driver. Bravo HP!
Printer #2 – HP psc 2510 Photosmart MFP with both HP wired and wireless network interfaces that is connected via wireless mode. While installing the drivers and utilities for this reliable and versatile device is a royal pain in the neck, you can be sure than many similar printers are still installed on networks around the world. For example, you could encounter a version of this printer in any home or small business, or in such diverse locations as coffee shops and smaller hotels. Since this printer was not compatible with HP Easy Printer Care Printer Management software in a previous evaluation, we didn’t have high expectations for its performance in this evaluation. What the heck, let’s try out our luck anyway.
Since Printer #2 was not automatically found in the previous search for network printers, we chose the “Enter a Printer Address” option from the UPD Printer Search Dialog.
Even though it is a HP device with an HP network network interface, it was no dice with the HP psc 2510 Photosmart! Let’s move on to Printer #3.
Printer #3 – HP LaserJet 1320 monochrome duplex printer directly connected via USB port to a client PC and shared over the network. This is the killer test because this configuration, commonly found in homes and small offices, stymies even some of the best printer-management programs. The very nature of bidirectional client/printer data transmission via USB does lend itself to many remote applications other than the simple printing of documents using a basic print driver. Note that this printer also was a “no-show” in our earlier review of the HP Easy Care Printer Management software, so we didn’t have much hope for this one as well.
Since Printer #3 was not automatically found in any of the previous searches for available network printers, we chose the “Search for Print Shares” option from the UPD Printer Search Dialog.
We easily browsed our network and quickly located the HP LaserJet 1320. This is a feat in itself, as this reclusive printer has historically been difficult to locate from numerous other applications. This got my hopes up!
Even though the printer was successfully located, the UPD was unable to communicate with the printer. Not a surprise considering our experience with USB connected local printers in the past. I gave printing a shot and to my surprise, a warm print emerged from the little printer. Alas, my hopes were dashed as it turned out that it was simply a report listing an “Unsupported Protocol” error. Oh well, I gave it my best shot.
SummaryIn spite of my skepticism, the installation and use of the HP Universal Print Driver was a reasonably painless experience. The slick and spare installation procedure helped considerably to alleviate my fears, and as a bonus, updated the UI and enabled some cool new features on our HP Color LaserJet 3700dtn. As a result, I foresee using the UPD as a replacement for the standard PCL 6 print driver and feel comfortable about leaving it installed on my office desktop PC for some time to come. The bottom line with this scenario is that users in a corporate setting, especially one that is well-stocked with HP JetDirect connected devices, should have no problems employing the HP Universal Print Driver. Keep in mind however, that just like a traditional print driver, you still require a traditional print driver in the Printer Folder for each and every device that the client uses on a daily basis. At the very least, the UI will be identical for all of these devices.
It’s not so cut-and-dry for other users and applications though. For example, road warriors will quickly find that since they effectively need to install a version of the UPD in the Printer Folder for each printer they encounter, their Printer Folder will quickly fill up with a plethora of print drivers for printers that may not be easy to identify. Consequently, unless you take the time to clearly identify each printer and you are methodical with your printing, you’ll find yourself sending print jobs to phantom printers and wondering where they went. Furthermore, you’ll find that the installation of all of those print drivers will slowly muck up your system and we all know that the already-bloated Windows system does not need much help in this regard. Consequently, we recommend that if you are a print-happy road warrior, you should periodically remove any unused printers from your Printer Folder in order to minimize printing mishaps and try to maintain the system performance of your PC.
Will HP’s Universal Print Driver end up on my laptop? It’s too early to tell until we get a chance to explore the capabilities of the Ricoh and Xerox UPDs.
NEXT POST – Ricoh Universal Print Driver Company Line - “Provides a single intelligent advanced driver, which can be used across your fleet of Multifunction Products and Laser Printers.”
When I hear the term “Universal Print Driver" (UPD), I think of it in relation to the many print-driver related problems that I’ve encountered with print drivers over the years in extensive testing of hundreds of printers and MFPs, during my business travels, and in personal use.
While UPDs have been out for quite a while, I hope that you can understand that there’s a bit of skepticism on my part that there is something out there that can actually do something to address my varied printing needs. However, since there’s been a new UPD release (Ricoh) and recent updates to others (HP and Xerox), I thought it may be time to finally take a hands-on look at UPDs. I’m hoping that the time invested in the research and evaluation will pay off in the long run by saving me the frequent hassles of dealing with print drivers. Following are some of the print-driver related issues that I face in the multiple roles I play as a technology/knowledge worker:
As a remote technology/knowledge worker:
As the home/office manager for the New Jersey Home for Aged Imaging Devices (aka “Oldies but Goodies Showcase”):
As a product evaluator:
Wouldn’t it be nice if a UPD could help me with all these things? Wouldn’t it be sweet if I could only have to worry about a single print driver for all my printing needs? Wouldn’t that scenario truly be “Universal?”
Free and Currently Available UPD Solutions
Hands On With UPDsEver fearful of mucking up any of our Windows XP PCs, the hands-on process will involve an evaluation of the installation of each of the UPDs and their use with the three Hewlett-Packard printers on our hybrid wired/wireless Ethernet network. While we did not have an array of imaging devices with which to evaluate the UPDs, they represent a wide range of capabilities and installation types:
Unnerved over the potential mess that needs to be cleaned up afterwards, I first considered the use of a virtual machine or a “guinea pig” PC. Finally I decided to simply create a new system restore-point and test the print drivers on my hand-built and begrudgingly maintained desktop PC running Windows XP SP3. If need be, further testing can be performed on my hand-rebuilt (several times over) and begrudgingly maintained Dell Latitude laptop, also running Windows XP SP3.
NEXT POST – Installation and Testing of the Hewlett-Packard Universal Print DriverCompany Line - “Spend less time managing multiple devices with just one driver”
For the last several weeks, you may have noticed no new posts from me. While I apologize, here at Wirth Consulting, we've been readying the launch of a new service: product evaluations of imaging devices distributed through the dealer channel.
Previously, we've been focusing on imaging devices distributed business-to-business (B2B) sold from the manufacturer/vendor or retail seller directly to the consumer. However, this excludes many printers and MFPs that are sold only via dealer. As I've written before, there are both advantages and disadvantages to purchasing either B2B or via dealer, and these should be carefully considered (more).
By evaluating products marketed by both channels (B2B or dealer), we can cover a wider range of office-imaging devices, from inexpensive desktop printers that may not be available from dealers, to high-speed, higher-volume products that are marketed only by dealers (and require the kind of service and support not available from B2B sellers). In short, we'll be evaluating products ranging from light-volume SMB printers and MFPs with network connectivity, up to higher-volume imaging systems with many advanced capabilities.
As you’ll shortly see, the new Office reports have a different look and feel than the B2B reports and include information that is more pertinent to digital-imaging products procured through the dealer channel (e.g.: expanded pricing for optional equipment and consumables). In addition, CPP and TCO algorithms have been adjusted across the board to better reflect the cost of (potentially) one-time items such as maintenance kits.
Kathy and I hope that you will find the new reports useful in your quest for the perfect imaging device. Please feel free to get back to us with any comments (good or bad) that you may have.
It depends. I know that sounds like a cop-out, but except for printing on multi-part forms (the exclusive realm of impact printers), no single technology is superior to another when it comes to printing on special media. That’s because there is such a wide array of media and imaging technologies available.
Types of Special Media Used in the Office
Types of Office Imaging Technologies
Common Problems
Aqueous Ink-Jet Printing
Gel-Ink Printing
Solid-Ink Printing
Laser/LED Array (Toner-Based) Printing
Summary
Printing on special media isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be, especially with toner-based laser/LED-array printers. If you are unsure about what types of special media your printer can handle, most vendors offer special media that they have tested and/or approved for use with their printers. Keep in mind however, that some of this special media may be considerably more expensive than generic counterparts. Hopefully this article will help you choose the right printing technology beforehand and proactively avoid these problems.
Imaging Technology/Media TypeSummary Chart
Immediately following our last post, we were notified by a reader that Hewlett-Packard also has a free printing tool that works with any printer. Here’s a look:
HP Smart Web PrintingReleased in November of 2008, version 4.05 of HP’s Smart Web Printing Tool give users the ability to print only what they need from a Web page and save ink, paper, money, the environment and trees.
Once installed in Windows, HP Smart Web Printing becomes available as a toolbar in Internet Explorer version 6.0, 6.0 SP1 and 7.0 (32-bit versions only) or Mozilla Firefox version 2.0.0x.
HP Smart Web Printing allows users to:
SummaryAll of our Microsoft Windows PCs have Internet Explorer 8 installed. Consequently, we could not install HP Smart Web Printing for an actual evaluation because IE8 is not supported. We also have Firefox 3.x running on one of our Windows PCs, but it is not supported either.
However, we have used earlier versions of this software, back in the days when serious page clipping issues made printing from early versions of Internet Explorer a hit-or-miss experience. Consequently, we can attest to the effectiveness of HP Smart Web Printing as a serious printing tool for users who routinely print multiple pages of Web content from multiple sources. We wish that it also had color printing controls, but HP handily embeds this feature into most of its newer color printers.
System requirements: Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit), Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic (32-bit), Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (32-bit), Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Internet Explorer version 6.0, 6.0 SP1 and 7.0 (32-bit versions only), and Mozilla Firefox version 2.0.0x
RecommendationIf you compile and print Web pages as a hobby or for a living, HP’s Smart Web Printing is the tool for you. Through the use of HP Smart Web Printing and intelligent printer management (duplexing, color control, N-up printing and draft modes ), you will eliminate enough wasted prints that it will noticeably minimize your expenses, as well as help minimize your impact on the environment. You can download HP's Smart Web Printing tool here.
For use on public computers or by a majority of other users who print Web pages every now and then, the Lexmark Toolbar V.4 may be a better bet because it can be used to control color printing, requires less user interactivity, and supports IE8 and Firefox 3.0, all of which HP Smart Web Printing does not. As it stands, we expect to see an update of HP Smart Web Printing software in the near future.
We at Wirth Consulting have harangued you from day one about how efficient printer management can save you money. Managed printers are also more efficient and produce less waste, minimizing their impact on the earth’s natural resources —a win-win situation.
Fortunately, most manufacturers and vendors also realize the importance of protecting the environment, and on their Web sites, many prominently display a lengthy discourse extolling how they are environmental responsible. Other vendors, such as Lexmark and Xerox, go the extra mile by offering freely available software tools that can help you control your printing. This in turn saves energy, ink, toner, paper and their associated impact on the environment.
Lexmark Tools For Office Once installed in Windows, the Lexmark Tools for Office toolbar is available in Microsoft Office 2007 applications. Features include:
Lexmark Tools for Office requires Microsoft Office 2007. You can download Lexmark Tools for Office here.
Lexmark Toolbar v.4 Once installed in Windows, the Lexmark Toolbar v.4 toolbar is shown as a toolbar in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5+ and/Firefox versions 1.5 to 3.0 Web browsers. Features include:
Lexmark Toolbar v.4 Requires Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher and Windows 2000/XP/Vista. You can download Lexmark Toolbar v.4 here.
Xerox GreenPrint™ softwareGreenPrint™ Technologies has teamed up with Xerox and is offering a complimentary copy of GreenPrint software to those who purchase a Xerox Phaser 8560 or 8860 solid-ink color printer or MFP. The use of GreenPrint's patent-pending software eliminates unwanted prints and potentially saves you paper, ink, toner, money and millions of trees.
GreenPrint:
GreenPrint is free for Xerox Phaser 8560 and 8860 owners and can be downloaded here. Make sure that you have your Phaser serial number handy. If you do not own a Xerox solid-ink printer but still want to save on printing costs (and trees), you can purchase GreenPrint software here.
GreenPrint is a standalone application that requires: Windows 2000/XP/Vista (32 bit only), 1GHZ+ Processor, 256MB+ Ram, .NET Framework 2.0 (installed automatically); Power PC 1Ghz+ / Intel Processor Recommended, and OS X 10.5+.
SummaryAs a long-time PC user, one of the first things I do with an application is configure the UI and remove toolbars to give me as much working space as possible. Consequently, it gives me the willies to even think about installing a toolbar, much less willingly. However, that doesn’t mean that millions of other PC users agree. Both the Lexmark Office Tools and Toolbar v.4 software packages utilize a tool-bar design.
As the manager of our home/office network (I am IT), I do not relish installing another piece of software on ANY of our PCs, much less software that has a service running in the background. GreenPrint is a software package that must be installed and running in the background of a client PC.
I also can’t even think of upgrading from Microsoft Office 2003 at this point so that we can try out Lexmark Tools for Office. In fact, we have decided that there will be no future Office upgrades and that we will switch to either Lotus Symphony or OpenOffice. The Lexmark Office Tools requires Microsoft Office 2007.
RecommendationThe Lexmark Toolbar v.4 looks like the best of the three solutions because it works with all printers (the newer the better) and has the least impact on the operating system. Moreover, it is an effective solution because it works where it is needed most—at the Web browser by minimizing the wasteful printing of Web pages and without being intrusive to the user.
The more we at Wirth Consulting have studied the B2B digital-imaging industry, the more we felt a need to adjust our research, data-collection and report-processes accordingly. Consequently, we have continually performed updates to the reports' format and presentation of data. As a result, each new round of reports had a slightly different look and feel to them. We decided that for the sake of quality and consistency, it was time for a mass update of all existing reports.
As of this writing, over 60 of our Wirth Consulting WYSK Evaluations and eight Head2Head Comparison Reports have been redesigned and updated in a variety of ways. Note that one of the more important updates was the use of the most recent Euro/U.S. dollar currency-exchange rate in our pricing and Cost Per Page/Total Cost of Ownership calculations.
Clarified WYSK Data Categories
Added Fields to WYSK Evaluations
Other Modifications
We feel that our improved system makes it easier for you to identify a device by its class as well as find the best product for your needs and your budget. We hope that you agree.
About WYSK© Evaluations
WYSK© Product Evaluations are presented in an easy-to-use format and provide unique product comparisons of MFPs and printers sold B2B for small/mid-size offices and businesses, as well as for home users. They include TCO, CPP and an exclusive rating and scoring system. There are currently over 70 What You Should Know Evaluations that can be viewed and printed (but not distributed) on the Wirth Consulting Web Site.
About Head2Head© Reports
Head2Head© Comparison Reports provide competitive evaluations of MFPs and printers for small/mid-size offices and businesses sold business-to-business (B2B). They are formatted in a convenient side-by-side format that provides a good balance of information and simplicity that is intended to help you make an intelligent include Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Cost Per Page (CPP) and an exclusive rating and scoring system. There are currently 11 Head2Head© Comparison Reports that can be viewed and printed (but not distributed) free-of-charge on the Wirth Consulting Web site.
To obtain Web posting, printing, and distribution rights, contact Wirth Consulting at info@wirthconsulting.org.
Before you buy a printer, you should be aware that there's more to a printing system’s cost per page than just the cost of ink or toner. In fact, many vendors quote a cost per page figure that only includes the cost of ink or toner. That's misleading and a reason that we include all consumables in the CPP (Cost Per Page) and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) calculations in our Wirth Consulting WYSK (What You Should Know) Product Evaluations and Head2Head Product Comparisons. Note that the hidden costs of other required consumables may add as much as $0.006 to your cost per page--about as much as the cost of a sheet of low-grade paper.
There's almost nothing worse than a printer that stops printing right before it's finished printing that big presentation or homework project. Consequently, following are some items whose life you should monitor and which you should have on hand before that occurs. What makes these items even more critical is that you usually can't purchase them at Walgreens or Best Buy when the time comes to replace them. What's worse is that printer vendors don't commonly list these items and you must sometimes perform a determined search to find and order them.
Note that not all printers have "hidden" printing costs, as most printers that have all-in-one ink cartridges (print head and ink) and toner cartridges (drum, toner and waste toner collector) have fewer ancillary supplies. Additionally, printers with all-in-one cartridges may have an apparently higher cost per page, but there are less surprises down the road when you must find the funds and resources to replace an imaging component that has unexpectedly become depleted.
Following are some examples of some common "hidden" supplies and a common cost/page yield. Once again, please note that not every printer has these supplies to replace:
Ink-Jet Print Heads - Average Price: $39 per color/page yield varies. From experience, we've seen users who run out and buy ink cartridges only to find out afterwards that the print head has failed. This results in yet another trip to the store to attempt to return the unnecessary ink cartridges and find the proper print-head replacement item. Note that there is a print head for each ink color, so you may have to replace from one to four print heads (each of which it seems is destined to fail at the most inopportune moment). Note that when a print head fails, the unit may "lock-out," or the image quality for that color will be unacceptable.
Toner-Based Drum Units - Average Price: $75 per color/20,000 pages. Printers that do not utilize all-in-one toner cartridges may initially have a lower cost-per-page, but when the drum unit reaches its capacity, look out. Note that there is drum unit for each toner color, so you may have to replace from one to four drum units. Thankfully, most printers' Web-based home pages indicate the remaining life of each drum unit, so that you can monitor life, and can purchase a drum unit and have it on hand before it fails. Additionally, most toner-based printers do not "lock-out" when a drum unit has reached its projected yield, and you only have deal with degraded image quality until the drum unit is replaced.
Toner-Based Transfer Belts - Average Price: $200/60,000 pages. Printers that do not utilize all-in-one toner cartridges may initially have a lower cost-per-page, but they also may employ a transfer belt in addition to the aforementioned drum unit(s). Once again, most devices' printer home pages indicate the remaining life of the transfer belt unit. This means that you can purchase a transfer belt unit and have it on hand before it fails. Additionally, most toner-based printers do not "lock-out" when a transfer belt unit has reached its projected yield, and you only have to up with degraded image quality until the transfer belt unit is replaced.
Toner-Based Maintenance Kits - Average Price: $270/200,000 pages. Since toner-based printers use heat and pressure to fuse the powdered-toner image into the paper, most maintenance kits involve replacing components in the fusing section. Once again, most devices' printer home pages indicate their maintenance kits' remaining life, so that you can have one on hand before the printer fails. Additionally, most toner-based printers do not "lock-out" when a maintenance kit has reached its projected yield, but you can expect paper misfeeds and image-permanence problems until the maintenance kit is replaced.
Whenever possible, we include Toner-Based Waste Receptacles. These are usually very low priced ($25), however, with a high capacity, but some can be more than this. There is usually no warning when this item reaches its capacity. While some devices allow you to simply empty them, other don't, and must be purchased and replaced. With the latter kind, they use an optical sensor to gauge their "fullness" and the sensor window remains translucent even after the toner is emptied from the container. Regardless, we've tried re-using these kinds of waste-toner containers on numerous occasions in the past and found it to be a messy, environmentally unsafe and unhealthful process, with the result being powdered toner flying everywhere about and into our lungs.
In summary, regular printer monitoring and maintenance is insurance that your printer will not give up the ghost at the worst time. Additionally, it allows you to budget for required consumables and have them on hand before downtime occurs. Finally, usually you can easily monitor the status of any network printer using your Web browser to check the status of supplies. If you are using a local printer that is directly connected to your PC, the vendor usually supplies software that you can use to monitor the status of key consumables.
Happy reading,Terry Wirth
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