Staples.com is offering a deal this week on the HP Officejet 6310 Color Flatbed All-in-One. This printer is normally priced at $199.98, but after a $28.00 instant coupon you will only pay $171.98.

The HP OfficeJet 6310 is a a multifunction printer. You can print, copy, scan, and fax. It is also network ready.

The offer expires on 3/24/2007.

Buy the HP Officejet 6310 Color Flatbed All-in-One

Buy cartridges for the HP OfficeJet 6310 Printer

Each year HP invests more than $1 Billion dollars in research and development on imaging and printing and holds more than 4,000 patents in this area. One of the most recent products of this investment is something HP is calling Edgeline Technology. Here’s what we known so far.

Edgeline Technology is designed with print heads that span the width of a page. This allows the printer to distribute ink across the page rapidly and precisely in just one pass. Or simply put, the printer cartridge no longer has to move. Now only the paper will move.

It should be noted that Edgeline Technology is being designed for high volume color printing. It does not a technology you should be expecting to see in your home printer any time soon.

Well, not really, but they are willing to give the consumer a chance to decide.

An editorial was written in the January issue of Recharger Magazine, a magazine written for the remanufactured printer cartridge industry (probably not to high your reading list - People . . . Newsweek . . . Recharger?). The opinion piece was written by an individual within the remanufacturing industry and focused on Hewlett Packard’s promise to fairly compete with the aftermarket.

Just a little over 3 years ago the HP Senior VP of Printer Supplies publicly stated HP’s intentions to fairly compete with the remanufacturing industry (the aftermarket as they called it). HP took this position after Lexmark had engaged in litigation against one of the largest remanufacturing companies in the industry, and claimed that they would not follow the same path as Lexmark. They would also not engage in the use of chips on their cartridges as “lockout” devices. HP also stated that it is up to the customer to decide if they want to use new OEM or remanufactured cartridges, and that HP would consciously make sure that its cartridges could be reused.

In the three years since HP has made these statements they have done a pretty good job holding true to their word. While Lexmark has continued to attempt to lock remanufactured/recycled cartridges out of the market in the federal courts, HP has seemed to focus more on “what they can control” - making their product better.

In 2006 HP released the Color LaserJet 2600 printer, which utilized a toner cartridge featuring a new direct-contact chip. This chip is a high level authentication system that allows the printer to determine if the cartridge being used is an HP manufactured cartridge, or if it is a aftermarket cartridge.

Was this a sign that HP was going back on their word?

Well, not really. They said they would fairly compete with the aftermarket, but they never said they would make it easy for the aftermarket to complete with them. We can appreciate that approach! The chip they designed, after some research, was deemed able to replicate by even those using mid level chip designs. The chip authentication system could be activated by either an HP manufactured cartridge or an aftermarket cartridge at any time.

Just as the author of the editorial, we commend HP for their statements and actions that remain in line with those statements. We understand they won’t make it easy and will take all the technological competitive advantages they can manage. They’ve also have a VERY LARGE marketing budget at their disposal and will put that to good use to try to convince everyone that original HP products are far better than remanufactured products (see a recent blog post).

At the end of the day HP is allowing space for aftermarket printer cartridges. They are giving the customer the right to choose. That is all we can ask for. It is our job to make you want our product instead of theirs.

Late last week Staples introduced a new and exclusive color inkjet printer - the HP Officejet Pro K5400dn Color Printer. While this is an inkjet printer, Staples is touting it as printing color with laser quality and providing a 25% lower cost per page. The printer is priced at $199.98.

The HP K5400dn prints 36 pages per minute (black) and 35 pages per minute (color). If you are printing a page that contains both black and color you can expect to print at the 35ppm rate. This is a great rate for an inkjet printer. Print resolution is rated at 1200 x 1200 dpi (black) and 4800 x 1200 dpi (color). The paper tray holds 250 pages while the “after print” tray holds 150 pages. The machine holds all sizes of paper up to 8.5″ x 14″ and can handle printing up to 7,500 pages per month, making it a very versatile machine for use in your office. The printer is network ready and boasts 32MB of memory. It offers Ethernet or USB connectivity to your computer. The K5400dn offers automatic duplex printing (something very rare for inkjet printers) which allows automatic 2 sided printing, something Staples claims will reduce your paper consumption by 50%.

As for reducing your per pages costs by 25%, Staples states the following:

Cost-per-page (CPP) laser supplies comparisons based on published manufacturer specifications of the highest-capacity cartridges available for color laser printers under $500 and mono laser printers under $250 as reported by Current Analysis,Inc. as of July 2006. HP Officejet K5400 series CPP based on HP 88 XL cartridges (Black XL cartridge included, color XL cartridges not included - sold separately) estimated street price and published yield. Results may vary.

As with most printers, the K5400dn does not come with a USB Cable. You will need to purchase that separately.

Now, lets talk about the ink cartridges. This printer uses the HP 88 series, which is part of HP’s Vivera Ink family. The color cartridges each contain 9ml of ink while the black contains 25ml. It is important to note that the HP web sites reports page yields that are much lower than what Staples shows (820 for black, 620 for each of the colors). The series is made up of the following cartridges:

	HP 88 (C9396AN) Black Ink Cartridge, Large - Price $34.99 Yields up to 2,580 pages
	HP 88 (C9391AN) Cyan Ink Cartridge, Large - Price $24.99 Yields up to 1,840 pages
	HP 88 (C9392AN) Magenta Ink Cartridge, Large - Price $24.99 Yields up to 2,190 pages
	HP 88 (C9393AN) Yellow Ink Cartridge, Large - Price $24.99 Yields up to 1,650 pages

As far as cartridge pricing goes, these cartridges are priced in line with other HP manufactured cartridges of the same ink capacity and page yield. As with other OEM cartridges the cost per ml of ink is quite high, and unfortunately there are no alternative products at this time.

Only the “official” printer stats are available at this time. This printer is so exclusive it is not even available on the HP shopping site. The printer cartridges are though. As soon as we can find some professional and user reviews of this printer we will be sure to post them here. In the mean time, if you have this printer or know someone who does we would appreciate you letting us know (or having them let us know) what your review is.

Buy this printer: HP Officejet Pro K5400dn Color Printer
Buy ink for this printer: HP 88 Black | HP 88 Cyan | HP 88 Magenta | HP 88 Yellow

What is HP Vivera Ink? Good question!

We visited the HP website and found the following definition. This is the text as we found it on the Hewlett Packard web site (source: hpshopping.com).

“HP’s proprietary ink, which has been engineered and tested to ensure delivery of a broad range of vivid, lifelike colors and crisp black text. Vivera ink formulations blend with advanced precision for consistent, realistic-color prints. Vivera ink is also exceptionally pure, so it dramatically reduces print head clogging. This purity, combined with HP-exclusive protectants, guards photos and graphics against airborne pollutants, allowing them to resist fading for decades (based on light fade testing under glass using HP Vivera Inks on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper and HP Premium Photo Paper, according to Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc.).”

In short, about a 2-3 years ago HP released a new formulation of their printer cartridge ink. Instead of changing the ink that was in all of their cartridges they released a new line of printer cartridges that contained the Vivera ink. This ink is a premium grade ink as compared to the non-Vivera branded cartridges. With this new line of ink HP claimed that printouts could last up to 110 years. This is an increase of 37 years over their current estimate of 73 years.

The introduction of the Vivera inks also brought the introduction of the Smart printing technology. This allows customers to monitor individual ink color levels and permit them to take part in an automated cartridge purchasing program.

We’ve heard a lot of good things about Vivera ink. Customers have reported a definite difference in the colors printed with Vivera ink versus those with HP’s standard grade inks.

If you are using Vivera ink let us know what you think.

Yahoo! recently released a list of “Most Popular” printers based on user feedback at Yahoo.com. The results are:

1. Canon i850 Inkjet Printer
2. HP PhotoSmart 8450 Inkjet Printer
3. HP LaserJet 1320 Laser Printer
4. HP PSC 2410 PhotoSmart Multifunction Printer

The Canon i850 was given a 4.5 (out of 5 star) rating because of its ability to produce great color prints quickly and quietly. Users also liked the fact that the printer came with individual ink tanks (why replace the entire cartridge when just the magenta runs out?). Users also loved the fact that this printer was easy to set up. CNET (one of our favorite sites for researching new products) rated the printer 3.5 (out of 5) stars.

Our experience at Pacific Ink backs the comments made by Yahoo! users. Our customers are very eager to share their printer experiences when they call in. Even more, shortly after the release of this printer we saw a very quick rise in the popularity of the cartridges that are used in it.

The HP PhotoSmart 8450 is fall on the more expensive side of photo printers (A quick search of the web showed that prices range from $129.00 to $189.99). But Yahoo! users gave this printer 4.5 stars. PC World also gave it 4.5 stars. Users loved the LCD screen built on to the printer, the speed at which it printed 4×6 photos, and the fact that it is networkable. They also enjoyed the built in media card reader, which makes downloading the printing pictures so much faster.

The only negative we’ve heard is that the printer is capable of using up to 7 different cartridges. When faced with the prospect of choosing between high capacity or standard capacity, photo or non-photo grade inks, and the existence of a photo gray cartridge owners of this printer find purchasing the cartridges they need quite confusing (especially once you start mixing in the different part numbers for each of the cartridges).

The HP LaserJet 1320 is another great machine. Rated 4.5 (out of 5) stars by Yahoo! users, this machine is a true work horse (it is actually the machine we use in our warehouse to print the packing slips customers receive in their orders). Users liked that it provides high quality mono print outs (black and white), has great text printout, is networkable, and it offers duplex printing. On the flip side, they did not like that printouts can get quite warm (the paper actually gets hot), the low capacity toner cartridge that comes with the printer, the fact that it noisier than other laser printers.

The HP PSC 2410 is a multifunction printer (it can print, scan, copy, and fax). It was given a perfect 5 start rating by Yahoo! users. They loved the LCD screen and the fact that quality that the 2410 could print photos with. It is rare to find a multifunction printer that can also produce quality photographs. The single con was there the printer does not have a document feeder. This means that you have to lift the lid each time you want to scan, copy, or fax something. Not a major flaw, but in an age of convenience we can see where the users are coming from.

Our suggestion? You really can’t go wrong with any of these. They are all solid machines. It really just depends on your printing needs.

Buy cartridges for: Canon i850 | HP PhotoSmart 8450 | HP LaserJet 1320 | HP PSC 2410

Buy the Printer: HP LaserJet 1320 | HP PSC 2410

Here is an interesting story out of the United Kingdom. Hewlett Packard (HP) recently ran a newspaper advertisement in a U.K. newspaper. The ad compared used printer cartridges to used food. The text from the ad read:

“NO-ONE WOULD DREAM OF SELLING USED FOOD. SO WHY DO THEY SELL USED PRINT CARTRIDGES?”

Can the same argument then be made for the cups you get your Starbucks coffee in? How about paper we write on? What about the playground surfaces kids play on? Yes, recycled products are made from used products – that’s the point! This is also an interesting perspective as HP employs a very expansive empty cartridge collection program (called HP Planet Partners) that is aimed at responsibly recycling unwanted hardware or empty HP printing supplies. If HP sees selling recycled cartridges as equal to selling used food, what are they doing with all the printer cartridges they collect, and why are they spending so much money (they pay all shipping costs associated with collections) to collect these things? If Hewlett Packard, or any company for that matter, makes a product that can be recycled and reused shouldn’t we take advantage of that opportunity?

I commend HP for their recycling efforts, but am somewhat confused by the obvious contradiction this advertisement creates.

We haven’t been able to track down a copy of the ad yet, so if anyone out there can find it please let us know. We’d like to see what kind of chewed and spit out food they used. Can you imagine someone at their advertising agency chewing up some food and then spitting it out for the photo shoot?

Something to think about. Let me know what you think.

UPDATE: 3/16/07
For those with interest we were able to finally find out what kind of imagery this ad contained. It showed a half eaten apple, a peeled banana, and a carton of egg shells. After seeing this the United Kingdom Remanufacturers Association (UKRA) filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority. There has been no official decision as of yet. More to come . . .

Amazon has the all-in-one HP Officejet 4315 on sale for $82 with no mail-in rebate required. This printer has been out a while, which is why the price has come down so much, but it is still useful for those who need a fax machine for their home office. There are a lot of all-in-one printers out there that look nice and have flatbed scanners and all that, but a lot of them don’t have fax capabilities. For people who need a fax for business, a printer like this one is useful.

It’s rated at 20 ppm for black and 14 ppm for color. The print resolution is 4800 x 1200 and the scanning resolution is 1200 dpi. The fold-up paper feeder means that you save space, but it also means that your scanning/copying options will be limited. You will be able to scan normal size paper fine, but for other things like pictures or clippings, you will have to stick with a flatbed scanner.

HP announced that they will change the packaging on their inkjet and toner cartridges to reduce waste. They are going to be making smaller and lighter packages, which will reduce their greenhouse emissions. They say that these changes will result in a reduction of 37 million pounds of greenhouse gas. Their new toner cartridge boxes will 45% less packaging than their previous boxes and the reduction in size will also help retailers, since they will be able to put more products on their shelves.

Good job HP.

HP’s Redesigned Ink, Toner Packaging to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 37 Million Pounds in 2007 [Press Release]

Here is a helpful article from your friends at the Lehigh Valley Morning Call. It’s an introductory article, but helpful nonetheless. They recommend the HP Photosmart 8250 as the best value among standard inkjet printers, the HP Photosmart D7360 as a photo printer and the Canon PIXMA iP6700D if you want a fast photo printer. For all-in-one printers, they recommend the PIXMA MP830 and MP800 along with the PIXMA MP160 for value.

The article talks about individual ink cartridges and how they are “becoming more common.” This is a little bit inaccurate, since really the only thing that has changed lately is that HP has added individual cartridges to a couple of printers. Other than that, Epson, Canon and Brother continue to almost exclusively sell printers with individual color cartridges (Canon offers a small amount of printers with only two cartridges, such as the PIXMA MP160, while Epson and Brother offer none). Also, the article mentions how in their experience, individual cartridges did not save them money. This is likely the exception rather than the rule. It can be very costly to throw out ink cartridges when only one color runs out, and if you aren’t interested in refilling your cartridges, then that’s what you have to do. For those that print in color, and especially those that print photos, having individual cartridges will definitely save you money in the long run.

Buy the best printer for your needs [Mcall.com]