The new product represents an industry first in successfully employing a hard amorphous carbon (a-C) thin-film to form the drum’s surface-protecting outer layer. In Kyocera’s own testing, this development makes it possible for a single A4 drum to print approximately one million sheets — more than triple the life of Kyocera’s conventional A4 a-Si photoreceptor drum, which was already the industry’s most durable, with a lifespan estimated by Kyocera to be approximately 300,000 A4-sized sheets.

Additionally, Kyocera’s rigorous internal testing is designed to yield conservative durability estimates. Third-party testing of Kyocera’s A3-sized imaging equipment has demonstrated 2.5-million-page durability with no drum replacement. The new series represents the first a-Si drum in the A4 class to demonstrate million-print durability using Kyocera’s own extreme test parameters.

Electrophotographic printing involves transferring toner (powdered ink) from a photoreceptor drum onto paper. Over time, friction created by the paper eventually wears away the drum’s photoconductive surface, necessitating periodic replacement of this component. Since drum wear increases in proportion to printing speed and volume, a more durable, longer-lasting drum can offer compelling benefits.

With the new series, by evenly forming a hard amorphous carbon (a-C) thin-film on the surface of the drum using Kyocera’s proprietary thin-film formation technology, the company has succeeded in increasing drum hardness five-fold compared to its conventional products*4. The improved wear resistance has enabled Kyocera to more than triple the current industry record for A4 print drum durability, from approximately 300,000 to one million sheets of A4-sized paper. This enhanced durability can significantly reduce the frequency of drum replacement, thereby minimizing waste, environmental impact and the user’s “total cost of ownership.”

Kyocera will continually improve the performance of its a-Si photoreceptor technology to meet customer demand for higher-resolution printers that are smaller, faster, more durable and more power-efficient. The thin-film technology in the KYOCERA Mega Surface Series may be applied to the company’s entire line of photoreceptor drums in the future, including negatively charged drums and large-dimension units with greater length and/or diameter. Further, the company plans to expand this technology from office document equipment to commercial printing applications that require high-speed, high-resolution printing.

The photoreceptor drum is sometimes regarded as a consumable component within electrophotographic printing equipment. However, since the debut of Kyocera’s first a-Si-coated components in its own printers in 1984, the company has used its proprietary technology to continuously develop the photoreceptor drum into a durable device with a lifespan equivalent to the mechanical life of the printer itself.

As expectations for printing equipment continue to rise, demand has grown for electrophotographic printers that offer higher print speeds, higher-resolution printing, lower power consumption and more eco-friendly design. Meeting these demands will require photoreceptor drums that offer longer life and higher performance. Kyocera has developed the KYOCERA Mega Surface Series to be faster, stronger, more eco-friendly and more compact than conventional photoreceptor drums, while nonetheless offering sharper, more beautiful printing.

The amorphous carbon (a-C) thin-film employed as a surface-protecting layer in the new series provides hardness and durability that were impossible to achieve previously due to the difficulty of forming thin-film coatings evenly on the surface of a drum. Kyocera has become the first in the industry to achieve an even formation of a-C thin-film on the drum’s surface using its proprietary DC discharge technology.

Ahmad Qasem, channel sales manager, Epson Middle East, said, “The GCC market in general has a low level of usage of counterfeit inks compared to countries like Egypt, Iran and some other global markets. The UAE market in particular has been exemplary with regard to the use of original ink, which reflects the government’s strong commitment to eliminate counterfeiting.

“Nevertheless there is a continuous need to educate end-users and resellers about the hazards of using counterfeit ink, and also about ways to distinguish between original and counterfeit ink cartridges,” Qasem added.

Epson points out that the risks and consequences of using counterfeit ink can range from sub-standard and illegible prints; reduced page yield; damage to printer; and invalidation of warranty to leaking cartridges; increased long-term costs; paper wastage; and environmental pollution.

“Our advice to end-users will be to not think of short-terms gains and always opt for genuine ink cartridges. We recommend Epson customers to buy inks from an authorized Epson reseller only as far as possible, and also to look for the watermark on the ink package to make sure the product is genuine,” Qasem said.

“If the print quality is inconsistent, if the cartridges are delivered in poor quality packaging, if the number of printouts from the cartridge is very low, or the print cartridge fails, this could mean that the product is not original.”

The Aficio SP 4310N is one of Ricoh’s mid-volume black-and-white printers that fit into the company’s overall Managed Document Services (MDS) strategy. Ricoh MDS is designed to address customers’ document management needs for greater energy and cost savings by guiding organizations through a transformation process that, among other things, establishes effective print practices designed to help improve workflow and increase productivity.

The Aficio SP 4310N replaces the Aficio SP 4210N in Ricoh’s monochrome laser printer product line. The SP 4310N uses Ricoh’s premier GW Architecture Controller to quickly process every job in the user’s choice of genuine Adobe PostScript3 that supports 136 Adobe fonts, PCL 5e/6, or XPS page description languages. In addition, the SP 4310N supports a number of host-print environments. Like its predecessor, the networked SP 4310N maintains first print speeds of seven seconds or less and an output speed of 37 pages per minute (Letter) at resolutions up to 1,200-by-600 dpi. Windows and Mac compatible, the SP 4310N is equipped with a 466 MHz CPU and 256 MB RAM (expandable to 512 MB).

The Aficio SP 4310N also boasts energy-saving features that help to further reduce total cost of ownership. ENERGY STAR compliant, the SP 4310N includes a Toner Saving Mode that helps increase print cartridge yields, N-in-1 print modes that combine multiple pages onto a single sheet of paper, and optional automatic duplexing that outputs two-sided prints.

A solution-ready printer, the Aficio SP 4310N can be expanded to meet an individual account’s unique workflow requirements with optional Embedded Software Architecture (ESA) applications, IPDS printing, or upgraded security functions. Support for multiple user authentication modes and 128-/256-bit SSL data encryption protect print jobs and passwords from theft, while the new Printer Driver Editor allows administrators to enforce printing rules by setting and locking driver settings for individual users.

Increased security can be achieved with an optional 80 GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) which includes a HDD Encryption Unit and the Data Overwrite Security System (DOSS). The HDD Encryption Unit supports secure local document storage for up to 9,000 pages and an easy to use Locked Print feature for confidential documents, while DOSS when activated automatically overwrites the HDD after each job.

The Aficio SP 4310N has a starting MSRP of $799.00.

Autumn is ostensibly the time we become productive again, at least until Thanksgiving comes around. Few digital tools shout “productivity” more than the small business printer — particularly the multi-function models — spitting out pages of text, charts and presentations with a sense of purpose.

This autumn’s crop of small business-friendly printers features the usual incremental upgrades, like more functional displays and faster output. But the big push this year is toward mobile and cloud-based printing, with more models supporting apps for both Android and Apple smartphones and tablets, and print-from-anywhere services such as Google Cloud Print, HP ePrint and Epson Connect.

Memory resources have been less quick to grow and can still be counted in megabytes rather than gigabytes, even in an era where system memory wholesales at less than $20 a gigabyte. Printers with more on-board memory can process complex documents (or photos) more quickly or queue more documents.

In this roundup, we’ll look at some of the latest models from select printer manufacturers and what they can offer small businesses.

Small businesses that need color printing still get better value from inkjet printers compared to color lasers. (The economics are reversed for monochrome output.) This is the market targeted by Epson’s new WorkForce Pro series of inkjet printers aimed at small business.

The WorkForce Pro WP-4020 ($199), WP-4530 ($399), and WP-4540 ($499) all share high-capacity ink cartridges rated to 1,200 color and 2,400 black pages and automatic two-sided printing. All three models also include Wi-Fi and support for Epson Connect.

Epson Connect describes a collection of services that enable mobile printing. These include the iPrint app for iPhone/iPad and Android, and PriApps for BlackBerry. The upcoming Epson Print service will let you send an email from any device to a supporting printer like the WorkForce Pro models, which can print attachments in a variety of popular file formats.

The upgrade from the WorkForce Pro WP-4020 to the WP-4530 adds a scanner with double-sided automatic document feeder (ADF) and a 2.5-inch LCD control screen. The bump from the WP-4530 to the WP-4540 brings a larger 580-sheet paper capacity (dual 250-sheet trays plus a rear specialty paper 80 sheet tray) and a large display containing both a 5.8-inch touch screen and 3.5-inch LCD, making it easier to perform many walk-up tasks without requiring an attached computer.

All three WorkForce Pro inkjet models are rated to 16ppm black and 11ppm color, although performance can vary depending on the complexity of the documents you print.
HP Small Business Printers

This summer, HP released the LaserJet Pro 100 Color MFP M175nw. (It may have taken months just to come up with the name.) This ultra-compact $349 color laser includes 16ppm/4ppm (black/color) printing, a 150 sheet paper tray, scanner with 35 sheet document feeder and Wi-Fi networking. Although this model sports a relatively light sub-1,000 page-per-month duty cycle, it is one of the most affordable color laser printers.

But HP’s big push is with its ePrint and HP Print Apps technology. Now available on the M175nw as well as other small business printers including the Officejet Pro 8500A series (a multi-function inkjet) and the Laserjet CM1415FNW, ePrint is HP’s take on Epson Connect, with mobile printing apps for iPhone/iPad, Android and BlackBerry that support remote printing. With ePrint you can also send email attachments directly to the printer from anywhere.

HP Print Apps bring the functionality of device apps directly to the printer. More than 100 apps are already available, ranging from Martha Stewart Everyday Food to USA Today to Docstoc Forms. These apps run right on the HP printer and can, for example, download and print recipes, news stories, templates for business and legal forms, and even blank graph paper.

For iPad owners, HP ePrint-supporting printers are the only printers compatible with Apple AirPrint, which allows direct wireless printing from the tablet.
Samsung Small Business Printers

Samsung joins the mobile printing party with two new monochrome laser printers that support the Samsung Mobile Print app for iPhone/iPad and Android. The ML-2955DW ($215) printer and SCX-4729FW ($399) multifunction laser printer/scanner/fax are both rated at a speedy 28ppm and feature built-in, two-sided duplex printing.

Both models include the same 250-sheet paper trays and Wi-Fi connectivity and an SMB-friendly 12,000 page per month duty cycle rating.
Canon Small Business Printers

This autumn is a busy season for Canon, with four new ImageClass laser printers designed for the small business market. The most cost-effective are the two monochrome lasers, MF4570dw ($299) and MF5950dw ($399). Both multifunction devices support print, scan and fax. Plus, both laser printers include Wi-Fi networking and duplex printing, to help you save paper.

At 35ppm, the MF595dw is the speedier of the two (versus 26ppm), and also boasts an extra 50 sheet multipurpose tray in addition to the standard 250 sheet tray included with both models. The 5950dw’s automatic document feeder handles an extra 15 pages (50 versus 35) for scanning and copies.

Businesses that require premium color laser printing can consider the LBP7660Cdn ($499) and MF8380Cdw ($599), a stand-alone printer and a multifunction printer respectively. The 8380 includes Wi-Fi support, but the printer-only 7660 supports USB and Ethernet networking only.

Both pump out color and monochrome pages at a rated 21ppm. The 8380 can scan to — and print from — a USB thumb drive, whereas the 7660 cannot. The higher-end 8380 also includes a built-in Web server for remote management across the network and remote printing, features you won’t find in the less-expensive, single-function 7660. While both models include a 250 sheet paper tray, the 7660 can be expanded with a second 250 sheet tray, making it a good choice for high-volume printing.

On Thursday, HP announced 13 new printers and scanners, many of which target the small and midsize business market. This new range of printers and scanners emphasizes Web-connected printing and advanced scanning.

A new scanning technology, HP TopShot Scanning, captures six images of a document or 3D object and combines them to create one high-quality image suitable for print or Web. The first printer with this technology, the HP TopShot Laserjet Pro M275, is “coming soon” for $349.

The new HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One series and the HP Officejet Pro ePrinter are meant to offer professional quality color documents at a 50 percent lower cost per page than laser printers. These inkjet printers are also equipped with ePrint, which lets you print from mobile devices by sending an email to the printer. The 8600 All-in-One series will start at $199. Two of the current Officejet models made PCWorld’s “Top 5″ inkjets list.

ePrint is also getting better with Wireless Direct. Now you’ll be able to connect to a printer from a mobile device directly over peer-to-peer Wi-Fi, without having to go through the Internet. Mobile ePrint Home and Biz apps are available for Apple iOS, Android, and Symbian smartphones and tablets. The ePrint Mobile Driver for PCs is supposed to make it easy to send a document to a registered ePrint device with a “File and Print” option. And the ePrint app for BlackBerry is getting options to print to ePrint-enabled service providers, HP Enterprise service providers, and HP Public Print services providers.

On the scanning side, the HP Printer Control mobile app for iOS devices can take scans from an ePrint-enabled multifunction printer and upload them to Facebook or Google Docs, or let you scan them to an email.

In addition, HP announced new Print apps aimed at business. Print apps are designed to give you access to pre-formatted content you can either download directly to your printer and print without the need for a computer, or scan directly to Internet storage. The new HP Business Apps includes Stamps.com Web postage, apps from Shoeboxed for scanning business cards and receipts, as well as apps from Google Docs and Box.net.

Many enterprise-level technologies are now being made available to SMBs via HP’s recent acquisition of Printelligent. HP will begin rolling out its HP Partner Managed Print Services over the next year.

HP is also offering a Smart Marketing Suite to address inefficiencies in marketing. It consists of software and services, developed with Omnicom Group, that optimize and automate marketing workflows.

Nearly 90 percent of all printer users mainly use their printers to print out photos, a poll suggests.

When asked “What do you use your printer most for?” 51 percent of respondents to the Macworld poll said ‘Printing Photos’. Continuing the theme of using a home printer for graphical output, 37 percent of respondents said they used their printer mostly for printing posters.

“Printing homework” and “printing e-mails” were the next most popular answers in the poll, sponsored by Kodak, with 12 percent of respondents selecting these items, and 10 percent of respondents said they use their printer principally to print “work-related documents.”

The least popular uses for printers, according to our poll, is “Printing personal documents” and “Printing web pages,” each receiving 2 percent of the vote. (See also “How to Choose the Right Printer.”)

Photography used to be an expensive and exclusive hobby, but these days millions of people have digital cameras and mobile phones with built-in snappers and, as the poll suggests, they are using printers to print out images. It’s therefore becoming increasingly important that your printer can produce high-quality photo prints. (See PC World’s reviews of photo printers.)

The cost of printing good quality, long lasting photos has dropped significantly over the past few years — and the price of total ink replacement is crucial.

Kodak has the lowest total ink replacement cost in the UK, compared to all other leading manufacturers, so long lasting quality is affordable. Kodak inkjet printers use nano pigmented ink that allow to print of sharp, vivid and brilliantly colourful photos right at home, that are instantly dry and last a lifetime, without fading or deteriorating.

It’s also worth thinking about the bundled software that comes with your printer. Some printers include software that provides basic editing features, such as red-eye removal or adjusting the color balance — in fact, some even allow you to perform simple editing tasks using controls on the printer itself, so you don’t even need to turn on your computer.

To make sure your printer keeps doing an amazing job of printing you need to take care of it. Here’s what you should do.

1) Conduct routine maintenance with your printer software.

Almost all printers have functions called head cleaning and head alignment. The head cleaning function makes sure all ink nozzles are free of obstructions. If the heads are not clean, your printer will begin to print faint in some areas while printing normal in others. Periodic print head cleanings will prevent obstructions and keep your prints looking good. IMPORTANT – If your printer has not been used for a month you should definitely run the print head cleaning utility.

Print head alignment is a software routine that requires a little help from you. When you align your print head, you are making sure all the nozzles are pointing the right direction and firing in the right place. You’ll need to make sure that your printer has paper in the paper tray, then look at the print out after the alignment has run. If you see repeating white lines or grid patterns your print heads are still misaligned. Run the alignment utility repeatedly until they disappear. This maintenance step should be performed once or twice a year, or when you see white lines or grid patterns in your print outs.

2) Conduct routine maintenance of your printer’s roller and feed mechanism.

Standard copy printer paper leaves dust as it runs through your printer. Two-sided printer paper will leave a slick inkjet coating on your rollers. Ink, from your cartridge, can over spray and build up on the rollers. Over time the dust, inkjet coating, and over spray will result in streaks, inconsistent paper feeding, paper jams, or paper not feeding at all. All of these things lead to poor print quality, or no prints at all!

To make sure your rollers and feed mechanism always work properly, you should get a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cotton swabs. First open your printer door then look down the paper tray of your printer. You should be able to see a metallic bar with some rubber wheels on it. Those are the rollers. You should be able to touch them with your fingers. Gently place the cotton swab (with alcohol already on it) on the roller. Now, push the paper feed button on your printer and the rollers will begin moving. Let the cotton swab rub on the roller as it moves. Repeat this a few times for each roller.

After you have cleaned the rollers, use a some canned air to blow any remaining dust and debris out of the printer. This type of maintenance should be done a few times a year, or whenever you notice inconsistent paper feeding.

Happy printing!

Disclaimer: These are just printer maintenance tips, so we can’t assume liability if you use them. Damage could occur. We’ve been using these tips to clean our printers for years. So far no problems.

Tip #1
Paper leaves dust on the rollers, and two sided paper leaves ink residue. To clean your rollers get a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cotton swabs. Open your printer door and find a metallic bar with some rubber wheels on it. Those are the rollers. Gently place the cotton swab (with alcohol already on it) on the roller. Now, push the paper feed button on your printer and the rollers will begin moving. Let the cotton swab rub on the roller as it moves. Repeat this a few times for each roller.

Tip #2
Allow the paper to feed easier through the printer by leaving a 1/4″ gap between the paper tray guide and the paper in the tray.

Tip #3
Keep the paper more upright and closer to the feed rollers by placing a piece of stiff card stock in the paper feed tray. If you do this make sure you have plenty of paper in your printer so it does not try to pull the card stock through the printer.

Tip #4
Fan your stack of paper before placing it in to the paper tray. This separates the sheets, allowing for the feed rollers to pull a single piece easier. It also releases any excess dust on the paper.

Tip #5
Curl the edge of the first piece in the paper tray. The slight upward curl will help the feed rollers grab the paper easier.

Tip #6
If you are using heavier weight papers (more than 12ml thick) you should check to see if your printer has heavy paper settings. If so, use them! Your printer manual will have more information on this.

Happy Printing!

Disclaimer: These are just paper jam prevention tips, so we can’t assume liability if you use them. Damage could occur. We’ve been using these tips to prevent paper jams for years. So far no problems.

Epson has launched original mobile services known as Epson Connect, which includes the Email Print and Epson iPrint solutions. Email Print is a service that allows customers to print out electronic mail and file attachments by simply sending an e-mail from their smart phones or other mobile device to an enabled Epson printer. By using this service, people on the move can check mail on mobile devices, and print out essential e-mails and attachments such as documents, presentations and tickets on Epson printers in their home, office and other locations.

Epson iPrint is a print application for the latest iOS- and Android-based devices. By downloading the Epson iPrint application and connecting to a WiFi enabled printer, customers can print out a wide range of contents ranging from photos and documents to recipes, coupons and web pages.

Epson has also declared its commitment to supporting mobile solutions provided by other companies. These will be announced separately, with initial services to be available from September 2011. By supporting these solutions, Epson hopes to provide a platform by which customers can print out documents regardless of their location and without a printer driver.