Printers and Printer Tradeups

Printers are like anything else in a system: good ones aren't cheap and cheap ones aren't any good. Unlike your CPU, however, you may be using the same printer for years. It is important to get the right printer for the job. The printer that works just fine for the home PC might be a disaster for the office. Low cost printers often seem attractive until you look at the cost per page.

High end printers can offset the high pricetag with lower operating costs in toner, electricity, and increased productivity. The HP5L printer, for example, doesn't have a paper tray for high volume printing. Toner for lower cost printers is also a higher per sheet, so the lower cost printer soon gets to be more expensive in the long run. This same printer is ideally suited for the home or home office, however, where the workload is less.

HP also offers users with an older printer generous rebates toward the purchase of a new printer. This is great. If you wait for a HP LASER printer to die before you get a new one, you will have a long, long wait. Send us some email for the trade up rebates. printers@aesystems.com

The HP 340/CBI portable printer from HP is very small and will do over100 pages on a single recharge. The CBI version has IrDa for complete portability with the laptop...no cables required! For more information on the 340 try HP's web site HP DeskJet 340 Data Sheet

The HP4000N, HP part number C4120A, is the printer of choice for all but heavy office use. It will do 1200dpi, prints at 17ppm, and comes with the HP JetDirect 10/100BT ethernet card.  Cost is around $1470, but the cost per page and workload ability make it a bargain in the LASER printer world. It is the printer of choice.

The HP1100AXi, HP part number C4219A, is a complete LASER printer, copier and scanner all in one package. Unlike the early versions of all in ones, this unit works well, and it takes up very little desktop space. It has 600dpi output and sells for around $490. It works better on '98 systems than on '95 PCs. The 1100Xi is the same printer without the scanning head. Don't buy it. The scanner version is only $75 more, which is a deal for a scanner. If you buy the scanning head later, HP part number C4221A, it will cost you $165.

The Epson 7400 is the most popular printer sold for color applications right now. It's lighter duty companion, the model 640, is also popular. The entire family also supports special transparency films.

Epson has a new printer, the 900, that has fantanstic speed and resolution. The output looks just like a photo from the local film shop! You really have to see this. Until March of 2000, Epson offers the 900 and 900G (for the MAC ) with a $100 mail in rebate if you buy it with a new PC system. The PC can be a desktop, server, or laptop. With the rebate the printer sells for $295. Click on the ICON for the Epson rebate form.

  The Epson 740 has a $50 mail in rebate, too!

* requires Epson or HP special paper to prevent color bleed. Max resolution with high quality, 24 lb., copier/laser/ink jet paper is 720 dpi.

The big differences between the 600 and 800 are two fold: The 600 is a bit slower at 6ppm in black and white and 60% as fast in color. Secondly, the 600's black ink cartridge is half the size of the 800's. It it much too small for the home office but is fine for light duty printing, the yearly Turbo Tax sessions, the kid's homework, etc. . Both share the same color cartridge. Currently the 800 is $299. The 600 is $255. The 400 is $185 and uses the same black ink as the 600 and the color cartridge of the 800. It is half the speed of the 800. The 740 replaces the 800.

Model 800N has all of the features of the 800 and adds a 10BT network port. All of the network driver software for the 800N in 95, NT, and AppleTalk are included. The 900N is the network version of the 900 with 12ppm output speed!

The 1520 is the CAD deal of the century. It will do the high resolution color of the 800 and can support B and C size paper. The large table on the 1520 slows the A black and white down to 6ppm. It uses the same blank and white cartridge as the 800.

For photo quality outputs the Photo 750 and 1200 are ideal. They use a six ink system to get incredible output with great speed. Both will do a 8"x10" output in two minutes with good paper.

Epson printers also share well in networks even without a direct ethernet connection. A host PC acts as a print server for the network. This is fine for a small home or office environment if the host PC has extra horse power to spare. The printer share procedure is on the Epson web site. It is a little tricky to setup, but it works well.

CDROM Specialty Printers by SuperImage

The primary application of the SuperImage's MediaPrinter 700 is the printing of color images and text onto compact discs and paper. This industrial CD-R and paper printer combines the revolutionary ink jet features of the Epson 700 engine with SuperImage CD-R technology. With 1440 x 720 dpi photo quality color printing, the MediaPrinter 700 gives you the unique opportunity to professionalize your CD-Rs by printing directly onto their surface and maintain all the features of a standard paper printer with
automatic paper feed.

The package consists of the following; one new MediaPrinter 700 with automatic paper feed, printer drivers and commercially available ink jet cartridges for the Epson 700 engine, caddy for printing on CD-Rs, software templates for printing from the caddy in most of the commonly used Mac and PC application programs, a manual and the CD Stomper labeling system - so you can experiment to perfect your custom designs before printing directly on the surface of your CD-Rs. It is required to use printable surface CD-Rs with the MediaPrinter 700. To get started SuperImage packages a 5pk of printable surface CD-Rs with the Mediaprinter 700. SuperImage media comes in a jewel case with a specialized water resistant transparency cut to fit the outline
of the CD-R. This label givs the CD-R a water resistant surface which protects the printing from incidental contact with moisture and also provides a wear resistant surface for high use CD-R's.


The operation of the MediaPrinter 700 is designed to be user friendly. For paper printing the operation is identical to the equivalent
automatic paper feed printer without CD-R printing capability. To configure the MediaPrinter 700 for CD-R printing the paper in
the paper feed is first removed and the paper feed stop pushed fully to the left. The printable surface CD-R is placed in the caddy's CD-R recess and the caddy inserted into the caddy guide at the back of the MediaPrinter 700. The MediaPrinter 700 is now ready to print on the CD-R. On your computer open the CD-R template, in the application of your choice, from the SuperImage template disc. Design the image for the CD-R inside the template doughnut and print from the print monitor through the Epson 700 engine drivers.

Package Includes:
    Caddy for printing on CD-Rs and full function automatic paper feed.
    Software templates for printing from the caddy in most commonly used PC and Macintosh application programs.
    Epson 700 Engine. The printer is a modified version of the Epson 600, so reliability is not an issue. The printer uses the same ink               as the Epson 700 series printers.
    The CD-STOMPER™ Complete CD Labeling System is provided so you can experiment and perfect your custom designs
            before printing directly onto your printable surface
    PC/Mac Compatible

Printer pricing is $1000 for one piece and $900 for two to five units.

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Last Revised: 3/2/00