Printer Reviews and Advice

Printer Review and Advice Relocation

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Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Diary Review - Digital Outback Photo

Digital Outback user diary review of the Epson Stylus Pro 4000 and writes - 'So why the 4000? In short because it is a production beast when it comes to making prints up to 16“ wide (when adding a 0.5” border on each side). The 4000 is fast (the fastest Epson Ultrachrome printer so far), it can use both roll paper and sheet paper and it does feature a paper tray. This feature enables me to fill up the paper tray, load the spooler and let it print all night long if I feel like it. This is something the 9600 definitely cannot do. If you print on sheet paper with the 9600, each sheet must be fed one at a time. This is a very time-consuming endeavor to say the least.' Read more about the Epson Stylus Pro 4000 US Readers Buy the “Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Inkjet Printer” UK Readers Buy the “Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Inkjet Printer”

Fuji Xerox Phaser 3115 Laser Printer

'Fuji Xerox Printers (FXP) will introduce the affordable Phaser 3115 black & white laser printer at the upcoming Commart Exhibition at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre between November 4-7. Ideal for use in the home and small office, the Phaser 3115 will be available during the four-day event for the special price of 2,700 baht, including a full three-year warranty. The Phaser 3115 features a 66 MHz processor that delivers a printing speed of 14 pages per minute, and a standard 2 MB of memory. Its starter toner cartridge has a 3,000 page capacity – up to two times the capacity of competitors in the same class – with a printing quality of 600 x 600 dpi, and a first page out time (FPOT) of only 12 seconds. Its special qualifications include the ability to create watermarks on documents, building overlay (or scaling), and minimising size of multiple documents to print on a single page, and capacity to print out multiple sections of poster-sized documents.'

Read more at Business Day Newspaper - Fuji Xerox Phaser 3115

Finding the Best Photo Printer

'I've been trying out some of the latest models of color ink-jet photo printers from Canon, Epson and HP. Each is designed to make high-quality photo prints, up to 8 1/2" x 11", as well as black and white documents, making these ideal for general use in the home or small office. All have the same list price of $199 and work with both PCs and Macs.

I looked at the Canon PIXMA iP5000, the HP 8150, and the Epson Stylus Photo R320. According to the manufacturers, each of these printers makes the best color prints of any of their models in this price range.

For my testing I printed a variety of images of people and landscapes at the best image quality setting, then printed typical Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on plain paper. For each printer I used that printer company's own best quality photo paper for all of the photo prints.'

Read more at Finding the Best Photo Printer

Brother QL-500 PC Label Printer

'The first thing you need to know about the Brother QL-500 PC Label Printer is that it's not just another label printer. The second thing is that, compared with most label printers, the differences are almost all in the QL-500's favor.

The QL-500 is a little larger than the norm, with a footprint of 5.7 by 7.7 inches instead of the typical 4 by 6 inches you'll find in models from Avery, Dymo, and Seiko Instruments. That larger size is a small price to pay for all the extras you get, starting with the ability to print on labels up to 2.4 inches—while only having to spend about $100 for the printer.

Brother sells an unusually wide variety of labels, ranging from file-folder labels to continuous rolls. Seven precut sizes include address, shipping, and even optical-disc labels with a hole in the center. A built-in manual paper cutter lets you easily cut continuous roll labels to size. (The $130 QL-550 adds an automatic cutter.) Street prices for the rolls are $10 to $20. For the medium-size address labels, that works out to 2.7 cents per label.'

Read more at Brother QL-500 PC Label Printer

Canon eyes 30% of printer market

'CANON Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd aims to capture 30% of the Malaysian laser printer all-in-one solution market next year with the launch of its new laser printers, imageCLASS MF5650 and MF5630.

Its senior marketing manager of system and solution division Jeremy Lee said Canon saw a huge untapped market for the all-in-one solution printer which would enable it to achieve the number one position in Malaysia.

“According to the International Data Corp research, the market size for this segment would be 5,000 to 6,000 units by end of this year and targeted to grow to 10,000 units next year.

“With the launch of the new printers, we hope to achieve the target. Currently, we have 300 units of the iCMF5650 and iCMF5630 in the market nationwide,” he said at a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. '

Read more at Canon eyes 30% of printer market

Printer Blog Updates

Just a quick note to let readers know that we're in the process of updating and moving Printer blog. You can still access it at the same page but it can also be found over at here on the Breaking News Blog Network.

You can follow the latest printer news on our new RSS feed.

Thanks for your patience with the move.

Lexmark Loss Good for Consumers

'On Tuesday, a federal appeals court said printer maker Lexmark cannot prevent Static Control Components from manufacturing printer toner cartridges that operate with its printers. Lexmark had sued the competitor, arguing that Static Control had no right under the DMCA to circumvent electronics that prevented Lexmark printers from using anything other than Lexmark cartridges. '

Read more at Lexmark Loss Good for Consumers

8 New Inkjet Printers Compared

Tom's Hardware Guide review of 8 of the newest Inkjet printers on the market to help you make the comparison.

'Every year at this time, the four major manufacturers of inkjet printers introduce new printer lines. We compare all the new products and show you what to really expect from them - and most importantly, what they'll cost you.'

They review the:

•     Canon Pixma IP2000
•     Canon Pixma IP4000
•     Canon Pixma IP5000
•     Epson Stylus C66 Photo Edition
•     Epson Stylus Photo R300
•     HP Photosmart 7450
•     HP Photosmart 8150
•     Lexmark Z816

'The conclusion is the same as usual. When it comes to inkjet printers, models with separate color cartridges are more attractive in every respect: they're more economical to use, and also offer the best print quality. Epson's Stylus Photo R300 leads the pack in the area of quality, followed very closely by the Canon Pixma iP4000 and iP5000. While the Photosmart 8150 offers very good qualitative results, the cost of its cartridges make it a much less attractive choice.'

Read more at 8 New Inkjet Printers Put to the Test - Introduction

Samsung CLP-550

The Tech Zone reviews the Samsung CLP-550 and writes - 'The Samsung CLP-550 overall is a great entry into the sub-$1000 colour laser printer market. Though not editor's choice worthy, it does give you a balance of cost and features that should be acceptable to most in the target audience. For text output in both monochrome and colour, the CLP-550 does indeed shine. Colour matching is quite good, and the output is sharp as is to be expected on a laser printer. The large selection of features that you would only find on higher priced printers - the built-in duplexer, and LCD display - add to the package.'

Get more information and reviews on the Samsung CLP-550