Printer Device Blog » Tips

Tips and Guidelines for Purchasing Toner Cartridges Online

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:39:56 +0000

The best place to shop for a toner cartridge is online. This is especially true for people who do not have the time or patience to go to the various stores to find the printer supplies which best suits their needs. It really takes a lot of effort and energy to go through the various stores physically. However, one should not get disheartened by the whole process of finding the right supplies for one’s printer as there are some very good online stores which offer great deals on best toner cartridges and at the same time give you the convenience of shopping from one’s home.Purchase on-lineIt is very easy to find a toner cartridge of your choice online and by ordering from an online office supply dealer, one can get the ordered cartridges at one’s door step. One can find the toner cartridges of all the major brands online. Also toner cartridges which are compatible with popular brands like Apple, HP, Sharp, Brother, IBM, Panasonic, Xerox, Canon, Lexmark, Epson and Samsung product lines.One simply has to choose the model printer to locate the cartridges which are compatible with it, and the next step is to place an order for the selected cartridge. It is best to select a toner which is covered by the distributer’s warranty as it ensures that the product which reaches you is free from any damage and is in perfect condition.While purchasing cartridges online, it is recommended to order a few days in advance as it will help you to save the shipping charges. Many of the online printer supplier stores only charge for shipping when the cartridges are to be delivered immediately. By ordering a cartridge well in advance, one can avoid additional shipping charges.Some differentiatorsAnother very important benefit of buying toner cartridges online is that, the online printer supplier stores allows one to purchase refurbished and remanufactured toner cartridges. Though the remanufactured cartridges are relatively cheaper, there are some loopholes in the functioning of these remanufactured toner cartridges. The first and the foremost limitation of a remanufactured cartridge is that, the printer might not read the ink level properly. It might sometimes give you absolutely wrong readings like showing an empty cartridge when the ink is full. The second factor which should be considered is that the refurbished cartridges have a defect rate of almost 2 percent.To sum upThere are a number of online printer suppliers, and some of them offer the supplies at very cheap rates, however price should not be the only factor affecting your purchase. One should always toner cartridges from reputed online stores and the ones which make the whole process of purchasing easier for you. Some online stores also give you the option of selling your old cartridge for remanufacturing purpose and hence indirectly provide you with additional savings which can be directed towards the purchase of a new toner cartridge.

Multiple Tips to Buy a Multifunction Printer

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:16:53 +0000

The phase of economic depression has done something positive, indeed. Those who run their small-scale offices have turned more saving-friendly. They are devising and applying latest and unique methods of effective cost-cutting.So if you are one of those who want to save the maximum, then you need to start from basics. Start from choosing the best office automation products. Go out to grab a multifunction printer. It will help you to make the most of your plans. How?Buying a multifunction printer can be a boon to your business. For fun part, it can be your new saving account or a piggy bank. It will help you a lot to reduce costs and office expenses.Surely, a machine which works not only as a copier, printer or scanner but also helps you in receiving and sending the faxes can be no less than a boon. However, you need to be a bit careful while buying your printer.Choose Your Technology : Like any other conventional printer, a multifunction printer comes either with laser technology or ink-jet technology both. It is upon you which one to choose. Remember, the ink-jet multifunction printers are the most suitable printers for low-scale businesses.Paper-holding Capacity : As you need to get printouts too frequently, the paper holding capacity of the printer must be sufficient. Choose a printer which can hold 200-250 sheets in its paper feeder.See The Speed : Choosing a printer which prints documents at a great speed is a clever step. It really minimizes your office expenses. A good multifunction printer must print 20-30 pages per minute.Memory Matters : This too depends upon the type of business you carry. A printer with a memory capacity of 6-8 MB is adequate enough for a small business holder.Easy Integration and Installation : Your new multifunction printer needs to be efficient enough to get connected to the existing network easily. So don’t forget to ask for the user manuals or software which help you to install and integrate your printer with minimum effort.Helping Wizards : Also a reliable printer is one which can guide you successfully when you face troubles while operating it. Thus look out how helpful are the inbuilt wizards which guide you step by step when you need troubleshooting. Also it helps in upgrading process.User Friendly : As it is a multifunction printer, its operation becomes more complex. So you need to grab a product which is easy to use. The switches, well guided indications and signs describing the effortless use of the printer make it more user friendly.Made for Multiple Users : A multifunction printer must be equipped to be used by multiple users at a single point of time . As there are no separate scanners and copiers, many people would want to use it synchronously. So there should be the feature of wireless connectivity so it can be used by multiple users accordingly.LCD Screen : A less equipped printer needs a PC to get the photos printed. As you need to reduce costs drastically, you need to buy a multifunction printer which comes with a big LCD screen. Thus you will not require a PC.

Tips for Purchasing Hp Printer Cartridges

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 06:49:50 +0000

Remember when it used to cost nearly $100 for printer cartridges for your computer printer? Today, printer cartridges are one of the few thing where the price has actually dropped. And you can save even more money when you purchase HP printer cartridges from an online vendor.

Online vendors do not have the overhead that the stores have so they can offer you better deals when it comes to printer cartridges. In addition, because the online vendor is in the business to sell printer cartridges and not printers, they will carry the cartridges for your HP printer that the stores will no longer carry. If you have an older model, it probably works pretty well. Although HP printers are relatively inexpensive, if yours is not broken, why fix it? You can still purchase the HP printer cartridges you need online if you follow these tips:

Make sure the site is one that deals with HP products

Instead of the generic HP cartridges that some sites will try to sell you, find a site that will sell you the authentic product. The reason for this is that the generic cartridges do not always work and you end up wasting your money. In such a case, you have not saved any money. Find a site that deals with authentic HP printer cartridges.

Make sure you know your correct model number

Do not make a guess as to what type of printer cartridge you need. Not all printer cartridges work with all printers. Even if it looks like the printer cartridge that you have, it may not work. One nice thing about HP printer cartridges is that they are numbered. Pull out one of the cartridges and go by this number instead of trying to guess.

Make sure the site is secure

While most of the online vendors selling printer cartridges are secure sites that offer quality products, any time you make a purchase online, especially when you are using your credit card, you should be certain that the site is secure. Look for the lock on the tool bar that indicates that you are entering information in a protected site.

If you have any questions about the product, contact the site administrator who will be able to answer your questions before you make a purchase. Be sure of their return policy in case you make a purchase in which you buy the incorrect cartridge.

An HP printer is designed to last a good long time. Shop around for the best deals online when it comes to replacing your HP printer cartridges.

Tips for Buying Low Price Inkjet Cartridges

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:18:24 +0000

In the year 1980, inkjet cartridges came into light and since then it has constantly been used to print images and text on blank paper. Inkjet cartridges are involved in the activity related to printers. With the help of inkjet cartridges only printers are able to print stickers, labels, posters and documents. There are many works that can be performed by inkjet printers so it is necessary to have complete information before purchasing the right inkjet cartridges. Every minute detail of the inkjet cartridges should be considered before buying the low price inkjet cartridges. Right from the material used to manufacture the cartridges to productivity level and the print quality; everything should be studied in detail so that one gets the best deal. One should never go for the average or local inkjet cartridges because such cartridges can cause damage to the nozzles of the printers. Everyone should consider for a branded inkjet cartridges or especially an ISO standard because it will be more efficient than the other cartridges available in the market. Buying low price inkjet cartridges can temporarily satisfied one’s need but it will not be efficient in the long run. Among all the office supplies, expenses on inkjet cartridges are largest and it will be a necessary expense for any business. The best way to buy low price inkjet cartridges is through online retailers that help one to save a considerable amount. Online retailers do not have to maintain a traditional store that requires huge maintenance, so their operating costs are significantly less than the traditional stores. Most of the retailers pass their savings on to their customers knowing the fact that they’ll cover the difference through higher sales volumes.Another way of buying low price inkjet cartridges is through ordering remanufactured inkjet printer cartridges. Remanufactured inkjet cartridges are recycled inkjet printer cartridges that do not belong to any brand, instead, the used cartridges are thoroughly cleaned and electronically tested to ensure that everything is in working order. Then, they are refilled with quality ink and sold to customers with compatible printers. These remanufactured inkjet cartridges have come a long way in recent years, and users report that the printing quality of these inkjet printer cartridges are same if not better than OEM products.

Screen Printing Tips, Helpful Info on Silk Screening White Ink and Screen Print Technique. Learn how to Screen Print White Ink Like the Pro’s

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 01:34:09 +0000

It seems that one of the most common problems new screen printers run into is printing white ink. I’ve heard a lot of questions like: Why do all my other colors print fine and white is so tough? Why is it that my white ink is so thick? Why can’t I get a smooth white ink? It’s always rough and seems to have texture to it. Is there anything I can do to thin my white ink to make it easier to print? Also comments like: “Our white ink is bad, it comes off after only a couple of washes.” “There’s something wrong with my press, it prints fine when I am printing on white shirts, but when I print on dark shirts the white ink is very blurry.” Unfortunately, the answers to these quarries usually lie in the printer themselves. No, your white ink isn’t defecting, your press probably works fine, and you shouldn’t need to thin the ink. Yes, you probably need to change some variables and techniques during the printing process. The truth of the mater is, the answer is in the question all along.So why does the screen printing process work fine for a while and then as soon as you start printing white ink, smash, a road block. The truth is, you may have been doing the wrong things the whole time, it just didn’t show up yet . It’s like swimming, sure you can dog paddle and flounder around the pool all day. However, when it comes to swimming a long distance, without the proper techniques you’ll work twice as hard and get half as far. Printing on light garments is much easier than printing white on dark garments. On a light garment, not as much ink is required to achieve good coverage. Also many times you’re working with thinner inks. Ink varies in viscosity according to how much pigment it has in it. For instance, a black ink is almost always going to be printed on lighter colors, the pigments needed for the black to show up are considerably less then the pigments needed for a white ink to cover a dark garment. Thus, you’re black ink is much thinner and easier to work with. You can do almost every technique wrong when printing black ink on a white shirt, and there’s still a good chance that your final print will look pretty good. Since the ink is thinner, it passes through the screen mesh much easier, with less force, and clears the screen better. (For those unfamiliar with the term “clearing the screen,” this defines the point when all ink is cleared out of the screen mesh and properly transferred to the shirt.)So basically when setting up a screen printing job that requires black ink on a white shirt, you can use the wrong screen mesh, have no off contact, and print with the completely wrong squeegee technique and still get an “OK” looking final print. However, if these same wrong techniques are tried when printing white ink, uh oh, game over! The unfortunate thing is, many printers start out this way and teach themselves completely wrong. In fact, this is how I learned. It’s not the end of the world though! The first thing you’ll have to understand and come to terms with is the fact that white ink is probably going to be the thickest ink you’ll ever use. To achieve a bright white image on a black shirt, the ink has to be opaque which in turn means thicker. Sure you can find thinner white inks, or try to reduce the thicker ones, however you’re defeating the purpose and you’ll end up printing twice as much to try and achieve the same result. On the other hand, if you learn how to print correctly, then printing white is like taking a walk in the park.Over the past several years, every ink manufacturer in the country has been on the hunt for the “best” white ink on the market. Yes, they’ve come a long way. In fact twenty or thirty years ago white on black looked more like a light tan or gray than white. Now with inks available like Triangle Phoenix White or International Coatings White, you can achieve maximum coverage with minimal passes. Still, white ink has to be loaded with pigment which means it will always have a high viscosity.So what’s the trick? How can you print white ink like the
pros.? The answer usually lies in a few simple changes to your setup and
technique. Apply these changes and really, it’s not that hard.Before we delve into techniques, let’s first discuss a little bit about pre press and setup.To properly setup a job using white ink you first must
understand a little bit on how to select the proper mesh size. Because white is
thicker, you want to print through the lowest proper mesh size that applies to
that print. If you try and print white through a higher mesh screen which has
much smaller holes in it (SEE MORE INFO on Silk Screening Mesh Sizes) its going to make it much harder to push the ink through the screen. It’s also not going to allow as much ink through the screen as a lower mesh would.Typically you want to print white through mesh sizes ranging from 110-156. Granted sometimes the image dictates a high mesh count. For instance, since a half tone or fine line drawing cannot hold on a lower mesh screen, you’ll have to use a high mesh frame and apply more passes to achieve a bright white. For the most part however, you’ll want to use the lower meshes so that a larger amount of ink is deposited on the shirt.The second part of setup is to insure the screen is adjusted properly on the press. You want to be sure that you have a proper off contact of about 1/8-1/16 of an inch. Since white is a little thicker, you may want to go with a slightly higher off contact then normal, perhaps around 1/8 of an inch. Off contact is the height between the screen mesh and the substrate you are printing on.Proper off contact also allows the ink to be cleared from the screen mesh easily by releasing the mesh upward directly after the print stroke leaving all the ink smoothly on the shirt. One thing that you also want to be sure to apply when printing white ink is an off contact tab. This is a small piece of material (ie. a penny, cardboard, paper, a piece of plastic) that is the height of your off contact. This tab is placed on the end of the screen frame where it hits the top of the neck platen and not the shirt. By using an off contact tab, you insure that your off contact will remain through the entire print stroke. The tab keeps the end of the screen up although you are pushing down on the mesh during the stroke. Without an off contact tab, you may find that you have a harder time clearing the mesh because the screen wants to stay flat against the shirt with ink stuck in it.If you don’t have the proper off contact a few problems could arise. If your off contact is too low then you will not be able to clear the screen properly. You should see the screen mesh bounce off the shirt and be able to see the ink and the shirt through a cleared screen mesh. If your ink stays in the screen mesh and the screen mesh sticks to the shirt, when you pull the screen up your ink will look very rough and parts may pull back off the shirt. If you’re having this problem you may need to raise the off contact a little bit. Also, this problem could arise from your actual print stroke which will be discussed later.On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re off contact is too high; you’ll have to push down extremely hard on the squeegee in order to get all the ink down onto the shirt. I’ve been out to shops to help customers who literally had almost a half of inch of off contact. If your off contact is too high, not only will it be hard to transfer the ink onto the shirt, but there’s a good chance that your screen won’t come down in the same spot every time. This could cause a blurry image or double images after a flashing. A proper off contact is extremely important for a good looking image and an easy print.
Next let’s take a look at technique. The majority of the technique in the screen printing process involves the print stroke. This includes squeegee angle, pressure, speed and release. That standard tendency of a new printer is to literally smash the ink through the screen by pulling the squeegee across the screen with an extremely low angle.When using thin inks, this impropertechnique could work because the ink passes through the screen so easily. However, if tried with white, you’ll not only have trouble passing the ink through the screen but also have very blurry images because you’re pulling the screen mesh so hard. Your squeegee should actually be about an 80-85 degree angle facing toward you. You should also focus your pressure over and down on the print and not on pulling the squeegee against the mesh.SEE THE RIGHT SQUEEGEE ANGLE PICTURE
Many new printers stand back from the press, you actually need to stand over the press to focus your pressure down and not back. When your pressure is focused down, then you simply move the squeegee back over the print. With the proper squeegee angle, all of the ink will properly shear through the image and over your screen. In fact you should be able to run your finger over the design after its printed and barely any ink should show up on your finger.Now let’s talk about the speed of your print. When we instruct printers to use the proper squeegee angle and pressure, the first impulse they have is to move the squeegee about the speed of a turtle. If your speed is too slow you won’t be able to properly release and clear the screen. After a print stoke, many beginners tend to sit back and look at their print, then slowly pull up on the squeegee not allowing the screen mesh to bounce back up leaving ink still stuck in the screen. After a faster stroke, you need to almost give the screen a little pop in order to get the mesh to bounce back up leave a smooth crisp print on your shirt. This is achieved by a simple flick of the wrist, the same flick you would make to insure that you pick up all the ink on your squeegee blade. Only to create this pop and release the screen, the flick must be done a little faster.Finally, when flashing in between passes, you must wait until the shirt cools down a little until you print again. This is much easier to achieve on a multiple station press because it allows the pallets to cool down. On a single station press you may have to wait a few moments and wave your hand across the pallet to cool it down. If the ink is too hot from theprevious flash, you may have trouble clearing the screen because the ink will want to stick instead of release the mesh. It could also cause ink to partially cure in the mesh. Since white ink is thicker and you apply more layers of it, you MUST insure a proper final cure.White ink tends to reflect heat away instead of absorbing it in. This means that the ink and the entire print area must be cured from top to bottom at 320 degrees for about 45 seconds. Obviously the best way to cure white is in a conveyor belt dryer, however if you are using a flash dryer you want to be sure that the whole design gets the same amount of heat.One of the best ways to insure a proper cure is called the stretch test. Since your white image will be a little thicker, this test is easy to read the results. After your shirt is cured, simply take a small section of your design and stretch it slightly between your fingers. If the design sticks together like plastic and stretches well, then it is cured and you can continue with those curing parameters. However, if the ink cracks or breaks apart, this means the base of the ink is not cured properly and you need to increase yourcuring time for the shirt.
By following these steps and techniques you should find printing white ink a little easier. Granted, because there are so many variables involved in screen printing, you may have to work a little at it and modify slightly. However, after a few times printing the right way, you’ll start seeing better results and have fewer problems.

Tips for Saving Money On your Online Photo Prints

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:42:27 +0000

Taking photos with your digital camera and viewing them on your computer screen is fun. Sometimes you’d like to make hardcopies of your photos. One of the easiest ways to print your photos is by using an online photo printing service. In this article we will give you some tips for saving money when using such services.

Most of the services work in the same way: once you uploaded your photos to the site you can choose which photos to print at what size what kind of paper and in how many copies. Printing and shipping prices vary between sites. There are a few ways in which you can save money on your printing orders:

In conclusion there are many ways to save money when printing your photos. Prices change all the time make sure to shop around and to check the various sites. You can use comparison sites such as printrates.com before sending your photo printing order. Spending a few minutes before printing can save you some money.

10 Buying Tips to Get the Best Printer

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:08:05 +0000

When it comes down to buying a printer for yourself, the real key is finding the best printer for your needs. And how do you find the best printer? Ask questions! Here are 10 great questions to ask yourself in order to find the absolute best printer for all of your printing needs.
1. Is the printer going to be the only printer in the home or office?
If yes, then you need the printer to be able to do multiple functions like print pictures, print text fast, and do it all effectively. But very few offices have one printer, and even some homes have more than one with the price of printers on the market. So it might not be a bad idea to buy two printers for your home with one for photo printing, and one for everything else.
2. Do you need a multifunction (all-in-one) printer or not?
Nowadays you can buy printers that scan, copy and fax. Will you need your printer to perform any of those things? If you don’t necessarily need the printer do any of those things, then it will not be a factor you need to consider. If not, your buying decision will be much more speedy.
3. What are you going to use the printer for? If you have a need for one particular function in a printer, look for just that at first. For instance, if you want scanning capability, look for that first and then go for the printing part. This means what are you going to use the printer mainly for? Here are some common printer uses, usage levels and the type of printer that may be best suited for this usage:
4. What is your budget for buying that printer?
You can start by coming up with a budget and then try to get the best printer that fits your needs in that budget. This can work several ways. Most likely, however, you will think of a number that looks great on paper. After a bit of research, you may find that you overestimated or underestimated the cost of a printer that fulfills all of your needs. Then, you’ll come up with a more accurate budget and go from there. Be sure to consider the cost of printer ink cartridges in your budget as well, as they will be a recurring expense.
5. What is the true cost of printer ownership?
6. Have you heard of the printer brand before?
7. What do professionals and customers think about it?
8. What do your friends think about it?
9. Have you thought about non-traditional brands?
10. Where will you buy the printer from?
To Learn more on the story visit Dell Printer Support

Tips on Cheap Postcard Printing

Mon, 10 May 2010 18:54:38 +0000

Today, due to the declining economic situation in the world, cheap or inexpensive is one of the most common catchwords. If you’re involved in the direct mailing business for marketing, you probably will look for inexpensive postcard printing with the intention to save more funds for your business campaigns. Really, the direct mailing promotions budget can be decreasing because of the deficiency in interest and sales in the today’s markets. Anyway, you can’t just give up promotions just because you don’t have sufficient budget. Promotions are the most important segment of bringing the business up to the high level. This is why we are “stuck” with cheap postcard printing.

There are lots of opportunities of realizing it, but you would have to adjust your preferences. Adjusting sizes of postcards and using cheap mailing services are some of the fruitful tactics you can use to save funds in marketing of direct mail.

And so now you may choose some inexpensive options on your postcard printing. At first, you should think about the paper kind. There are many different types of postcard paper, but the most moneywise type would be “uncoated” type. This paper simply goes without any gloss on it. If you think this will look too cheap, you can also consider a one size glossed paper. You’ll get gloss on the cover side, while saving money on the front side.

When you settle this, you should think about your color printing options. The majority of printing companies will suggest the two size four-color postcard printing. Of course, that’s the most costly option. In order to get you postcard printing cheap, you should consider printing four-colors on one postcard side and leave the other side blank. And since you write simple messages on the backside you’ll have no worries on this case. But if you want a fine looking printed message on the backside, you may print your postcards in four-one color option – the front side will be printed in full color and the backside will simply have black ink (for instance) for the words. This will augment the expense a little, but you’ll get nice messages at the postcard’s backside as compensation.

And at last, you may also save funds by using inexpensive postcard mailing services. Using the national service might cost you a considerable sum, and the toil it demands to address and put stamps on all your postcards.

There are some mailing facilities that don’t require post stamps. They’re simply doing the courier services – they deliver postcards to the specified addresses. Usually these mailing services are parts of postcard printing companies. You can simply ask the postcard printing company you have referred to if it can offer these facilities for you. And if they do, rise and shine, for you can print and distribute the postcards in one place. This will set apart any extra expenses you could do if you’d distributed our postcards in the old manner.

Tips on Purchasing a Laser Printer or Inkjet Printer

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:41:38 +0000

Once you have determined to purchase a new printer, the next question, which comes almost instantly to your mind, is whether to select an inkjet printer or a laser printer. This article is aimed at helping you to decide on a printer which suits your needs and budget to the maximum and hence to help you in making a well-informed purchase.To start at the beginningThe first thing to consider while buying a printer is the purpose of its purchase. If the primary objective of your printer is to print your kids school projects or for your hobby of collecting hard copies of information on the internet, then it would be in your best interest to plump for a printer on the basis of low running cost.Since it is meant for children’s use as well, it should be very easy to use. Also, since it is for use at home, one should consider a multi function inkjet printer; this is because it gives one the liberty to scan the documents and photographs back into the computer and also has the option of photo copying the documents.Majority of the printer manufacturers have their multi function inkjet printers in the market and hence these are available at very reasonable price in the market. However, before deciding to purchase a particular printer one should have a thorough knowledge of the running cost of the product.There is no doubt that an inkjet printer works well for homes and small offices, but if one is considering the purchase of a printer for a large office, then inkjet printers are going to prove themselves costlier than laser printers.The Laser PrinterLaser printers are the best bet for any large office, especially now when there are colour laser printers for less than £200. The laser printers have many advantages when compared with inkjet printers as they are small foot print, have great network connectivity and give much better results because of the chemical toner used. Not only this, the laser printers are much faster than inkjet printers and also have much lower running cost than inkjet printers.Most of the laser printers come with an integrated RAM of 128mb, and also have the option of expanding the memory up to a gigabyte of memory. This feature of the laser printer really favors the large office environments as it allows the queuing of multiple complex print jobs at the same time.To ConcludeWhen compared with the inkjet printers and the laser printers, there is no doubt that the snapshot printers are the slowest of all. However, if your purchase of the printer is intended to make photographs, it is the best possible choice for you.They are comparatively lower in price and give the buyer the convenience of printing directly from the printer. These snapshot printers can be carried easily to any place as they have integrated carrying handles as well as optional battery packs.

So, the printer which suits your needs best is the best printer for you.

CD Printers – 5 Tips to Use When Buying a CD Printer – Part 1

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:06:59 +0000

There are many factors to consider when making a decision on which CD printer to purchase for your business. This article will touch on a few of the basics like choosing the right printer manufacturer, cost of CD printers, inkjet or thermal, productivity, speed and durability. Part 2 of this article will dig in deeper on the basic criteria listed above as well as on more advanced points like print quality, color matching, unique printing on each disc, total cost of ownership, used DVD / CD printers and buying from a reputable dealer.

For the purposes of this article I’m focusing on just DVD / CD printers, not duplicators with printers that can print and/or copy CDs and DVDs at the same time. I will save that topic for a future article.

The goal of this article is to give you a basis for making the best decision when purchasing a CD printer so you get it right the first time. In this economy, you can’t afford to make the mistake of buying the wrong printer for your CDs and DVDs. Spending money on the wrong CD / DVD printer for your needs and wasting time figuring it out is both frustrating and a misuse of your company’s resources.

The research for this article was acquired over 13 years of selling, using, testing, supporting, and repairing CD and DVD printers. My experience is with mid-level and high-end professional disc printers, so these tips may not be relevant for potential purchasers of entry-level hand feed on-disc printers that sell for $300 or less. Sub $300 disc printers clearly have a niche, but for professional CD printing needs they tend to have high consumable costs, poor technical support, slow print speeds and in many cases poor print quality.

Tip #1 – Start with the Big 3 Manufacturers

Rimage, Microboards and Primera have been in the CD printer and duplicator manufacturing business since it’s infancy. In my estimation they have over an 80% market share of the CD / DVD printers sold in the world. The “Big 3″ are the leaders in their respective print technologies and offer the most stability in the disc printer marketplace. These three manufacturers are in a better position to be in business and support you than their less stable competitors in the coming months and years. They also have proven technical support and post-warranty support that is superior to the other manufacturers in the CD / DVD duplication and printing market.

Tip #2 – Cost of the CD / DVD printer – Inkjet or Thermal

Costs vary widely, but the main defining points are the type of print engine technology employed in the printer – inkjet or thermal transfer, and whether or not the CD printing system is manual or automated. Inkjet based CD / DVD printers are less expensive than thermal transfer CD printers. A good automated inkjet printer costs $2500, while a good color thermal transfer CD printer costs $8500 or more. Disc capacity and software features also play a role in cost. Part 2 of this article will dive in deeper on the pros and cons of inkjet and thermal based printers.

Tip #3 – Automated or Manual?

Choosing between a printer that you manually hand feed the CDs or DVDs, or picking a automated CD printer with a robotic arm or mechanism that moves and prints the discs for you is a big decision in regards to upfront costs, labor, and productivity. Good hand-fed manual disc printers start at $699, whereas an entry-level automated CD printer with a 20-disc capacity costs about $999. Larger and faster automated systems that hold as many as 300-discs can cost up to $9500. So how do you decide which is best for you?

First, estimate the number of discs you will need to print per week, per month and per year. Factor in any growth in that number quarter over quarter or year over year. I have found that many organizations under-estimate their usage projections because they fail to take into account that other departments or employees will need the services of the new CD printer as well. Second, determine if you will have intense peak periods of CD or DVD production. Many organizations need to produce discs only 1 once a week or month, but need all 100 or 500 in a few hours or just one day. Third, determine what is the value of your time. Do you have the time to put each disc in the printer by hand, or is your time or that of your employee better spent doing something else?

Tip #4 – Speed

A question I get over and over again is how many discs per hour or day can a CD printer print? The speed at which a CD or DVD is printed depends on a few factors. (1) Print coverage, (2) the resolution chosen in the printer driver, and (3) the actual printer itself. For example, an inkjet printer that prints a CD label with a small color logo, just a few lines of text, with the print driver set at a lower resolution, can print 200 CD’s per hour. That same printer may only have a print throughput of 50 CD’s an hour with a full color edge-to-edge graphic and the print driver set to the highest resolution.

To a lesser degree the same holds true for thermal CD printers. The Rimage Prism thermal CD printer will have greater throughput with less print coverage, but will not suffer as drastic a drop off in throughput while printing a graphic with more print coverage like inkjet printers do. Interestingly, the Rimage Everest thermal printer has the same disc per hour throughput with one line of text in the graphic label as another artwork featuring 100% print coverage. The Rimage Everest III and Everest 600 printers will each print about 65 discs per hour regardless of print coverage.

Tip # 5 – CD Printer Durability

Generally disc printers that are made out of plastic are less durable than those made out of metal. Most inkjet printers that I have used and tested over the years are made mostly of plastic components whereas most of the thermal printers are made from metal parts. That being said we have had good success and our customers have had success with Primera and Microboards inkjet printers with an average useful in-service life of 3-5 years depending on how the users treat them. We have some Rimage Prism thermal printers in our CD / DVD production room that are well into their 10th year of service. As a footnote, these thermal and inkjet CD printers have had scheduled cleanings and parts replacement over the years.

In Conclusion

Begin your DVD CD printer research with the three major manufacturers – Rimage, Microboards, and Primera. Forecast your daily, monthly and yearly CD and DVD printing needs and determine whether a manual or automated printer makes more sense. Look at both inkjet and thermal options, while keeping in mind your budget and how long you would like the CD printer to last. If you do not have the budget for the CD printer that best fits your needs, try looking for a good used printer or you may find that outsourcing your CD and DVD duplication and printing to a professional service company makes more business sense.