Showing posts with label printers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label printers. Show all posts
31 October, 2011
Samsung SCX-4623FW counters
28 August, 2011
Samsung MLT-D105L
Toner for the Samsung SCX-4623FW. RRP SGD$115. Rated for 2500 sheets. I'm not familiar with laser printers and issues like disposable/reusable print heads, what parts will be worn out by using poor quality replacement toner, resetting chips etc. so I'll just stick to originals for now. I sure hope this doesn't measure amount of toner left by pages printed though, otherwise what's the point of using toner saving mode? At least it should have a manual override so I can use the last pinch of toner. I know old toner cartridges are worth money though, wonder if I can sell my old one?
18 May, 2011
Samsung SCX-4623FW
- fax
- laser
- wireless networking
- easy to set up
- good software - scans over network for Macs
- ID card copy (copy both sides by scanning twice before printing)
- the nice thing is that despite paper jams, I've never seen unfused toner, so it's not messy
- no duplexing
- tends to jam when you feed the same paper twice, maybe because the paper curls
- the manual tray only accepts 1 sheet at a time, making it not very useful
11 November, 2010
Printers
I guess printers are the most popular piece of computer hardware after the essential components, so choosing one is a big affair. Most people know that for printers, the real cost is in the ink. Printer companies sell printers cheap and recover the cost in the ink - so do shaver and games console companies.
To save on the ink, you can buy 3rd party. This is a booming business and there are many options. The important thing when choosing a printer is looking at the cost of the ink, and if you're intending to buy 3rd party, the ease of using it. To make 3rd party inks harder to use (they say it's to maintain quality), printer companies have tried various means. One popular one is to add a computer chip to the ink cartridge so they can't be copied/replaced. Sneaky companies make the chip count the number of pages you've printed - and stop printing after a certain number, regardless of how much ink you have left!
I've always bought Canon printers, partially because most of their ink cartridges do not make use of these sneaky tactics. HP is particularly fond of doing this.
Disposable or reusable print head?
The print head contains the nozzles that spit out the ink. It's sort of like the fountain pen nib. Some printers use disposable print heads, which are replaced with every ink cartridge, and some print heads are meant to last the life of the printer. In particular, Canon printers used to have permanent print heads and HP used disposable, but the new models are blurring this distinction.
Reusable
Reusable print heads have better quality, since more money can be spent on them. However, once they're clogged up, they're harder to replace (not really physically harder, but harder to buy).
Disposable
On the other hand, disposable print heads are lower quality/more expensive, but there are no worries about them clogging. This is a big issue with 3rd party inks. You don't know how good those inks are, and they may well clog your print head. Another problem is that since the heads come with the ink, it's hard to separate the 2, making cartridges harder to refill.
Personally, I prefer disposable print heads since I use 3rd party inks. However, if reusable print heads were easier to buy, I'd prefer them instead. For my next printer I think I'll try a continuous inking system.
To save on the ink, you can buy 3rd party. This is a booming business and there are many options. The important thing when choosing a printer is looking at the cost of the ink, and if you're intending to buy 3rd party, the ease of using it. To make 3rd party inks harder to use (they say it's to maintain quality), printer companies have tried various means. One popular one is to add a computer chip to the ink cartridge so they can't be copied/replaced. Sneaky companies make the chip count the number of pages you've printed - and stop printing after a certain number, regardless of how much ink you have left!
I've always bought Canon printers, partially because most of their ink cartridges do not make use of these sneaky tactics. HP is particularly fond of doing this.
Disposable or reusable print head?
The print head contains the nozzles that spit out the ink. It's sort of like the fountain pen nib. Some printers use disposable print heads, which are replaced with every ink cartridge, and some print heads are meant to last the life of the printer. In particular, Canon printers used to have permanent print heads and HP used disposable, but the new models are blurring this distinction.
Reusable
Reusable print heads have better quality, since more money can be spent on them. However, once they're clogged up, they're harder to replace (not really physically harder, but harder to buy).
Disposable
On the other hand, disposable print heads are lower quality/more expensive, but there are no worries about them clogging. This is a big issue with 3rd party inks. You don't know how good those inks are, and they may well clog your print head. Another problem is that since the heads come with the ink, it's hard to separate the 2, making cartridges harder to refill.
Personally, I prefer disposable print heads since I use 3rd party inks. However, if reusable print heads were easier to buy, I'd prefer them instead. For my next printer I think I'll try a continuous inking system.
01 November, 2010
Canon PG40/CL41 inks
I've always wondered how many pages a cartridge can print, and I recently had the chance to test. Using a new set of PG40/CL41 cartridges (these are standard capacity, not high capacity), I was able to print 141 pages in one go. These aren't the 5% coverage pages that printer companies use to measure cartridge life either. Seriously, who prints pages with 5% coverage? I wonder how many more pages they'll last. The cartridges cost $58, so they should be able to print 290 pages (at 20c per page), or I might as well print somewhere else.
Printed 12 more pages. Total is now 153. How long will I keep counting?
+16=169
+7=176 Some of these pages are really heavy too, like colour copying certificates.
+16=192 This is an underestimate.
+40=232 It currently stands at 25c per page, which is pretty good. This number is getting more and more inaccurate.
268 pages now. This whole process reminds me of MOPy fish, which was quite fun at that time. What a pity I can't get credits for these.
23 Nov 10
342 pages and 15 full colour photos, which probably use more ink than pages. Impressive!
1 Dec 10
354 pages and 15 full colour photos.
7 Dec 10
After 371 pages and 15 photos, the black cartridge gave up the ghost. This works out to 15c a page. More expensive than printing black and white outside, but it'll become cheaper with refills.
Printed 12 more pages. Total is now 153. How long will I keep counting?
+16=169
+7=176 Some of these pages are really heavy too, like colour copying certificates.
+16=192 This is an underestimate.
+40=232 It currently stands at 25c per page, which is pretty good. This number is getting more and more inaccurate.
268 pages now. This whole process reminds me of MOPy fish, which was quite fun at that time. What a pity I can't get credits for these.
23 Nov 10
342 pages and 15 full colour photos, which probably use more ink than pages. Impressive!
1 Dec 10
354 pages and 15 full colour photos.
7 Dec 10
After 371 pages and 15 photos, the black cartridge gave up the ghost. This works out to 15c a page. More expensive than printing black and white outside, but it'll become cheaper with refills.
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