Hi <>, thanks for subscribing to "THE INKSIDER". ____________________________________ August 2001 Newsletter #8-831 ======================================= This newsletter only goes to people who subscribe to it. Unsubscribe instructions are at the bottom of the newsletter. This newsletter is brought to you by Atlascopy.com. Company Goal: Offer you, the consumer, a cost savings alter- native to expensive OEM cartridges. Our cartridges are 50 to 80 percent less expensive than OEM's. We also have Refill Kits, which can save you up to 90 percent. *********************************************************** <>, did you take our survey yet? You can get a free E-book, "How to beat a Speeding Ticket". Written by an Ex-Cop from the New York Police Dept, this guide covers every aspect from avoiding cops on the road, to how to act and what to say when you are pulled over, to how you should plea in court is covered in vivid detail! http://atlascopy.com/test1.html ********************************************************** ================================================== 1. Industry News from each Major Manufacturer 2. Atlascopy.com New Products 3. General Tips ================================================== Industry News from each Major Manufacturer ............................................................... For you digital camera buffs. News from EPSON Epson America Inc. is incorporating a breakthrough technology in its newest digital camera. The EPSON PhotoPC(R) 3100Z will be Epson's first digital camera to include the recently an- nounced PRINT Image Matching(TM) technology. This technology helps photographers easily produce prints of the images they capture. The camera also includes Epson's revolutionary HyPict(TM)image enhancement technology, which provides cust- omers with 2544 x 1904 pixel resolution or 4.8 megapixels. The PhotoPC sells for under $800. By taking advantage of the Digital Print Order Format (DPOF), the photographer can actually "mark" the images on the memory card by scrolling through the images on the camera's LCD panel. As photos are viewed, they can be selected for printing by pressing the button either once for a single print or multiple times for more than one print of the same image. Once images are marked for printing, the card can be placed in a printer that has a built-in memory card reader and reads DPOF files, such as the EPSON Stylus(R) Photo 785EPX. The printer will automatically detect the marked photos, and the selected images will be printed. The PhotoPC 3100Z is equipped with a 3.34 megapixel CCD sensor for resolution up to 2048 x 1536. With Epson's HyPict image enhancement technology, images are interpolated to 2544 x 1904 pixel resolution, or 4.8 megapixels, inside the camera before JPEG compression. This remarkable resolution allows photographers to print stunning images as large as 11" x 17." The camera also features a 3x optical zoom, which is equivalent to a 34mm - 102mm lens on a 35mm camera, a 35-second web-ready video clip feature, and built-in microphone. Included with the PhotoPC 3100Z is a 16MB CompactFlash (TM) card that stores up to 199 standard resolution images. For shooting photos with a flash, photographers can add an optional external flash unit using the built-in hot shoe. Additionally, the camera's standard built-in flash supports red eye reduction and slow synchronized flash. The camera also offers add-on lens capability for optional 49mm close-up, wide angle and telephoto converter lenses, as well as filters. The PhotoPC 3100Z will be available later this month for an estimated street price of $799 through various camera retail outlets, mail order. ............................................................ News from LEXMARK A couple of Newsletters back we had a review of the Canon S600, here is a review of the Lexmark Z-53 from PC magazine. Although the street price is $140 I've seen the Z-53 at Wal-Mart for under $50.00! Lexmark's recently introduced Z-line of printers includes a bevy of affordably priced inkjets for SOHO users. Among them i s the Lexmark Z53 Color Jetprinter ($140 street), which sports an excellent interface and prints crisp text relatively quickly, and average-quality photos relatively slowly. Its ink replacement costs can quickly add up with steady use, but with its uncomp- licated setup and operation, the Z53 is a steady performer. The Z53 supports a 2,400- by 1,200-dpi resolution. It has a four-color system, with seven-picoliter ink droplets, which is large compared with Canon's latest SOHO printer, the Canon S600 Color Bubble Jet Printer ($200 street), with five-picoliter droplets. Smaller droplets can enhance print quality, but the quality difference between the Z53 and S600 is barely noticeable. The beige and gray Z53 is not compact, measuring 12.8 by 18.0 by 19.8 inches (HWD) with trays extended. Setup is so easy that the included guide needs only one word of text - "snap" - to denote the sound of properly installed ink cartridges. The input and output trays conveniently fold into the printer, which is a sturdier design than that of some competitors' models. The Z53 offers the flexibility of both USB and parallel connections. At first glance, the Z53's base price seems like a steal, but once you factor in the cost of ink replacement, you may change your mind. Cartridges cost $30.99 for black ink (600-page rated yield), $37.99 for color ink (275-page rated yield), and $37.99 for the optional photo cartridge. The S600's operating costs for black ink are about half of the Z53's at $14 with a 675- page rated yield. The Z53's supported paper types and formatting options are suitable for a SOHO environment. It handles plain and photo paper, banners, thermal transfers, transparencies, and envelopes and supports standard formats and custom sizes, ranging from 3 to 8.5 inches wide by 5 to 17 inches high. Tests show that the Z53's text print quality is high. And with the standard color ink cartridge, the Z53 produces good but not sharp photo prints. There is a hint of overemphasized red hues, although this color push is not as noticeable as in previous Lexmark models. Lexmark boasts very competitive print speeds for its engine: 16 ppm in black and 8 ppm in color. At the normal-quality set- ting, the Z53 printed a 25-page mixed text and graphics document in a reasonable 4 minutes 30 seconds. At the maximum-quality setting, a single text page printed in 2 minutes 40 seconds, while the same page printed in an impressive 9 seconds in draft mode and 14 seconds in normal mode, which is fine for most SOHO output. The Z53's excellent interface and decent text-printing speed are the strong points of this SOHO inkjet printer. Both oper- ating costs and color printing could be improved, but, taking price into account, the Lexmark Z53 Color Jetprinter is an overall good, though not great, choice for a SOHO printer. ............................................................ News from HEWLETT PACKARD Hewlett-Packard Company has introduced a home PC and color inkjet printer, adding to the product line geared toward students for the back-to-school season. In conjunction, results from a survey conducted by International Comm- unications Research found that students and parents agree that the use of technology- related products, such as the HP Pavilion BT 936 home PC and the HP Deskjet 940 {see below}color inkjet printer, can enhance learning and personal development. Of the 500 teens polled, more than half wish they could have a new computer for the back-to-school season, 91 percent believe technology-related products allow them access to a variety of sources, 90 percent said technology improves the quality of their projects, 89 percent said technology products make learning more fun and 56 percent said technology products make them better students overall. Additionally, the survey found that eight out of 10 parents agree that some technology tools have an impact on children's performance in school. In fact, 91 percent of parents agree that technology improves the quality of projects, 92 percent believe technology helps make learning more fun and 74 percent agree that technology helps make their children better students overall. HP Deskjet 940 color inkjet printer - This printer offers up to 2400 x 1200-dots per inch (dpi) color resolution on photo paper for amazing photo-quality results and 600 x 600 dpi for crisp black text. Both PC- and Mac-compatible, the printer enables students to save paper with the use of a one-touch cancel button and an optional automatic two-sided printing accessory. ............................................................ News from CANON Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon, Inc. announced that it is a global strategic partner of Microsoft and will participate in the launch of Windows XP. Canon's imaging technologies, found in the company's popular lines of digital cameras, digital camcorders, Bubble Jet printers, multifunction devices and scanners that have become mainstream peripherals for PC owners, complements Microsoft's launch of Windows XP and jointly will help businesses and home users understand the value of purchasing a new personal computer with Windows XP. As part of Canon U.S.A.'s relationship with Microsoft, Canon will participate in a variety of marketing communications, retail and training programs associated with the launch of Windows XP. Canon products in the digital camera, digital camcorder, Bubble Jet printer, multifunction product and scanner categories will carry the "Designed for Windows XP" seal, an indication to businesses and consumers that Canon products support the new Windows XP software. ************************************************* There isn't much news this week in the way of new printers. So, I have decided to talk about tips for buying a new printer and some myths and the reality to some printers. 1. Base your printer choice on the kind of output you plan to print. Text, graphics, and photos each put different demands on a printer. In general, laser printers offer the best-quality text, and ink jet printers offer the best-quality photos and graphics. 2. If you don't need color, a monochrome laser printer may be a good choice. It will be faster and provide higher-quality output text and line graphics than a color laser would. 3. Make sure to judge a printer by the speed necessary for the quality level you want to use. Ink jet speed claims usually refer to the printer's fastest mode rather than the higher quality modes you're more likely to use. 4. Check the connections. If you have an old computer or oper- ating system that doesn't support USB, make sure a printer has a parallel port. 5. The preferred choice for shared printers is to connect them directly to your network. Make sure a printer offers both the right kind of network connection and software that will work with your network. 6. Not all printers allow memory upgrades. Some need little or no memory, because they use the computer to process a print job. Others come with the memory they need. If a printer allows memory upgrades, make sure it has enough memory for the kind of work you'll be doing. For example, a printer may need a memory upgrade to print a full page at the highest resolution. 7. The less often you have to add or change consumables, the better. If you print an average of 25 pages a day, and your printer holds only 25 sheets, you'll have to load paper every day. If your printer holds 250 sheets, you'll need to load paper only about once every two weeks. Choose a printer that can hold enough paper and enough ink or toner that you won't have to add or change them too often. 8. If the number of pages you print in a month is a concern, pick a printer with a monthly duty cycle that's about four times the number of pages you expect to print. 9. Before buying a printer, check out its manufacturer's Web site to make sure the site provides driver updates and tech support information. 10. When comparing printers, consider the total cost of owner- ship, not just the purchase price. Depending on how many pages you print, a difference of just a penny per page in running costs can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the printer. Now that you have some good tips on what to buy, here are some common myths and the reality of printers. Myth 1. A printer that prints photos well will print anything well. Reality Printers have their specialties. Graphics, photos, and text each require different capabilities, so check the quality for the type of output you'll be producing. Myth 2. A printer with a high resolution produces better output quality than one with a lower resolution. Reality This is not always the case. For graphics and photos, an ink jet printing at 300 dpi can equal or beat the output quality of a 600-dpi color laser printer or a 720-dpi ink jet printer that uses a less-sophisticated scheme for creating colors on the page. ================================================= Ever wonder what certain words mean, when reading your printer manual. Each week, I will give a couple of new words to better help you when looking for a new printer or for supplies for your printer. Gradient An area in a graphic that changes gradually from one color to another or from one shade to another. Gamut The range of colors a printer can produce. A gamut is defined by the ink colors a printer uses. Duplexing The ability to print on both sides of a page. ================================================= Atlascopy.com New Products This section will promote the new products being offered to the consumer from Atlascopy.com. We encourage you to take a look at our website because we update regularly. Just added this week, Colored Inks For Use in Risograph RC/RA/GR & FR Digital Duplicators. Must Order in Multiples of 2 and are priced at $28.95 a tube. We have sixteen colors to chose from, they can be found on our Digital Duplicator supplies page. http://atlascopy.com/digital/digdup.htm The wait is over, we now have the bulk inks available for the Canon BCI-6 cartridges that replace the Canon BCI-5 cartridge. The ink is available in 4oz, 8oz, 16oz, and Gallons. We are working on a refill kit for these cartridges as well. http://atlascopy.com/refills/bulkcanon.htm For you Epson owners, specifically 680,777,780,870 and 875 we now have the filled chipped cartridges. For the 780/870/875 series the black is &17.95 and the color is $18.95. For the 680/777 series the black is $18.95 and the color is $19.95. Obviously because of the chip on these cartridges they run a little higher than most of our generic cartridges. The only drawback that we could find is the chips are too big to use with the re-programmer. http://www.atlascopy.com/generic/generic.htm Looking for Greeting Card stock or Photo Glossy paper check out our Media and Paper section. Our films and papers are designed to perform equally well with Repeat-O-Type Brand inks and those offered by the printer manufacturers. http://atlascopy.com/media.htm We are now selling OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) products. We are selling Epson, Canon, Lexmark, Compaq, Nec, Hewlett Packard, Brother, and Xerox cartridges. OEM cartridges can be found here: http://atlascopy.com/cartridges/ ================================================= General Tips Each newsletter will have a few tips to help you in the re- filling process. If you have a tip you would like to contribute you can Email it to atlas@dvol.com. The number one refilling problem is waiting too long to refill your cartridge. Inside just about all inkjet cartridges with a built-in print head, there is a foam sponge. When the cartridge runs out of ink, there is a tendency for the sponge to dry up and go hard. When you don't fill up your cartridge right away, the ink will dry and clog the micro holes at the outlet (jets) of the printer head. Once the sponge has hardened there is usually no real way to make it work again properly. When this happens the symptoms are likely to be inconsistent light and dark print, as well as a reduced number of prints per refill. It is always better to fill up the cartridge before it runs out. It is strongly suggested that you fill up your empty cartridge as soon as it is out of ink, and do not wait. Better yet, it is always better to fill up the cartridge before it runs out. Topping up the cartridge every 200-250 sheets ensures that the cartridge always has ink in it to stop the sponge from drying out, and also that you never run out of ink in the middle of a job! If you are out of refill ink supplies, wrap your cartridge in a moist paper towel or cloth and seal it in a plastic baggie. Remember to get as much air out of the baggie as possible. ================================================== That's all for now. See ya next week! ================================================== Tim Lancaster http://atlascopy.com atlas@dvol.com ================================================================ UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION ================================================================ If you wish to unsubscribe please go to: http://atlascopy.com/signup_unsub.htm ================================================================