Category: Network Printers and All-in-ones

Introduction

HP Envy 100 all-in-one printer

Most of the new network-capable Hewlett-Packard home and small-business printers are now offering ePrint, which is an email-driven cloud-based driverless printing service ran by HP. This service has increased the appeal of running a printer as a courtesy printer service for business partners, clients, guests or patrons. This is due to there being no need to require the right driver to be on the computer for one to print out a document.

What is HP ePrint

The ePrint servie is a cloud-based printing setup operated by Hewlett-Packard that allows one to send a print job by email to one of many recently-released HP printers via email.

HP Photosmart B110a – the cheapest ePrint-enabled printer

I have infact reviewed some of these printers on HomeNetworking01.info, such as the Photosmart B110a, Envy 100, OfficeJet Pro 8500a Plus, Colour LaserJet CM1415fnw and LaserJet M1536dnf. As well, I have covered HP ePrint in another article to do with a product launch that had occurred last year in Singapore.

Here, you just send an email to the printer with the file that you want hard copy of as an attachment. The file can be one of the common file formats like PDF, text, HTML, JPEG or a Microsoft Office file.

If you want hard copy of an email, you can forward the email to the ePrint address or add the ePrint address as a BCC address in the email you are sending. You could even send an MMS message from your mobile phone to your HP ePrint printer by using the ePrint address as the destination address for that message.

Technical requirements

HP LaserJet M1536dnf monochrome laser multifunction printer

The requirement is that the HP printer has to have access to an Internet connection. Since these printers have an Ethernet and / or Wi-Fi wireless connection to a local network, the printer needs to be on a network served by a network-Internet “edge” device such as a router.

The client devices can be connected to the Internet via any network. This can range from a smartphone or tablet connected directly to a wireless-broadband service to a computer connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot or a computer connected to the same local network as the printer. This can allow for deployment scenarios like a printer connected to a private network yet serving a Wi-Fi hotspot or a printer connected to a cafe’s network but allowing hard-copy for people who use iPads that are connected to the wireless carriers.

ePrint in the public-printer or complimentary-printer context

A typical public-use setup is represented by the example that I have outlined below.

Example setup

This example of an ePrint-enabled HP printer working as a public printer was the HP Envy 100 installed at Stay On Beverly which is a backpackers’ hostel in Los Angeles. How I learnt of this was through a comment posted on this site by Bo Lorentzen who is the hostel’s owner in response to a review of this printer that I had done, just after I published that review.

HP Envy 100 (left of image) used as public printer at Stay On Beverly

He had set this up as a no-fuss way of allowing the travellers that stay at this hostel to print out documents like airline tickets and boarding passes that they receive via email as part of purchasing air travel through the Internet. I had further conversation with Bo and he had told me that he had put a notice with the ePrint address on the top of the printer so guests know where to print to.

Conveying the ePrint address to your customers

You can let your customers’ know of your printer’s ePrint address through a handout that your staff give to the customers as and when they want to use the public printing service. This would be more effective where only the staff members have access to the printer. A self-service setup like the above-mentioned HP Envy 100 at “Stay On Beverly” will require the printer to be in an area accessible to patrons or guests rather than the general public and the address would be fixed to a label on the machine. On the other hand, there could be instructions on how to print out the ePrint Info Sheet displayed near the printer.

Problems

HP OfficeJet Pro 8500a Plus – a hign-end business inkjet multifunction printer

One key limitation with the email-based ePrint system is that once the user has the ePrint address, they can send further documents to the printer just by using that address. This could be held in an email contact list or the “email-history” lists like the Sent Items in most email clients. Here, this could lead to the printer being used to print out

As well, in some areas, a public “free-to-use” environment can allow for abuse of the printer facilities. This could range from people using the printer to print material that can offend to “barrelling out” a very large document that uses up all of the machine’s resources.

How can you gain control over your ePrint printer

Resetting your ePrint address

If you do end up with your printer spewing out jobs that shouldn’t be printed, you may have to reset the ePrint address.

HP ePrintCenter management page

You will have to remove your printer’s ePrint address from your ePrintCenter account. This is don by bringing the printer up on the ePrintCenter dashboard and clicking on “Remove Printer”. Then you use the printer’s control panel or Web interface (accessible at the printer’s IP address) to remove Web services. After that you then use this same interface to enable Web services. Here, you print out a new info sheet with the new ePrint address.

After that, you enrol the new ePrint address with your ePrintCenter account and are ready to go. If you do run ePrint Apps, you will have to reconfigure the mix of apps you have on your printer.

Suspending ePrint operation

ePrint ON/OFF option on printer control panel

You may have to suspend your printer’s ePrint operation so it doesn’t print out ePrint jobs. Here, this could be done as part of closing up your premises at the end of trading to stop people who aren’t at your premises using your machine for example.

This can be done at your printer’s control panel by selecting the “ePrint on / off” option or at the printer’s Web page which will have a similar option.

Use of a “white list” in HP ePrintCenter

You may want to control ePrint access to your public HP printer so that only your guests or patrons are using the printer. Here, you use the HP ePrintCenter to manage a “white-list” of people who can send jobs via email to the printer. The limit you can have for this list is 50 users.

This method may benefit a hotel, B&B or similar lodging place where you can ask for your guests’ email addresses as part of the booking or check-in process. Then you use the HP ePrintCenter to enable printing for that guest when they check in; then use this same interface to disable printing for the same guest on the day they check out. Similarly, a small cafe or bar who knows their customers can benefit from this setup by allowing unrestricted access to the printer for trusted and known customers.

Features that could be provided

HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw colour laser multifunction printer

One feature that I would like to see for HP ePrint if it is to work in the public printer concept is the ability for print jobs to be manually released. This could be through the use of a client job number that is emailed back to the client device once they send out the job and/or an operator password that is keyed in before the job is printed. This above scenario can work well for those businesses that want to charge by the page for printing if the job queue list shows the number of pages.

A machine like the HP Colour LaserJet CM1415fnw or OfficeJet Pro 8500a Plus, which has a large LCD screen could benefit from a “job preview” function so that the operator can vet jobs before they are printed. As well, there could be an option for an origin class to be blocked. Here, this could, for example, prevent MMS messages, which is a common path for “sexting” and mobile-phone bullying, that are just sent to the printer from being printed out.

Of course, when an MMS message is printed out by an HP ePrint printer, it should be passed through as a formatted text page rather than two pages with one that has regular text and one that has formatted text.

Conclusion

At the moment, the HP ePrint technology can be a basic way of providing public driver-free print service to a trusted user base that is highly mobile but there needs to be a lot more done to it in order to yield a highly-controllable service.

Introduction

I am reviewing the HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf monochrome laser multifunction printer which is another printer in this class that provides most of today’s expected features to the professional user. It is based on the print engine that HP has implemented in the LaserJet Pro P1560 direct-connect printer that I previously reviewed and the network-connectable duplex-capable LaserJet Pro P1600 printer.

Prices

Printer

The machine’s standard price: AUD$548.00

Toner

Other Costs

The HP ePrint “print-to-email” service is free of charge. This includes maintaining your printer’s email address and the documents that you receive through that address.

The printer itself

The HP LaserJet Pro M1536 supports the functionality that is desirable for a multifunction laser printer targeted at the small business or professional, like duplex printing, proper fax functionality for regular fax services as well as connectivity to an Ethernet network.

Typically the fact that a printer doesn’t support Wi-Fi wireless networking may count against it as far as network functionality, especially “no-new-wires” networking, goes for this market space. But the Ethernet connectivity allows this printer to work with a HomePlug network or Wi-Fi network as long as you use one of those “homeplugs” or a Wi-Fi client bridge. As well, the LaserJet, like most current-model small-business printers that connect to a network, is able to work with an IPv6 network, thus making it future-proof for next-generation networks.

Setup

This printer was easy to set up without any need for convoluted procedures, which is an advantage of HP’s integrated cartridge design used in all of the small-business LaserJets. This included connecting it to a typical small network via Ethernet. There is the option to manually configure the network settings for difficult networks.

Walk-up functions

The HP LaserJet M1536dnf can work as a convenience photocopier or a fax machine and, like most of the machines of this type, it supports “ID copy” functionality for copying documents like driving licences. As well it can digitally enlarge or reduce documents with this function being accessed from one button. Similarly, the user can do “double-sided” copying as long as they flip the original document over.

Like the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415 that I previously reviewed, this LaserJet printer uses flash memory rather than RAM to store received and pending faxes. This provides for a “power-safe” operating environment where if the power fails or fluctuates, you don’t lose received faxes that are to be printed or faxes yet to be transmitted. It also works well with the private-receive function which uses this memory as a “fax vault” where the machine receives faxes but doesn’t print these faxes until you enter a PIN code to release them. This is a feature that I would consider important if you work with confidential material in a premises that has uncontrolled access to the office technology.

Like most of the current-model HP multifunction printers and an increasing number of Canon high-end multifunction printers, this printer offers a “quick forms” feature where the printer can turn out notepaper, graph paper, music staves or similar ruled paper at the touch of a button. This is only available through the Setup menus  You still have the problem of a limited choice of ruled paper. Examples of these limitations include 10 staves for portrait-format music paper (which affects writing for certain music ensembles like vocal and piano or quartets) as well as the inability to print certain “quick forms” like notepaper or checklists on both sides.

This printer supports ePrint “email-to-print” functionality but only for receiving print jobs sent to its email address. This function could also benefit from the same “private receive” function that is available for faxes.

Computer functions

The HP LaserJet M1536dnf’s driver software had loaded very quickly in to my machine and there weren’t any particular problems associated with running it. Even practices like choosing the duplex-printing style are made easier through a “bound-document” graphic which shows how the document will come out after it is printed.

This HP LaserJet doesn’t support control-panel-initiated scan-to-computer functionality unlike most of its peers, so it didn’t need to run a scan monitor program. Other than that, the scanner is a colour unit that is able to do what is expected for this class of equipment. Of course, HP has provided scanning software that allows for “scan-to-PDF”, a function that Microsoft could provide within the Windows operating system.

Useability

The display on this unit is a large backlit LCD display with easy-to-read text. Most of the walk-up functions are a button-press away and the text and icons on the control panel are easy to see.

This laser printer, like the other HP LaserJet printers that I have reviewed, uses an integrated print-cartridge system which has the toner supply and drum unit in one user-replaceable cartridge. This makes it easier to replace the cartridges through the machine’s working life and there isn’t any need to think of having to replace a drum kit. The only limitation with this setup is that the printer isn’t as economical to run as a printer that has a separately-replaceable drum unit like the Brother laser printers.

Here, the user just has to open two lids and pull out the used cartridge and drop in the new cartridge. There isn’t any need to push extra hard to make sure the cartridge is in place.

Like a lot of these monochrome laser printers, there isn’t a way of knowing at a glance where you stand as far as your toner supply goes. Here, you have to go to the printer’s embedded Web server to check how much toner is left or print out a “Supplies Status” report to obtain this same data. There is a light on the printer’s control panel that comes on when you are really low on toner.

Print quality

The documents had come out of the LaserJet M1536dnf with the typical crispness of a laser printer’s output. This is even so with output that has pictures and text.

I had printed a photo through this printer and the picture doesn’t have a strong a contrast as the same picture printed on the previously-reviewed Brother mono laser printers.

As far as print speed is concerned, the HP LaserJet was able to achieve the required speed for a monochrome laser printer. There is still the time penalty associated with duplex printing that is common with most printers that have this feature but this penalty is around twice as long as printing a single side. It is also worth noting that whether the printer has just been used recently or not, the first page of a job is out in 6 seconds with the print mechanism working at proper operating temperature.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

This printer, like the other HP LaserJets could benefit from the availability of optional extra-cost high-capacity print cartridges. This can allow for a business to use cheaper standard cartridges through normal times yet cater for peak printing times like larger projects.

I would also like to see a “fuel-gauge” indicator on the LCD display that indicates how much toner is available in the print cartridge, so you can know whether you need to buy more toner after those large printing project.

The fax subsystem could benefit from T.37 / T.38 standards-based Internet-driven faxing and a “scan-to-email” function in order to cater for IP-based telephony infrastructure. The ePrint email-to-print, which is an HP-driven concept, does provide some of this functionality but it could offer more.

As well, the flash-memory that is used for the unit’s fax functionality could be used as the printer’s memory this allowing for improved fail-safe printing. It can be augmented through the use of SD cards as a way of allowing the user to expand the printer’s memory as they see fit.

Conclusion and Placement Notes

The HP LaserJet M1536dnf is one of these laser printers that would fit in a very tight competitive market, a unit that would please the professional who needs to turn out many of the documents and reports as part of their business life.

The only major problem for someone who wants these desireable features from an HP LaserJet multifunction laser printer is the price of the unit compared to that of competing models that print the same way offered by other manufacturers like Brother. If a person places value on the HP ePrint service such as to print from smartphones; power-safe flash memory for faxes; a well-built machine or a simple-to-replace toner cartridge, they could go for this printer where as most other people could just opt for the Brother MFC-7460DN for their network-connected duplex-printing monochrome laser multifunction.

Introduction

I am now reviewing the Brother MFC-7360N monochrome multifunction laser printer which is part of a series of newly-released monochrome-laser multifunction printers released by this company. This unit is positioned as a “step-up” model above the MFC-7360 entry-level direct-connect model. The midrange model in this series is the MFC-7460DN which can print on both sides of the page as well as become future-proof by supporting T.37-compliant Internet faxing. The top-shelf model is the MFC-7860DW which also has 802.11g WPA2 WPS-compliant Wi-Fi connectivity and can accept output from smartphones and tablets equipped with the Brother iPrint&Scan app.

They all have the same new “compact monochrome laser” print engine as the Brother HL-2240D printer that I previously reviewed and its peers such as the HL-2270DN network model that I also recommend. Here, this xerographic-print engine is a full laser type and can yield a simplex print speed of 24 pages per minute.

Prices

Printer

The machine’s standard price: AUD$349.99

Inks and Toners

Servicing and Other Parts (Laser Printers)

The printer itself

This unit uses the typical control panel layout as common with most machines in its class but the LCD display could benefit from backlighting. Here, I had to set the display contrast to maximum to gain best readability; and is something that could be improved upon.

Control panel

Setup

This unit has the same Brother fax-setup wizard with one name and fax number as a station ID, so you don’t have to determine a separate station ID for transmitting and receiving. It also can work properly with a dedicated fax line or a shared fax line, whether through a distinctinve ring (Faxstream Duet) setup or a CNG-detect arrangement.

It can be set up on an Ethernet (or HomePlug) network with plug-and-play operation for most small networks and is IPv6 ready. Of course, when the time comes to enable the network for IPv6, the user just has to go to the Network menu on the control panel and select “IPv6” and set that to “On” before turning the unit off and on in order to have it as part of the IPv6 network.

It could benefit from NTP-based Internet time synchronisation with time-zone selection so the user doesn’t have to set the clock when they set up or shift this machine or after a power blackout.

Walk-up functions

This unit has the basic copy and fax functions, and allows walk-up scanning to network-connected computers only. Here, the host computer needs to run Brother-supplied scan monitor software

The more-expensive models; the MFC7460DN and MFC-7860DW, have the ability to support scan-to-email and T.37-compliant Internet-fax endpoint functionality. These features should be available across the range as we move away from the circuit-based telephone setup towards packet-based telephony.setups courtesy of the next-generation broadband infrastructure plans.

Automatic Document Feeder with document loaded

The printer’s automatic document feeder may look as though it is missing something because of the absence of the paper input tray. But this tray is actually the lid that swings open to the right when you use the document feeder. This is infact a style that is becoming common with Brother small-business multifunction printers that have this feature; and allows for a machine to look more neater. It also assures more reliable operation of the document feeder because the input chute isn’t always exposed to dust and other foreign objects.

Computer functions

The software is very easy and trouble-free to load and has that same “at-a-glance” view for the print job settings that all of the Brother printer drivers have always had. As well, it makes proper use of the Windows 7 Device Stage for managing the printer’s functionality.

This is in fact where you manage the printer’s unobtrusive and reliable scan monitor software, which has been a sore point with many of the multifunction devices that I have used and reviewed. Here, you can determine what form the image file should be and which application should open the file.

Print Quality

The Brother MFC-7360N, like the previously-reviewed HL-2240D and others based on the same print engine, does the job properly by starting quickly and turning each page out quickly. Like most laser printers and multifunction units, it requires the user to press tie Start button after they replenish the paper tray during a print job.

The print quality is as sharp as expected for a monochrome laser printer especially when it comes to turning out documents. For photographs, it will reproduce the images as expected for black-and-white images when set to 600dpi in the print driver but can have issues with image contrast especially at higher dpi settings. Luckily, the printer didn’t complain of memory overload when I sent through the 1200dpi photo print job but it yielded an image that appeared too dark and with little contrast.

It also the similar consumables to the HL-2240D and requires the user to take the drum-unit assembly out and detach the toner cartridge from the assembly to replace the toner. This of course will have the same room for error by allowing the drum unit to be exposed to dirt unless it is on a clean surface when the user replaces the toner.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

One improvement that I would like to see for the range would be to have the LCD display showing a high-contrast image. This could be augmented by having the display backlit during operation even with just a basic LED arrangement; akin to what is done with the HL-4150CDN.

There is still the common issue that this machine has with other Brother printers based on the new compact monochrome laser-printer engine that can impair the useability. This is where the user has to remove the drum unit from the printer to replace the toner. It could be improved upon with a similar arrangement to what is used for the colour lasers where the drum unit assembly is pulled out like a drawer so the user can replace the toner cartridge.

The feature limitations like the lack of duplex printing and inability to support Internet-based faxing may be necessary to keep the printer as a step-up model within the multifunction range.

Conclusion and Placement Notes

This printer can work well as an entry-level or supplementary monochrome laser printer where basic copying, scamming and faxing are desired. But I would recommend the MFC-7460DN, which is the model above it, if you expect to do a lot of document printing or place value on having future-proof Internet fax abilities.

Introduction

You might be at that position where the computer printer at your small business is “on its last legs” or becoming impossible to run economically. On the other hand, you may find you are working your existing printer harder and need to consider a machine that is suited to your current workload.

Similarly, as the end of the financial year approaches, you will face advertising from computer resellers and retailers; and office-supply stores for technology like printers at very enticing prices, usually to allow businesses to buy capital equipment that can be quickly offset against their income for tax purposes. This can become more intense whenever the government announces significant tax breaks for business owners when they purchase capital equipment.

At this point, you could easily make a mistake concerning the purchase of a printer and end up buying the wrong machine for your needs. I have prepared this buyers’ guide so you can be sure you are getting the right printer to suit your business’s needs and be able to use a machine that gives you more “bang for the buck”.

Printer classes

Laser printers

HP LaserJet Pro 1560 monochrome laser printer

A laser printer uses a xerographic dry-printing mechanism to print the image to the paper, in a similar way to how the classic photocopier worked. But they use a laser or, in cheaper printers, an LED to illuminate the photostatic drum with the computer-generated image to be printed.

Colour laser printers use four of these mechanisms to imprint the four colours and some cheaper versions may use only one drum and four toners to print the same page; which will take longer to come out.

This class of printer is typically known for printing many copies of “press-quality” documents and has started the “desktop-publishing” revolution.

It is worth knowing that some laser printers will use a cartridge which has an integrated drum as well as the toner supply while others like most of the Brother range will use a separately-replaceable drum unit. With the latter model, you may have to factor in the cost of the drum unit which will occur later on in the machine’s life; usually after 17000-25000 pages.

Business Inkjet printers

HP OfficeJet 6500 business inkjet multifunction printer

This class of inkjet printer is pitched primarily at business users and uses high-capacity cartridges and is optimised for a high duty cycle. They will also have business-target functionality like advanced fax functionality and the ability to work with advanced networks.

Consumer Inkjet printers

Canon PIXMA MX-350 multifunction printer with fax

Typically this class of network printer will be optimised for photographic printing and have inks that reproduce photos well. But on the other hand, they will be optimised for a low duty cycle with low-capacity ink cartridges. If they have fax functionality, this functionality will be very basic and as far as network connectivity is concerned, these printers will be suited to a basic small network.

Buying dilemmas that a business owner can face

As a business owner, you may face some buying dilemmas when you choose certain printers. This is especially as manufacturers design printers, especially multifunction printers, that effectively have similar capabilities to others of a different class. Here, the prices for the machines are similar and they may have similar print speeds or functionalities. But there may be certain key differences like the cost to run the machine or the machine’s prowess at particular print jobs.

The two main examples of this are: a high-end fax-equipped consumer inkjet multifunction like the HP Photosmart Premium Fax C410a ( an ePrint-enabled successor to the HP Photosmart Premium Fax C309a full-duplex inkjet printer) and a network-capable business inkjet multifunction like the HP OfficeJet 6500A Series; or a high-end business inkjet multifunction like the HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 Series and en entry-level colour laser multifunction like the HP Colour LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw.

High-end consumer inkjet vs a business inkjet

HP Photosmart Premium Fax C410 - a high-end consumer inkjet multifunction printer

A high-end consumer inkjet printer will be optimised for photo printing whereas a low-end networkable business inkjet will be primarily targeted at printing large runs of documents. This will affect ink-cartridge capacity, machine durability, functionality and printer throughput in many ways.

The former printer will typically have five or more inks and these inks will typically be in lower-capacity cartridges which need replacing more often than the four inks used in a low-end business inkjet printer. I would still suggest that businesses prefer the models with separately-replaceable ink cartridges because each ink can be replaced as needed.

As well, these consumer-level printers will typically have functions that make it easier to print pictures directly from a digital camera whether it’ is “tethered” by a USB cable or one takes the “film” (memory card) out of the camera. Some of these printers may offer the ability to print from a mobile phone via Bluetooth whether through integrated circuitry or an optional Bluetooth module.

HP OfficeJet 6500a - a modest-priced business inkjet printer

It may be worth knowing that some business-level inkjets are acquiring this kind of functionality but most of these printers won’t turn out the high-quality prints from digital cameras. Here, this functionality may be useful for applications where print quality doesn’t matter like hardcopy proofs that are used for “shortlisting” pictures for a project.

I would consider the premium consumer-level inkjet printer as a business printer if you rely on it for turning out high-quality digital prints whether from your PC or your digital camera and don’t do much printing on it. If you want the best of both worlds, you could get by with a dedicated photo-optimised printer for photographic jobs and a business-grade multifunction printer for regular business printouts.

High-end business inkjet vs an entry-level colour laser

An example of this situation is HP’s OfficeJet Pro 8500a inkjet and the HP Colour LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw.

HP OfficeJet Pro 8500a Plus - a hign-end business inkjet multifunction printer

These printers have a similar throughput to each other when printing pages and also turn out a similar copy quality for the documents that are printed. It doesn’t matter whether the documents are ordinary text documents or documents filled with graphics. There may be some glaring functionality differences like the support for duplex operation or memory type. In this example, the OfficeJet Pro 8500a had “full duplex” functionality where it could print on both sides of a sheet of paper and scan both sides of a printed document whereas the LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw could only print or scan one side of a page. Conversely, the LaserJet Pro used flash memory for its fax-related features like no-paper receive, “fax vault” or send-later while the OfficeJet Pro used regular RAM memory for the same functions.

HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw - an example of an entry-level colour laser multifunction printer

The cost-per-page for an entry-level colour laser printer is slightly cheaper than a high-end business inkjet that is fed the high-capacity cartridges although manufacturers like HP are  implementing ink cartridges in these printers that have a similar or better cost-per-page to the laser printers.  On the other hand, the inkjet is more flexible with print media than the laser because it doesn’t use any heat to bond the marking material to the paper. This can make it useful for printing short-run documents to glossy material or printing out labels and transparencies.

Dedicated printer vs multifunction printers

An increasing number of printers on the market, like most of the printers I have reviewed on this site, are of the “multifunction” type with a built-in scanner mechanism. Here, these printers will be able to scan to the computer or work as convenience light-duty photocopiers. Most of the business-focused multifunction printers are able to work as fax machines and these units typically are equipped with an automatic document feeder.

Compare this with the dedicated printers which just print from a computer. This class of printer is typically represented by laser printers or some photo-grade inkjet printers pitched at the graphic arts users.

A multifunction printer can work well as an all-round “workhorse” printer for most office applications whereas a dedicated printer can serve “infill” requirements that the multifunction cannot achieve. For example, you could use a colour inkjet multifunction printer as the main office printer in a doctor’s office while you have a monochrome laser printer turning out health-insurance forms and accounts that are part of the workflow. Similarly, you could use an A3 colour inkjet printer for turning out plans, signs and similar documents while you use a regular A4 multifunction for regular printing needs.

Features worthy of note

Auto-duplex printing

A feature that is becoming common amongst a lot of printers is auto-duplex printing. Here, the printer is able to automatically “flip” the page to print on the reverse side of the paper. This has become popular as a paper-saving measure but some of us may find it of value as a desktop-publishing benefit.

This is demonstrably so with laser printers like the Brother HL4150CDN colour laser that I recently reviewed. Here, the printer can print “to the edge” yet work on both sides of the page. As well, laser printers don’t have to “dwell” for up to 15 seconds to allow the ink to dry, thus it doesn’t have significant impact on print speed. Infact the previously-mentioned Brother printer could work both sides of two pages at once and with this, there is effectively no throughput penalty if you intend to do duplex or booklet printing.

Some inkjet printers, namely HP printers, may require a non-printed margin at the top and bottom of the page for auto-duplex printing. This is perceived to permit reliable paper handling but can be a problem if you intend to print landscape documents or “work to the edge” in your documents. It is also worth noting that some printers such as cheaper high-throughput colour lasers may only be able to use this function for the common document paper sizes like A4 or Letter.

At the moment, it is worth noting that not many of these colour laser printers that have auto-duplex printing can print on both sides of small-page “flyer-size” documents like A5, DL or postcard. This is usually because the auto-duplex mechanisms are not able to reliably push the small sheets of paper through the colour laser printing mechanism in order to print on both sides of the flyer.

It may be worth knowing that some high-end A4 multifunction printers will be likely to have “full duplex” functionality. This means that they will have auto-duplex printing as well as an automatic document feeder that can scan both sides of a page. This typically leads to functions like automatic “both-sides” copying and faxing.

Use as the business fax machine

Brother MFC-7460DN monochrome laser multifunction printer

Firstly, most of the multifunction printers that appeal to the business user will have an integrated fax functionality. This can be of use if that old fax machine has nearly “had it” or is becoming costly to run due to its use of the thermal-transfer tape.

Infact, the purchase of a low-end plain-paper fax that uses this kind of printing is really a false economy because these fax machines will work through the thermal-transfer tape even if a page is partially written on. Instead, a fax-equipped multifunction printer uses the ink or toner when and where it needs to mark the document.

As well, it will save on bench space because you don’t have to have a separate machine to receive your faxes on. This is an important requirement for small offices and shops where this space can be at a premium.

It is also worth knowing that the inkjet and colour-laser multifunction printers that have the fax functionality are capable of receiving and transmitting faxes in colour to businesses equipped with similarly-capable equipment. Here, if you select “Colour Fax” on these machines, they will transmit the document according to “best-case” rules where if the receiving machine isn’t colour-capable, the transmission will succeed with the document being in monochrome. Other examples of these printers offering increased value for money as a small-business fax machine include the business class printers offering a “fax-vault” function where you can set the unit to hold received documents in memory and print them when required; or “print-to-fax” functions or “fax-to-computer” functions so you can fax a document from your computer or capture a faxed document to your computer without reprinting it.

Of course, these machines will have the expected fax functionality and can work with a dedicated fax line or a shared phone line, including support for “distinctive ring” dedicated-fax-number setups like Telstra’s Faxstream Duet.

What to be careful of

The two-cartridge colour inkjet printer

A lot of inexpensive consumer and small-business inkjet printers still use two cartridges for their printing setup. One of these cartridges is the black cartridge while the other is a “tri-colour” ink cartridge that houses the cyan, magenta and yellow inks in one plastic body.

The main problem with this design is that if one colour runs out in the colour cartridge, you have to replace the whole cartridge even if there is plenty of ink remaining for the other colours. It can become more exacerbating if you print material using your business’s trad dress which will be dominant in particular colours.

This may be OK for an occasionally-used printer but should be avoided if you use your printer frequently. Instead, look for a midrange printer that uses four or more ink cartridges with each colour in its own cartridge.

Wi-Fi-only network connectivity

Another feature common with inexpensive network multifunction printers is to provide Wi-Fi as the only network connection method. This is more so with the printers that are positioned at the consumer end of the market.

There are a few limitations with this setup. One is that you have to run a Wi-Fi network to obtain the benefits of network connectivity and this can be fraught with problems because of Wi-Fi being a radio based method. For example, walls made out of double-brick, cinder-block or reinforced concrete can play havoc with a Wi-Fi link; as can metal-reflective insulation. This limits the ability to connect the printer to your business network using alternative network technologies like Ethernet or HomePlug powerline networking.

As well, a lot of these printers require the user to configure them for the wireless network by connecting them to a host computer and running manufacturer-supplied software before they will work with that network. The exception to this rule for most of these printers is Wi-Fi network segments that use WPS “push-to-connect” setup, where you may push a button on the printer or select a menu option to start the configuration process. This is although the HP ePrint-enabled Wi-Fi-only consumer printers like the Photosmart Wireless-E B110a economy printer and the HP Envy 100 (D410) slimline printer do support configuration for non-WPS wireless networks from the control panel.

Recommendations for most businesses

General-office work

I would recommend a midrange network-connected business inkjet multifunction printer with four ink cartridges and auto-duplex printing for a “general-use” workhorse printer. It may be OK to use a high-end consumer printer or low-end business inkjet for low-traffic applications like a secondary printer.

A photo-optimised consumer printer like a Canon PiXMA or HP Photosmart may be good as a secondary printer for applications where you value high-quality photo prints with the full saturation. Some manufacturers may offer a dedicated photo-optimised printer but typically these can be very expensive and are pitched at the graphic-arts industries.

A dedicated monochrome laser printers can be useful for printing out forms or documents as what would be required of medical, legal or similar professions. Here, it would be wise to look for auto-duplex-equipped units if you turn out many multipage documents like most legal documents. As well, I would recommend that these machines are network-connected if you have or intend to have two or more computer workstations that will turn out the documents.

HP OfficeJet 7000 A3 wide-format inkjet printer

If you don’t care about colour printing but turn out many documents, you could get by with a monochrome laser multifunction printer like the recently-released Brother units or the HP LaserJet M1212nf that I had previously reviewed. Then if you want to do colour printing at a later date, you could add on a dedicated colour printer like the HP OfficeJet 6000 inkjet; HP OfficeJet 7000 A3 inkjet or Brother HL-4150CDN laser “desktop-publishing workhorse”.

Promoting your business yourself

You may want to use a colour laser printer as a promotion tool for your business. I have infact written up an article about why it is worth considering these printers as a buying option. Here, it would be a good idea to stick to high-throughput colour laser printers like the Brother HL-4150CDN especially if you do a lot of your own short-run publishing, including “infill” print runs.

You may want to take advantage of the larger A3 page size as a paper size for signage and similar material. It may even come in handy within the office for turning out large spreadsheets or business charts that can have more detail. Here, you may look at a single-tray A3 multifunction like the HP OfficeJet 7500 for occasional A3 use or a dual-tray A3 multifunction like the Brother MFC-6490CW or dedicated A3 printer like the HP OfficeJet 7000 if you do turn out a lot of A3 material.

Brother MFC-6490CW A3 inkjet multifunction printer

Conclusion

In simple terms, I would suggest that you check how much the printer will cost to run; such as the price of replacement ink or toner cartridges; the availability of high-capacity cartridges and the kid of cartridges used and other cost-saving practices like auto-duplex

Then make sure that your printer can suit your current needs as well as allowing for future needs.Here, you can then own and run the right printer that will serve your business’s needs for many years without being a drain on your business’s cashflow.

The UPnP Forum have established a printer device class in the early days of this standard and have provided an “improved-printing” service for this device class. This was an attempt to allow a device to print text, Webpages and photos without the need for the device to have printer-specific drivers.

I know that a lot of Hewlett-Packard’s network-enabled printers in the Photosmart range like the Photosmart Premium Fax C309a support this functionality. This also includes the HP Envy 100 printer which I have just reviewed. Some other manufacturers like Epson may support this functionality in a few of their products.

The reason that there is inaction concerning the UPnP Printer device class is that there aren’t enough client devices that properly support this function. So far, some of the Nokia phones that work on the Symbian S60 Third Edition platform like the N95 and N85 can print photos to these printers using this platform. But I know of no other devices or platform apps that exploit this functionality.

Key enabler for this device class

Platform devices

An increasing number of manufacturers are moving towards the use of device platforms like Android and Maemo as the baseline operating system for embedded-platform devices like set-top boxes, PVRs and TVs as well as smartphones and tablet computers. These platforms typically use “apps” as a way of adding functions to the device, effectively turning the device into something that resembles a general-purpose computer. These “apps” are typically written by third-party developers and provided through an “app-store” or similar menu that is hosted on the device, either for a low cost or, in a lot of cases, for free.

These platforms, save for the Apple iOS platform, don’t have a printer-interface function that these apps could exploit and what is happening is that printer manufacturers are writing photo-printing apps for these platforms that work with their devices. They can support the UPnP Printer Device Class as a printing interface rather than reinventing the wheel for this function.

Key applications

Hardcopy from the tablet computer

As the tablet computer becomes increasingly popular amongst home and small-business users, there will be a requirement to turn out hard-copy from the apps loaded on these devices. Examples of this include printing emails or chapters from ebook apps to printing out photographs taken using the device’s integrated camera.

At the moment, the iPad can work with AirPrint-enabled printers like the HP Wireless-E B110a, the HP Envy 100 and the HP Colour LaserJet CM1415 that have been reviewed in this site. Windows 7 tablets can use the conventional driver-based Windows printing platform but Android and WebOS tablets don’t have an integrated printing platform. Access to the printers for these platforms is through photo-printing apps which are limited in purpose because they only print photos or, in some cases, PDF files; and are also tied to particular manufacturers’ printers.

If Google, HP or other companies who are behind tablet-computer and smartphone operating systems implement the UPnP Printer Device Class, they can add a driver-free printing ecosystem to these operating systems.

Hardcopy for Interactive TV

As the TV set becomes integrated with the Internet, there will be an interest in interactive TV. This will allow the viewer to interact with broadcast material using their remote control. Initially, it is being used with some broadcast-TV set-top boxes that use a cable-TV or dial-up-modem return path to facilitate purchasing of pay-per-view content or increasingly to allow viewers to register votes when they watch panel shows or talent quests. The Internet path is increasing the interactive TV abilities through the delivery of extra material to the viewer, thus permitting concepts like “catch-up TV” and on-demand availability of extended interviews and supplementary material. It is being augmented by set-top boxes, PVRs and TV sets (especially the main-lounge-area ones) being equipped with network connectivity.

The UPnP-enabled printer can work well with Interactive TV by offering a hard-copy option for editorial and advertising content. In the case of editorial content, this could lead to the availability of factsheets, end-of-show leaderboards and similar material.

The best example of this would be MasterChef, the popular cooking-based reality TV show. In a typical season, there are many recipes that will appeal to one’s tastebuds and may “fill in the gap” for a cooking situation that may be particular to one or more viewers. Here, the viewer would have to go to the MasterChef website using their computer and search through the recipes for the one that interests them in order to print out the hard copy they need to work from when they build their shopping list and when they cook the dish in the kitchen. It could be made easier by the viewer pressing a button on the Interactive TV remote control while the recipe is being cooked to have that recipe printed out, or obtain a recipe list for this current episode so they can choose what to print out.

Even the commercials could be augmented with “print-to-redeem” coupons, “specials lists”, factsheets and product-disclosure notices that the viewer can print out at the touch of a button when they see the ad. This can be extended to programs like game shows or talent quests that exploit viewer participation and use “print-to-redeem” coupons as incentives for viewers who participate in these shows.

Games and apps that are part of the interactive TV experience can be augmented with hardcopy options. Examples of this could be skill-based games that reward users with prizes for successful completion or being at the top of the game’s leaderboard; or apps that provide hardcopy information on demand.

Companies who are behind interactive-TV platforms like those involved with Internet TV could implement UPnP Printer Device Class in order to open up the possibilities offered with hard copy for Interactive TV.

Hardcopy snapshots from digital cameras and electronic picture frames

The UPnP Printer Device Class offers the ability for a connected electronic picture frame or digital camera to print snapshots through an existing home network rather than having to use “peripheral connections” like USB or Bluetooth.

This can avoid the need to locate a frame that receives “new” images via email or online services near the printer to print out the snapshots. Similarly, one could print out snapshots taken with a Wi-Fi enabled digital camera or mobile phone without worrying about whether the camera will work with the printer. This would be more acceptable for people who like creating “picture walls” from special events that they host. These “picture walls” are collections of pictures of the event taken by guests that are stuck to large sheets of cardboard.

Conclusion

But there are more applications like the ability to obtain a copy of a “dashboard” screen from a monitoring device through to “on-demand” news-printing from other devices. It also means that the UPnP Printer Device Class can open up paths for innovation when it comes to the functionality roadmap for a device targeted at a home or small-business user. As well, the UPnP Printer Device Class can also be useful as a “generic printer driver” for general-purpose computers so that basic text and graphics print jobs can be turned out without the need for awkward print drivers.

What needs to happen is that companies need to get serious about implementing this device class in their printers, computers and network-enabled devices.

Introduction

I am reviewing the HP Envy 100 ePrint-enabled all-ine-one printer which is another member of the HP “Envy” high-end stylishly-designed equipment range. This printer is styled not like an ordinary all-in-one printer but something that wouldn’t look out of place alongside domestic hi-fi or home-cinema equipment.

Prices

Printer

Recommended Retail Price: AUD$399

Inks and Toners

The printer itself

The printer with its scanner lid open and paper input and output exposed

There is a lot about this printer’s styling that makes it not like the typical all-in-one printer that I have used or reviewed. This printer has a design that wouldn’t look out of place in a hi-fi or home-theatre equipment rack with its slimline and neat styling. Here, it would be as slim as the typical VHS video recorder or “personal-TV service” unit. Even the scanner lid reminds me of that flat-glass lid used to cover the turntable on a mid-1980s “music-centre” stereo system because of the way it lies flush with the top of the printer and is made of that similar glass.

Where do the documents come out of?

The way the printer is styled may confuse some people because there isn’t an obvious paper tray or output tray.

The printer's paper output tray

When you want to use the printer from the control panel, you work it using a large touchscreen on the front of the unit. This touchscreen can be positioned at an angle for easier operation but will swing up when the printer is printing out anything. The paper is loaded in to a shallow removeable tray which you pull out from the front of the printer.

Even the SD slot for your camera card may be hard to find but it is located on the top right edge of the printer, under a small flap.

Setup

The printer can work with 802.11g/n WiFi networks that are secured using WPA2-PSK technology. You enter the passphrase for these networks using a virtual keyboard on the unit’s touchscreen; but it also works properly with WPS “simplified-setup” routines that most recent-issue home and small-business routers support.

On the other hand, the software that is supplied on the CD-ROM leave a lot to be desired. It doesn’t operate properly with network setups and you may have to try many attempts at setting this software up on your computer. This is more so with firewall software that may be slow to respond.

Walk-up functions

The printer works as expected for a colour copier. As well, it can print from or scan to SD cards or USB memory keys. Like with all printers, these functions could be improved through increased memory in the unit. Here, images obtained from the scanner or removable media could be copied to the memory before being printed so as to allow quicker and more productive operation; such as being able to quickly copy many pages or print pictures from your camera then continue snapping more pictures.

Through the use of the ePrint Web apps, this printer can print documents on demand. As well, some of these ePrint apps work as client programs for various photo-sharing or social networking sites, so you can print pictures from your albums that exist on these sites.

It also supports the HP ePrint “email-to-print” system which allocates the printer an email address so you can send documents or photos to that address for printing. This also allows for Apple iOS devices to print documents and images directly to this printer using AirPrint.

It is also worth knowing that Android users can download the “HP iPrint Photos” app from the Android Market to their device so they can print photos through this printer. At the moment, there isn’t a full document-print solution available for this platform yet.

Computer functions

When used with a Windows 7 machine, this printer works tightly with the operating system, thus using functions like the Device Stage.

Even the ability to set up device-initiated scanning for a network-connected printer requires you to visit the Device Stage which comes up when you click on the printer in “Devices and Printers”. This feature has still got some problems with reliability in that it won’t start properly or expose the options to the printer’s control panel. This function is still something that has to be worked out and should be part of the operating system as I have touched on previously.

Other than that, it does work properly as far as computer-initiated printing goes. It also does offer proper support for basic and advanced UPnP printing functionality; something I find that is not implemented in many client devices like set-top boxes. This is not enabled by default and you would have to go to the printer’s Web page which is at its URL, then go to “Networking” to select and enable this function.

Print Quality

This printer works as expected for an inkjet printer when it comes to printing documents. But the real test I notice with these inkjet printers is how they handle photographic images. The pictures don’t come out as saturated as most of the other inkjets that I have tested.  As well, they are not as dark as those printed on most of the other inkjet printers that I have tested.

Limitations and Points of Improvement

As with all HP inkjet printers that have auto-duplex printing, this function still requires a significant top and bottom margin, which can be very limiting for desktop publishing applications. I have raised this issue on forums operated by HP, but they say that this is a designed-in limitation to assure proper auto-duplex operation but I have seen auto-duplex-equipped inkjets available from other manufacturers, namely Canon, which can print this way without requiring the top and bottom margin.

As well, the use of a tri-colour ink cartridge makes the printer more costly to run because you can’t replace individual colours as needed. This could be improved upon by HP when they refine their low-profile print mechanism that is used in this printer. The slimline design also has a limitation with the paper tray not being able to hold much paper.

The manufacturer-supplied software could benefit from a lot of work on it, especially with the way it operates with network printers. This includes making it work tightly with the operating system’s services and properly discovering the printer and announcing the computer’s network location. This is always something that manufacturers tend to forget about when designing their printers.

Taking the concept further

The way HP have integrated a duplex-capable inkjet print mechanism with “front paper feed” as well as an LED-based scanner mechanism into a chassis the size of a typical VHS video recorder has amazed me with this unit.

Here, they could take the concept further with various product ideas for inkjet printers and similar devices. One could be a rack-mount printer for “built-in” applications, where the printer is pulled out like a drawer when it needs to have new ink added or be serviced.

Similarly, there could be the ability for HP to design a transportable “all-in-one” printer modelled on the Envy 100 that is designed for “on-location” workforces. This would have a handle of a style not dissimilar to that found on a boombox and having the scanner lid kept closed by a latching mechanism. Electronically, it would have full WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and work on 12 volts DC, thus being able to work from a car’s cigar-lighter socket or a 12-volt rechargeable battery pack.

As well, this mechanism could encourage HP to work towards mainstreaming low-profile “front-feed”  inkjet printer designs for the home and small-business market/

Conclusion and Placement Notes

This printer is targeted to those who place a lot of emphasis on style and may suit those of us who are particular about what can be placed in the common living areas of the house. But it wouldn’t be worth using as a main printer for a home or small business because of the two-cartridge system or the reduced paper capacity. Here, I would recommend it for use as a secondary printer intended for use in the family room if you can accept the price for this application.

Introduction

I am reviewing the Canon PIXMA MG-6150 multifunction inkjet printer which is positioned as the top inkjet multifunction in Canon’s lineup that isn’t equipped with fax functionality.

Prices

Printer

Recommend Retail Price: AUD$299

Optional Extras:

Bluetooth module: BU-30 $69

Inks and Toners

The printer itself

This machine comes in a piano-black finish and has the user-interface LCD lying flat with the top of the lid. But when you turn it on, the LCD screen lights up and various touch buttons light up in a manner that isn’t dissimilar to either the way a pinball machine or the dial panel on a mid-1970s stereo receiver lights up.

As you use the printer in its various operating modes, some of the buttons light up as required. These buttons are actually touch-panel buttons which will make you think somewhat of operating some of the mid-1980s B&O hi-fi equipment, especially the Beogram CDX CD player which had this similar kind of touch panel. As well, the main display is able to come up at an angle by pushing on a button located behind the display.

The display can come up at an angle

The printer lit up in operation mode

Walk-up printing

The printer has various “walk-up” functions like copying and printing from camera cards. As well, it can print from cameras using PictBridge, which I have used to print “proof-prints” of the pictures that I took for this review. It can even print PDF documents from USB memory sticks. But its handling of this function can be very fussy at times, especially if you use a PDF prepared by a desktop-publishing program.

As well, there is the ability to create your own stationery like notepaper, graph paper and music manuscript paper. For this latter paper type, you can turn out 12-stave pages which is a lot more flexible for most music tasks like “vocal and piano”, organ or “four-part harmony” music.

Computer functions

The software that is supplied on the CD-ROM can be very tricky to load and can think that there isn’t the printer available. But I have visited Canon’s Website and downloaded the latest version of the software and this has loaded properly and discovered the printer as it should.

The device-initiated scan-to-PC software leave a lot to be desired. The user interface looks very pale and confusing and you can only allocate one path for device-initiated scan jobs. This would be to place the files in a particular folder on the host computer or to attach them to an email in Outlook. As well, it doesn’t support other email clients for scan-to-email. You can determine how the document should be scanned from the printer but there are two forms already set – A4 document to PDF or 4×6 snapshot to JPEG.

Paper handling

Paper loading paths in this printer

The paper handling is very similar to some of the other high-end A4-capable PIXMA printers like the direct-connect MP-610 and the fax-enabled network-connectable MX-870 that I previously reviewed on this site. Here, the printer has a front-loadable tray for A4 plain paper as well as the standard rear-mount paper feed tray. This means that you can keep a reserve of ordinary paper on hand in the printer yet use the back path for glossy paper and other special media.

Also, these printers have a fabulous auto-duplex function that has very little registration problems for double-sided documents and can work “to the edge” as far as margins go. This would put the double-sided printing function beyond satisfying the need to avoid wast and in to a league where you can work on both sides for your desktop-publishing needs.

As well, there is a CD printing attachment that slides in the front but you have to flip down a tray that is deeply hidden there. There isn’t any storage for the CD printing attachment so you could then easily lose that part if you occasionally print on CDs.

Printing reliability and quality

The printer is very reliably as far as the mechanism is concerned and could handle large print jobs very easily.

Its document-printing quality is what you would expect for a high-end consumer inkjet unit. When it prints photos, the pictures come out strong on saturation but do lack a bit of definition.

6 ink tanks in this printer

This is even though it uses a six-colour ink system whereas most inkjets that I have reviewed use either four colours or five colours if they are “photo-rated”. Sometimes it may be true that the number of colours in a photo-rated inkjet may not yield particular improvements.

Points of improvement

The printer could benefit from an improved scan-to-PC program which gives the user greater choice on how the image should be handled. As well, it could support the ability to define more than one path for scan-to-PC jobs initiated from the control panel.

As well, Canon could supply high-capacity cartridges for these printers as an extra-cost option so that users are covered if they have a huge run of print jobs from the printer.

Conclusion and Placement Notes

I would recommend this printer as being on my shortlist of printers worth deploying as a home-office or secondary-use (study) multifunction printer for the home if you don’t value faxing or email-to-print.