All posts by Vincent

Office depot printer cartridges: 6 easy tips

Unfortunately, there is no way around it. To keep our printers running we will need ink. However, I can provide you with 6 awesome tips that will make your quest for ink a bit easier.

In our search for the right office INK1depot printer cartridges we better think twice before making a purchase. I’m just going to jump right into things and lay out all tips that come to mind when purchasing a cartridge.

 

Cheap printers

First of all typical office depot printers are priced anywhere from $30 to $300. They are more compact and are ideal to put on a desk or in a small office, hence their name. Cheaper printers can come along with high cartridge price tags. Buying a $50 printer and having to spend an extra $100 every month on ink might not exactly be what you are looking for. Tip 1: Check the corresponding cartridge prices before buying. Some companies actually lose money or barely break even when selling their printers. They generate profits from customers buying their (overly) expensive cartridges. Don’t let them fool you into this trick!

CMYKYield of the cartridge

Secondly not every cartridge serves the same purpose or will be conformable with every printer.  On top of that there can be huge price differences between the same cartridges, or cartridges that accomplish the same goal. However, these prices can sometimes be justified according to the quality and yield of prints they are capable of producing. Tip 2: try to figure out the yield of the cartridge you are planning on buying. Manufacturers are not obligated to provide you with such information.

Third party’s

Overpriced cartridges opened up a new market. For starters there are the third party manufacturers. These are entity’s other than the main manufacturer that produce and sell cartridges at cheaper prices. Tip 3: Just make sure the cartridge from this third party is compatible with your printer and that this party is verified. This way you can save up a lot of money. Be careful however, not every third party is thrust-worthy. Counterfeiters will always lurk around to sell you less qualitative ink or under a main manufacturer’s name.

Refilling cartridges

Another trick manufacturers came up with was the possibility to refill their cartridges. Cartridges have a big impact on the environment and refilling them is more environmentally friendly. Not every cartridge can be refilled though. Refilling can be a profitable thing to do if you know how and have a good refilling kit. You could go to a manufacturer and let him refill your cartridges too, but I won’t recommend refilling at all to be honest. It is known for a fact that refilled cartridges will have higher printing failure rates. Besides, the quality of the prints will go down drastically and typical problems like page curling and uneven ink spreading will occur more often. Tip 4:  You might want to stay away from refilling.

Heavy users

On the other hand when you are a heavy user in need of a lot of ink you might want to consider upgrading your printer(s). Industrial printers or often laser printers that work with toners can have higher yields and become a lot cheaper in the long run. Tip 5: Industrial printers have a high investment cost but cheaper ink patterns.

camionBuying in bulk

Lastly when you are more of a heavy consumer consider buying ink in bulk. Manufacturers tend to give promotions when you buy more of a product. Same goes for ink and cartridges. If the manufacturer doesn’t have a bulk offer available at the moment you can still contact him yourself and discuss a possible discount. Tip 6: Be on the lookout for bulk offers. Buying more of a product will cut the costs.

When you follow those tips you are off to a great start when buying your next cartridges. Buying cartridges doesn’t have to be a hard task and it won’t if you follow those easy steps. If you are still having questions about cartridges feel free to leave a comment. I will be happy to answer them.

Vincent

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What are the best printer brands?

What company makes the best printers? This question goes hand in hand with what kind of printer you are looking for. The answer will be different depending on what kind of user you are. There are literally thousands of companies that make printers, so picking out just 1 might be a bit difficult. I will narrow it down for you to what I would consider the best printer brands in no particular order.

printer-market-share

HP hp

First brand that comes to mind when thinking about printers would probably be Hewlett-Packard. Up until 2000 no other brand came even close to their market share. This has changed however. The software those printers use hasn’t always been that crisp, might be a bit harder to install and can lead to printer errors and paper jams. On the flip side, the quality of the prints is still really high and they have a very wide product range. You can find a review of my recommended HP printer here.

Ricoh 

Their main focus lies with the corporate world and industrial printers. They do a really good job at it and have a very strong footing in that particular market. Ricoh printers are compatible and very reliable. Company to customer service, even after you bought the printer, is amazing with them. When you are looking for more of an industrial printer this might be your go to brand.

Kyocera kyocera

Kyocera makes use of a somewhat different technology compared to other brands. Their printers run with ceramic drums, hence the company name Kyocera. The advantages of this ceramic drum are the lower printing costs and the lower impact on the environment. On the other hand those printers tend to have a higher initial price tag. It wouldn’t be my first choice of printer, but in some cases it can be interesting getting one of those.

Epson 

Interesting brand that is the only one who makes use of a different printing process. Other brands make use of the thermal drop on demand process whereas Epson uses a piezoelectric drop on demand. My only experience with this process is that the print head nozzles clog up faster than usual. This is a huge turnoff to me so I wouldn’t call Epson a very user friendly brand.

Canon canon

Very trustworthy brand. They are a big player on the printer market for a very long time now and cover a wide range of niches. Whether you are looking for an industrial printer or you are a student with a low budget, Canon probably has something for you. Biggest advantage would probably be the reliability of their printers. One thing to look out for are the prices of their ink and cartridges. Those prices lean towards the more expensive side so be careful and do your research before you buy.

Brother 

A brand which main focus is on the personal user market. Their inkjet printers produce great quality prints and are very reliable too. The cost for these printers can be higher in the long term (due to higher production costs) but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for a personal or home user.

how toConclusion

Don’t forget to check out some reviews before buying. There might be things I didn’t cover in this post and you don’t want to stumble upon any unpleasantries. Thinking about your printing intentions is a good start. Will you need a laser printer or an inkjet printer? After you can decide what brand fits your wishes the best and finally you can decide to make a purchase. Good luck to you on your next printer hunt!

Vincent

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How to connect a printer to a computer: Full guide + images

Installing a new printer can sometimes lead to annoyance and frustration. Don’t let this happen to you by taking my useful tips into account. Connecting a printer to a computer doesn’t have to be a hard task by any means. There are often many ways you can do this and I will specify each and every way. After reading this you will be able to set up a printer within minutes! Before you connect a printer to a computer decide whether you can set up a wireless connection or if you have to make use of any cables. The installment of a printer is very similar for Windows and Mac users so don’t worry too much about that.

Printers with a USB cable

Place the printer close enough to your computer so you can plug the USB cable into your computer. Once you do this your computer will detect the new hardware and inform you about the driver status.

ezrahite_91

Drivers are the essential software you need to keep your hardware running. This also goes for printers. When you go to your control panel (for Windows Users) and then select devices and printers you can actually see the installed printer.

devices-and-printers

Select the newly installed printer and go to properties. There you can find an option to print a test page. If your printer doesn’t appear on the devices and printers tab you can go to the printer manufacturer website and download the driver for your printer there. You will be asked for the product name and then you can choose and install the driver you need.

Wireless printers

how-to-connect-a-wireless-printerThese printers often come with an installation disk for your computer or laptop. This will always be the case for printers without their own display screen. Just insert the disk and start installing the printer software.

Printers that do have display screens (like LCD-screens or touchscreens) often don’t need an extra installation disk. You can simply click the wireless icon or menu on the display and set up a connection to your computer. However, this way you might only be able to make use of the basic printer functions. If you want a full installment of all your printer features (like scanning, email,…) you will still have to install extra drivers or the installation disk that comes with your printer.

If your computer is connected to the internet it will start searching for the printer. Once you found the printer and got the software correctly installed you can start printing. When the printer doesn’t have an installation disk you will have to go to the manufacturers website and install the driver you need. The installation process of every printer may vary a bit depending on what type of printer you bought. Usually it will look like something as shown in the next images. At the end of the installation you will often be asked if you want to print a test page.

wireless software

 

Phone to printer

When you want to send your documents from a phone to a printer you will have sharing-a-printer to go to the devices and printers tab again. Go to the properties of the printer you want and select the sharing tab. There you can select share this printer. Next you might have to install the needed software for your phone. Although this isn’t always the case. Depending on what printer and phone you have this may or may not be necessary. I won’t be going into detail on every type of phone or printer but feel free to ask if you have any questions. For Iphone you typically need to install AirPrint. This might already be preinstalled on your Iphone.

 

Common problems and how to fix them

  • Make sure you plugged the printer into a power source. Without power the printer won’t work. This may sound funny to you but it is actually a very common problem!
  • If you plugged the printer into a power source and it won’t start, check your fuse box.
  • In case you encounter a problem that isn’t solved on this page, following the manual can be a good idea. Manufacturers can each have a different way to make you install their printer.
  • Try restarting your computer and printer if you are having trouble with the software installation.
  • Some printers have a status report mode. Ask your printer for its report and often it will tell you where the problem is situated.
  • In case of a wireless printer please make sure that your printer is in a place where it can detect your computer network. If the signal isn’t strong enough you won’t be able to print.
  • In case you have a firewall make sure you allow the printer to connect with your computer.
  • Go check out my post about common printer errors now!

 

Installation processes for printers are very similar overall. Once you get the hang of it future installments will be a piece of cake. I hope this article will help you in setting up your next printers. Feel free to leave a comment any time.

Vincent

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