Toner will definitely take on a different shape and form in the future, but for right now, we are somewhat stuck with using toner or laser cartridges. I often ask my loyal client base, would you prefer to continue to use printer cartridges to print your documents or some other simpler form, such as paper, and in the process receive a higher quality digital print. I think the answer would be quite obvious.
The History of Toner Cartridges
Toner has taken on many shapes and forms over the last 20 years. It went from an original equipment product, meaning brand named companies like Lexmark would be behind its manufacturing, to a compatible product that third party vendors would produce. This essentially means that the toner cartridge itself is used, but the parts contained in the Toner cartridge are brand new. In addition, the components of toner have changed over time as well. Toner is, by definition, a powder that contains many different attributes. When this powder is passed through a medium, such as a laser printer, it creates an image on the document you want to produce. But before the toner gets to your document, a heating process occurs in the printer, which melts the chemically processed ink onto your document.
Toner Composition Today
Over time, technology dictated pretty much what form toner was to take on. For example, just as technology dictated how the computer evolved from this huge machine to a tiny hand held instrument with 50 times the power as the old huge machine, the composition and size of toner changed over time as well. I could talk to you about the composition of toner, but I think most of you would be board to tears. For the most part, it is important to know that toner is made up of a combination of plastic resins, coloring pigments and a host of other ingredients. More importantly and what was most challenging over time was its SIZE. In the early days of laser toner printing, the individual toner element was 12 microns, which is quite small. As time marched on and technology exploded, the demand for improved print quality became evident. This resulted for laser printers to become more efficient, but required that the composition of toner itself change to accommodate this advancement in the printer industry. Twelve microns became eight microns in a couple of years, then to four. One huge advantage to all this downsizing of toner particles was a higher “yield per page”. This meant that you would need less toner to produce the same result, therefore, lower cost. There is your history in some 300 words or less.
What About the Future of Toner Cartridges?
This brings us to the Future of Toner which will be Non-Toner. What the heck is non-toner you say? Paper! You will see that toner will evolve again and its composition will be totally different than it is today. In fact, it makes sense that its components will be found in the paper you print and not toner contained in a cartridge. One company is doing this very well. It is the patented paper, which contains a combination of cyan, yellow and magenta crystals with a protective outer layer. The crystals are colorless before the print process, but when heat is applied, the crystals are activated. Time and temperature are the keys to releasing the magic of color from the crystals to an image on paper. The result is a digital quality print with rich deep colors, and yes, NO INK CARTRIDGE. By applying heat impulses from the printer head through to the paper over some a period of time will determine which crystals or color will appear as the image on this "special paper". There you have it, NO CARTRIDGES. YES!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Who will Transform Toner Cartridges into the Future?
Zink, which stands for Zero Ink, is a small company with pretty big ideas. They believed right from the start that their mission was to “shake up” the NORM of the inkjet printing world and convert it to an “Ink Cartridge Free” system. The Company started back in 2005, with its own management team. It took on some private investors, acquired the technology and assets to build what is now known as its imaging team. In 2007, they purchased a manufacturing plant from Konica Minolta where it produces the technology. The combination of these assets developed an “imaging” technology that catapults the toner world onto the next level, which we will call “cartridge less”.
Basically, it’s all in the paper, that’s the technology.
This new way of thinking, out of the box so to speak, will deliver to the market digital printing without the use of toner or ink cartridges. In addition, to feed the new technology, Zink will be able to bring their own printing products to the market as well.
This small company has aligned with some heavyweights in the industry to achieve their goals. Polaroid has been fingered to develop a digital instant mobile photo printer. Rather than use a ink cartridge to produce color on a piece of photo paper, it uses a patented paper that will release crystals which will produce colors when heat is applied. This can have a huge impact, like the Polaroid camera did some years age, for digital cameras. Imagine printing a digital quality photo from your digital camera!
The company’s mission statement reads as follows: The relentless pursuit of inventions and partnerships to enable millions of customers to enjoy the magic of “Zink” enabled products. This is in and of itself a bold and forward thinking statement that is determined in its quest to reinvent the inkjet world.
Basically, it’s all in the paper, that’s the technology.
This new way of thinking, out of the box so to speak, will deliver to the market digital printing without the use of toner or ink cartridges. In addition, to feed the new technology, Zink will be able to bring their own printing products to the market as well.
This small company has aligned with some heavyweights in the industry to achieve their goals. Polaroid has been fingered to develop a digital instant mobile photo printer. Rather than use a ink cartridge to produce color on a piece of photo paper, it uses a patented paper that will release crystals which will produce colors when heat is applied. This can have a huge impact, like the Polaroid camera did some years age, for digital cameras. Imagine printing a digital quality photo from your digital camera!
The company’s mission statement reads as follows: The relentless pursuit of inventions and partnerships to enable millions of customers to enjoy the magic of “Zink” enabled products. This is in and of itself a bold and forward thinking statement that is determined in its quest to reinvent the inkjet world.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Secret To Almost Free Toner
Before I get right to the point on how to achieve "Almost Free" printer cartridges, the prices you will find for toner cartridges on this site, Tonerr.com, are already 7% to 10% below the famous wholesale printer supply chains, such as Staples.
Let me give you a real life example. If you purchase a Hewlett Packard brand HP#57 (C6657AN) cartridge, you will pay $34.99 at Staples. At Tonerr.com, you will pay $32.99, a savings of $2.00 or 5.7%.
Now, let's get down to the subject at hand, the First Biggest Secret. If you read my home page, you now realize that purchasing brand name printer cartridges, like in our example above, is WASTING YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY! If you had purchased the HP#57 re manufactured printer cartridge instead (which are brand new parts contained in a recycled shell) will cost you only $20.99. That is $14.00 cheaper than Staples price or a 40% savings.
Ok, so you are probably saying that's not "Almost Free" yet. Yes, you are right, but now I will let you in on our Second Biggest Secret. If that is the only purchase you make, you can apply a 5% discount coupon code if your total order is $35 or more. That means an additional $1.05 off the $20.99 price or $19.94, which is a Savings of 43%. Not bad, but if you spend over $55, you will receive 10% off your total order. That means $2.10 off the $20.99 price or $18.89, which is a Savings of 54%. In addition, you get FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50.
There you have it! Still want to shop at Staples? Remember, our ink cartridge products are 100% guaranteed for one year and are rated "Platinum" by Biz Rate for customer service.
To your success at reducing your printer costs!
Let me give you a real life example. If you purchase a Hewlett Packard brand HP#57 (C6657AN) cartridge, you will pay $34.99 at Staples. At Tonerr.com, you will pay $32.99, a savings of $2.00 or 5.7%.
Now, let's get down to the subject at hand, the First Biggest Secret. If you read my home page, you now realize that purchasing brand name printer cartridges, like in our example above, is WASTING YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY! If you had purchased the HP#57 re manufactured printer cartridge instead (which are brand new parts contained in a recycled shell) will cost you only $20.99. That is $14.00 cheaper than Staples price or a 40% savings.
Ok, so you are probably saying that's not "Almost Free" yet. Yes, you are right, but now I will let you in on our Second Biggest Secret. If that is the only purchase you make, you can apply a 5% discount coupon code if your total order is $35 or more. That means an additional $1.05 off the $20.99 price or $19.94, which is a Savings of 43%. Not bad, but if you spend over $55, you will receive 10% off your total order. That means $2.10 off the $20.99 price or $18.89, which is a Savings of 54%. In addition, you get FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50.
There you have it! Still want to shop at Staples? Remember, our ink cartridge products are 100% guaranteed for one year and are rated "Platinum" by Biz Rate for customer service.
To your success at reducing your printer costs!
The Hidden Cost in Any Printer Purchase is Toner
Today, the cost of printers is unbelievably low. You can find brand-name photo printers for under a hundred dollars, and workhorse laser printers for under two hundred dollars. Color inkjet printers remain a bargain, starting at around a hundred and twenty-five dollars. If you're not careful, though, what you save in the purchase price of a printer goes down the drain when you have to buy replacement toner cartridges or ink cartridges.
When deciding which printer to buy, it pays to determine the cost per page printed. That cost is calculated by the cost of the cartridge you use. Let's say, for example, that you purchased a black and white Brother Laser Printer for $150 and an HP color inkjet printer for $150. A new Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) toner cartridge for the Brother printer costs about sixty-five dollars and will print about 2,500 pages. The black ink cartridge for the HP only costs about thirty dollars. Great deal, right? No, because the black ink cartridge will only print about 800 pages. The Brother cartridge will give you a cost per page of a little over two-and-a-half cents, whereas the HP cartridge ups the ante to three-and-three-quarters cents per page. That may not sound like a lot, but over the course of printing the equivalent of ten cartons of paper, or 50,000 pages, you'll pay $625 more for the HP ink than you will for the Brother toner.
But what if you're not in the market for a new printer, and are churning out page after page with the printer you now own? Chances are, you're paying a premium price for that Original Equipment Manufacturer LaserJet toner cartridge or inkjet printer cartridge. A great way to bring down your cost-per-page is to choose a less expensive option to replace your laser toner or inkjet ink. The two least costly options are compatible ink cartridges and re-manufactured ink cartridges.
Before you listen to the hyperbole from printer manufacturers that say that compatible and remanufactured cartridges will ruin your printer or produce inferior quality printed pages, ask yourself this: Don't printer manufacturers have an enormous economic stake in making sure you buy their brand name printer cartridges? Of course they do. They sell their printers at such a low cost precisely because they know that you'll need replacement print cartridges, from which they make huge profits.
Compatible laser toner and ink cartridges are made and sold by companies other than printer manufacturers. You can find reputable toner and inkjet cartridge sellers online who take pride in providing products that meet or exceed the specifications set forth by printer manufacturers. Compatible cartridges will work fine in your printer, and won't void your printer's warranty. Essentially, they consist of a previously used casing with all new parts and new toner or ink. Similarly, re-manufactured cartridges are previously used and refilled with toner or ink, but are rigorously tested to ensure their quality.
The bottom line is that toner is the hidden cost of any printer purchase. Why pay for your printer time and again by paying premium prices for OEM cartridges when you can save up to 76 percent of the cost by buying compatible or re-manufactured cartridges?
When deciding which printer to buy, it pays to determine the cost per page printed. That cost is calculated by the cost of the cartridge you use. Let's say, for example, that you purchased a black and white Brother Laser Printer for $150 and an HP color inkjet printer for $150. A new Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) toner cartridge for the Brother printer costs about sixty-five dollars and will print about 2,500 pages. The black ink cartridge for the HP only costs about thirty dollars. Great deal, right? No, because the black ink cartridge will only print about 800 pages. The Brother cartridge will give you a cost per page of a little over two-and-a-half cents, whereas the HP cartridge ups the ante to three-and-three-quarters cents per page. That may not sound like a lot, but over the course of printing the equivalent of ten cartons of paper, or 50,000 pages, you'll pay $625 more for the HP ink than you will for the Brother toner.
But what if you're not in the market for a new printer, and are churning out page after page with the printer you now own? Chances are, you're paying a premium price for that Original Equipment Manufacturer LaserJet toner cartridge or inkjet printer cartridge. A great way to bring down your cost-per-page is to choose a less expensive option to replace your laser toner or inkjet ink. The two least costly options are compatible ink cartridges and re-manufactured ink cartridges.
Before you listen to the hyperbole from printer manufacturers that say that compatible and remanufactured cartridges will ruin your printer or produce inferior quality printed pages, ask yourself this: Don't printer manufacturers have an enormous economic stake in making sure you buy their brand name printer cartridges? Of course they do. They sell their printers at such a low cost precisely because they know that you'll need replacement print cartridges, from which they make huge profits.
Compatible laser toner and ink cartridges are made and sold by companies other than printer manufacturers. You can find reputable toner and inkjet cartridge sellers online who take pride in providing products that meet or exceed the specifications set forth by printer manufacturers. Compatible cartridges will work fine in your printer, and won't void your printer's warranty. Essentially, they consist of a previously used casing with all new parts and new toner or ink. Similarly, re-manufactured cartridges are previously used and refilled with toner or ink, but are rigorously tested to ensure their quality.
The bottom line is that toner is the hidden cost of any printer purchase. Why pay for your printer time and again by paying premium prices for OEM cartridges when you can save up to 76 percent of the cost by buying compatible or re-manufactured cartridges?
Why You Should Use Compatible Ink Cartridges
In today's world, we all use personal computers for either personal use or for a small business. Chances are that we have a printer attached to it.
Over the past ten years, the market and use, for both personal computers and inkjet printers, has increased dramatically. Technology, over the same period, has brought the cost of computers and printers down. However, the usage of printers has increased tenfold. As a result of this increase, most people quickly found that using brand named printer cartridges, such as Lexmark and Hewlett Packard, became quite costly.
Enter The Compatible Ink Cartridge
So, what are compatible ink cartridges? Simply put, they are a reused ink cartridge shell with all new parts contained within that shell.
So What Are The Advantages?First, the quality that is produced from this cartridge is just as, if not, better than that of the brand name ink cartridges. The result will be professionally made documents.
Second is cost. You will see that over the long run, you will save anywhere from 54% to 76% using compatible ink cartridges.
Third is that using compatible ink will NOT affect the warrantee of your printer. It is illegal for a company to void your warrantee just because you use a compatible ink product.
So it makes PERFECT sense to purchase compatible ink products.
Over the past ten years, the market and use, for both personal computers and inkjet printers, has increased dramatically. Technology, over the same period, has brought the cost of computers and printers down. However, the usage of printers has increased tenfold. As a result of this increase, most people quickly found that using brand named printer cartridges, such as Lexmark and Hewlett Packard, became quite costly.
Enter The Compatible Ink Cartridge
So, what are compatible ink cartridges? Simply put, they are a reused ink cartridge shell with all new parts contained within that shell.
So What Are The Advantages?First, the quality that is produced from this cartridge is just as, if not, better than that of the brand name ink cartridges. The result will be professionally made documents.
Second is cost. You will see that over the long run, you will save anywhere from 54% to 76% using compatible ink cartridges.
Third is that using compatible ink will NOT affect the warrantee of your printer. It is illegal for a company to void your warrantee just because you use a compatible ink product.
So it makes PERFECT sense to purchase compatible ink products.
Why the "Brand Name" printer ink companies HATE Third Party Vendors
Do you think it has something to do with money?
If you purchased a Lexmark or Hewlett Packard inkjet printer over the past year, you must have noticed that the price you paid was surprisingly low. However, the ink cartridges that they sell with the printer will cost an arm and a leg, Right? (you might want to read "How to tell which printers are cost effective" ) What gives?
Well, the logic big companies use is something like this: price a brand new Gillette razor really low so you can sell the replacement razor blades really high, make sense?
Consumers are getting increasingly mad about having to pay high prices for brand named ink cartridges, like Lexmark and Hewlett Packard. "The brands dominate; together, Canon, Epson, Hewlett Packard and Lexmark account for 84 percent of the ink replacement market" states Tom Spring of PC World Magazine.
Enter the independent third party vendors. They are trying to capitalizing on a $21 billion dollar market need, by selling compatible ink cartridges and ink refill kits. Can you blame them for finding a niche that consumers are crying out for? The big name companies claim that third-party vendor ink is inferior to the brand-name versions. But are they?
Everything I have read or have experienced indicates quite the contrary. According to Neil Slade's research on testing compatible ink cartridges, he states, "Not only did I test nearly a dozen brands of inexpensive inks (two tests over a long period of time) none of them failed (even the ones with bad color) by clogging my print heads-- especially the G&G ink, which I have used for a year to print tens of thousands of documents. Of all the inks I tested, only Arrow failed because of bad cart ink flow, not even because it clogged the head."
It has been published that the gross margins on an Epson ink cartridge, for example, can sometimes top 60%. However, the Lexmark's and Epson's of the world will deny those percentages. Why then would they go as far as to plan implanting a chip inside their ink cartridges? A chip you say? Because the printer you purchased from them would only print once it recognizes this chip, thereby virtually eliminating the compatible ink cartridges market.
The brand name manufactures are also defending the reason for the high cost of replacement ink by saying that they are spending huge amounts of spending on technology improvements. "Predictably, Hewlett Packard and others say their cartridge prices aren't high considering the cost of research and development and manufacturing the equipment. Mr. Jotwani points out that at Hewlett Packard, an ink jet printer cartridge is very sophisticated. For example, each has 40 microscopic nozzles that precisely expel billions of ink dots across a page. Hewlett Packard is also attentive to ink quality to assure uniform viscosity and color".
So, after all is said and done, do you think it all comes down to money? The big brand name companies are just trying everything in their power to justify the cost of their ink products.
If you purchased a Lexmark or Hewlett Packard inkjet printer over the past year, you must have noticed that the price you paid was surprisingly low. However, the ink cartridges that they sell with the printer will cost an arm and a leg, Right? (you might want to read "How to tell which printers are cost effective" ) What gives?
Well, the logic big companies use is something like this: price a brand new Gillette razor really low so you can sell the replacement razor blades really high, make sense?
Consumers are getting increasingly mad about having to pay high prices for brand named ink cartridges, like Lexmark and Hewlett Packard. "The brands dominate; together, Canon, Epson, Hewlett Packard and Lexmark account for 84 percent of the ink replacement market" states Tom Spring of PC World Magazine.
Enter the independent third party vendors. They are trying to capitalizing on a $21 billion dollar market need, by selling compatible ink cartridges and ink refill kits. Can you blame them for finding a niche that consumers are crying out for? The big name companies claim that third-party vendor ink is inferior to the brand-name versions. But are they?
Everything I have read or have experienced indicates quite the contrary. According to Neil Slade's research on testing compatible ink cartridges, he states, "Not only did I test nearly a dozen brands of inexpensive inks (two tests over a long period of time) none of them failed (even the ones with bad color) by clogging my print heads-- especially the G&G ink, which I have used for a year to print tens of thousands of documents. Of all the inks I tested, only Arrow failed because of bad cart ink flow, not even because it clogged the head."
It has been published that the gross margins on an Epson ink cartridge, for example, can sometimes top 60%. However, the Lexmark's and Epson's of the world will deny those percentages. Why then would they go as far as to plan implanting a chip inside their ink cartridges? A chip you say? Because the printer you purchased from them would only print once it recognizes this chip, thereby virtually eliminating the compatible ink cartridges market.
The brand name manufactures are also defending the reason for the high cost of replacement ink by saying that they are spending huge amounts of spending on technology improvements. "Predictably, Hewlett Packard and others say their cartridge prices aren't high considering the cost of research and development and manufacturing the equipment. Mr. Jotwani points out that at Hewlett Packard, an ink jet printer cartridge is very sophisticated. For example, each has 40 microscopic nozzles that precisely expel billions of ink dots across a page. Hewlett Packard is also attentive to ink quality to assure uniform viscosity and color".
So, after all is said and done, do you think it all comes down to money? The big brand name companies are just trying everything in their power to justify the cost of their ink products.
How To Tell Which Printers are Cost Effective?
Before you purchase your next inkjet or laser printer, you will need to understand the importance of the term "Yield", which we will discuss in a moment. For now, let us take a look at the various elements that go into determining the cost of printing just "One Page".
We can identify two major costs. The first being the cost of the printer and the second being the cost of toner. An Inkjet printer usually runs anywhere from $50 to $300, while a Laser Jet can cost you $200 up to $6,000 depending on the type (Color vs. Monochrome).
As far as the purchase of ink, generally the cost of ink for an Inkjet printer is cheaper than that of a Laser printer. However, you will need to buy it more often than the laser cartridges you purchase for the laser printer. But does buying an expense printer cost you less in ink or does purchasing a cheaper Inkjet printer mean that it does not matter what the cost of ink is? Can we include a common denominator that will determine just how much your printer is costing you? Or better put, what is the cost of printing just "One Page"?
Well, for one thing, you will need to learn a new term called "Yield". This is defined as dividing the cost of the ink by the number of pages you can print with one cartridge. For example, if it costs you $40 for your ink cartridge and you can print 500 pages, then the yield is 8 cents per page ($40/500=$.08). Compare this with a laser cartridge that costs $150 which produces 10,000 pages per cartridge. The cost of this cartridge is like sticker shock compared to the inkjet printer, right? But this cartridge will only cost you 1.5 cents per page to print. By doing this simple calculation, you can better determine which printer is the most cost effective on a "cost per page" basis.
We can identify two major costs. The first being the cost of the printer and the second being the cost of toner. An Inkjet printer usually runs anywhere from $50 to $300, while a Laser Jet can cost you $200 up to $6,000 depending on the type (Color vs. Monochrome).
As far as the purchase of ink, generally the cost of ink for an Inkjet printer is cheaper than that of a Laser printer. However, you will need to buy it more often than the laser cartridges you purchase for the laser printer. But does buying an expense printer cost you less in ink or does purchasing a cheaper Inkjet printer mean that it does not matter what the cost of ink is? Can we include a common denominator that will determine just how much your printer is costing you? Or better put, what is the cost of printing just "One Page"?
Well, for one thing, you will need to learn a new term called "Yield". This is defined as dividing the cost of the ink by the number of pages you can print with one cartridge. For example, if it costs you $40 for your ink cartridge and you can print 500 pages, then the yield is 8 cents per page ($40/500=$.08). Compare this with a laser cartridge that costs $150 which produces 10,000 pages per cartridge. The cost of this cartridge is like sticker shock compared to the inkjet printer, right? But this cartridge will only cost you 1.5 cents per page to print. By doing this simple calculation, you can better determine which printer is the most cost effective on a "cost per page" basis.
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