In this tough economy everyone is looking for new ways to save some money.  One way to save some green  is by reducing the amount of money you on printing. We don’t mean that you should ration off printer restrictions to each employee (although that might not be a bad idea, especially for the employee who enjoys printing pictures of her dog to put up in her cubicle), rather you should consider re-investing in more efficient laser toner or inkjet printers.

In a recent article published in Money magazine, Rik Fairlie identified a few money saving tips that anyone can employ plus identified two of the best inkjet printers available today. Rik’s biggest tip to consumers when comparing printers was to always factor printing costs and not just printer costs. To calculate the printing costs simply divide the cost of the printer cartridge by the number of pages each cartridge can print (known as the page yield). Farlie recommends aiming for monochrome text pages to be at or under 3¢ a page and for color pages to be under 9¢ a page.

The first printer on his list was the HP Officejet 6000 Wireless printer, which was called the “best value inkjet printer.” The built-in duplexer allows the Officejet 6000 to easily print on two-sides of a page while the per page print costs remain low: Black-and-white documents cost 2.7¢ a page; color prints cost 9.1¢ a page.

If you are looking for the best value All-in-One (copy, print & can) inkjet printer, then Fairlie recommends you consider the Kodak ESP 5250. Citing the reasons as extremely prices for replacement ink cartridges coupled with printing costs at approximately 2.4¢ each for black & white pages; 6.7¢ each for color pages.

For a full list of Rik Fairlie’s tips on how to find the best value printer, check out his article at CNN Money.

Our HP Summer Sale is here! For a limited time, prices for select HP compatible toner cartridges have been slashed. Save up to 50% off our normal prices and up to 70% compared to HP Genuine Toner pricing for these select HP Printers. Save even more with our volume discount pricing!

HP LaserJet 1012 Toner	|	HP LaserJet M1212 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P1505 Toner
HP LaserJet 1020 Toner	|	HP LaserJet M1312 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P2015 Toner
HP LaserJet 1022 Toner	|	HP LaserJet M1522 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P2035 Toner
HP LaserJet 3015 Toner	|	HP LaserJet M2727 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P2055 Toner
HP LaserJet 3020 Toner	|	HP LaserJet M3027 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P3005 Toner
HP LaserJet 3030 Toner	|	HP LaseJet M3035 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P3015 Toner
HP LaserJet 4240 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P1005 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P4014 Toner
HP LaserJet 4250 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P1006 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P4015 Toner
HP LaserJet 4350 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P1102 Toner	|	HP LaserJet P4515 Toner

HP CB435A Toner – Was $44.00, NOW $33.00

HP CB436A Toner – Was $46.00, NOW $29.00

HP CC364A Toner – Was $119.00, NOW $59.00

HP CC364X Toner – Was $159.00, NOW $66.00

HP CE255A Toner – Was $69.00, NOW $49.00

HP CE255X Toner – Was $89.00, NOW $59.00

HP CE285A Toner – Was $49.00, NOW $39.00

HP CE505A Toner – Was $62.00, NOW $39.00

HP CE505X Toner – Was $89.00, NOW $55.00

HP Q2612A Toner – Was $39.00, NOW $21.00

HP Q5942A Toner – Was $99.00, NOW $42.00

HP Q5942X Toner – Was $99.00, NOW $72.00

HP Q7551A Toner – Was $99.00, NOW $43.00

HP Q7551X Toner – Was $119.00, NOW $80.00

HP Q7553A Toner – Was $59.00, NOW $33.00

HP Q7553X Toner – Was $99.00, NOW $55.00

If you can’t find your HP Toner listed above, be sure to CLICK HERE to view our full line of HP Toner Cartridge Supplies.

*Prices are subject to change without notice

Is your office or small business looking for a new printer powerful enough to handle a large workload without breaking the bank? If the answer is yes, then you might want to start your search off with the HP LaserJet P4014 printer series. These HP P4014 printers (which include the HP P4014n and HP p4014dn) have a starting price of under $900. The only functional difference between the P4014n and the P4014dn is that the P4014dn includes a duplexer standard (for automatic double-sided printing), while this is an optional feature for the P4014n).  So let’s find out what your $900 will get you.&nbs
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HP P4014 Printer – The Work Horse

If your office requires a high volume of printing, then look no further. With print speeds up to 45 pages per minute and a 540 MHz processor, efficiency will always be a priority.  Now let’s examine a situation and see if it has this ever happened to you. You are running a little late to work (stuck in traffic of course) and you need to print off your report when you get into the office for the big early morning meeting. After being stopped by a few co-workers you finally make it to the computer and send your documents to the printer. When you arrive at the printer to pick up your report, you realize it is still in sleep mode – and warming up! A couple of precious minutes fly by and the printer is finally ready and begins to process your documents. This is an annoying and as this scenario showed very troublesome problem that can be avoided with the proper printer.

Enter HP, who listened to their customers and solved this issue with their Instant-on technology. HP uses advanced fuser technology to process workloads faster when awakening from power save mode thus drastically reducing the total time of a print job (Total Time to Completion) and the HP P4014 series has it. Can you imagine having your first page print in as little as 8.5 seconds?  If you are in need of high print resolution capabilities then the P4014 series printers also have you covered as they print up to 1200 x 1200 dpi. One other benefit is that while your HP P4014 printer is in power save mode, it will be ready to print due to the Instant-on technology, which helps out the electric bill!

Now in order to keep your HP P4014 printer operating as a work horse year after year, it is crucial to keep it maintained and fresh. The toner cartridge required for this printer is the HP 64A series, also known as CC364A which has a page yield of 10,000 sheets. Periodically you will need to purchase a maintenance kit in order to maintain high print quality and reduce paper jams. You can use two forms of HP P4014 maintenance kits; the 110v HP CB388A and the 220v HP CB389A. Each maintenance kit has a page yield of 220,000 just make sure your power chord and maintenance kit align!

HP P4014 Printer – The Customizable

So now you know that your $900 will buy you a powerful, energy efficient printer for your workplace – but now you are ready to upgrade, the question is can you? The short answer is yes, as much as your heart (or budget) desires. If you are tired of constantly replacing the paper in the paper trays then consider buying additional paper trays for your HP P4014. In fact when it is all said and done you can extend your printer’s capacity by 2,500 sheets by purchasing up to 3 additional paper trays.  Other paper handling upgrades include adding a 75-sheet envelope feeder, 5-bin mailbox or 500-sheet stapler / stacker.  Instead of using more paper, why not use less by upgrading your printer from an HP P4014n to the HP P4014dn. Essentially you upgrade your printer by purchasing the auto-duplexer thus allowing you to automatically print in two-sided mode, saving your company money and helping the environment! Now if you are interested in improving performance then consider expanding the P4014′s memory in increments to 256 MB, 512 MB, maxing out at 640 MB.  Lastly you can attach your HP P4014 printer directly to your Local Area Network (LAN) by adding one of the numerous options (headlined by Ethernet and Wireless) of JetDirect technology to the printer’s EIO drive.

HP P4014 Printer – Quick Facts

Print Speed – 45 ppm
Document Delivery Speed -8.5 seconds from Ready Mode.
Print Resolution – Up to 1,200 by 1,200 dpi
Processor – 540 MHz
Memory – 128 MB standard, upgradable to 640 MB
Recommended Printing Volume (per month) – 3,000 to 12,000 pages.
Automatic Two Sided Printing? – Optional for P4014n / Standard for P4014dn
Paper Capacity – 100-sheet multipurpose tray & 500-sheet input try comes standard. Upgrades allow 3 additional trays up to 2,500-sheet additional capacity.
Dimensions – 16.5 by 17.7 (21.2 for P4014dn) by 15.5 in.
Physical Weight – 56.93 LB / 62.3 LB (P4014dn)
Warranty – One year limited warranty
Power Consumption – Active: 800 watts, Ready: 17 watts, Sleep: 12 watts
Energy Star Qualified – HP P4014dn Only
HP Toner Cartridge - HP CC364A / HP 64A (10,000 page yield)
Maintenance Kit – CB388A (110v) / CB389A (220v)

Today I wanted to review the HP fuser unit and how to keep an HP laser printer functioning properly by periodically maintaining and replacing the printer fuser. First it is important to review just what a fuser unit’s main purpose is.  Have you ever wondered why or how the paper is warm when comes out of the a printer?

Well you can thank your HP fuser unit for that! The fuser unit is responsible for “fusing” or “embedding” the toner onto the paper using the combination of heat and pressure. The heat is generated from a heat lamp and the pressure from two rollers.  Hence the warm paper. The diagram to the right does a nice job of showing how the fuser unit works.

It is common for HP fuser units to come in two strengths: a 120v fuser unit and a 110v fuser unit, so it is extremely important to order the fuser unit that is compatible with your printer. Using a fuser unit of incorrect strength can cause serious damage to a printer and may even lead to fire hazard.  So when it comes time to order a replacement for the HP fuser unit remember to shop for a replacement either by the manufacturer code or printer model. Let’s say you own an HP LaserJet 5550 printer. It would be wise to perform one of the following searches when shopping for this particular HP printer’s fuser unit; “HP LaserJet 5550 fuser unit,” or “Q3984A.”

HP LaserJet Fuser Maintenance

After learning  that the HP fuser unit is responsible for getting a printer’s toner onto the paper, it should be clear why it is so important to constantly monitor and troubleshoot fuser unit maintenance issues. Think of the HP fuser unit as a car’s tires. The tires keep a car on the road and operating properly, similarly a fuser unit enables the laser printer to perform it’s primary function of printing. So just as it is important to keep tires in impeccable condition, equal attention should be paid to keeping the HP fuser unit in working condition in order to prevent printer damage.  You may be asking yourself, how can the fuser unit damage a printer? Well were you aware that your fuser unit takes up to 90% of a printer’s power usage? If the fuser unit is not working properly then the heat produced can damage the surrounding parts, resulting in expensive and potentially life-ending damage to a printer.

To maximize the life of the HP fuser unit we recommend to refrain from printing on non-standard media from the paper tray and to perform the following monthly tasks: vacuuming or dusting of the assemblies and rollers as well as applying cleaning solutions to remove toner build up. Remember to always wear repair gloves (latex gloves will work fine) when handling your HP fuser unit and assembly rollers as this practice will help reduce contaminating your HP fuser unit with skin oil and other debris.

Replacing your HP Fuser Unit

It is important to keep track of your HP fuser unit’s shelf life, that way you will know when a replacement is necessary. This information can be discovered by referencing the laser printer’s manual (look for the life expectancy chart) and find the fuser unit’s “expected page production life,” better known as the page yield. For instance the HP LaserJet 2200 fuser unit has a page yield of 100,000. This means one could expect their HP LaserJet 2200 fuser unit to function properly for approximately (depending on how the print quality settings are configured) 100,000 printed pages. After the thresehold of 100,000 has surpassed, it is important to monitor the fuser unit’s performance more closely and look to replace the fuser unit shortly thereafter.

If there is no way of keeping track of printed page count (most models will track this automatically), then it is necessary to pro-actively look for other warning signs or red flags including; an increase in paper feed errors or problems, and a decrease in print quality.  Neglecting to replace your HP fuser unit will inevitably lead to printer defects including; damage to printer sensors,  drive gears breaking from over use, heat lamp malfunctions, film sleeve tears, pressure rollers can become worn and scratched, and most commonly toner buildup will develop on the heating and pressure rollers.  Purchasing a replacement HP fuser unit is a small investment that will prevent these printer defects and significantly improve the overall life of your HP printer.