TCPglobal - news, views and issues on total cost of printing

Issue #0907/1 – Hewlett-Packard has built serious business inkjet devices with individual ink tanks since 2003, and arguably since 1994 when the DeskJet 1200c was produced. And yet, despite the fact that its Officejet range (those with four individual ink tanks) has always demonstrated a hugely superior Total Cost of Printing for small businesses (with fairly low print volumes) to any other inkjet device on the market, and to any laser printer you care to name, historically there seems to have been a reticence to marketing the range with vigour.

Issue #0906/2 – Even though we are familiar with technology prices consistently falling through the floor, it still comes as a shock to see a mono laser printer on sale in the UK for the price of a typical meal for one in a decent restaurant (or for two in a low-cost restaurant). Oki is not usually associated with such groundbreaking, low prices but here we have the 22ppm Oki B2200 available on a special offer for just £41.12 including tax (£35 excluding tax).

Issue #0906/1 – Financial results for the last quarter released by Hewlett-Packard this week underline the difficult times that the industry is facing during this current economic downturn. However, whereas immediate revenues are down and Lexmark’s troubles gather pace, there are clear positive signs within the industry.

Issue #0905/2 – Hewlett-Packard has made the task of printing photos directly from a mobile phone a little bit easier – for iPhone and iPod touch customers anyway – with the launch of its new HP iPrint Photo application.

Issue 0905/1 – With just about everyone with something to sell getting in on the ‘Crunch Buster’, ‘Credit Crunch Beating’ or ‘Recession Beating’ bandwagon, to try and persuade consumers and businesses that now is the best time to buy, one would hope that buying multi-packs, twin-packs or value packs of printer supplies would offer a decent saving. We investigate just how much money can be saved by buying these multi/twin/value-packs – with some surprising results!

Issue #0904/1 – In the past year, since we last looked at entry-level colour laser printers (), there have, of course, been several new models come to market. But, there are a surprising number of the original models still available, usually representing the cheapest machine to buy from the manufacturer concerned. In this article we revisit the entry-level category but both restrict and expand it a little to include only the cheapest machine in the range but from each of the major manufacturers to show just what ‘entry-level’ means in each instance.

Issue #0904/2 – As expected (), Hewlett-Packard has increased supplies prices this month but by an unexpectedly high percentage – in the UK up to 43%!

Issue #0903/1 – With the launch of its new A3 MFP, the MC860, Oki boldly claims “A3 colour at the price and in the size of conventional A4 MFPs”. This statement obviously leaves a number of questions open regarding exactly what comparison is being made. So, we take a look and find out exactly where the MC860 sits in relation to other colour MFPs on the market – both A3 and A4.