Let’s take some time to talk about the HP 60 black ink cartridge.

When shopping for this cartridge, you are going to want to use one of two different numbers, with HP 60 or HP CC640WN. The latter is the “long” name that HP gave to the cartridge, more of an internal product number. Most consumers will know this cartridge as the HP 60 black ink cartridge. When you find the retail packaging in the store, it will have a big number 60 on the box (you can’t miss it). If you are shopping by UPC number, then you are going to want to use 8 83585 70253 4.

HP released this cartridge back in early 2008 as part of its Vivera ink line. The cartridge shape and design is the same as is predecessor, the  HP 56 cartridge. The primary difference is that the HP 60 features a different color top and a different print head. HP also took another step and introduced the HP 60 XL cartridge as an alternative to this standard black ink cartridge. The 60 XL cartridge yields 200 more pages and costs $20 more dollars. Why should you consider paying more, because when you break down the cost per page, you are going to pay 1.6 cents more per page by using the HP 60 instead of the 60 XL.

Folks who are buying this cartridge are very happy with the quality of the prints it provides. The most common complaint on this black ink cartridge, as is the complaint with HP cartridges in general, is that it is to small (does not hold enough ink). Why design something that requires such frequent replacement?

There are quite a few different inkjet printers that use this cartridge. Most notable are the HP Photosmart, HP Photosmart C4780, HP Deskjet D2500 Series, HP Deskjet F4200 Series, HP Deskjet D1660, and HP Deskjet F4400 series.

Although you can find some deals by looking around, most retailers sell the HP 60 black ink cartridge for $14.99. If buying online, you can find stores that offer free shipping and you’ll save on sales tax. Again, if buying this cartridge I would suggest you spend the extra $20 and get the 60XL cartridge.

HP 60 Black Ink Cartridge - $14.99

Here’s some more education. Call this Printing 101 – Laser Toner Cartridges.

A few days ago we discussed inkjet cartridges. Well, today we will discuss the second more popular type of printer and the cartridges it uses, the laser toner printer. The terms laser toner printer or laser toner cartridge are actually a combination of the more basic, and correct, terms laser printer and toner cartridge.

Let’s start by discussing toner. Toner is the powder that is placed inside the cartridge (thus toner cartridge) to form the printed text and images on paper. At first, toner was simply a black carbon powder. Over time, in order to improve the quality of prints, the carbon was melt-mixed with different substances. The melting of the toner and additional substances is done inside the printer by the fuser. The heating binds the toner to the paper.

So, if toner is the powder in the cartridge, what does the term laser mean? The term last is used to describe the type of printer that uses toner to rapidly rapidly produce high quality text and graphics on plain paper.

Because laser printers use toner cartridges, the two terms have been combined, for descriptive convenience, as laser toner when describing both printers and cartridges.

For years monochrome toner cartridges (print in black only) were they only type of cartridge you could buy. But, as printing technology has progressed color laser toner cartridges were developed. In addition to the traditional black cartridge, these cartridges also feature cyan, magenta, and yellow toner.  Color laser printers have become very popular in business settings because they allow businesses to create higher quality full color documents at a lower cost than they could on an inkjet printer.

Toner has been associated with some heath risks. Because the toner is a fine powder, it can remain suspended in the air for prolonged periods of time. For this reason it is considered to have health effects comparable to dust. It can be an irritant to people with respiratory issues (asthma, bronchitis). A group of scientists in Germany found that laser toner printers, when printing, emit submicrometer toner particles that they found to be carcinogenic. Worried that your laser printer might be causing you some respiratory problems? You should always place your laser printer in a well ventilated area that is a few feet away from where you sit (my printer is on the other side of the room from where I am sitting) when working on your computer. If you do this, your exposure to the toner powder will be minimized.

Almost all of the major printer manufacturers (Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Lexmark, Xerox) make laser toner printers and cartridges. Current models of the cartridges have a micro chip on them. The chip facilitates higher quality printing and communicates the amount of toner left in the cartridge with the laser printer.

So, there you have it! The derivation of the term laser toner, a combination of laser printer and toner cartridge. Were you able to learn anything from all this? If so, or if not, let me know. Thanks!

Here’s a little educational piece for everyone. We’ll call this Printing 101 – Inkjet Cartridges.

Everyone knows what an inkjet cartridge is, you may just refer to it with a different name . . . ink cartridge, printer cartridge, the *$#%! thing that stops working at the worst time and costs me a lot of money to replace. All these are correct! But, here’s the official definition.

An inkjet cartridge is the replaceable component of an inkjet printer that contains the ink that is spread on paper when printing (Source: Wikipedia).  It may also contain a print head. The important thing to know here is that inkjet refers to a specific type of printer and cartridge. Inkjet cartridges are the cartridges that contain liquid ink. Inkjet printers only use inkjet cartridges. The term inkjet comes from the cartridge jetting (spraying) ink on to paper.

Inkjet cartridge contain one or more partitioned chambers that inks are held in. Black cartridges have a single chamber. Color cartridges often have 3, or more, chambers. Most color cartridges have 3 chambers which hold three primary colors; cyan, magenta, and yellow. These three colors are mixed together to form every other color you print (that’s Art 101 and you are going to have to go to a different blog to read more about that).

A print head is the metallic strip, often copper in color, that is placed on a cartridge. This strip communicates with the printer. Micro chips have become popular additions to to inkjet cartridges over the last 5-7 years. They communicate with the printer as well, but allow for more communication than a print head does.

There are two different types of inkjet cartridges – Thermal and Piezoelectric. They type of cartridge you use depends on who the maker of your printer is.

Thermal inkjet cartridges are favored by companies like Canon, Dell, HP, and Lexmark. Inside each partitioned compartment there is a heating element with a tiny metal resistor. The printer gives a signal to the cartridge (through the chip or print head) and a small current flows through the resistor, which warms the heating element. The ink surrounding the element is heated and vaporized into a tiny air bubble within the nozzle of the cartridge (think of the nozzle like a hose). As the volume of ink exceeds the size of the nozzle, an ink droplet is forced out of the nozzle and onto the paper. This process only takes milliseconds!

The word thermal means pertaining to, or caused by heat. This definitely describes the thermal inkjet cartridge.

Epson is the sole printer manufacturer to favor Piezoelectric inkjet cartridges. These cartridges use a piezoelectric crystal in each nozzle (still thinking hose) rather than a heating element. When a electrical current is applied (still have to use an electrical current) the crystal changes shape/size and forces a drop of ink from the nozzle.

Epson claims that Piezoelectric cartridges are better because they can utilize  ink that does not do well when heated. They also claim that these cartridges can produce smaller drops of ink, which means better print outs.

So, there you have it. Inkjet cartridges are rather simple looking devices, but there’s a whole lot of technology that goes in to them so they can produce amazing looking prints.

Did you learn anything from this? If you did let me know. If you didn’t, let me know too. Thanks!

Today we released the remanufactured version of some very popular HP ink cartridges, the HP 564XL series.

The remanufactured 564XL ink cartridges are a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to the HP brand cartridges. Just as the HP brand cartridges, the remanufactured cartridge uses pigment based ink for archival print life. Each cartridge is ISO-9001 certified and backed with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

This series of remanufactured 564XL cartridges does not have a reset chip. This means you have to turn off your ink level monitoring system to print with the cartridge. Even though your printer won’t track the ink levels, you will receive amazing prints.

The cartridges in our remanufactured series are:

Remanufactured HP 564XL CB321WN Black Ink Cartridge, High Yield

Remanufactured HP 564XL CB322WN Black Photo Ink Cartridge, High

Remanufactured HP 564XL CB323WN Cyan Ink Cartridge, High Yield

Remanufactured HP 564XL CB324WN Magenta Ink Cartridge, High Yield

Remanufactured HP 564XL CB325WN Yellow Ink Cartridge, High Yield

When you’ve had a chance to use these cartridges, make sure you come back and let me know your impressions of them. Thanks!

Why are there so many different printer cartridges? Why can’t we just have 1-2 cartridges (actually make that 1-4 cartridges for those that love the individual ink tanks) that do the job. Honestly, do we need the constant release of new cartridges that look exactly the same as their predecessor with the only difference being the chip on the back or a small piece of plastic on the top?

Here’s one reason why we have so many different printer cartridges to choose from.

The folks that manufacture your printer and its cartridges (called OEM’s) need to stay ahead of those that manufacture generic versions of those same cartridges. Why? The answer is simple, to maintain their profits.

Anyone who has done any reading about the printer cartridges knows that cartridges are very lucrative for the OEM’s. The makers of generic cartridges sell their cartridges are prices that are substantially lower than the OEM, and claim the same quality. Assuming quality is the same, wouldn’t you rather buy the less expensive cartridge? I would! You can see generic cartridge manufactures pose a huge threat to the profitability of the OEM’s.

One method the OEM’s use to maintain their profits is to constantly tweak their cartridge designs. By doing this they force the generic cartridge makers to spend time and money creating an equivalent generic cartridge. About the time the generic cartridge is created, the OEM releases a new batch of printer cartridges. This back and forth battle has been going on for years.

Fortunately printer purchasers use their printers for a long period of time. While you may have to spend more for an OEM cartridge at first,  you can bet that a generic, less expensive, cartridge is on its way.

What are your thoughts on the OEM’s releasing so many different printer cartridges? Let me know. Thanks!

Did you know that you end up wasting printer ink when you cut off all electricity to your printer?

Why?

Because when you completely disconnect your inkjet printer from its electrical source (for example by unplugging from the wall outlet, or switching  your power strip off), the printer’s cleaning cycle runs when you restore the electricity and turn the printer on. The cleaning cycle uses ink. The unnecessary repeated running will use a whole lot of ink and cost you a whole lot of money.

To prevent this, you should use the the power (on/off) button on your printer. Using this button signals the printer to “park” the printer cartridges. The “park” feature prevents the printer from running a cleaning cycle when you turn it back on, and protects the ink cartridges from drying out while the machine is off.

Do you have any printer ink saving tips you can share? If so, please let me know. Thanks!

How much printer ink is left when your printer tells you that your cartridge is out of ink and refuses to print until you replace the cartridge? PCWorld conducted a study to answer this question.

The PCWorld researchers tested using multifunction printers from four major manufacturers: Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, and Kodak. They found that that models from Canon, Epson, and Kodak reported ink cartridges as being empty when in some cases the tanks had 40 percent of their black ink remaining.

Here are some of the results:

Canon Ink Cartridges – The printer stopped printing when 24 percent of the ink remained in the tank. Specifically, the full tank of ink weighed 27.333 grams, and the unused ink in the tank at nominal empty weighed 6.459 grams.

Eps0n Ink Cartridges – The printer shut down with just over 8 percent of its ink remaining. The weight of the ink in the full cartridge was 11.700 grams; the weight of the residual ink at printer shutdown was 0.969 gram.

HP Ink Cartridges – PCWorld could not get a reading on HP cartridges because HP takes a different approach to running out of ink. The HP printer will warn you that you are running low, but will not stop printing. You can just keep printing with an HP cartridge until your printouts are banded and faded.

Kodak Ink Cartridges – Kodak printers shut down with 43 percent of the ink remaining. Its full quantity of ink weighed 16.857 grams, and its unused ink after shutdown weighed 7.272 grams.

So, what’s up with all the wasted ink?

Printer cartridge designers say there are reasons for not running a cartridge completely out of its ink. The primary being that a completely dry ink cartridge could damage  your printer (Source: Rochester Institute of Technology). Others say that the 40% of ink that is left only amounts a few milliliters, so you are really not wasting much at all.

Nice try, but I not feeling reassured by these reasons. Ink cartridge capacity, although not shared by cartridge manufacturers, is measured in milliliters, so throwing away a few milliliters amounts to a lot of ink. Especially as you start to add them up over the many cartridges you use during your printer’s life time.  An average black ink cartridge contains 8 milliliters of ink and costs about $10, which translates into a cost of $1.25 per milliliter ($1250 per liter). Throwing away a few, well say 2 milliliters of ink, will cost me $2.50. I’m spending $10 to buy the cartridge, and then throwing away $2.50 of that. Sounds pretty wasteful to me.

The only time you should really be concerned with leaving printer in in your cartridge is if you are going to refill it. If you run the cartridge dry, the nozzles will dry and clog. You will not be able to use the cartridge if the nozzles are clogged. By leaving some ink in the cartridge, the nozzles won’t be able to dry out and you will be able to print succesfully after refilling.

How do you feel about all this wasted printer ink? Take a minute and let me know. Thanks!

Your HP DeskJet 2050 printer has some lights blinking. What do they mean?

The lights on the front of the printer indicate the printer’s status. The lights can be on or off, blinking or not blinking, depending on the status of your printer. The power light, attention light, and check ink cartridges light can all blink in distinctive patterns to indicate status or errors.

If the power light is blinking and the attention light is off, the printer is busy processing a print, scan, copy, or maintenance job. Wait for the current job to finish before starting another job.

If the power light is blinking for 3 seconds, then returns to its previous state and the attention light is off, you should wait for the printer to finish processing its current job before starting a new one.

If the power light is fast blinking, the attention light is on, and the check cartridge light is on, you should make sure to check to make sure the cartridge access door is fully closed.

If the power light is fast blinking and the attention light is on, you should: 1) Check to make sure you are not out of paper. 2) Make sure the output tray is open. 3) Check for a paper jam.

If the power light is blinking, the check color cartridge light is blinking, and the check black cartridge light is blinking, you should: 1) Reset the printer (this blinking light pattern represents a fatal error or a scanner failure). 2) Take your printer to a repair person.

If the power light is on, the attention light is off, the check color cartridge light is on, and the check black cartridge light is on, you should: 1) Install a new printer cartridge (one is missing). 2) Remove and reinstall the printer cartridges (the cartridges are not installed correctly). 3) Replace the problem cartridge.

If the power light is on, the attention light is off, and both the check cartridge lights are blinking, you should buy a new set of printer cartridges (from Pacific Ink!). You don’t need to replace the cartridges in the printer yet, but you are running low on ink. If you order when the printer tells you that you are low in printer ink you will have the new cartridges ready for when the one’s in your printer run out.

The DeskJet 2050 is very popular right now, it appears that HP has got it right with this one. Do you own one? If so, let me know what you think of it. Thanks!

This is a sure fire sign of a paper jam.

If paper jams inside your HP DeskJet 2050 printer , the printer will stop printing, the Power light will blink, and the Attention light will turn on. Here’s what you need to do to fix it.

Solution #1 – Clear the paper jam

Step one: Remove any loose paper. Remove any loose sheets of paper from the input tray and the output tray.

Step two: Clear the paper jam from the base of the All-in-One. Use the following steps to check for and remove jammed paper from the base of the HP product.

Step three: Clear the jam from inside the All-in-One

Step four: Clear the jam from the front of the All-in-One. If you cannot remove the jam from the base or inside the product, follow these steps to remove the paper jam from the front.

Solution #2 – Perform a power reset

Step one: Perform a power reset

Step two: Print a self-test report

Step three: Search for more information. If you are still experiencing issues, see the HP Product Support Home Page, and then search for another document that relates to the symptoms you are experiencing.

Solution #3 – Service the product. You are going to have to some research on this one and try to find a reputable printer repair person in your area.

For more a more detailed version of these instructions, click here.

Did these tips work for you? Take a second to let me know. Thanks!

Yesterday Lexmark released a new line of color workgroup laser printers. The printers they released are:

Lexmark X792 – Color Laser MFP Series

Lexmark C792 – Color Laser Series

Lexmark X925de – Color MFP

Lexmark C925de – Color Printer

All of these printers feature varying sizes of color touch screens, which Lexmark claims will  give printer users more productive access to the features they need. The X792 series features a 10.2-inch touch screen. Lexmark claims this to be the largest touch screen in this class. Why so big? Besides “bigger is better”, this screen is great for print previewing entire documents or specific pages within a document before printing. According to Lexmark, the X792 series features the fastest print and copy speeds (50 pages per minute). In this case “bigger, and faster, is better”.

If bigger and faster doesn’t do it for you, then you can scale down and go with the C792 series. This group of color laser printers are single function (printing only) and feature a 4.3 inch touch screen.

At the bottom of the list  you have the Lexmark X925de and C925de  printers. These machines specialize in printing on paper sizes of 11 inches by 17 inches. The X925de is a multifunction machine that features a 10.2 inch touch screen display while the C925de, a single function machine,  features a 4.3 inch touch screen.

Unfortunately, Lexmark did not release any prices on these printers. Being in the work group class, I can imagine they carry a pretty hefty price tag.

Have any inside information on the prices of these machines? If so, let me know. Thanks!