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Printers
HP’s business inkjets already cost half
as much to run as colour laser devices,
making them an attractive proposition
for small and medium-sized businesses
(SMBs), remote offices and branch
offices. Now, with the integration of HP
PageWide Technology they can print at
up to twice the speed as well – up to 70
pages per minute in the fastest colour
mode and up to 42ppm in the default
mode.
HP PageWide Technology is able
to achieve such high speeds through a
combination of a fixed printhead with
42,240 nozzles (1,200 nozzles per inch)
spanning the width of a page; specially
formulated, fast drying HP pigment inks;
and a paper transport system that moves
paper beneath the printhead at high speed
and great stability (important for reliable
print quality).
At the time of going to press, HP
had just revealed details of the first
Not to be outdone by an upstart like
Memjet, HP has developed its own
platform for high-speed office inkjet
printing – HP PageWide Technology.
products based on this new generation
technology. Due to be launched in Spring
2013, the HP Officejet Pro X series
includes workgroup printers and MFPs
with a top speed of 70 pages per minute;
automatic two-sided printing – a big
advantage over Memjet-based Evojet
Office devices; a generous 500-sheet
paper tray as standard, with the option
to add a second if required; and driverless
and wireless printing capabilities
including HP ePrint andWiFi Direct.
HP’s new printers are not as quick as
the Evojet Office (in default mode) – and
speeds fall further in duplex mode to up
to 22ppm or 33ppm in fastest colour
mode – but they are still more than fast
enough for most workgroup users.When
you add in the devices’ extra functionality
– auto duplex in particular – and more
flexible buying options, they look even
more attractive.
...Memjet’s
approach is
to reduce
the cost of
printing by
charging
less...
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magazine
New HP devices have the X factor
BREAKING NEWS : BREAKING NEWS : BREAKING NEWS
its 60ppm print speed become more
noticeable, but because the minimum
price per page continues to fall. A 20% rise
in monthly subscription to £59 will double
your page allowance to 1,000 pages per
month and bring the minimum cost per
page down by as much as 40% to 5.9p.
Those paying the maximum £149
monthly subscription who make full
use of their allowance of 5,000 pages
will enjoy an all-inclusive (hardware,
consumables and support) cost per page
of just 3p no matter how much ink or
colour is used. This is excellent value for
money, especially if you use the printer
solely for colour output.
Manual duplex
Another way in which the Evojet Office 2
favours people producing full-page colour
prints is that the existing model doesn’t
have automatic two-sided printing. This
really is a requirement for general office
printing – and not having it will put off
many business customers – but is less of a
limitation for colour graphics as these tend
to be printed on just one side anyway.
Printing made easy
Memjet is promoting its pre-pay pricing
model as something radically new but by
encouraging users to print more (on the
basis that you might as well use what
you’ve paid for) it is reminiscent of a
previous age when there was no pressure
to control print volumes.
Indeed, at the launch McGlynn drew a
distinction between Memjet’s approach,
which is to reduce the cost of printing by
charging less, and that of existing players
who aim to cut costs by “making it as
hard as possible to print”.
He said: “[With our model,] you don’t
have to be economical. You don’t have to
take printers away, which is what MPS does
– it takes your printer away so you have to
walk to the printer down the hall and that
affects productivity. You can sprinkle our
printers around an organisation and have
10 people sharing each one. People say it’s
like having their personal printer back. It’s
not a personal printer: it just feels like one
because it’s so fast.”
Conclusion
Memjet technology is an exciting
addition to the office and commercial
printing markets. The first office devices
available – the EvoJet Office 2 and a
soon-to-be-launched all-in-one – give
some idea of the potential of the
technology, notably its very high print
speeds and affordable colour output.
The pre-pay subscription model
disguises the high cost of the printers
themselves – in Europe they cost about
600-700 euros, which is probably more
than most small businesses would be
prepared to pay for a simplex inkjet
printer, albeit one that prints one colour
page per second – and it is convenient.
However, simplicity comes at the
expense of flexibility and Compatech’s
model will not suit everyone, especially
not those who print typical business
documents with just a little colour; those
with low print volumes; and those whose
demand for print varies from month
to month. It is to be hoped that when
volumes allow, printers will be available
for purchase (at a reasonable price) so
that businesses can benefit from Memjet
technology on their own terms.
www.evojet.lomond.com
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