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Frequently Asked
Questions
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"We are a
Trading
Standards
Approved Trader" |
What
do I want it to do ?
Do I need A3 ?
Do I
require colour ?
What accessories
do I require ?
Printing what's PCL5, PCL6, Bluetooth,
Wireless or Postscript ?
Labour saving points ease of use!
Total
Cost of Ownership
Do I need a maintenance agreement ?
Which
supplier !
Modern
photocopiers should not be confused with
the old analogue machines of 10 years
ago!
Reliability... They
should be extremely reliable, modern
print engines are based on laser printer
technology, which is a self regulating
process. As the machine gets dirty
internally the machine will compensate
for the dirt to maintain good quality.
In the old days as the machine got dirty
so you got dirty copies, modern machines
will actually get fainter when they are
extremely dirty through
overcompensation.
Copy...
To copy we use a scanner which digitises
the image and sends this information to
the laser engine to produce a copy. This
process is now more reliable as we have
scan once print many, we used to have to
scan a document for every copy we
required (100 copies required 100 scans)
on modern machines we scan the document
once and hold the information in memory
to reproduce it as many times as we
like. This means a lot less wear on the
scanner and more energy efficient
equipment as scanner bulbs where usually
1000W lamps, modern machines use
fluorescent lamps requiring a lot less
power.
Scanning...
As explained above the copier is already
scanning documents to produce copies, so
it makes perfect sense to use this
equipment for scanning or document
archiving. A copier of 30 pages per
minute can usually scan at a similar
speed. The copier may only print in
black & white but it will usually scan
in colour.
Printing...
As explained above modern
copiers are large laser printers. So
they will print usually at 600dpi
(600dpi is usually referred to as letter
quality). Now if the copier has a duplex
unit we will be able to print double
sided output. If it has a finisher unit
we will be able to produce finished
articles that are bound and stapled. Or
we can use a saddleback finisher to
produce booklets.
Faxing...
if we can interpret digital data we only
need to fit a modem to enable fax
transmissions and reception.
So we
have established that a modern copier is
extremely reliable! and can
handle all the types of digital data
that we may produce but your thinking
what if I'm printing a large document
and a fax comes in. No problem modern
copiers are fitted with either solid
state memory or hard disks which means
it will receive the fax whilst printing
the document, once it has finished
printing it will then print our fax.
Why put
all my eggs in one basket! cost,
the two most expensive commodities
within our office's are man power and
toner (ounce for ounce printer
cartridges cost more then gold). Say we
want to print our Health & Safety Policy
Booklet using conventional means we
would either print one original on a
laser printer that would cost on average
2p per print and then photocopy it, in
the process losing all the quality.
With a
modern digital copier we could instruct
the copier to print 100 double-sided,
saddleback stitched booklets from our
desktop, we could use different paper
for front and back covers.
Back to
the top
Labour saving points ease of use
Lets look at the costs of
producing a 100 10 page Health & Safety
Booklets
| Conventional System |
|
Digital Copier |
|
| Create the booklet within a
word processing package, this would take the
same amount of time either way so we will not
cost it. |
|
Create the booklet within a
word processing package, this would take the
same amount of time either way so we will not
cost it. |
|
| Print 10 originals on laser
printer, 10 x 2p |
20p |
We can create the
whole booklet from our desktop at 0.6p per
document x 1000 |
£6.00 |
| Take the originals to the
copier, produce 100 sets of documents. 1000
copies x 1p Staple the
documents. |
£10.00 |
| Fold the Booklets |
|
Fold the Booklets |
|
| Time 4 Hours @ £10.00 /hour |
£40.00 |
Time 1 Hour @ £10.00/hour |
£10.00 |
| Total |
£50.20 |
Total |
£16.00 |
How
long would it take to scan the Health
and Safety Booklet using a conventional
scanner?
-
Scan each
individual page.
-
Import images
into a program that convert them to pdf format &
save to disk
I would estimate
20-30 minutes for an experienced operator.
With a digital
copier we can put the documents in the ADF select
scan to user press start and in the time it takes to
walk back to our desk the job is completed.
Estimate 3 minutes
for any person who can use a copier.
Anybody can archive documents using
this equipment.
Back to
the top
Colour
photocopiers come in two types:-
-
A4
Multi-function machines
-
A3 Production
machines.
A4 Multi-function machines are good for volumes up
to 100 colour prints per day. Beware the
TCO :-
| Samsung CLX-3170FN |
£289.00 |
Samsung CLX-6200FX |
£589.00 |
| Cost per
colour print |
13p |
Cost per
colour print |
6.3p |
| 50 copies
per day equals |
£6.50 per day |
50 copies
per day equals |
£3.15 per day |
| £6.50 x 225
days (one working year) equals |
£1462.50 per year |
£3.15 x 225
days (one working year) equals |
£708.75 per year |
| £1462.50 x
3 years life of printer equals |
£4387.50 |
£708.75 x 3
years life of printer equals |
£2126.25 |
| Total Cost of Ownership
£4387.50 + £289.00 |
£4676.50 |
Total Cost of Ownership
£2126.25 + £589.00 |
£2715.25 |
The higher the capital cost the lower the running
costs!
Do your sums before you buy!
A3 production machines can be very expensive
commodities, you really do need to have a colour
requirement of at least 100 colour documents per day
to make it viable.
If you already have colour laser printer why not
scan on a multi-function machine and print in colour
on the laser printer.
Back to
the top
Do I need A3 ?
Do you
need A3 ? - lets have a look at two
machines:-
An
A3 45 ppm copier
- Duplex
unit
- Print
and scanner interface
- Three
on-line paper trays
- ADF
Price £4500.00 + Vat
or £481.50 per Qtr over 3 years
|
An
A4 45 ppm copier
- Duplex
unit
- Print
and scanner interface
- Three
on-line paper trays
- ADF
Price £2500.00 + Vat
or £267.50 per Qtr over 3 years
|
Back to the top
Accessories
| Internal Shift
Sort Tray |
Internal shift sort tray
enables documents up to A3 size to be
automatically sorted into finished sets for easy
retrieval and ensures minimal space is taken up |
| 1 Bin Tray Unit |
Internal out put tray enables
faxes, prints and/or copies to be output in a
dedicated tray for easy retrieval. |
| Finisher Stapler |
500 Sheet Finisher |
| Finisher Stapler |
1000 Sheet Finisher Stapler |
| Finisher Booklet
Maker |
1000 Sheet Booklet Finisher |
| Finisher Punch
Option |
2/4 Hole Punch Finishing
Option |
| Memory Type B
32Mb |
Increases the standard
printer RAM by a further 32MB for more efficient
processing of data. |
| G3 Fax Option |
Additional Super G3 line.
Includes Telephone cable & Requires |
| Fax Stamp Ink
Marker |
Adds a visible mark to
originals to confirm that they have been scanned
prior to transmission. |
| Large Capacity
Tray |
Tray holds 2 x 1,000 Sheet |
| Paper Bank |
2 x 500 Sheet Trays |
| Platen Cover |
Platen Cover |
| ADF |
Automatic Document Feeder |
| ARDF |
Automatic Recirculating
Document Feeder |
| Bridge Unit |
Internal bridge unit required
for fitting any of the finisher options. |
| Camera Direct
Print Card |
Camera Direct Print Card |
| IPDS Enabler |
Enables IPDS printing from an
AS400 system |
| IEEE 802.11b
Interface board |
Offers connectivity in a
wireless LAN |
| VM Card |
The VM card allows you to run
a Java based application - SDK (developed by a
3rd party) on a printer |
| IEEE 1284
parallel interface Unit |
Parallel interface can be
fitted to the Printer/Scanner controller for
simple PC connection |
| IEEE 1394
Interface Board |
Digital interface that allows
connection of electronic devices such as PC's |
| Bluetooth |
Short distance wireless
connectivity |
| USB Host
Interface |
USB Host Interface |
| Postscript 3
Option |
Enables PostScript printing
via true Adobe PS3 PDL. |
| Copy Data
Security Unit |
Copy Data Security Unit |
| Data Overwrite
Security |
Erases temporary data on the
hard disk drive. Confidential data is
unrecoverable. |
| File Format
Convertor |
Retrieves document server
data when stored by copier or printer
application |
| Browser unit
|
Required if you want to use
the Web Navigator function of ScanRouter Pro. |
| Counter Interface
Unit |
Counter interface cable
enables you to connect a third party cost
control / management unit |
| Cabinet |
Keeps machine at correct
height when used with extra paper trays |
Back to
the top
Printing what's PCL5, PCL6, Bluetooth,
Wireless or Postscript ?
These are all methods
of communicating with a printer the
difference being the communication
speed.
If you want to
connect to a printer these are the
protocols you should try to use in order
of speed fastest first.
- Ethernet
Gigabit connection speeds possible
- USB2 Added
higher maximum speed of 480 Mbit/s
- USB1
12 Mbit/s (Full-Speed).
- Wireless
can be up to a tenth of the speed of
a cabled connection.
- Bluetooth
handy for connecting to mobile
appliances.
Printer Languages.
- Postscript PS
Fastest printer language
especially useful for big print
files like (CAD)
- PCL5 Most
robust of the pcl languages but
lacks refinement.
- PCL6 PCL
errors are especially common with
PCL 6 hardware and drivers.
You should always aim
for a network printer these do not rely
upon being connected to a computer that
is turned to print. If a printer does
not have a network interface by using a
print server. Alternatively use a direct
connection via parallel or usb.
Printer Command
Language, more
commonly referred to as PCL, is a
Page description language (PDL)
developed by
HP as a
printer protocol and has become a
de facto industry standard.
Originally developed for early
inkjet printers in 1984, PCL has
been released in varying levels for
thermal,
matrix printer, and
page printers.
HP-GL and
PJL are supported by later versions
of PCL.
PCL is occasionally
and incorrectly said to be an
abbreviation for Printer Control
Language which actually is another
term for
Page description language.
PCL has been
criticized for having less error
tolerance than the competing
PostScript printing language. PCL
errors are especially common with PCL 6
hardware and drivers.
Back to
the top
Total
Cost of ownership
analysis (or total cost of ownership,
TCO), is a business case
designed especially to find the lifetime
costs of acquiring, operating, and
changing something.
Today, however,
TCO analysis is used to
support acquisition and planning
decisions for a wide range of assets
that bring significant maintenance
or operating costs across a usable
life of several years or more. Total
cost of ownership should be used to
support decisions involving
computing systems and especially
print output devices
When evaluating a multifunction
printer, beware of looking only at the cost of the
initial hardware. There are a number of other
factors to consider, including the cost of supplies.
Once ink costs are taken into consideration, inkjet
multifunction printers, initially perceived as being
low cost, often turn out to have an equivalent or
higher TCO than the higher performing laser and
solid ink multifunction printers. TCO can also
increase significantly for devices that are hard to
use and maintain, unreliable, or lack the features
and capability to efficiently and effectively
produce the results you need.
|
Samsung CLX-3170FN |
£289.00 |
Samsung CLX-6200FX |
£589.00 |
|
Cost per
colour print |
13p |
Cost per
colour print |
6.3p |
|
50 copies per
day equals |
£6.50 per day |
50 copies per
day equals |
£3.15 per day |
|
£6.50 x 225
days (one working year)
equals |
£1462.50 per
year |
£3.15 x 225
days (one working year)
equals |
£708.75 per
year |
|
£1462.50 x 3
years life of printer equals
|
£4387.50 |
£708.75 x 3
years life of printer equals
|
£2126.25 |
|
Total Cost of Ownership
£4387.50 + £289.00 |
£4676.50 |
Total Cost of Ownership
£2126.25 + £589.00 |
£2715.25 |
Back to
the top
Do I need a maintenance agreement ?
No, but
we would recommend that you do!
We will
maintain your equipment on a time and
materials basis or on a maintenance
agreement.
With
Time & Materials you have no control
over the cost of the repairs and when
they may happen.
With a
maintenance agreement you have a fixed
cost, every time you produce a copy it
cost you from 0.5p which includes all
consumables, all maintenance & parts. It
is a lot simpler to budget and you get
the parts a cost price.
Back to
the top
Which
supplier !
We are
a "Trading Standards
approved Trader". This
entails a lengthy audit by trading
standards into our trading practices,
all our staff have had to be CRB checked
and our contracts, terms and conditions
have been vetted.
Sales
Photocopier sales people
have a career expectancy of 3 months,
they are usually commission driven and
have little product knowledge.
We use
Sales Engineers the person who sells you
the machine could well be the person who
repairs it afterwards, our engineers
know our products and will have a very
good idea of your business's
requirements from previous experience.
National Service
Companies
which offer nationwide service usually
farm their maintenance out to third
parties,
We
handle all our own maintenance.
Technical Experience
Larger
organisations usually have tiered
support, first engineer to arrive is the
basic foot soldier, only been in the job
6 months and has n't got a clue, you 've
heard the story "I'm sorry this is
beyond me I'll have to get the
specialist in!"
All of
our engineers have over 12 years field
experience of repairing photocopiers.
Dedicated Support Engineers
For
continuity reasons its better if the
same engineer looks after your machine,
We
dedicate an engineer to your machine, he
is responsible for the
maintenance of your product.
Established January 2000 incorporated
November 2006
Choose
Digital Office Solutions the safe bet!
01293
537827
Contact me about
photocopiers |