New laser printers are faster and more versatile<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There is no doubt that the information
\ntechnology industry is bleeding profusely these days. If you have
\nbeen reading the news lately, you will know that a lot of IT
\ncompanies have been cutting thousands of jobs. Most blame this
\nfairly deep malaise on the economic slowdown in the U.S., which
\ncame after a surprisingly long period of economic growth.<\/p>\n
However, as we already know, advancements in technology never
\nstop. During the period when business is slow, technology leaders
\nshould step up their R&D efforts and come up with innovative
\nideas and breakthroughs to boost or at least maintain their
\nmarket share in the dwindling market. This must be true in the
\ncase of the laser printer industry's stalwart Hewlett-Packard,
\nwhose logo has now become HP Invent.<\/p>\n
So, after we looked briefly at several new inkjet printers and
\nscanners from Canon last week, we will take a look at the new
\nlaser printers from Hewlett-Packard, which were unveiled here in
\nJakarta for the first time last week.<\/p>\n
The low-end LaserJet 1100 has been replaced with LaserJet
\n1200. This printer can be equipped with a snap-on scanner,
\nalthough the setup will make it look more like a tower of toast
\nyou usually find in a breakfast buffet in five-star hotels. The
\nscanner companion for the LaserJet 1100, in comparison, is
\nattached to the front of the printer instead of its top.<\/p>\n
The LaserJet 1200, which is intended for personal use or
\nperhaps in a small work group, has been improved in many ways.
\nThe print speed has been increased to 14 ppm, up from the 8 ppm
\nof the LaserJet 1100. The input tray can now hold up to 250
\nsheets of paper, in addition to a 10-sheet priority feed tray for
\npreprinted letterhead forms.<\/p>\n
When buying a new printer, we need to read the figure of its
\nduty cycle. This figure indicates how heavy the workload is for
\nwhich the printer has been designed. In the case of this printer,
\nthe duty cycle is 10,000 pages per month. If we force it to churn
\nout more that, the printer may break down prematurely.<\/p>\n
If we want to use it as a network printer for a small office
\nof two to three people, we can opt for the LaserJet 1200n, which
\ncomes already bundled with HP JetDirect 175x to connect it to the
\nLAN. The 8 MB standard memory capacity (the 1100 has only 2 MB)
\ncan also be expanded to a hefty 72 MB, which I do not think we
\nwill actually need. This printer can connect to the PC using both
\nthe parallel and USB port.<\/p>\n
It is interesting to know that, although the output is black
\nand white, the scanner is color capable. We can save the image in
\n8-bit color or 256 grayscale. With a 600 ppi (point per inch)
\noptical resolution and 9600 ppi enhanced resolution, the scanner
\nwill not replace a ScanJet 5370C, but it has other useful
\nfunctions.<\/p>\n
With the scanner attached, we can make copies without turning
\non our PC. The software allows us to manage our scanned
\ndocuments, scan directly to e-mail or scan straight into the fax
\nsoftware.<\/p>\n
Incidentally, instead of buying the scanner separately, we can
\nalso opt for LaserJet 1220, which already comes with the module.<\/p>\n
Network-capability<\/p>\n
If you want to keep your investment down and even be able to
\nmanage your staff's printing activities better, you can opt for
\nLaserJet 2200, which replaces LaserJet 2100. It can connect to
\nyour PC or LAN via the parallel, USB or infrared ports. I guess
\nthe next generation of printers should also include Bluetooth
\nconnection, so we can print our documents just by placing our
\nnotebook close enough to the printer.<\/p>\n
From the outside, there is nothing special about this boxy
\nLaserJet 2200 printer. However, the printing speed has been
\nincreased from 10 ppm of LaserJet 2100 to 18 ppm. The maximum
\nresolution is 1200 x 1200 DPI, which can be produced at full
\nspeed.<\/p>\n
Standard memory has also been raised from 2 MB to 8 MB, which
\ncan still be expanded to the extravagant 72 MB. Because it is
\nmeant for heavier workload, the duty cycle is 40,000 pages per
\nmonth. Depending on our requirements, we can choose from
\ndifferent models of the LaserJet 2200 with different input tray
\nconfigurations.<\/p>\n
The most interesting feature of LaserJet 4100, which replaces
\nLaserJet 4050, is probably the so-named Embedded Virtual Machine
\n(EVM), which will enable us to use Java-based applications with
\nHP's e-services, cellular phones and other handheld devices. The
\ncartridge has an embedded chip that will provide us with
\ninformation on the level of toner inside it, for example, so we
\ncan monitor the printer by remote and order a new cartridge
\nbefore it runs dry.<\/p>\n
With a 250 MHz processor, this printer prints at 24 ppm with a
\nresolution level of 1200 DPI. Not surprisingly, its duty cycle is
\na whopping 150,000 pages per month. Other versatile features
\ninclude job retention, which allows a user to download a
\nconfidential document to the printer's memory (16 MB standard)
\nand walk over to the printer to have it printed so that nobody
\nelse gets to read it. The printer will not start printing the
\ndocument before the user enters his 4-digit PIN on the control
\npanel. Next, the stored jobs feature allows us to keep fax
\ncovers, time sheets, calendars and other shared documents on the
\nprinter so there will be no more need for preprinting.<\/p>\n
And, there are also two new color LaserJet printers, the 4550
\nand 8550. These printers, while still beyond the reach of most of
\nus, print color graphics at 600 DPI with HP Image REt (Resolution
\nEnhancement Technology). The 4550 prints color images at 4 ppm or
\nblack documents at 16 ppm. In addition to an integrated 3.2 GB
\nhard disk, it can be equipped with 192 MB of memory, which we may
\nneed as color requires a lot of storage. The 8550, which looks
\nmore like a tower photocopy machine, has faster printing speeds-
\n6 ppm for color and 24 ppm for monochrome printing.<\/p>\n
At the moment, I am looking forward to the opportunity to test
\ndrive the LaserJet 1200, the printer that I think will be the
\nmost suitable and most interesting for the majority of us. Stay
\ntuned. (zatni@cbn.net.id)<\/p>",
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