This blog is dedicated to copier printer fax repair tips and and help.  If you want to use this blog as a link to your site them the comments have to be concerning the article and have a direct bearing on printer copier repairs service and lease.  We check all comments with links see if they are related to the article.  If the are just a spam link or comment such as “nice article” expect them to be deleted!! Do not copy the article text and paste into your comment and expect them to pass.  They will be deleted. Only valid comments and questions concerning the articles will be allowed in this laser printer copier blog.

If you post a comment directly  concerning the article and adds value to the copier printer repair help message in the article then we will all ow the post.  Use keywords related to the article just as in any other valid posting. If you are just trying to gets links to your site it will NOT BE allowed!!

This copier printer repair blog is here to help people solve problems, learn about their equipment and to get tips before spending their money on printer repairs. It includes article on copier leasing, printer purchasing and error/problem handling.

If you have a questions concerning repairs, need help with an error code for your copier printer maintenance please post them.  Thank you for your understanding.  All valid printer copier scanner repair maintenance lease comment and question will be permitted.

Computer repair printer service solutions. Questions received from clients concerning their computer problems, copier maintenance, networking help and other printer fax service.

Q: Between laptop and notebook, which of the two computers comes with the greatest amount and secondary storage?

A: This is a common question that is a bit confusing to many people. It depends on what you are calling a notebook verses a laptop. If you are referring to the ultra thing notebooks, ipads or very small notebooks that do not use a hard drive to store information then they hold less than regular larger units.

Your computer has two types of storage: temporary memory (RAM) and storage memory.  The storage memory can be in a form of a hard drive, flashcard, USB drive, CD, DVD or other memory card.

Most laptops except for the very thin ones or very small devices have a hard drive as storage. If the notebooks you are comparing use a hard drive then they both can house as much as the other.

Check the actual drive storage amount 160Gb, 250gb, 300gb, etc.

RAM, temp memory is usually 1gb, 2gb, 3gb or 4gb.

Q: Printer Copier repair problem: Is printer copier maintenance need and what goes bad if not done on a regular basis?

A: Your Copier, printer, scanner and fax equipment are just like your car: they need regular maintenance to prevent premature repairs.  Dirt, paper fiber and toner builds up in the machine can cause excessive wear on the drums, rollers and fuser assembly.

The average fuser assembly repair on a HP printer is $277. On a Ricoh, Sharp, and Canon copiers it’s $465 (average). Some brands and models are much higher.. Drums and developer units on copier printers are just as expensive. Fusers and drums are designed to last 20K, 5K, 120k or more (Kyocera 250K) pages between replacements. However if your machine is not properly maintained their life is greatly reduced.

Even toner cartridges on printers will have shorter lives if you do not get regular maintenance.  Ask Advanced Business Computers the printer copier maintenance steps needed to prevent repair problems. Just like a car tune-up, your copier printer scanner needs regular service maintenance to prolong the life of the printer copier and to prevent expensive printer repairs.

Hewlett Packard continues to bring new laser printer copier all in one scanners to market.  They are striving to reduce the problems that exist in the older laser printers that we continually see in for repairs.  Companies are still cutting budges and trying to keep costs down by purchasing the low end MFD (multifunction printer copier scanners) by HP, Lexmark, Brother, Canon and other brands.  However, most companies fail to look at the printers copier repair service history prior to making purchasing decisions.

First,  lets tackle repair costs. The cost in labor hours to repair a $100 verses an $1100 machine are the same. Most HP printer repairs take less than an hour for a certified HP repair center such a a Advanced Business Computers in Miami. The main difference is the part costs for the printer repair, copier service  and the how long he part should last.

Simple put, “you get what you pay for” when buying a new HP laser printer.   The more you pay for the laser printer the more pages you can produce before a break down.

The fuser assembly for an HP color 3600 or 3800 cost the same as the HP 4750 but the HP 4750 will last three times as long!  Yes, the HP 4750 printer cost $400 more but in the long run you get faster printing, lower per page costs costs and less repairs.  The paper pick rollers for an HP P4015 costs less and last longer than the ones for the HP 2420.  Again, the HP P4015 costs more but you will see great savings in per page costs, printer repairs and increased speed.

The HP printer repair costs for the lower end machines makes many of them throw away devices.  The HP laser 1012 or 1015 cost less than $200 new, however the repair costs are the same as the higher end units. Basically would you pay $95 labor plus parts for a $200 machine?  Many companies are under the illusion that buying a new machine every year is less expensive than getting a higher end one.  The truth is the opposite. The lower ends have a much higher cost per page, lower life and less features.

Before you choose a new HP printer copier or scanner check the history of the device.  Cost per page to use.  Call an expert for advice on what best fits your needs. Just like cars, would you buy a fiberglass sports car when you need a truck? If you have questions please contact us at Advanced Business Computers for printer copier repairs service and sales in the South Florida area (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, and other areas).

In the past 4 years HP has boosted their line of MFD All  in one laser toner cartridge based devices.  However, HP printer scanner copier machines has exhibited a far greater number of failures especially in the sub $1000 price point.

Case in point: HP 2480 all in on color laser printer copier fax scanner.  This very popular machine which came out 2..3 years ago had continually provided headaches for user.  First the scanners starting to fail which required replacing the ADF (automatic document feeder) on top scanner which costs around $217 plus labor to replace. Then the cartridge carousel started to have alignment problems which required adjustment and in several cases the problem repeated. HP has always had color laser printer carousel problems with the HP 2500, 3500, 3600 and the 3700 HP color laser printers.

Remember just a few years ago a good business class hp laser printer non all in one cost around $1100 depending upon the laser printer features. Now HP, Lexmark, Canon, Okidata and other companies are shoveling out laser based all in one for well under $1000 because Brother controlled the low end laser based MFD market and they wanted a piece.

Remember the old wise saying, “You get what you pay for”.   Brother still has  a major portion of the all in one laser based but HP and others has eroded their market.

If you had a limited budget which one is best for you?  Brother still produces the best sub $600 low volume all in one laser based machines.  HP and Okidata come in second in quality. However, if you are looking for a higher end business class laser printer scanner copier with low operating cost them look at the units that are in the $1500 and above range.

How do we know? Advanced Business Computers Inc. is a factory certified Okidata, Lexmark, HP, Brother, and Xerox repair center. Also, we provide warranty service for several of the brands.  One the average over 53 all in one machines laser based printer scanner copier fax are serviced every week by our technicians.  In short through experience since 1988.  Its important to know the history of a toner based laser printer copier equipment model.  Look beyond the product name.  Ask repair companies which laser printer copier scanner machines they recommend.

Which Laptop to choose this holiday season?  Should you get an HP, Sony, Dell, Toshiba laptop.  Recent polls show what people believe are the best ones by name are actually ones you may want to steer away from.

Based on laptop repairs during the last year, the brands with the least number of service calls are Toshiba, Sony and Hewlett Packard.  The ones with the most number of calls are Acer and Dell.  The tow top laptop problems were 1-power supply problems and 2-screens going bad.

The least expensive computer laptops in order are Acer, Dell HP and then Toshiba.  Which one s would we recommend?  Our top pick is Toshiba and the HP laptops.  Toshiba will run you $50 top $100 more than the HP laptop with equal specifications.  I personally have an HP laptop purchased several years ago and its takes a beating. However, all the more recent model laptops including HP’s on the low end ones are less durable.

Check the HP or Toshiba laptops weight. If its a bit heavier then it means more metal! Metal is more durable than plastic so its a trade off between lightness and laptop durability.

What about laser printers? Should you get an HP printer, Dell, Brother MFC or Lexmark.  Personally I would always steer away from Dell printer because they force you to get everything from them (repair, toner supplies, accessories) so you are stuck! yes they are cheap and the reason they are cheap is because they force you to get everything thing from Dell only.  Look for the next blog post concerning the best HP printer, Lexmark, Canon printer or Sharp copier printer or Brother MFC  for business.

If you need help selecting before hand send us a note or reply to this blog.

Have a great weekend!

The costs are starting to drop on laser based color copier printers and scanners. Recent model color copiers and color laser printers hardware by Kyocera and Ricoh have force other players int he copier printer scanner market to reduce the cost of their supplies. Kyocera the low cost per page leader in color copying and printers now boost great image quality too.

Kyocera, the green copier printer company, has always provided low cost per page and fantastic low maintenance copier printers.  However, they were only average in the color printing.  However, during the past three years they have gained a wide following in the color market not just as the low cost per page leaser but in great color quality output of prints and copiers. Now their color copier printers and color printers compete the best of them while excelling in low cost of ownership.

What is the cost of copier printer scanner ownership?  Simply its the total cost including all costs associated with copier repair, maintenance and supplies in a per page amount. every time you use your copier printer scanner it uses a bit of toner, developer, drum, fuser life, and other part costs.  You calculate the cost per page of the printer copier by taking all the costs and divided  the number by the estimated life of the toner, developer, drum, etc.

Other low costs favorites are HP laser printers but not their multi-functions due to their poor repair history. Ricoh, Lanier, Saving and Gestetner is another favorite color copier  printer manufacture. Ricoh manufacturers Lanier, Gestetner and Savin copier brands.  The Ricoh copiers provide very reliable work with very good quality color copier output.  However, they are more expensive than the Kyocera and more costly to maintain.

Other color copier printer scanner brands to consider are Sharp. we do not recommend Canon or Toshiba due to their high cost of ownership and repair parts.

Color copiers printers have greatly come down in their costs to operate. Remember to always check the cost of ownership before you buy.  Call or as a certified technicians which brands work the best and cost less to operate. Stay away from companies who only offer one or two brands because they will be bias. Get a phone Free evaluation or if you plan to purchase a used copier or used printer get a technicians to check it first!

What copier scanner or laser printer all in one features do you need for your business equipment.  What is better a desktop HP laser all in one MDF’s or a business class Copystar Kyocera copier printer scanner with tons of standard features that cost more to obtain but less to operate?

Do you know the copier scanner or laser printer features you need?  Do you keno what ADF, DAPF, Duplex, offeset and other terms used to describe the best printer copier choice for you?

Who do you ask for help?  An %8.50 hour store sales stocking clerk who just repeats what they are told or a copier printer service repair technicians who has years of experience every day who repairs copiers and printers for a living?

Either way you need to know what they are talking about. If you are looking for a copier printer all in one for your office get advice from experts and learn the following basic copier and laser printer all in one terms:

Copier Features:

The copier printer all in one industry has changed over the past three years. What use to be options now comes as standard accessories on many copier models whether an desktop HP laser all in one or a business class Kyocera or sharp copier scanner.

Automatic documents feeders (ADF or RADF) – Standard

This sits on the top of the copier printer scanner so that gives you the ability to automatically feed a stack of papers to copy, fax out or scan to computer. Some brands of copiers still call this an option. However, a machine never goes  out the door without this. Usually the feeder allows up to 50 pages (some up to 100 pages) at one time on your digital copier or multi-function printer.

Digital Sorting – Standard

All brands of digital photocopiers all in ones for the past 5 years provide offset digital sorting without using an external optional mailbox finisher.

Digital sorting means each copy, print or fax job is “offset” from the previous one (shifted side to side). This feature does not limit the number of document sets your copier can sort. If you had an optional external mailbox finisher then you are limited to the number of slots.

Duplex – Standard on most units

The duplex unit gives your digital copier the ability to do two sided printing and copying. It’s an option on some brands. However the more recent models (3 years old or less) it’s standard.

Paper Drawers

All business class copier printer scanners come with two paper drawers. The lower end personal copiers usually come with one drawer. Each paper drawer “cassette” handles several size papers from A4 up to 11 x 17.  Most of the current models can handle sizes A4 to Legal. Most mid-range digital copier’s drawers handle paper up to 11 x 17 size pages.

Paper Cassette Drawer Options include:  Additional paper drawers (feeders) up to 3,000 pages on some models of copiers. The typical optional copier paper drawers handle 500 sheets of paper. If you are using heavy paper stock you may need to use a bypass tray on your laser printer copier.

Go Green Power Save

This is a standard feature of most recent model digital copiers scanners.  Due to pressure from governments, end user and marketing professionals, power save mode is here to stay. Basically the color copier printer will put itself in a lower power usage stage waiting for printer copier jobs to process. Once it receives a job it powers back up quickly. This reduces electrical expenses – saves you money.

Faxing option:

Usually this is an option not a standard copier scanner accessory.  This copier all in one option gives you the ability to send and received faxes. Plus, with most brands of photocopiers you get fax to email and fax to computers. If you have a network it will require setup of mail boxes and installation of software of each computer.

Security, Client tracking, and Department Billing

Lawyers are great at this. They charge their clients for every piece of paper produced on the printer copier scanner. One way they track the actual number of pages produce is through the digital photocopiers security measures. Most machines have the ability to assign access codes.

You can assign a copier access code for each employee, client or department. Once setup you have to input a security code before a job will print or copy on the all in one. At the end of the billing period just print an access report to get the total pages copied or printed by each access code.

Not Sure What You need?

Ask questions!

If your sales person is all hype and no meat then go someplace else.  Color printer copier features and options are designed for a specific purpose.

Do not assume the digital copier scanner will do what you want. Ask for the specification sheet. Want more information contact me through our blog at Advanced Business Computers Inc.  If you need help determining the best copier or printer then go to the copier printer scanner help form.

All rights reserved Copyright Advanced Business Computers, Inc. 2009

Just like your car tires there are common wear parts with laser printers, faxes and copiers.  Whether you have an HP laser,  Lexmark printer, canon digital fax or copier they contain the same basic components the break drown: pickup rollers, fusers, separation pads and imaging units.

90% of all repairs involve at least one of the parts in your.  Fuser repairs on most laser printers and fax machines take 1 hour to time. Depending upon your brand of copier printer the standard maintenance takes 1 to 2 hours.

The fuser is the component in the printer that uses pressure and heat to fuse the toner to the page. In most brands of printers including HP the repair is simple because the fuser comes complete from the manufacturer. However, with Ricoh copier printer, some Sharps, Minolta and Canon it is more cost effective to have the fuser rebuilt. If you own a Kyocera copier printer then your repair is easy just like HP laser printers and fax machines.

The paper feed roller and separation pad/roller work together to squeeze the page from the drawers to pick up one sheet at a time. The rollers are made with rubber or cork that wears out overtime.  If your equipment picks up more than one sheet at a time then its’ an indication that the rollers need replacing.

If your have a MFD (multi-function device) then you have an automatic document feeder. The document feeder works the same was as your laser printer copier paper drawers. Usually when your paper drawers start having problem on your printer then it’s a good idea to replace the pick up roller sans separation pads on your ADF too.

If you have may questions please feel free to contact us.  See our website for additional information. Feel free to call us or request help through this blog or go ahead to our website or call us for a quick response.

You’re Friends

Advanced Business Computers, Inc.

Summary:

HP maintenance kits and printer repairs services are fast in South Florida.  HP 50 service error is a common problem with laser printers and requires fuser assembly replacement.  Also,  make sure your HP maintenance service call includes lubrication and cleaning of your printer or copier at no extra cost!

Quality copier printer scanners are designed for 7 to 10 years of life just like your car. I know one client that have many HP laser printer 4+, 5 and 4000’s 8 to 12 years old. They refuse to get rid of them because that HP model laser printer is built like a rock. In fact, they keep ask for refurbished use HP printers!

Does a quality car only have 3 years of life? The average car on the road is over 5 years old. You use a car to get from point A to B. You use a printer, copier and MFD to produce pages with text and graphics. Who says that a new $8,875 copier printer is any better than an off lease recent model (2..3 years old) well maintained used printer copier?  How old is your HP laser printer? Is it still doing the job?

Then why not consider a high quality, select off lease lightly used copier printer that saves you thousands of dollars?

Or do you always need the newest gadget that costs the most and depreciates the fastest?

I’m not talking about the small desktop units. The copier printers discussed are mid to high MFD all in ones that are extremely durable machines with years of life left in them.

Best of all you can grab one for as much as 67% or more off their original price! The trick is knowing which machine to select. Just like the used car business, some used copier printers companies will take you for a real ride!

Off Lease Do’s and Don’ts

First: Know the print or copier company. Have you done business with copier printer service company in the past? Do they offer service or a flat per page, including copier printer repair, parts and supplies? Will used copier company provide client referrals?

Second: How old is the equipment? Stick to equipment no more than 3 years old. You do not want used copiers or printers that have hard to fine parts. The best (most durable and easy to get parts) used copiers are Kyocera, Copystar, Ricoh, Lanier, Gestetner and Savin brands

Third: Check the page count. Just like a used car you want low mileage (low page count). Try to stick to used copiers or refurbished printers with 2 months of duty cycle usage or less. Ask about a maintenance program for the used printer scanner copier.

Fourth: What is the monthly duty cycle? Most companies print less than 19% of the maximum monthly duty cycle. Take the total duty cycle of the used copier and divide it by 5. Your monthly copier usage should be lower than this amount.

Fifth: Know the brand. Not all models and brands are equal. In fact some of the best known brands are the worse to get used. Some will last many years while others are problematic. Call and ask questions.

Example of a Dealer Select and the information discussed:

Mita-Kyocera 4035

Network Copier / Printer / Fax / Scanner / Duplex / Cabinet

Duty Cycle 200,000 per month

Fast 40PPM

Equipment value new with above features: $9,987

2 years old with stand

Current page count 184,743

Maintenance cycle 300,000 pages – this is huge. Most brands have a             80k to 150K maintenance cycle. They machine rocks!

This used copier printer scanner all in one machine has many years of life left.

If you have may questions please feel free to contact us.  See our website for additional information. Feel free to call us or request help through our blog or go ahead to our website or call us for a quick response.

I hope this article was helpful.

You’re Friends

Advanced Business Computers, Inc.

©2008 Advanced Business Computers All rights reserved.

Part I

You have the ability under the Windows 2000, XP and Vista operating system to exert great control over your printers, copiers and MDF print copier scanners. You can by pass printer spoolers and default printer configuration to achieve copier printer scanner greater productivity. You do this by configuring your HP printer “Spool Settings” and “Print Queue”.

Your software program can transfer its information much faster than any laser printer can create the document on paper. When you print a letter or document, whether from a laser printer, copier printer all in one or other MFD the information goes to a “spooler” which acts as a buffer between your application and the printer. The printer spooler is a buffer area that controls when the document/letter goes to the selected laser printer, digital copier printer or other all in one device.

If you need a print immediately, you can set the spool to start printing as soon as it gets enough data to create the first page of the document. But this forces your application to wait until that first page is transferred to the spool.

If you prefer to continue working with your application, you can set the spool to start printing after it has received the entire letter. This moves the printing operation to the background.

How to Configure your Printer Copier or All in One Spooler

To configure the HP printer Spool Setting, select Start Settings | Printers. In the Windows Laser printer window, right-click on the icon for the printer you want, and in the popup window select “Properties”. In the laser printer Properties dialog box, on the “Details” tab, click on the [Spool Settings...] button.

Go to the Spool Settings dialog box of Microsoft of the copier printer scanner, set the radio button for “Spool print jobs so program finishes printing faster”. You will need to   set the radio button for either “Start printing after last page is spooled”, or “Start printing after first page is spooled” for the laser printer.

You can bypass the printer spooler of the copier printer scanner if you set the radio button for “Print directly to the printer”. This will bypass the spool entirely.  You may not have the rights to do this if the printer copier scanner is shared. If you have the required rights, you can temporarily disable copier printer sharing for your HP printer scanner or other brand.

Other printer configurations including delayed printing of letters and other documents from your copier printer will be covered in Part II. Knowing how to configure you laser printer or digital copier will greatly increase your productivity.

Also, to keep you equipment in top running order you will need to maintain it through annual procedures of cleaning, lubrication of the moving parts and adjustments.

Just like you car that needs oil changes and new tires, your laser printer, digital copier printers and all in one office equipment needs maintenance to provide quality prints and years of service before breakdowns.

Ask Advanced Business Computers Inc. how to get 100% FREE maintenance on your office equipment now!  In fact, they will provide a FREE maintenance of your laser printer just for trying a toner cartridge.

Free help, Free Trial and the Best Service.  Look for Part II of this article soon from Advanced Business Computers printer copier fax computer Help Center.

Your friends at Advanced Business Computers Inc.