Xerox Phaser 3600 – All You Need For Your Office

Overview

Are you looking for a reliable printing solution for your small or medium sized business or work group? If the answer is yes, Xerox Phaser 3600 is ideal for your needs. It can be characterized as a printer which works fast, efficient and affordable, so you should not be worried about your printing jobs. Even though you buy this printer for printing large volumes, you will see that the 200.000 pages per month duty cycle will pay off. The 128 MB memory is upgradable to 512 MB and it can be connected to the internet through the network ready interface or by using the Wi Fi connectivity, even though Wi Fi is an optional feature. It also has a 1 year warranty. So, if you have any type of monochrome printing needs and you are the owner of a small to medium sized business, Xerox Phaser 3600 is all you need.

Pros

You will need to people to put it in a position and it probably won’t fit on a standard desk. However, it can stay very comfortable on a shelf or table. Its dimensions are 15.7 x 18.8 x 15.1 inches and its weight is around 39 pounds. That is the reason why you will need two people to carry it.

Troubleshooting is a very simple task because Xerox Phaser 3600 is very simple to set and use. The standard warranty is one year, but because of the Xerox Total Satisfaction Guarantee, if you do not like how this printer is working, you can simply replace or Xerox will repair it.

The printing speed is high, 40 pages per minute. 40 pages per minute is a high speed, we can even say that is a laser speed. Because of this fact, you should not be scared that the large printing jobs will not be finished in time.  The printing resolution is 600 x 600 dots per inch and the enchanted image quality is maximum 1200 x 1200 dots per inch. You can upgrade the standard memory from 128 Mb top 512.

The standard paper tray can hold 500 sheets and the multi purpose one can hold 100. You can add another tray that can hold an extra 100 sheets.

Cons

When it works, it is not quiet at all. Do not buy it for a workstation or a conference room. It doesn’t have duplexing feature. Also, it wasn’t made for graphic designing because it can only print in B & W. Another disadvantage would be that the wireless connectivity is an optional feature.

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Dell All in One 946 test page

On Dells desktop 946 printer, you can print out a test page that can be used for adjusting or checking color quality, alignment, and image density.  The test page also includes useful information about the printer, such as page count, serial number, and the last error code logged.

To print the test page:

- Press the side arrow button on the printer until "Maintenance" is the active choice on the screen.
- Press the OK button (it has the check mark on it).
- Scroll to the side until "Print Test Page" appears.
- Press OK.

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Sharp AR M207 All In One Full Duplex Copier

OVERVIEW: The Sharp AR-M207 offers the copying, scanning, and printing features of up to tabloid-size. With the choice of options available, this Sharp can become a heavy-duty 4-in-1 copier.

PROS:
The copier is a little large to put on a desk but will feel right at home on any credenza, and the second paper tray brings it at a height comfortable for someone standing next to it to manually make copies or scans. With the addition of the optional dual-cassette tray and cabinet, the AR-M207 can become a floor-model.

Using either Parallel, the low-speed or high-speed USB connections, the AR-M207 can be set up to be a shared printer--provided the computer it’s connected to remains on during the hours the printer would get used. The expandable 16MB of memory allows the all-in-one to easily handle print jobs from many computers, and a network card is an option.

The AR-M207 uses an oversized 11”x17” platen to support scanning ledger or tabloid-sized originals. The automatic document feeder allows for 40 double-sided copies to be made up to legal-size: more originals can be fed in as the level lowers. By scanning the original once and storing the image into its 16MB memory allows the AR-M207 to produce copies at the rate of 20 pages per minute, up to 999 copies.

The auto-doc feeder of the AR-M207 can automatically scan 2-sided originals and create 2-sided copies. When you think of all the times you had 20 pages of 2-sided originals and the hoops you had to jump when a copier could only read one side, this feature alone makes this worth buying.

Another nice feature the AR-M207 has (if you use the automatic document feeder) is the ability to physically shift the position of each set of copies in the output tray for easy collating and stapling. This is achieved by pressing the Electronic Sort (or E-Sort) button on the control panel. The multi-page original is scanned first into memory, then copied out in order. This offset sorting feature was rarely found on other desktop copiers or all-in-ones.

The AR-M207 has three different copy exposure modes & resolutions up to 600 x 600 dpi at 256 grayscale levels. The magnification can be automatically or manually changed from 25% to 400% in 1% increments or in 10 preset ratios.

This Sharp has two sliding paper trays, each holding up to 250 sheets up to 11 x 17” paper. The two-tray feature is especially nice in an office where legal and standard size papers are often used. Non-standard sizes from 3” x 5” up to 11” x 17” can be placed singly on the scanning platform, or up to 100 sheets placed on the multi-purpose flip-tray on the side of the copier. Adding the optional paper trays can expand the AR-M207 to supporting up to 1,100 sheets.

Remember I mentioned options? In addition to additional paper capacity, the AR-M207 has options to add a facsimile machine, LDAP e-mail scanning and printing, 10/100 Base-T Ethernet, and an additional 256MB of DIMM memory.

CONS:
Sharp’s does not offer PCL or PostScript print emulation. Instead, Sharp provides their proprietary GDI and SPLC print emulators. For most printing, users won’t notice any difference in performance. However, with the great memory expandability that available, it would have been nice to have a PostScript option.

INK / TONER NEEDS:
The AR-M207 has separated the high-volume toner and drum to help reduce overall consumables costs. The toner cartridge yields up to 15,000 pages. The drum unit is good for 50,000 pages and will need to be replaced after every 3rd toner replacement.

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The Sharp AL 1642CS Duplex All In One

OVERVIEW:  With twice the paper capacity of other AL-1600’s, the Sharp AL-1642CS also produces 2-sided copies and printouts.

PROS:

At 51 pounds, the all-in-one copier has a footprint 20.4” x 19.4”. The copier is a little large to put on a desk but will feel right at home on any credenza.

The AL-1642CS uses a stationary 8½” x 14” platen for scanning instead of a sliding platform to keep its footprint no bigger than its physical size.  The automatic document feeder allows for 30 single-sided copies to be made up to legal-size: more originals can be fed in as the level lowers. By scanning the original once and storing the image into its 8MB memory allows the AL-1642CS to produce copies at the rate of 16 pages per minute, up to 99 copies.

The AL-1642CS has three different exposure modes & resolutions (auto, manual, photo). Automatic (or default) resolution is 600 x 300 dpi. “Photo quality” is 600 x 600 dpi at 256 grayscale levels. The magnification can be changed from 25% to 400% in 1% increments or in 6 jumps.

One of the “gotchas” for 2-sided copying is the originals in the ADF must be single-sided. One option rather than burning through paper making the originals 1-sided is if the originals are in electronic form to use the printer capabilities of the AL-1642CS to print them from a computer as 2-sided duplicates.

Using either Parallel or the USB 1.1 connection, the AL-1642CS can be connected to a computer to double as a modest laser printer. In a small office, the Sharp can be set up to be a shared printer provided the computer it’s connected to remains on during the hours the printer would get used. When connected to a computer, the AL-1642CS can scan color images with resolutions up to 600 x 1,200 dpi.

The control panel for the AL-1600 series is pretty straightforward, so you don’t need to go to the manual to figure things out. In addition to magnification, quantity, and exposure, you can control which paper tray to use and to switch to the toner save mode. Indicators blink for toner and drum replacement, and paper jams. Unfortunately, the jam indicator does not show where inside the copier the misfeed is, so you’ll have to do the sleuthing yourself.

This Sharp has two sliding paper trays, each holding up to 250 sheets of either letter (8½” x 11”) or legal (8½” x 14”) size paper. The two-tray feature is especially nice in an office where legal and standard size papers are often used. Non-standard sizes from 3” x 5” up to 8½” x 14” can be placed singly on the scanning platform, or up to 50 sheets placed on the multi-purpose flip-tray on the side of the copier.

CONS:

Sharp’s does not offer PCL or PostScript print emulation. Instead, Sharp provides their own GDI print emulator. For most printing, users won’t notice any difference in performance and considering the low printing resolution of this all-in-one, it’s unlikely any high-end Adobe graphics will be put to this unit.

The design of the AL series is primarily based to focus on copier features. During its prime, a 16 ppm copy speed was impressive for a small copier. In printer mode, the touted 12 ppm speed can only be achieved at lowest resolution (but that’s the caveat for any printer specs). Don’t expect the faster print speeds of 20 ppm that’s typical of current monochrome laser printers.

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Sharp AL 1540CS All in One copier scanner printer

OVERVIEW:  The Sharp AL-1540CS has all the features of its older brother, the AL-1530CS, but includes a 30-page automatic document feeder so you don’t have to stand around the copier all day feeding it.

PROS:
The 42 pound all-in-one copier has a footprint 20.4” x 17.5”. The size is a little large to put on a desk but will feel right at home on any credenza.

The AL-1540CS uses a stationary 10” x 14” platen for scanning instead of a sliding platform to keep its footprint no bigger than its physical size.

With a maximum resolution of 600 x 600 dpi, the AL-1540CS can produce up to 99 copies. Scanning the original once and storing the image to memory allows the AL-1540CS to make copies at the rate of 15 pages per minute. The Automatic Document Feeder (or ADF) can hold up to 30 legal-size originals. The user can change magnifications from 50% up to 200%--not the widest range compared to other models but the most commonly used.

The sliding paper tray can hold up to 250 sheets of either letter (8½” x 11”) or legal (8½” x 14”) size paper. Non-standard sizes up to 10” x 14” can be placed singly on the scan platform.

Using either Parallel or the USB 1.1 connection, the AL-1540CS can be connected to a computer to double as a modest laser printer. In a small office, the Sharp can be set up to be a shared printer provided the computer it’s connected to remains on during the hours the printer would get used. When connected to a computer, the AL-1540CS can scan color images with resolutions up to 600 x 1,200 dpi.

This all-in-one Sharp was made for compactness, not expandability. While it offers an automatic document feeder, there are no options available to increase its paper or memory capacities, or to make it a network printer.

CONS:
The design of the AL series is primarily based to focus on copier features. During its prime, a 15 ppm copy speed was impressive for a small copier. In printer mode, the touted 12 ppm speed can only be achieved at lowest resolution (but that’s the caveat for any printer specs). Don’t expect the faster print speeds of 20 ppm that’s typical of current B&W laser printers.

The 250-sheet paper tray is woefully undersized for office copy use. It’s typical for even a small office to go through a ream of paper in a single day. And it’s also common for offices buy paper in 500-sheet reams, if not a 10-ream case. For all you office folk out there: How many times have you taken a ream of paper from the supply cabinet to fill an empty printer, only to find the printer’s tray only has the capacity to hold half that amount? Now, next question: what usually happens to the rest of that ream? By the end of the day you’ll see the remaining ream somewhere near the printer, sheets pulled haphazardly by people who needed just a couple of blank sheets. By the time the printer needs to be refilled again, the state of that paper is now so uneven and disheveled it’s likely to jam in the printer. For personal and home use, a 250-sheet tray is sufficient, so long as you’re not someone whose home is their office. Having a tray that you can dump an entire ream of paper into would be something any office would invest a few more dollars for.

INK / TONER NEEDS:
The AL-1540CS has separate toner and drum to help reduce overall consumables costs. Sharp offers a choice for toner: the standard-size toner (4,000 pages at 5%), or the High-yield (6,000 pages) unit. The drum unit will need to be replaced ever 18, 000 pages.

During the course of changing toner, people often forget to keep track when it’s time to change the drum.  Combo-packages are available that offer the drum with several toners. By the time the toners are consumed, the remaining drum is replaced. These combo-packages make maintenance easy and increases overall longevity and print quality.

SOFTWARE:
Included is Sharp’s desktop document management software. The software does a decent job in giving you control of the unit’s various printing and scanning functions.

Unfortunately, the software is only for Wintel machines. Apple machines running OS 10.3 and above may be able to use the printing and scanning functions native to OS X or through 3rd party applications, like Photoshop.

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Reset Protection Counter All Epson Printer

1. Open SSC Service Utility
2. Equalize configuraton of ssc with configuraton of printer.
3. Right Click SSC icon in the taskbar
4. Select Protection counter
5. Choose Reset counter protection
6. Confirmation
7. Done

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