Article

HP Blogs – 6 steps for SMBs to become IPv6-ready – The HP Blog Hub

My Comments

There is all the talk of us running out of IPv4 public IP addresses for the Internet, and an increased awareness of IPv6 Internet technology. One major driver for the IPv6 technology is the rolling out of next-generation broadband services; where this feature will be seen as being part of the “next generation” mould.

In the near time, the typical IPv6 network will operate as a “dual-stack” setup where there is an IPv6 network and an IPv4 network operating over the same network space. A device such as an IPv6-ready router will typically bridge the gap between the dual-stack devices and the IPv4-only devices by assisting in the discovery of the devices and transferring data between the two different network stacks.

Outside IT contractors

If you do regularly engage outside contractors for your IT needs such as your POS / property-management technology, it would pay to ask whether the technical staff know about IPv6 and how to deploy it. Most of these contractors may think that small business doesn’t need IPv6 but as the Internet moves to this technology, it pays to be future-proof.

ISPs and Webhosts

It is worth making sure that your business’s ISP and Internet hosted services such as your Webhost are ready for IPv6 or have intentions to roll out a customer-facing IPv6 service.

Most ISPs and Webhosts are likely to have the backend of their services working on IPv6 technology but their customer-facing services like the Web services or Internet service may not be ready. This may be due to the presumption that most customer setups will fail when confronted with IPv6. The exception may be the ISPs that serve a “switched-on” audience that knows their way around the Internet technology; or ISPs and Webhosts that offer customer-facing IPv6 service as a limited-user beta test and they may offer a “dual-stack” setup.

It also pays to check that your domain host supports domain records that are compatible with IPv6 setups. This includes having AAAAA-form DNS records that can resolve your domain name to IPv6 addresses.

Hardware

Computers that run Windows Vista or 7, MacOS X Lion or recent Linux distributions will be ready for IPv6; with Windows XP having support through a downloadable module from Microsoft’s Web site. Relatively-recent computer equipment can be upgraded from prior operating systems to the newer IPv6-compliant operating systems. For the mobile platforms, the IOS (iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch), Android, Symbian and Windows Phone 7 platforms do support IPv6. They will typically operate on a “dual-stack” arrangement by being able to service an IPv4 network and an IPv6 network at the same time through the same network interface,

Similarly, most network printers pitched at the business end of the market that were released over the last few years would have support for IPv6 in a dual-stack setup.

As for routers, managed switches, access points and other network hardware, I would suggest that you check for firmware that supports IPv6 for your existing equipment. Keep an eye on the manufacturer’s Website for newer firmware updates that support IPv6.  If you are purchasing or specifying newer network equipment, make sure that it does support IPv6 or has future support for this in a planned firmware update. Most unmanaged switches, HomePlug-Ethernet bridges and devices that don’t use a Web or SMNP user interface would not need to be compliant with IPv6. This is because these devices work at levels below the IP stacks.

In the case of routers, the device should work as a “dual-stack” unit with support for routing between the two different IP network types. It should also be able to cope with working with a dual-stack Internet service especially as the business Internet services that provide IPv6 will do so in a dual-stack manner.

When I review any network hardware including printers, I will identify those pieces of equipment that are IPv6-ready so as to help you know whether the equipment will be future-proof.

Software

As for software on these computers, any desktop firewall software or other network-utility software that you run would need to support IPv6 operation. This is something that recent versions of this software would cater for, but you should make sure of this when you specify new software. It also holds true for any other network-management programs that need to work on an IP level.

The application software that serves office functionality or line-of-business needs wouldn’t be of concern in relation to IPv6 because the operating system would be handling the network-resource requests for these programs.

Conclusion

The key issue with assuring IPv6 compatibility for your small business network is to make sure that your computer equipment works on dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 software and / or there is a router that works as n IPv4/IPv6 bridge on both sides of the network-Internet “edge”. As well, the IT contractors and services that you engage would need to be knowledgeable about IPv6 and the impending rollout for your business.

Article

HP Blogs – How can Occupy Wall Street and Cloud Computing hel… – The HP Blog Hub

My Comments

The recent “Occupy” movements, which were assisted by the Social Web to create the critical mass, had an intended effort to highlight the resource disparity caused by big business to ordinary people, and small and midsize businesses.

This occurred at the same time that consumers and small-to-medium business were made heavily aware of the concept of “cloud-computing” and computing-as-a-service. In some ways, this can assist in making certain computing services that would be out of the reach of the 99% accessible to this group rather than the 1% which represents the “big end of town”.

When I visited the “Big Picture Experience” computing conference that was hosted by Microsoft in Melbourne this past Wednesday (AEDT), there was a lot of emphasis on this kind of cloud-computing and computing-as-a-service to effectively make a flexible workforce. Applications that were promoted included shared-document management and unified communications; with these applications linking to the business via Internet connections.

They even proposed that small and medium business who can’t afford their own servers have this functionality by renting these services from other companies in a similar way that we can rent disk space for our Web sites from Web-hosting companies like GoDaddy. It is also in a similar way to how some small business operators can work out of a garage yet are able to rent a self-storage lockup from Fort Knox or Big Yellow for storage of extra goods or hire a competent truck form Budget or U-Haul when they need extra trucks.

These concepts can open the door to the feasibility of smaller operations expanding without costing them an arm and a leg. It is because it could allow concepts like telecommuting or shared-desk business, which could lead to reducing the physical size of the business’s premises.

Cloud computing and computing-as-a-service can open up “big-business” paths to smaller operations. Examples of this may include hosted archiving-for-compliance or access to sophisticated business systems and practices like multi-tier loyalty programs for independent business.

This kind of computing can then become the big tide that lifts many boats up and yield flexibility across business sizes. In some ways, it could allow “big-business” hopes from small and medium business owners.

Introduction

I am reviewing the Dell Vostro 3550 series of 15” business laptop computers, which is infact the first business laptop that I have reviewed from this company. It can be purchased from Dell’s online store as one of a few preconfigured options or you or your IT contractor could order a customised system through the Dell website.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build quality

The Dell Vostro 3550 laptop is finished in a silver metal housing that shows that it is well built and durable. This can be available to order as a burgundy or bronze finish if you buy it through Dell’s website. Unlike most laptops, the lid is recessed down with the hinges set towards the centre.

Keyboard detail emphaising chrome trim

The screen escutcheon and palmrest are finished in a charcoal grey finish with the keyboard and trackpad set off with chrome piping. This styling reminds me o the way the dashboards on various classic cars have been styled.

User interface

The Vostro’s keyboard is an illuminated keyboard but doesn’t have a numeric keypad. This may not affect most users but those of use who need to enter in lots of figures like accountants will miss the feature. Here, they could use a USB numeric keypad for the data entry. On the other hand, you get the proper feedback which is important if you do a lot of touch-typing.

This is supported by a trackpad which, like all of the trackpads on recent Dell notebooks, is distinctively highlighted. It works properly as a trackpad and allows for proper navigation.

The Vostro 3550 does support fingerprint-recognition and Dell supplies a “software keyring” that links Web passwords with your fingerprint. Infact I was offered the option to tie my Facebook password to my fingerprint with this software.

As well, there are hot keys with one for the Mobility Center, one for Dell Support access and one you can define to launch a particular program.

Connectivity and Expansion

The Dell Vostro 3550 business laptop range is well endowed when it comes to connectivity and expandability.

The review unit cam with an integrated 3G wireless-broadband modem as well as Bluetooth 3.0 and 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi wireless. The 3G modem is available as an option on other configurations in this model range. The SIM card for the 3G service is installed in a slot located in the battery compartment and it takes the standard small-form-factor SIM card rather than the “micro” SIM card.

Left hand side with SD card reader. USB / eSATA socket, USB socket and HDMI socket

On the other hand, I don’t see why the 3G modem couldn’t, with Bluetooth, support the SIM Card Access profile for authenticating to mobile-data services. Here this setup allows authentication to mobile services via a mobile phone SIM card using a Bluetooth link. The function has been available with integrated car phones that allow authentication and phone service using the driver’s SIM card held in their mobile phone, and could support “one account, one bandwidth quota” operation for both the mobile phone and laptop.

On the other hand, the 3G modem technology used in the Vostro’s integrated modem may be considered too slow in the face of upcoming 4G LTE deployments that are occurring in most countries. Of course this is taken care of with the USB ports and ExpressCard slot being ready to accept LTE modems.

Right hand side with optical drive, ExpressCard slot, audio jacks and USB 3.0 socket

The Dell Vostro has a promising array of two USB 3.0 ports alongside two USB 2.0 ports with one doubling as an eSATA slot. There is an ExpressCard slot available for use with LTE or WiMAX wireless-broadband cards or whatever comes one’s way.

Of course, the computer offers for removable storage a card reader for use with SDHC and similar memory cards as well as a DVD burner.

Audio and Video

A feature that is worthy of note for the Dell Vostro is the integration of a microphone array. Here this allows for improved audio results with video conferencing or speech-recognition-based dictation by using microphone combinations to focus on the voice and cut out the background noise.

This is like when you use a stereo recorder that is equipped with two microphones to record your voice, then play the same recording through stereo speakers or headphones. Here, it is easier to catch your voice because it is dominant across both channels.

The Dell Vostro 3550 uses a dual-mode graphics setup with AMD Radeon graphics for discrete high-performance graphics and Intel HD graphics for power-saving economy-mode graphics. I have seen the benefit of this setup before when I reviewed the HP Pavillion dv7-6013TX which is similarly equipped. Here, I ran it through a DVD rundown test while the laptop was using the Intel HD graphics and it was able to play longer than previous discrete-only setups.

There is support under the new AMD control software for application-driven switchability. Here one can set a video-editing application or graphics-rich game to go with the high-performance graphics while other applications like Web browsers or word-processing can work with the power-saving graphics mode.

On the other hand, there isn’t a distinct manual switch in the AMD software to switch between discrete or integrated graphics.

The Vostro 3550’s screen doesn’t have any of the glare that is common with a lot of consumer laptops and this nicety may be peculiar to business laptops. At least this means that you can use it in most environments without seeing yourself in the mirror when you use the laptop.

Battery life

The Vostro 3550 has achieved long battery runtimes thanks to the Intel Sandy Bridge technology. I had run it on a DVD rundown test by having it play a feature movie continuously off the DVD. This ran for 6 hours 38 minutes on the integrated graphics while showing good-quality movie images.

I have also run the laptop on regular tasks and it appeared as if it was sipping the battery rather than wolfing through it. It has what appears to be a larger battery pack but this pack is the standard one for the Vostro 3550 series.

Conclusion

Rear view with VGA, USB 3.0, Ethernet and power sockets

The Dell Vostro 3550 Series is another of the value-for-money durable laptops that I would recommend as a standard-size “work-home” laptop if you just transport it between locations. If you intend to do a lot of numeric data entry such as accounting or statistics work with it, I would recommend that you use the Vostro with a USB numeric keypad.

Here, I would make sure you get as much RAM and hard disk space as you can afford. You could get away with the i5 processor for most tasks and choose the i5 processor for tasks that demand more like graphics for example. If you had to cut your cloth accordingly, you may have to forego the integrated 3G modem and use an external wireless-broadband modem or tether your mobile phone for your wireless-broadband use as a way of focusing money on the performance or capacity aspects.

What are QR Codes

QR code used in a newspaper to link to its mobile site

A QR Codes is a two-dimensional monochrome barcode that is designed to house a long text string. This may represent contact details or Wi-Fi network parameters but is commonly used to provide a link to a Web-hosted resource. These barcodes may be printed on a newspaper, business card or flyer; or even shown on a Website; the latter method being used to show links to software for the Android platform.

Typically, a person who has a mobile phone equipped with a QR-code reader app can then just point the phone’s camera to the barcode and “take a picture” of that barcode. This then leads to the contact details being put in their contact list or the user being taken to the Web site or Web-hosted resource. This function has even been extended to supplying GPS coordinates to a device for navigation (think of geocaching) or, in the case of Android phones, supplying Wi-Fi service parameters to these phones as part of provisioning hotspot service.

A QR code as used on a poster to advertise this site

They are popular in Europe especially with cafes and restaurants but are slowing increasing in popularity in other countries. As well, some commentators have described the QR code as a way of providing a machine-readable hyperlink in the field. It is also worth having a look at various QR-code blogs like this one so you can know what the trend is about.

Infact, when I promote HomeNetworking01.info using posters or business cards, I make sure there is a QR code pointing to the site so that people can use their phones to head to the site.

Why QR codes for your organisation

One major benefit that QR codes have for your print-based campaigns is that you can insert a direct link to your Webpage or a resource on that Webpage. Your audience then can visit that resource without having to memorise a URL or transcribe the URL in to the phone using a small touchscreen keyboard or SMS-style with the phone keypad.

The QR code is better than using Bluetooth transmitters to provide content. This is because the user isn’t likely to be annoyed with “accept this” Bluetooth responses from these transmitters when they come in to range of the transmitters. As well, the user doesn’t have to remember how to enable or disable Bluetooth discovery mode on their device. As well you don’t need to make sure there is a transmitter at the advertisement and make sure there is power to the transmitter, which can make the QR code acceptable even for posters on that noticeboard or shop door.

It is also better than using any of the proposed “near-field communication” technology for linking to Web resources because you don’t need to buy and integrate near-field transmitters in your promotional materials for the technology to work.

Direct Link to deep Web resources

You may want to provide a sound clip, video or PDF file to your mobile users. As well, you may want to link the user to a particular Web page about a product or promotion. But mobile users may find these resources difficult to gain access to on your site because of being required to enter a long URL into that numeric or small alphabetic keypad.

The QR code can provide the direct link to your campaign page, PDF file or audiovisual resource in a manner that is ready to download “there and then”. If the resource is a YouTube video, you can provide the link to the video clip as it appears on YouTube and the site or local YouTube client can open when the QR code is scanned.

Appropriate for the Social Web

Here, the QR code can augment your Social Web campaign because most active Social-Web users tend to work their Facebook or Twitter presence more from their smartphones. This is especially as I have noticed a lot of small businesses promote their Facebook presence online through posters and flyers that have the “Like us on Facebook” slogan.

What a simplified way of doing this by pointing the latest ultra-cool iPhone to the QR code on the poster attached to the trendy cafe’s espresso machine or refrigerated display cabinet in order to “like” that cafe on Facebook. It certainly makes it certain that you are seen with that iPhone.

Reading QR Codes

Some mobile-phone carriers and manufacturers will supply a QR-code reader with their Internet-enabled camera phones. But iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 users can come across many free QR-code readers at their platform’s app store. One example that comes to mind is the free i-Nigma which started becoming available for the iOS platform but lately became available for the Android and Blackberry platform. There are others like Barcode Scanner for the Android platform, BeeTag for the Blackberry platform and ScanLife for most of the platforms.

A main difference that may sort the “sheep from the goats” as far as QR-code reader programs go is whether they can read a light-coloured QR code that is printed on a dark surface. Similarly, there may be differences in how well a difficult-to-read code like a double-sided sign that is backlit can be understood.

At the moment, most QR-code readers are pitched at handheld mobile phones for immediate viewing of the resources on these devices. But it could be feasible to provide “capture-store-sync” transfer of Web URLs or downloaded resources to desktop operating systems or tablet computers as a feature of a QR-code reader. This could then allow a person to view the Web site on their laptop computer using their favourite Web browser at a later time.  It would also be of importance with QR codes being used for presenting Wi-Fi network parameters to Android phones, where the same parameters can be passed up to a laptop and integrated in to the Wi-Fi networks list for that computer.

Preparing QR codes

There are many QR-code generator sites and programs, most of which are free to use. Typically these sites may allow you to provide a URL to a resource as the input text or prepare contact details. A good resource to start from is this blog’s list of the top 10 free QR-code generating sites. As well, i-Nigma also offer a free QR-code generating page as well as their QR-code reader. Yet another resource is the QReateBUZZ Webpage which I have used for the QR codes for promoting this site.

These codes can be yielded as a small, medium or large size. Here, you could use a small size code for business cards and flyers here you don’t have much room or just want a discreet code on the corner of the poster. You could then use the larger sizes if you want people to notice that there is a QR code in the signage’s artwork or need to be far from the artwork to scan it.

Most sites will yield high-resolution PNG or JPEG bitmaps but some may yield EPS Postscript files or PDFs that are vector-images of the QR codes. You typically will then copy-and-paste or import the mage in to your artwork. As well, a lot of the sites will generate a JPEG image that you copy from the site using Ctrl-C / Command-C and paste to your artwork using Ctrl-V / Command-V.

Of course, there are some desktop QR-code generator programs which will run on a regular computer but most of these are Windows-only and a lot of them are offered at “large-business” prices.

It is still good practice to work with dark-graphics-against-light codes because most QR-code readers cannot work effectively with light-graphics-against-dark at the moment. If you are setting a QR code on a dark background, you could use the dark graphic on a light background and have a distinct light-background margin around that barcode.

Conclusion

Once you explore the creation and use of QR codes as part of your online and offline marketing strategy especially where you have online resources

I have talked with a few cafe owners regarding the idea of implementing or maintaining public Wi-Fi Internet access at their premises and have been observing how the different premises have taken on this issue. As well, I have read articles on the topic of the cafe or bar becoming an increasingly-relevant business and social place in most cities. Most of these establishments may consider the provision of public Internet access more as a way of adding value to their service especially in a crowded marketplace.

Some of you may already have public Wi-Fi Internet service in place thanks to either a neighbouring business that you are friendly with or a “hotzone” run by the local government or a private entity.

The usual mitigating factors that affect the use of a public Wi-Fi hotspot in that cafe or bar may include the size and layout of the public areas. A small cafe may put off that idea due to a small public dining area with lots of furniture. Similarly the location of the premises to regular public transport (regular rail, tram / light-rail or regular bus service) may affect its worth for this feature due to the fact that the commuters would use this facility to do email updates before they head on their journey.

One cafe owner who has a hotspot may notice that there may be more reliance on certain traffic types and drivers to cause more patronage and make the use of a hotspot worthwhile. He cited the existence of apartment blocks as being a key driver due to the residents seeing the cafe as a “second lounge room” due to the typical flat (apartment) having a very small lounge area. Another driver would be tertiary education or small offices operating nearby, where the cafe serves as the “second office”. This would include people who work from their homes and use these places for their meetings.

Factors that may be of concern:

The space and layout of the public area can be a key factor. A wireless hotspot may work against smaller premises where there is a lot of furniture in the public area. This is because of the fact that there is an increased likelihood of personal luggage like laptop bags or briefcases ending up in the thoroughfares.

Another factor is the prevalence of smaller living or working premises near the location. Here, this could support the provision of a hotspot due to the cafe or bar being seen as a “second lounge room” or “second office” because of the size of the living or working area in the customers’ own areas. This may be already factored in to your business’s direction especially as development takes place in the neighbourhood concerning these kind of premises or as a significant employer sets up shop nearby.

Yet another factor that affect your idea of implementing or maintaining a public wireless Internet service would be the proximity of the premises to regular public transport. This may be based on a tram or regular full-time bus service passing your door or a rail station for a commuter-rail or mass-transit service being a few minutes walk from your door.

As well, you may also factor in the kind and frequency of your traffic. This may include whether you have your traffic arriving mainly through weekdays or weekends.

On the other hand, some cafe and bar operators may find that a Wi-Fi hotspot may attract “nuisance technology traffic” who may affect the mood of the cafe or bar. This traffic may manifest in the form of people playing games with loud sound-effects, teenagers or young people playing YouTube videos or latest downloaded music with the sound turned up loud, or customers using their laptops for long videoconferencing sessions. It may also attract “mooching” where customers exist in the premises for a long time, using the facilities but without ordering any food or drink or infrequently ordering low-value food and drink.

Surveying your traffic

It may be worth observing the kind of traffic you have before committing to a public Wi-Fi service so you can have best use. One way would be to observe and count particular traffic types through a sample period of a month or two months. Here you would notice the number of traffic that fits certain types as well as the value of the spend caused by that traffic through their stay.

Traffic types:

There are two different technology-user traffic types to look for when assessing the volume of traffic that uses technology.

Business traffic

These are people who are using your premises to do business. Typically they are equipped with a briefcase or similar case and will use a laptop computer. They may also be equipped with various business documents, paper notebooks or similar items.

This traffic will end up in two sub-classes – one where there is a meeting between two or more people; and another where the person works alone at the table or bench, going through notes or typing / writing up the material. The latter person may come about after a meeting where one of the participants want to “do their homework” from that meeting away from the office.

Leisure portable computer users

These people use the portable-computer technology for personal use at your premises. This will typically be in the form of email, Social Web (Twitter, Facebook, etc), games (Angry Birds, etc), researching leisure-activity information (movies, concerts, etc), videoconferencing (Skype) or personal video viewing (YouTube, etc).

They may typically be younger users who may be alone or with a group of friends and be clutching on to consumer notebooks or tablet computers like the iPad.

What to factor in

When you plan for a hotspot or want to attract “technology-equipped” traffic, there are certain issues worth considering

One factor would be the premises capacity. This encompasses the seating capacity and layout in both indoor and outdoor areas. Here, technology users will come in with briefcases or other luggage that houses their technology and this can get in the way of the traffic flow. Similarly, the premises needs to have proper access to restrooms which can allow for increased traffic.

It may also be worth investigating additional power connections in the public area such as spare power outlets so that clients can charge their technology devices or run the devices on AC while at the premises. This may also involve using high-capacity powerboards when connecting lights or appliances to power outlets in the public area and anchoring these powerboards to the wall using their keyhole sockets.

Of course, it is worth finding out from your regular clients about how they would accept this traffic that would be caused by the proposed hotspot. Of course some of the regular clients may be portable-technology users themselves and may want to benefit from this kind of access themselves.

Conclusion

This article may be of interest and use to cafe or bar owners who are thinking or have thought about the public Wi-Fi Internet service as part of the service mix for the business. It does explain what issues may be of concern as part of providing the service and whether the service may be right for the business.

Please feel free to leave comments after this article about your experience with planning for, setting up or operating public Wi-Fi internet service in your cafe or bar. If you are reading this in the HomeNetworking01.info Facebook Page, you can leave comments on that page after the article. As well, please lave the name of your cafe or bar in the comments that you leave and / or provide a Web link to your establishment’s homepage in the Web link field so I can see it is from the establishment who has the insight.

Introduction

You might be at that position where the computer printer at your small business is “on its last legs” or becoming impossible to run economically. On the other hand, you may find you are working your existing printer harder and need to consider a machine that is suited to your current workload.

Similarly, as the end of the financial year approaches, you will face advertising from computer resellers and retailers; and office-supply stores for technology like printers at very enticing prices, usually to allow businesses to buy capital equipment that can be quickly offset against their income for tax purposes. This can become more intense whenever the government announces significant tax breaks for business owners when they purchase capital equipment.

At this point, you could easily make a mistake concerning the purchase of a printer and end up buying the wrong machine for your needs. I have prepared this buyers’ guide so you can be sure you are getting the right printer to suit your business’s needs and be able to use a machine that gives you more “bang for the buck”.

Printer classes

Laser printers

HP LaserJet Pro 1560 monochrome laser printer

A laser printer uses a xerographic dry-printing mechanism to print the image to the paper, in a similar way to how the classic photocopier worked. But they use a laser or, in cheaper printers, an LED to illuminate the photostatic drum with the computer-generated image to be printed.

Colour laser printers use four of these mechanisms to imprint the four colours and some cheaper versions may use only one drum and four toners to print the same page; which will take longer to come out.

This class of printer is typically known for printing many copies of “press-quality” documents and has started the “desktop-publishing” revolution.

It is worth knowing that some laser printers will use a cartridge which has an integrated drum as well as the toner supply while others like most of the Brother range will use a separately-replaceable drum unit. With the latter model, you may have to factor in the cost of the drum unit which will occur later on in the machine’s life; usually after 17000-25000 pages.

Business Inkjet printers

HP OfficeJet 6500 business inkjet multifunction printer

This class of inkjet printer is pitched primarily at business users and uses high-capacity cartridges and is optimised for a high duty cycle. They will also have business-target functionality like advanced fax functionality and the ability to work with advanced networks.

Consumer Inkjet printers

Canon PIXMA MX-350 multifunction printer with fax

Typically this class of network printer will be optimised for photographic printing and have inks that reproduce photos well. But on the other hand, they will be optimised for a low duty cycle with low-capacity ink cartridges. If they have fax functionality, this functionality will be very basic and as far as network connectivity is concerned, these printers will be suited to a basic small network.

Buying dilemmas that a business owner can face

As a business owner, you may face some buying dilemmas when you choose certain printers. This is especially as manufacturers design printers, especially multifunction printers, that effectively have similar capabilities to others of a different class. Here, the prices for the machines are similar and they may have similar print speeds or functionalities. But there may be certain key differences like the cost to run the machine or the machine’s prowess at particular print jobs.

The two main examples of this are: a high-end fax-equipped consumer inkjet multifunction like the HP Photosmart Premium Fax C410a ( an ePrint-enabled successor to the HP Photosmart Premium Fax C309a full-duplex inkjet printer) and a network-capable business inkjet multifunction like the HP OfficeJet 6500A Series; or a high-end business inkjet multifunction like the HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 Series and en entry-level colour laser multifunction like the HP Colour LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw.

High-end consumer inkjet vs a business inkjet

HP Photosmart Premium Fax C410 - a high-end consumer inkjet multifunction printer

A high-end consumer inkjet printer will be optimised for photo printing whereas a low-end networkable business inkjet will be primarily targeted at printing large runs of documents. This will affect ink-cartridge capacity, machine durability, functionality and printer throughput in many ways.

The former printer will typically have five or more inks and these inks will typically be in lower-capacity cartridges which need replacing more often than the four inks used in a low-end business inkjet printer. I would still suggest that businesses prefer the models with separately-replaceable ink cartridges because each ink can be replaced as needed.

As well, these consumer-level printers will typically have functions that make it easier to print pictures directly from a digital camera whether it’ is “tethered” by a USB cable or one takes the “film” (memory card) out of the camera. Some of these printers may offer the ability to print from a mobile phone via Bluetooth whether through integrated circuitry or an optional Bluetooth module.

HP OfficeJet 6500a - a modest-priced business inkjet printer

It may be worth knowing that some business-level inkjets are acquiring this kind of functionality but most of these printers won’t turn out the high-quality prints from digital cameras. Here, this functionality may be useful for applications where print quality doesn’t matter like hardcopy proofs that are used for “shortlisting” pictures for a project.

I would consider the premium consumer-level inkjet printer as a business printer if you rely on it for turning out high-quality digital prints whether from your PC or your digital camera and don’t do much printing on it. If you want the best of both worlds, you could get by with a dedicated photo-optimised printer for photographic jobs and a business-grade multifunction printer for regular business printouts.

High-end business inkjet vs an entry-level colour laser

An example of this situation is HP’s OfficeJet Pro 8500a inkjet and the HP Colour LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw.

HP OfficeJet Pro 8500a Plus - a hign-end business inkjet multifunction printer

These printers have a similar throughput to each other when printing pages and also turn out a similar copy quality for the documents that are printed. It doesn’t matter whether the documents are ordinary text documents or documents filled with graphics. There may be some glaring functionality differences like the support for duplex operation or memory type. In this example, the OfficeJet Pro 8500a had “full duplex” functionality where it could print on both sides of a sheet of paper and scan both sides of a printed document whereas the LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw could only print or scan one side of a page. Conversely, the LaserJet Pro used flash memory for its fax-related features like no-paper receive, “fax vault” or send-later while the OfficeJet Pro used regular RAM memory for the same functions.

HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw - an example of an entry-level colour laser multifunction printer

The cost-per-page for an entry-level colour laser printer is slightly cheaper than a high-end business inkjet that is fed the high-capacity cartridges although manufacturers like HP are  implementing ink cartridges in these printers that have a similar or better cost-per-page to the laser printers.  On the other hand, the inkjet is more flexible with print media than the laser because it doesn’t use any heat to bond the marking material to the paper. This can make it useful for printing short-run documents to glossy material or printing out labels and transparencies.

Dedicated printer vs multifunction printers

An increasing number of printers on the market, like most of the printers I have reviewed on this site, are of the “multifunction” type with a built-in scanner mechanism. Here, these printers will be able to scan to the computer or work as convenience light-duty photocopiers. Most of the business-focused multifunction printers are able to work as fax machines and these units typically are equipped with an automatic document feeder.

Compare this with the dedicated printers which just print from a computer. This class of printer is typically represented by laser printers or some photo-grade inkjet printers pitched at the graphic arts users.

A multifunction printer can work well as an all-round “workhorse” printer for most office applications whereas a dedicated printer can serve “infill” requirements that the multifunction cannot achieve. For example, you could use a colour inkjet multifunction printer as the main office printer in a doctor’s office while you have a monochrome laser printer turning out health-insurance forms and accounts that are part of the workflow. Similarly, you could use an A3 colour inkjet printer for turning out plans, signs and similar documents while you use a regular A4 multifunction for regular printing needs.

Features worthy of note

Auto-duplex printing

A feature that is becoming common amongst a lot of printers is auto-duplex printing. Here, the printer is able to automatically “flip” the page to print on the reverse side of the paper. This has become popular as a paper-saving measure but some of us may find it of value as a desktop-publishing benefit.

This is demonstrably so with laser printers like the Brother HL4150CDN colour laser that I recently reviewed. Here, the printer can print “to the edge” yet work on both sides of the page. As well, laser printers don’t have to “dwell” for up to 15 seconds to allow the ink to dry, thus it doesn’t have significant impact on print speed. Infact the previously-mentioned Brother printer could work both sides of two pages at once and with this, there is effectively no throughput penalty if you intend to do duplex or booklet printing.

Some inkjet printers, namely HP printers, may require a non-printed margin at the top and bottom of the page for auto-duplex printing. This is perceived to permit reliable paper handling but can be a problem if you intend to print landscape documents or “work to the edge” in your documents. It is also worth noting that some printers such as cheaper high-throughput colour lasers may only be able to use this function for the common document paper sizes like A4 or Letter.

At the moment, it is worth noting that not many of these colour laser printers that have auto-duplex printing can print on both sides of small-page “flyer-size” documents like A5, DL or postcard. This is usually because the auto-duplex mechanisms are not able to reliably push the small sheets of paper through the colour laser printing mechanism in order to print on both sides of the flyer.

It may be worth knowing that some high-end A4 multifunction printers will be likely to have “full duplex” functionality. This means that they will have auto-duplex printing as well as an automatic document feeder that can scan both sides of a page. This typically leads to functions like automatic “both-sides” copying and faxing.

Use as the business fax machine

Brother MFC-7460DN monochrome laser multifunction printer

Firstly, most of the multifunction printers that appeal to the business user will have an integrated fax functionality. This can be of use if that old fax machine has nearly “had it” or is becoming costly to run due to its use of the thermal-transfer tape.

Infact, the purchase of a low-end plain-paper fax that uses this kind of printing is really a false economy because these fax machines will work through the thermal-transfer tape even if a page is partially written on. Instead, a fax-equipped multifunction printer uses the ink or toner when and where it needs to mark the document.

As well, it will save on bench space because you don’t have to have a separate machine to receive your faxes on. This is an important requirement for small offices and shops where this space can be at a premium.

It is also worth knowing that the inkjet and colour-laser multifunction printers that have the fax functionality are capable of receiving and transmitting faxes in colour to businesses equipped with similarly-capable equipment. Here, if you select “Colour Fax” on these machines, they will transmit the document according to “best-case” rules where if the receiving machine isn’t colour-capable, the transmission will succeed with the document being in monochrome. Other examples of these printers offering increased value for money as a small-business fax machine include the business class printers offering a “fax-vault” function where you can set the unit to hold received documents in memory and print them when required; or “print-to-fax” functions or “fax-to-computer” functions so you can fax a document from your computer or capture a faxed document to your computer without reprinting it.

Of course, these machines will have the expected fax functionality and can work with a dedicated fax line or a shared phone line, including support for “distinctive ring” dedicated-fax-number setups like Telstra’s Faxstream Duet.

What to be careful of

The two-cartridge colour inkjet printer

A lot of inexpensive consumer and small-business inkjet printers still use two cartridges for their printing setup. One of these cartridges is the black cartridge while the other is a “tri-colour” ink cartridge that houses the cyan, magenta and yellow inks in one plastic body.

The main problem with this design is that if one colour runs out in the colour cartridge, you have to replace the whole cartridge even if there is plenty of ink remaining for the other colours. It can become more exacerbating if you print material using your business’s trad dress which will be dominant in particular colours.

This may be OK for an occasionally-used printer but should be avoided if you use your printer frequently. Instead, look for a midrange printer that uses four or more ink cartridges with each colour in its own cartridge.

Wi-Fi-only network connectivity

Another feature common with inexpensive network multifunction printers is to provide Wi-Fi as the only network connection method. This is more so with the printers that are positioned at the consumer end of the market.

There are a few limitations with this setup. One is that you have to run a Wi-Fi network to obtain the benefits of network connectivity and this can be fraught with problems because of Wi-Fi being a radio based method. For example, walls made out of double-brick, cinder-block or reinforced concrete can play havoc with a Wi-Fi link; as can metal-reflective insulation. This limits the ability to connect the printer to your business network using alternative network technologies like Ethernet or HomePlug powerline networking.

As well, a lot of these printers require the user to configure them for the wireless network by connecting them to a host computer and running manufacturer-supplied software before they will work with that network. The exception to this rule for most of these printers is Wi-Fi network segments that use WPS “push-to-connect” setup, where you may push a button on the printer or select a menu option to start the configuration process. This is although the HP ePrint-enabled Wi-Fi-only consumer printers like the Photosmart Wireless-E B110a economy printer and the HP Envy 100 (D410) slimline printer do support configuration for non-WPS wireless networks from the control panel.

Recommendations for most businesses

General-office work

I would recommend a midrange network-connected business inkjet multifunction printer with four ink cartridges and auto-duplex printing for a “general-use” workhorse printer. It may be OK to use a high-end consumer printer or low-end business inkjet for low-traffic applications like a secondary printer.

A photo-optimised consumer printer like a Canon PiXMA or HP Photosmart may be good as a secondary printer for applications where you value high-quality photo prints with the full saturation. Some manufacturers may offer a dedicated photo-optimised printer but typically these can be very expensive and are pitched at the graphic-arts industries.

A dedicated monochrome laser printers can be useful for printing out forms or documents as what would be required of medical, legal or similar professions. Here, it would be wise to look for auto-duplex-equipped units if you turn out many multipage documents like most legal documents. As well, I would recommend that these machines are network-connected if you have or intend to have two or more computer workstations that will turn out the documents.

HP OfficeJet 7000 A3 wide-format inkjet printer

If you don’t care about colour printing but turn out many documents, you could get by with a monochrome laser multifunction printer like the recently-released Brother units or the HP LaserJet M1212nf that I had previously reviewed. Then if you want to do colour printing at a later date, you could add on a dedicated colour printer like the HP OfficeJet 6000 inkjet; HP OfficeJet 7000 A3 inkjet or Brother HL-4150CDN laser “desktop-publishing workhorse”.

Promoting your business yourself

You may want to use a colour laser printer as a promotion tool for your business. I have infact written up an article about why it is worth considering these printers as a buying option. Here, it would be a good idea to stick to high-throughput colour laser printers like the Brother HL-4150CDN especially if you do a lot of your own short-run publishing, including “infill” print runs.

You may want to take advantage of the larger A3 page size as a paper size for signage and similar material. It may even come in handy within the office for turning out large spreadsheets or business charts that can have more detail. Here, you may look at a single-tray A3 multifunction like the HP OfficeJet 7500 for occasional A3 use or a dual-tray A3 multifunction like the Brother MFC-6490CW or dedicated A3 printer like the HP OfficeJet 7000 if you do turn out a lot of A3 material.

Brother MFC-6490CW A3 inkjet multifunction printer

Conclusion

In simple terms, I would suggest that you check how much the printer will cost to run; such as the price of replacement ink or toner cartridges; the availability of high-capacity cartridges and the kid of cartridges used and other cost-saving practices like auto-duplex

Then make sure that your printer can suit your current needs as well as allowing for future needs.Here, you can then own and run the right printer that will serve your business’s needs for many years without being a drain on your business’s cashflow.

Introduction

You might be considering setting up that complimentary hotspot for your guests to use but there are certain risks to be aware of concerning the security of your business and your guests’ data and identity.

Risks that have been highlighted include confidential-data and identity theft performed against customers as they work this data from their portable devices; as well as clandestine computer activity like the downloading or serving of illegal content; or the distribution of spam email, performed using computers connected to public Internet networks like wireless hotspots.

As well, there may be other imperatives required of people who provide Internet access to the public. These imperatives, asked for by various local, state / regional or national governments may include requirement like keeping a log of whom you provide Internet access to or requirement for session tracking. Therefore I am not therefore in a position to explain how to satisfy these needs and it is best to seek local advice on this topic.

Therefore, your business should know who is using the hotspot service and be able to make sure that the people who benefit are the business’s customers or guests. This means that the customers or guests are actually going to be operating the network device that they use when connecting to the service and also operate it on your premises. As well, your customers know that they are going to actually benefit from your hotspot service when they log in to this service.

The cafe or bar as a “second office”

This is more important for the cafe as an increasing number of businesspeople use these places as “second offices” where they can work without unnecessary office-borne distraction or as places where they meet their colleagues or business partners. Here, these people will be working on workplace-confidential data and most of these workplaces place high value on the security of this data as it travels between the laptop and the workplace’s main computer systems.

In fact, the reason I have decided to publish this article was because a cafe that I regularly visit in Camberwell (Melbourne, Australia) had just started to offer free public Wi-Fi access but I had wanted them to provide a free Wi-Fi service that is safe for their customers. Here, they had an ordinary wireless router as the Internet service but they needed help in getting this service working properly and safely. They also wanted to make sure that this resource was available just to their customers as part of their customer service.

Your equipment

When you start out with your complimentary-use hotspot service, you may use a wireless router hooked up to a separate Internet service or use one with a “guest-access” or hotspot function and is connected to your common Internet service.

This should be set up to cover your public area such as the bar areas in your bar or the dining room in your cafe. In some situations, you may need to use an additional access point to cover larger areas or get your signal past thick walls. This is something I have covered in this site as a separate article.

As well, if your equipment works on 802.11n technology, it should be set to work in compatibility mode where it can work with 802.11g and 802.11n devices. This is to cater for the fact that most devices that are in circulation, especially smartphones, are likely to work with 802.11g technology and people may operate battery-operated 802,11n-capable devices in 802.11g mode in order to conserve battery runtime. 

Your SSID or Network Name

The SSID or network name is very important to your hotspot’s identity. Here, it should reflect your business’s name and have a reference to public or guest Wi-Fi service. An example that I used for a basic complimentary-use Wi-Fi hotspot that I set up at a coffee lounge just recently was MORAVIA-PUBLIC-WIFI. Here this reflected the coffee lounge’s name (MORAVIA) as well as stating that the service was a public Wi-Fi hotspot service hosted by this business. Therefore, you can then identify any “evil-twin” or “fake-hotspot” devices left on or near the premises that exist to capture customers’ sensitive data.

This SSID must be used in all signage advertising your hotspot and the signage must reflect your company’s identity. This means that it either has your company logo and name or be in your company’s styling. In this case, the signage about the hotspot should at least exist beside the cash-register and the door, preferably at eye-level or near the main handle or pull.

Hotspot security

Basic security

Your hotspot network should be secured with a WPA-PSK passcode which your staff should give out to customers who want to use hotspot service. As well, the network should have wireless-client isolation enabled, so that customers who are using the hotspot cannot browse on to each others’ computers.

Previously, there wasn’t any wisdom in implementing link security on a public-use wireless network but now that most computers and handheld devices support WPA-based link security for wireless networks, adding this function to WPA-level is still worth it for achieving some control and security in a public-use wireless network.

It is still important to change the WPA-PSK passphrase regularly such as at least twice a month. Some environments may require the passphrase to the changed every week. This is so that it becomes hard to set up a “fake hotspot” using your service’s credentials or keep a computer logged in to the hotspot service without you knowing.

As well, your hotspot should properly support VPN pass-through for all protocols so that business users can log in to their workplace VPNs  without any headache.

Special hotspot-gateway devices

It may be worth knowing that if you want greater control over your public Internet service, it may be worth implementing a “docket-printer-based” wireless hotspot gateway like the Netcomm HS-1100, Solwise WAS-105R or Zyxel N4100.

Here, these devices direct users to a login page where they have to key in a session login and password that they transcribe from a paper docket that is printed from a docket printer attached to the hotspot gateway. If you intend to offer a paid service, these devices put you in a position to use the payment methods and paths that you use to accept payment for your goods and services.

This is unlike some other hotspot gateway setups that require the potential user to pay another company directly using their credit card or an account maintained by that other company using a payment form hosted by that hotspot. Typically, a lot of these setups are managed in a manner where you don’t have much control over how the service in provided and the service may be provided in a manner not dissimilar to how most vending and amusement machines are provided where you don’t own the equipment, representatives visit the premises to maintain the equipment and you get a small “cut” from the takings.

As well, the session login parameters that your users type in from these dockets exist only for a particular time limit. This is also important for people who run a paid service, but can be useful for managing complimentary service so you can be sure that the people who are using your service are your customers or guests who are in your public areas.

If you do run one of these dedicated hotspot gateway devices, such as a “docket-printer-based” device, the wireless network that these devices operate should still have WPA-PSK security with the passphrase changed regularly. The “docket-based” devices will list the WPA-PSK passphrase on that same docket so your customers can still log in to your hotspot from their device.

Branding options

If you do implement these devices, make sure that you know how to brand the customer-facing user interfaces.

Most of these devices can allow you to upload a graphic and integrate it in to the login interface or they can allow you to upload customised login screens or point to a Web server for the login interface graphics. The latter option may appeal to you if you have a good hand with creating basic HTML Web pages.

Here, make sure that you have your business name and logo and, if you can do it, set the colour scheme to your business’s colour scheme. As well, make sure that your business name appears on the access dockets that your hotspot gateway prints out.

Power outlets

With a hotspot, always expect that some of your customers will use the power outlets on your premises to power their laptops or smartphones from AC power to avoid compromising battery runtime. This is more so with customers are operating older equipment that has batteries that are “on their last legs” or are working VPN sessions in order to “pick up” files from work and want to be sure this is done properly.

Here, a few double outlets near the tables can work wonders here and if an outlet is used for powering a device like a lamp, the device could be connected to the outlet via a multi-socket power-board with extra outlet space for a few appliances.

Conclusion

Once you know how to choose and set up your public-use wireless network properly, you can make sure that this is a service that your customers and guests will benefit from fully. This may even put your business “on the map” as far as customer-service extras are concerned.

Note for North-American readers: The paper size I am talking about here is the A3 paper size which will be roughly equivalent in purpose and size to the large “Ledger” paper. Printers capable of printing on the A3 paper size will be capable of printing on the “Ledger” paper size.

We are about to see the printer manufactures make cost-effective network-enabled printers including multifunction units that print on A3 paper for use by small and medium businesses. Some of the manufacturers are positioning these machines at the graphic-arts industries but a few manufacturers, namely Hewlett-Packard and Brother, are pitching most of these machines, especially their entry-level A3 machines, at the general office space in a small or medium business.

Businesses and organisations of this calibre may resist the idea of using A3 in the general office space due to machine costs but there are many valid reasons for using this paper size in this space.

Why consider A3 in the office

General office life

The A3 paper size can come in to its own with spreadsheets and similar information that is presented for meeting participants to see during the meeting. Sometimes, it can be easy to use the computer to prepare a table with some data on to the A3 sheet but create the space for handwritten information like newer data or anciliary notes taken during the meeting.

Similarly, graphic works like graphs, charts and diagrams have more impact once they are printed on an A3 sheet. As well, if the chart has more detail it benefits from the larger paper size because people can read the detail more easily.

As well, if you turn out signs using your computer and its word-processor or desktop-publishing software, the larger paper size of A3 can allow you to make signs with more impact. Again this is because of the ability to use larger fonts and make best use of graphics and stylised text.

Promoting your organisation

A sign written on A3 paper to promote a community event in a cafe

Most organisations can benefit from A3 as a promotional tool because of its large size. They could make their own signage that is more eye-catching even when seen from a distance. As well, they can make A4 booklets with the help of their desktop-publishing software or even just the printer’s driver. This can be made more easier if the printer has auto-duplex capabilities that can work on both sides of A3 sheets.

Real-estate

Real-estate agents can use the A3 paper size for printing out building plans that they receive so that they themselves and their customers can read the plans easily.

They can offer “premium treatment” on the shop window for their premium campaigns by using A3 window cards for properties that they sell using these campaigns. This will then attract more customer interest from street traffic for these properties. As well, most of the real-estate agents become involved in community-driven promotion efforts and they could put their A3-capable printers to good use for the community.

Food and Beverage

A restaurant, cafe, bar or takeaway outlet can make very good use of the A3 paper size with their promotion efforts as mentioned during my interview with Heidi Webster from Brother. For example, the small outlets could promote those food or drink specials, new menu items or special events on their walls or windows just like the “big boys”. They can also make use of the paper size to produce easier-to-read menus that are stuck on their walls and windows.

Schools, Churches and Similar Organisations

Organisations that undertake educational activities can benefit from printing to A3 when they make their learning aids. They can take advantage of using larger text and make best use of stylised text and graphics in order to make the posters more attractive and convey the message more effectively. There is also room for the organisation to insert more detail yet provide for readability as illustrated above.

If these organisations host events, they can make the A3 paper size come in handy with signage that is to do with the event. This is more so with the timetables and schedules that need to be published or exhibited through the event. They can benefit from A3 due to being able to include more information or presenting the information in a larger typeface so more people are able to read it comfortably.

How to go about it

Dedicated A3-capable printer

A dedicated A3-capable printer may suit your needs better if you have an A4-capable printer that you use for most of your printing tasks. These come in two forms: a wide-carriage inkjet printer or a colour laser printer which can print on A3 or A4.

HP OfficeJet 7000 wide-format printer

The former printer typically looks like a regular inkjet printer that is “stretched out” lengthways and has a wider carriage that accommodates the paper. Most of these are pitched at photographers and graphics-design artists and cheaper versions often are designed for direct connection. They typically use photo-optimised inks and these can be expensive to buy especially for office-based use. An exception to this rule is the Hewlett-Packard OfficeJet 7000 which I reviewed previously. This uses the OfficeJet inks which have higher capacity and are cheaper to run; as well as it being designed to work with a network.

The latter printer type is simply a network-enabled colour laser printer that has the ability to print A3 paper. Typically these machines will have two or more paper drawers which can be set up to house any size paper up to A3. They are typically positioned as mid-range colour laser printers that are pitched at larger businesses and therefore have a longer duty cycle. They can be good if you are considering the benefits of colour laser printing and A3 printing.

A3-capable multifunction printer

Another way to go would be to purchase an A3-capable multifunction printer which has integrated scanning, copying, faxing (with some machines) as well as printing. Previously this class of machine was very expensive and only available to large businesses in a similar manner to an office copier.

Brother MFC-6490CW A3 inkjet multifunction printer

Now Brother have introduced compact A3-capable inkjet multifunction printers like the MFC-6490CW which I have reviewed on this site. They have been pitched at prices most small businesses can afford but there are cheaper varieties that can only scan up to A4 paper size. These units may be enough for the general office space because most documents that exist there are typically written on A4 or smaller paper. The machines that have A3 scanners may work better for graphics-arts industries as well as anyone who has anything to do with the building industry where there is a likelihood of handling building plans.

I would recommend use of these machines as replacements for existing multifunction “document-centre” printers rather than as secondary units.

Conclusion

I would still encourage an established small or medium business or organisation to consider the A3 paper size as part of their printing arsenal. This is especially when wanting to use it as a paper-based promotional or public-relations tool.

I have received two colour laser printers from Brother International on loan for me to review for this site. These are able to turn out large runs of high-quality colour documents very quickly but a lot of mainstream business users are hesitant to deploy them in the office. They may be used by people in the publishing sector as another tool for turning out proofs of publications. As well, larger organisations may provide a single machine for use by the marketing department for printing up marketing material. But typically, a lot of businesses limit their use because of the cost to buy and run these machines. There is also a fear that employees will use the colour laser printer for running off party invitations or publication material for their own school or community effort, rather than to further the needs of the employer’s business. As well, not many small businesses and community organisations do consider the purchase of a colour laser printer even though they may need to turn out larger colour print runs. Often they end up overworking a colour inkjet multifunction printer or outsource the job to a printing service whenever they do a large print run. A key user case for these printers would be anyone in the real-estate business. This also includes anyone who specialises in short-term or long-term property rental. These people would be relying on these kinds of printers as they turn out many different documents associated with the sale or rental of a property. But most users could use these machines for creating “as-needed” colour business stationery. Similarly, they could be useful for using colour in the reports and accounts that your business sends out. This could include preserving colour in your organisation’s logo.

Main benefits

Like its monochrome brethren, the colour laser printers have the ability to turn out high-quality printouts of documents and publications in a very quick time. But these units can do the same thing in colour and can work to a standard for proofing or short-run multiple-copy publishing. As well, like the monochrome laser printers, most of these printers can run for a long time before they need the toner replaced. They are also designed to handle large amounts of paper thus allowing for long intervals before you need to replenish the supplies. This also allows the printers to be considered on a “per page” level as being cheap to run and is more so with newer equipment.

Drawbacks

One main drawback is that the printers are initially expensive to buy and the cost to replace parts can mount up considerably. As well, because the mechanism has to print the four colours for process printing (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), it is a lot more complicated and this can be of concern with serviceability and reliability. Another limitation is that the availability and cost of special printing media may be limited compared to that for inkjet printers. This is because of the fact that these units use heat to “fix” the image to the media and the special media has to be designed to cope with this situation. In some cases, certain media like vinyl adhesive stickers wouldn’t be available for this class of printer due to the use of plastic as a writing media and also the use of an adhesive in the same media.

Features to look for

There are certain feature that should be considered essential for one of these printers, whether as a dedicated printer or as a multifunction unit. One is for the printer to be able to be connected to the business’s network via a Cat5 Ethernet “blue cable” at least. They may also come with an 802.11g or 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless network that works with WPA2 security and, preferably, WPS quick-setup. Another is for the printer to have an integrated auto-duplex mechanism which allows you to print on both sides of the paper. These should allow the whole of the paper face to be printed on when printing both sides and preferably there should be no time penality for doing double-sided printing. As well, you should be able to buy a high-capacity paper tray for the unit, whether as standard or as an optional extra. There should also be the option to buy high-yield toner cartridges so, with the combination of the high-capacity paper tray and these cartridges, you don’t have to attend to the machine frequently.

Conclusion

It is still worth considering putting the colour laser printer in your printing technology landscape especially if you intend to turn out a large number of short-run or application-specific documents. So have a look at the reviews of the Brother HL-4150CDN colour laser printer and the Brother MFC-9840CDW colour laser multifunction printer and stay tuned to this site for more networked colour laser printer reviews. While you are waiting, any of you can leave comments after this article about your experiences with buying or using a colour laser printer.

Introduction

Most of us who use Microsoft PowerPoint or most other business presentation software often want to use the software to make TV-quality title and graphics slides for video productions that we create with other video software, usually the software that is considered to be affordable for most users. This also includes preparing menu trees for DVD and Blu-Ray projects that are being built with affordable software. These needs will become more common as people use affordable video equipment to prepare video material as a way of augmenting their blogs, presenting on YouTube or even exhibiting through community television broadcasters.

As well, an increasing amount of affordable consumer video playback devices such as DVD players, TVs, electronic picture frames and network media players are capable of showing JPEG images, Now many users want to be able to push these commonly-available devices in to service as cost-effective “digital signage”. This is something I have talked about in my article on using DLNA-enabled equipment in the small business.

User-determined bitmap-export resolution

Most of this software doesn’t provide a way of allowing the user to have control over the resolution of the JPEG or other bitmap images that they create when the export the slides to these formats. This is a feature that I would consider being very important as I know that the presentation programs keep the graphics for each of the slides as a vector format which is drawn on the screen rather than a “raster” format which is an array of pixels. This then allows a user of these programs to make the aforementioned “TV-quality” graphics using them no matter the size of their screen.

One common situation where the user may need to adjust the resolution when exporting to JPEG is to prepare quick-loading images that are in small files for use on a device with a small display. One obvious example would be a low-end electronic picture frame which would have  a small display size and another would typically be a mobile phone or portable media player with less than VGA resolution.

Another situation would eventuate in the form of a person who uses a laptop or small desktop screen with a low resolution display to create a presentation. Then they want to export the JPEG files to a playback situation capable of handling high-resolution images like a BD-Live Blu-Ray player connected via HDMI to a large direct-view screen or a projector. Similarly, the images could be used as part of a high-definition video production and there is the desire for that high-definition “crispness” in the images.

The user could be presented with a series of resolutions for the JPEG exports with these resolutions conforming to the aspect ratio for the presentations as part of exporting the images. As well, there could be the support for users to set the default image resolutions for particular aspect ratios and presentation types. The function could be simplified by use of an “SD” option for standard-definition output, an “HD1” option for 720-line high-definition output and an “HD2” option for 1080-line high-definition output.

Improved “export-to-video” and video integration

Another function worth considering would be to provide “export-to-video” functionality for animated presentations so one can make the presentations out as regular SD or HD video files with a choice of common codecs and packaging methods.

As well, in the case of Microsoft PowerPoint, this program could have integrated functionality with Windows Live Movie Maker. This free program, which is the only video-editing program that Microsoft sells, could support such functionality as “create slide or animation in PowerPoint” so that users can prepare slides in PowerPoint then turn them in to video content using this program.

Conclusion

These kind of improvements can allow users to put business presentation software to use in improving the quality of the video or “digital signage” they create with other affordable tools.