Printing All The Way To The Bank

Each day one of the most expensive things you do with your computer is printing. Each time you hit that print button depending on your printer it will cost you anywhere from 1¢ to 50¢. Currently there are five different readily available technologies on the market, each with its own place and price per page printed.
Before we talk about types of printers though, we need to discuss coverage. In the print world, coverage is defined as the amount of space covered with ink when you print a page. Why is coverage important? Coverage is important because when you purchase a toner or ink cartridge it states how many pages it will print. Any normal person would think that a page is a full page, but in fact the definition of pages printed on a toner cartridge is based on 5% coverage. What that means is that a toner cartridge that states it will print 5000 pages will print 5000 pages at 5% coverage. 5% coverage on a sheet of paper is just over a half sheet of printed text with no pictures.
Most often when you print a sheet, you will be covering more than 5% of the page with ink or toner. Therefore, that 5000 page toner cartridge may only be printing 3000 pages. The easiest way to find out how many pages you are actually printing out of a cartridge is to print a status page when you put in a new toner and write the page count on the front of the toner cartridge, then when the toner runs out repeat this and subtract the beginning from the ending count. Once you have this number, take the cost of the toner and divide it by the pages printed and you will have your true cost of printing.
Please consult your printer manual for instructions on how to print a status page and also note that not all printers offer a page count meter.
The five major types of printers are dot matrix, heat transfer, ink jet, laser and solid ink.
The first two types, dot matrix and heat transfer are mostly limited to cash register receipt printing and special application. The most common consumer product that uses heat transfer is the Brother heat transfer fax machine. If you own one of these, unless you only use it once a month or so, throw it away as they are extremely expensive.
The third type of printing technology and the one you are most likely to see in a home is the ink jet. Ink jets are popular due to the low entrance costs. An average ink jet printer runs less than $100 and offers great color. What people do not pay attention to is the very high operating cost of these printers. The average print cost of an ink jet printed page runs around 50¢ depending on coverage. Manufacturers often will sell these printers below cost, knowing they will recoup their expense in the sale of ink cartridges. If you think you are paying a lot for a gallon of gas, the price for a gallon of ink jet ink is roughly $10,000.
The forth form of technology is commonly called laser. Laser printers have a higher entrance cost, but have a long term savings in the cost per page. An average laser printer has a page cost of 4¢ black and white and 20¢ color. Laser printer will print pages faster than an ink jet and the ink will not run when it gets wet like a ink jet printed page will. One of the down sides of laser is the messy toner that is hazardous to the environment. If you get some toner on your clothes, you may never get it out.
The last printer we will discuss is a new environmentally friendly type of technology only available from Xerox. Xerox’s solid ink technology has no wasted cartridges, is environmentally friendly, has no messy toners, produces near photographic quality on plain paper and has a print cost starting at 2¢ black and white and 5¢ color.
The plain simple answer to the question of which printer is right for you is that it depends on your situation. If you do low volume color, 1-5 pages per day, an ink jet is probably the right fit. If you print over 100 pages up to 1000 color pages per month a color laser is a good fit. If you are printing over 1000 color pages per month, the Xerox Solid Ink Technology is a good place to look.
I often get the questions “I print only a couple color pages a month, but do high black and white volume, what do I do?” My answer to this question is that they need to purchase both a ink jet printer for color and also a laser for doing black and white.
At ConnectU we offer businesses a free evaluation of their printing needs. We offer a large array of printing products and our partnership with Xerox has given us a valuable asset when servicing businesses. Please contact us today to schedule an appointment.

To Laptop or to Desktop, that is the question: A Back To School Decision

“Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the limitations of a laptop or to take refuge in the strength of a desktop” was a long time ago written by one William Shakespeare in his famous play eHamlet. This soliloquy was written to his quandary on whether to buy a laptop or desktop…well, maybe not.
As we come into back to school season where young scholarly minds head off to college to study great intellectuals like Shakespeare, many parents are prompted to purchase a new computer for their child. One of the quandaries facing parents is whether to purchase a laptop or a desktop. Today we are going to discuss the difference, advantages and disadvantage of purchasing a laptop.
The first and biggest feature students will want in a laptop is portability. Taking a laptop to the library or off to class can help the student be more productive while not forcing them to be sequestered in their room at school. Even though your student will enjoy this portability, so will the local thief as he walks away with the unattended notebook.
Your budget is the second factor that you have to consider when purchasing a computer for school. In general a laptop will cost $200-1000 more than a similar equipped desktop. In addition, a laptop will cost more to repair than a desktop. Since the parts in a laptop are combined into one unit (the motherboard), if one item goes bad, you will need to replace the entire motherboard. On a desktop you can replace individual parts such as a video card. Also, if you need to replace the motherboard or other part in a desktop there will be several different brands to replace it with, whereas in a laptop you will only be able to use the exact part.
The third item to take into consideration is performance. In general, due to size and weight constraints, laptop hardware will underperform a desktop. Therefore, if you are looking for high performance, such as for gaming, graphic design or video production, you would fare better with a desktop. The performance of a laptop will suit most students through their entire school career, unless they are in an engineering or graphic design track. If your child is heading off for one of these tracks, I recommend contacting the school for guidance in purchasing a computer.
The final item to contemplate is often very important to students cramped into a small dorm room and that is one of size. With a desktop, as the name implies, they will need a desk area to place the computer, whereas with a laptop the student can take the computer anywhere and store it most anyplace in their room.
After taking all of this into consideration the choice between a laptop and a desktop comes down to one of personal choice and need. I personally have a laptop due to my need for portability with my work. Even with that aside I would always prefer a laptop since I often to sit on the couch while watching TV and working on my computer. The factors discussed in this article: portability, price, performance and size will come together to help lead you in the right direction when making the decision between purchasing a laptop or desktop for your student.

Photo Fun For Everyone

This week’s question comes from Twitter user Jeannemily. Jeannemily would like to know more about “filing photos, finding them and attaching them to emails.”
Well Jeannemily, the easiest tool I have seen for managing your photos is Picasa 3. Picasa 3 is another great free tool from our friends at Google.
You can find a link to download Picasa on my website http://www.connectutech.com. Just click the Free Downloads icon on the left side of the page. This will take you to our download links page where you will find the link to download Picasa 3. Click Run when prompted and follow the simple install wizard, selecting all of the defaults.
After you have completed the installation, the program automatically launches and prompts you where you would like it to scan for pictures. I would recommend that you select “Completely scan my computer for pictures” so that it will find all the pictures on your computer. You can delete unwanted pictures out of the albums later.
On the next screen, it will ask you what type of files you would like to use the Picasa Photo Viewer to view, I recommend that for ease of use that you Select All and click Finish. Before you are even done clicking Finished, you will start to see files populate
Of all of the picture management tools on the market, Picasa 3 has the easiest interface for you to navigate, so let us take a brief tour.
The first thing you will notice is the two panes in the center of the window. In the left pane you will see folders containing pictures and in the right pane you will see thumbnails of the pictures. As you click on the folders in the left pane, you will notice the pictures scroll in the right pane.
Right click on one of the folders and you will see a menu pop-up. With this menu you can change the description of the folder, find the folder on your hard drive, remove the folder from Picasa (note this does not remote the files from your hard drive, just from Picasa), and upload to a web album for sharing with friends and family.
In the right windows, just below the folder name, you will see a series of buttons. The first button plays a slide show of all the pictures in that folder, the second button creates a photo collage, the third button generates a movie of the photos, the forth button helps you create a CD of the photos to give to someone, the fifth button allows you to filter down to only starred photos and the sixth button finds only photos with faces.
At the bottom of the window are all the tools you will need to share your photos. Once you have selected a photo, photos or an album from the above panes; you can use these tools to upload them to a web album, tag them with keywords like the person’s name or the location, email them to a friend, print them, get them printed for you, Blog them, create a movie or Geo-Tag them (upload them to Google Earth.)
There are too many features in Picasa to go over each one individually, but one of the major features that I would like to go over is ease of use. There is no need to spend hours setting up Picasa, because Picasa will help you set up the features you would like to use. For example, uploading items to a web album. The first time you select photos to upload, Picasa will prompt you for information to help you either log into your existing account or setup an account.
Picasa also has a companion product, Picasa Photos Screensaver. The Photo Screensaver can installed through Google Pack which also be found on the download links page on my website. Once you install the Photo Screensaver you have the functionality to add photos in Picasa 3 by selecting the photo, clicking create on the top menu, then selecting Add to Screensaver…
I would like to thank Jeannemily for her question this week and hope that I have answered her question. If you would like to submit a question for possible inclusion in my weekly Tech Tips article, you can Tweet them to me @ http://www.twitter.com/ConnectU. By following us on Twitter you will receive regular technical tips and updates.

Can Your Computer Weather the Storm?

This is the time of year when your computer can get blown away, not by that new cool app, but by the on slot of Mother Nature. Lightning strikes, power surges, and floods are not friends to your computer, but mortal enemies. Now is the time to create a protective shield against these dangers.
There are three defensive strategies when preparing to combat Mother Nature. Implementing a surge protection strategy, properly placing equipment and backing up your data will help keep your electronic equipment safe.
The first and most important line of defense for your computer is a good surge protector. I’m not talking about the $5 junk you can find at most big box or discount stores; I’m talking about the ones that cost $30 and up. Most good quality surge protectors come with some sort of insurance, where if your equipment becomes damaged they will replace or repair the equipment. The cost of a good quality surge protector is small when you compare it to the hundreds or thousands of dollars in damage a lightning strike or surge can cause.
The key goal, when using a surge protector, is to guard each and every wire coming out of the wall and into a piece of electrical equipment. Not only do you have to protect the electrical plug, but also cable and phone lines.
Lightning and surges can enter your computer through many routes. Lightning has been known to go right through a DSL or Cable Modem and straight into a computer, completely destroying the PC. A major entry point for lightning is through the telephone line. If you are no longer using dialup, please take the time to disconnect the wire from the back of your computer.
An important note to remember about surge protection, it is not 100% effective. Even with the best surge protection there is always a chance your electronic equipment will be damaged by a surge or lightening strike.
A second way to protect your computer from the storm is by moving it off the floor. Locating your computer under the desk leaves it vulnerable to damage from flood. Moving the computer on top of the desk can help protect it from damage as well as lessen the amount of dust collecting inside. If a storm is pending, an extra step you can take to protect the computer is to cover the CPU with a garbage bag. This will ward off falling water from a leaky roof or broken window.
The final and most important way to protect your computer from the storm is by backing up the data on the computer and storing the backup in a remote location or in a safe. A simple backup strategy will keep your memories and valuable data safe in case of fire, flood, theft or hardware failure. If you cannot remember to backup your data, try using software such as our DataSafe pro, to continually backup your data in a safe offsite location.
If you need addition resources on keeping your computer safe during a storm, please check out our website www.connectutech.com.

Is your Child Sexting without your knowledge?

The Internet has many unforeseen dangers for children of all ages and in order to keep your child safe you must stay informed. This week’s installment of my four week series on keeping your child safe online focuses on other dangers your child can face online. If you missed last week’s installment or any of my articles, you can read them online at the Daily Commercial’s website under Tech Tips.
Last week we talked about the danger of sexual predators. This week I want to expand the list of dangers into less mentioned perils.
Pornography is one of the most accessible hazards your child will run across on the Internet. Porn can enter your child’s world through pop-up ads, unsolicited emails, redirected links and intentional web surfing.
These images, although annoying to adults, can have a detrimental effect on your child, exposing them to information they are unable or process or understand. Whether you agree or disagree with pornography, the long term emotional and mental effects on small children are vast and detrimental.
The second danger, bullying, occurs after a child meets an individual through a medium such as a chat room. Once introduced the bully starts to send nasty instant messages, emails and posts derogatory comments in forums to degrade the child, thereby giving the bully a feeling of power.
The next safety concern comes from scam artists Scam Artists use innocent children to reach into your pockets. Through online offers that are too good to be true and often are. These offers are delivered through chat rooms, pop-ups, emails, and instant messages.
Not only do you have to watch out for what others may do to your child, but you need to keep track of what kind of harm your child can do to hurt themselves. There are many popular things kids do online that can get them into trouble with the law.
Music labels are cracking down on the massive amounts of illegal music floating around the Internet. These files are most often traded through peer to peer file sharing systems such as Napster, Lime Wire and Bit Torrent. Not only are these peer to peer file sharing programs used to share music, but they are also great ways to catch a nasty virus. Not only can you catch a virus, but you may also catch a nasty law suit. Many people have been prosecuted and levied large fines for sharing copyrighted music.
In addition to illegal music, Sexting has become the newest avenue for children to cross the law. What is Sexting? Sexting is when kids take nude or semi-nude photos of themselves or others and send them via multimedia text messages on their cell phone. This may seem innocent, but Sexting can get your child into serious legal troubles. Sexting is very popular with teens, which, by chance, are underage. Jane who is 15, takes a nude picture of herself with her cell phone, sends it to Mary. Mary didn’t see the text message, later the message is found by a teacher on Mary’s phone. The police are called and the next thing Mary and Jane know is that they are being brought up on child pornography charges: Jane for distributing and Mary for possession. Not to scare you, but it has already happened.
The best way to keep your child safe online is through education. Educate yourself about the dangers and then educate your child about what you have learned.
Next week we will discuss some helpful safety tips followed by the last installment in the series in two weeks on software to help keep your child safe.
As always, if you would like more information or need additional resources, please see my website www.connectutech.com.

Your child is not completely safe at home anymore

Your son or daughter could be stalked, bullied or harassed right in the comfort of your own home. In today’s Internet world, protecting your child does not start when they leave the house, it starts at home when they are old enough to use a computer. Threats on the Internet come in all forms and fashions and in order to protect your child you must stay informed.
This week’s article kicks off a four week series on how to protect your child from the dangers of the Internet. This week we will look at sexual predators, in week two we will look at some additional dangers, in the 3rd week we will talk about some tips to help protect your child and the final week I will help you pick out a suite of software to protect and monitor your child’s activities.
Before I get into the dangers, I wanted to state that this series is not designed to scare you away from allowing your children to surf the Internet, but more of an informative discussion so that you can take action. The Internet is full of useful tools and resources for children of all ages. My toddler, with mom and dad’s help of course, plays educational online games. School kids of all ages use database and resources to do research for school projects.
You would think that sitting behind a computer in the safety of your home does not lend itself to being threatened, but the danger is real. According to the FBI, over 10,000 individuals were arrested in 2007 and over 22,000 cases were opened regarding Internet based sexual crimes on children. Officials state that the amount of online sex based crime is continually on the rise.
The biggest threat online to your children comes from sexual predators. Sitting behind your computer can give one a feeling of safety due to a certain level perceived anonymity, but predators have the ability to use that comfort to their advantage.
Most predators meet children online in chat rooms. Disguised as a fellow lonely child, the predator quickly gains the trust of his or her mark. Often nurturing these relationships over long periods of time, the would be predator covertly extracts key bits of information such as the child’s full name, town, school and maybe her parents work schedule. All seemingly innocent bits of information, the predator uses this information to further gain the trust of the child and create a plan of action. If the predator is lucky he will become a friend on his mark’s MySpace page where he can gain more valuable data and if he is real lucky, some racy photos of her and her friends. In the end, most often the result is detrimental to the mark, sexual battery, rape, kidnapping, prostitution or sometimes death.
Just because the predator does not live next door, doesn’t mean he or she does not have access to your child. Children and predators have been known to travel several states or across the world to meet.
Sexual predators are not the only threat to your child on the Internet. Next week we will touch on some less known hazards your child may be exposed to online.
It is your job as a parent to stay informed, protect and teach your child. You alone cannot keep your child safe, but knowing the dangers is a first step in keeping them safe.
I will be posting some online resources at my website www.connectutech.com. These resources will include a list of software and links to more information.

Five Quick Tips To Make Your Computing Life Easier

This week I wanted to give you a few quick basic computing tips to make your life easier. None of these are really fancy, but get the job done with a few less keystrokes.
1. Quick Cut, Copy and Paste – Cut, Copy and Paste are the three most common commands used in creating office type documents. Most users will highlight a word, sentence, paragraph or image, and then they will use these commands to move or copy the item to another location in the document. They often access these commands right clicking with the mouse and selecting the appropriate command from the context menu which appears. A quicker way to access these same commands is through shortcut keys. Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+X for Cut and Ctrl+V for paste. In addition, you can use Ctrl+Z for Undo and Ctrl+A to select everything in a document. Other shortcut keys available are usually listed in the menu system next to the command or in the user guide.
2. Quick Calculator – If you are missing your calculator or just cannot remember how many feet are in a mile, just type the equation (example: 1 + 4 =) or your conversion question (example: feet in a mile) into the Google search engine and Google will respond with the answer.
3. Tracking Packages – Don’t you wish there was a more convenient way to track packages then opening UPS or FedEx’s website, entering the tracking number and clicking submit? There is easier way, just copy and paste your tracking number into the Google search engine and no matter if it is a UPS or FedEx tracking number, Google with respond with a link to the tracking information.
4. Finding the right word – Writing articles and documents as often as I do, I often run into words that I just cannot remember how to spell. Not ever knowing where I left my dictionary I rely heavily on the Internet and Microsoft Office to help solve my spelling quandaries. Dictionary.com is a free online dictionary which not only will give you the spelling of a work, but the pronunciation and definition of a word. They also have a partner websites, Thesaurus.com which is an online thesaurus and reference.com which is an online encyclopedia. If you have Microsoft Word or Outlook you can also use their integrated spell checker to find the correct spelling.
5. Locating a picture of an elephant – Creating different media projects with your computer is very enjoyable for many until you are faced with finding a picture of an elephant for your child’s school project, which is due tomorrow. I have a solution for you; http://images.google.com is a complete search engine for images. Just type elephant into the search box, click search and you will soon be presented with 20,500,000 pictures of elephants. A couple of notes on this site, first if you are searching with kid eyes nearby, make sure the “SafeSearch” is turned on, as if it is not you may be shown images little eyes should not be seeing. You can find “SafeSearch” setting right under the search box. Second, many of these images listed are copyrighted, please verify the website you are copying them from allow you to use them for your intended purpose.
There are many tips to help make your computing experience easier and more enjoyable. I hope that one or two of these tips prove useful to you. If you have any questions about these tips, please feel free to contact me at eric@connectutech.com.