Compatible Printer Ink  

With so many brands and types of multifunctional printers we have in the market today, purchasing one may be a tedious task. As consumers, we always want something that will give us the best value for our money without sacrificing quality. This is the reason why it’s imperative to read the features and benefits that the product is offering so you can make an informed decision.

HP Color LaserJet 2840 Printer Specifications:

-Color printing, copying, scanning and black and white faxing functions

-Dimensions: 20.9 x 19.6 x 22.4 inches, 75.3 pounds

-Color print quality: up to 600 x 600 dpi, Black print quality: up to 600 x 600 dpi

-Printing speed (color): up to 4 pages per minute, Printing speed (black): up to 19 pages per minute

-First page out: 18 seconds

-Maximum duty cycle: up to 30,000 pages monthly

-Duplex print options: Yes

-Copy speed (color): maximum of 4 copies per minute, Copy speed (black) maximum of 19 copies per minute

-Scanning resolution: up to 19,200 dpi (enhanced), up to 1,200 dpi (optical)

-Fax speed: 3 seconds per page

-Paper handling: 125-sheet multipurpose tray, 250-sheet input tray, 125-sheet output tray, 50-sheet ADF

Pros:

-Built-in media card readers (you can print without connecting to a PC)

-Good quality print outs for a laser printer

-Affordable

-Easy-change unit (cartridge, toner and imaging drum)

- HP Color LaserJet 2840 ink cartridges are reasonably priced and easy to install.

Magicolor 1690MF Multifunction Printer Specifications:

-Print, copy, scan and fax functions

-Dimensions: 16.8 x 15.9 x 17 inches, 45.9 pounds

-Color print quality: 1,200 x 600 dpi

-Printing speed (color): up to 5 pages per minute, Printing speed (black): up to 20 pages per minute

-First page out: 20 seconds (color), 11 seconds (black)

-Maximum duty cycle: up to 35,000 prints monthly

-Copying automatic duplexing: optional

-Copy speed (color): maximum of 3.5 copies per minute, Copy speed (black) maximum of 21 copies per minute

-Scanning resolution: up to 600 x 600 dpi

-Fax speed: 3 seconds per page

-Paper handling: 500-sheet paper tray, 35-sheet ADF

Pros:

-Space saving design

-Professional quality prints

-Inexpensive

-Minimal operating noise level

-Energy star rated

-Front access panel for easy toner replacement

-Magicolor 1690MF ink cartridges deliver good quality prints while also keeping the good performance of your printer

The HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 and Epson WorkForce 840 All-in-One Printers are both affordable printers that deliver excellent quality results. If you are still undecided which device is the right one for you, take a look at the following specifications below:

HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 Printer Specifications:

-Measures: 23.2 x 18 x 22.5 inches and weighs 36.1 lbs.

-Price Range: $98-$199.95

-Printing, Scanning, Copying, Faxing functions

-Two sided printing

-Automatic document feeder

-Energy Star qualified (save as much as 50% on your energy expenses)

-50% savings per page

-With built-in memory card slots

-Printer Duty Cycle: Up to 15000 pages per month

-Print Quality: 1200 x 1200 (black and white), 4800 x 1200 dpi (color)

-Print Technology: HP Thermal Inkjet

-Maximum Printing Speed: 35 pages per minute (black and white), 34 pages per minute (color)

-Scan Quality: Enhanced- 19200 dpi, Optical- 4800 dpi

-Fax Transmission Speed: 3 seconds per page

-Copy Speed: 35 cpm (black and white), 34 cpm (color)

-Copy Quality: 1200 x 600 dpi for both monochrome and color

-Input Capacity: 250 sheets

-Output Capacity: 150 sheets

-USB Ports, Ethernet 10/100BaseTX

The HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 ink cartridges let you get more pages at reasonable prices. They are available in single packs and multipacks to meet various printing requirements.

Epson WorkForce 840 All-in-One Printer Specifications

-Measures 14.5 x 17.6 x 11.8 inches and weighs 22 lbs.

-Price Range: $260-$347.53

- Printing, Scanning, Copying, Faxing functions

-Two sided printing

-Automatic document feeder

-Latest generation Wi-Fi CERTIFIED

-Uses 70% power than most laser printers

-Save as much as 50% on printing cost per page

-Multiple memory card slots

-Print directly from USB flash drive and scan to e-mail

-Water and smudge proof

-Print Quality: up to 5760 x 1440 dpi for both black and white and color

-Print Technology: Inkjet (color)

-Maximum Printing Speed: 15 pages per minute (black and white), 9.3 pages per minute (color)

-Scan Quality: Interpolated- 9600 x 9600 dpi, 1200 x 2400 dpi

-Fax Transmission Speed: 3 seconds per page

-Copy Speed: 1-99 (PC-Free)

-Input Capacity: 2 250-sheet input trays

-Connection: Wireless, USB, Ethernet

The Epson WorkForce 840 ink cartridges live up to its promise of providing brilliant photos and professional-looking text documents in any occasion. They are available in original OEMs, remanufactured,  compatible Epson inkjet cartridges and Epson ink refill kits.

AIO printers are a life-saver. Now you do not have to purchase a separate printer, copier, scanner and a fax machine. When purchasing one, it’s very important for you to consider your printing needs first so you can make sure you get your money’s worth. The HP Color LaserJet 2840 and Canon imageCLASS MF4450 Laser Multifunction Printers both have the same functions but the latter does not have color printing capabilities. Read along to get yourself familiar with the technical details of each multi-functional printer.

HP Color LaserJet 2840:

-Measures 20.9 x 19.6 x 22.4 inches and weighs, 75.3 pounds

-Color printing, scanning, copying; black and white faxing

-Print speed: 20 ppm (black), 4ppm (color)

-Print quality: 600 x 600 dpi for both black & white and color prints

-First page out: 18 seconds (black and white), 29 seconds (color)

-Duplex printing: Yes (manual)

-Monthly duty cycle: 30,000 pages

-Copy speed: 20 cpm (black and white), 4 cpm (color)

-Copy quality: 600 x 600 dpi for both black & white and color copies

-Optical scan resolution: 1,200 x 1,200 dpi, Enhanced scan resolution: 19,200 dpi

-Fax transmission speed: 3 seconds per page

-Input capacity: up to 375 sheets

-Output capacity: up to 125 sheets

-HP Color LaserJet 2840 ink cartridges, toner and imaging drum are housed in one unit

Canon imageCLASS MF4450:

-Measures 16.6 x 15.4 x 14.6 inches ; 24.5 pounds

-Monochrome printing, scanning, copying and faxing

-Advanced print mode: Toner saver, watermark, poster, page composer

-Print speed: 24 pages per minute

-Print quality: 600 x 600 dpi

-First page out: 6 seconds

-Auto duplexing: No

-Monthly duty cycle: 8,000 pages

-Copy speed: 24 cpm

-Copy quality: 600 x 600 dpi

-Optical scan resolution: 600 x 600 dpi, Enhanced scan resolution: 9,600 x 9,600 dpi

-Fax transmission speed: 3 seconds per page

-Input capacity: 250 sheets

-Output capacity: 100 sheets

-Single cartridge system

-Energy saving mode

-Canon imageCLASS MF4450 toner cartridges are specially designed to give you beautiful laser prints in any occasion

Problem: When trying to print an envelope, it jams and it has to be forced through.

What to Do: The Brother HL 5240 printer automatically know what type of media you are trying to print on unless you change the settings. Obviously, envelopes are thicker than letter paper so you would really have to push them to finish the print job. Before printing envelopes, click “Properties” and make sure you set the job for “Envelopes”. In addition to that, adjust the guides so they fit the envelopes securely.

Problem: The printer prints unexpectedly.

What to Do: There are a couple of things you may want to check:

1.) Your printer cable should not be too long. Brother recommends using a parallel or USB cable that is no longer than 2 meters.

2.) Check if the printer cable is damaged.

3.) Remove the interface-switching device if you are using one. Connect the computer directly to the printer and try starting the printing job again.

4.) The printer driver should be “Set as Default”.

5.) Make sure that your printer is not connected to the same port where a storage device and a scanner are connected. Remove all other devices and connect the port only to the printer.

6.) Go to “Device Options” and turn off the “Status Monitor” if applicable.

Problem: The Drum LED is still on or blinking after replacing the drum unit with a new one.

Possible Cause and What to Do: The Drum LED will continue to blink if you did not reset the drum counter when you replace the unit with a new one. To reset the drum counter, do the following steps below:

1.) Turn the printer on and open the front cover.

2.) Reset the drum counter by pressing and holding down “Go” for about 4 seconds until you see all the LEDs light up. When all four LEDs are lit, release “Go”.

3.) Close the front cover.

4.) Check if the Drum LED is now OFF.

Problem: The device stops or freezes when trying to print large files.

Solution: This might be an issue of low memory. Go to the printer driver and select Advanced tab, click the Print In Computer button and see if that solves the problem. If it fails, this might mean that you have to update your driver. Go to hp.com and search for the latest driver for your HP DesignJet 1055cm Printer.

Problem: Unable to print PDF files.

Solution: Try to change the dpi and zoomstart to 100% and see if it helps. If you are still unable to print PDFs after changing the settings, check if you are using a PostScript driver. You can download the driver from Adobe’s website or from hp.com. If you opt to download the driver from hp.com, do the following steps:

1.) Search for the DesignJet 1050 and 1055 Series Adobe PS3 PostScript Drivers

2.) Click Download Now and save the file to disk

3.) Run the program

4.) Save all de-compressed files

5.) Go to Settings/ Printers add a new printer

6.) Select Press Have Disk button from the Add Printer Wizard

7.) Select the directory where you copied the files

8.) Select the printer and follow the next steps

If this does not solve the issue, get in touch with HP customer service.

Problem: Horizontal/Vertical Color Misalignment.

Solution: Take the following steps to solve the problem:

1.) Load some paper (not tracing paper, vellum or clear film) into the tray.

2.) Go to the printer submenu and then hit Enter

3.) Go to Utilities>Calibration>Printhead alignment to start the calibration process. Do not interrupt the alignment process. This may take a couple of minutes.

4.) Reprint the image you were trying to print before the calibration process. Use the same mode.

5.) Perform the Color to Color calibration.

Problem: Print quality is low

What to do: Use the print quality settings to maximize results for a certain media type. There are 2 settings available (this will depend on the installed driver): 600 dpi and Custom (you can change the scale patterns with this setting).

You can change your print quality settings by following the steps below:

For Microsoft Windows XP:

1.) Click Start, click Control Panel, click Printers and Faxes

2.) Right click the device icon then click Printing Preferences

3.) Change the settings then click OK

For Microsoft Windows 98, 2000 and ME:

1.) Click Start, choose Settings then select Printers

2.) Right click the device icon then click Printing Preferences

3.) Change the settings then click OK

Problem: Prints are warped or wavy

What to do: Check if the printer is set to print on the media type that has to be printed. Go to the printer driver and click the Paper tab and then set Type is for whatever paper is going to be used. Please note that the print speed may be slower if you’re using a heavy paper. Also, high humidity and heat in the room can cause the paper to be deformed.

Problem: When printing colored documents, only black is printing.

What to do: Make sure that you select color mode instead of gray scale mode. You can also check if you have chosen the right printer driver in the program. Print a configuration page and if there’s still no color even after selecting the correct printer driver and color mode, contact HP Customer Support.

Problem: Device is not responding when trying to send a fax or gives out a very slow response.

What to do: Old faxes may be causing this problem. To remove stored or old faxes, press Menu on the printer and then choose Fax Functions, select Clear Saved faxes and wait until the queue is empty before you attempt to fax again.

Problem: Printer toner smudges appear on the paper.

What to do: Make sure that the paper you are using meets HP requirements. If you are using the right paper, clean the paper path and the media guides. Sometimes the problem mentioned above signals that it’s time to replace the media drum.

Problem: The line looks uneven when trying to print using the Single Weight Matte or Plain Paper.

What to Do: To solve this problem, you have to first turn off the High Speed setting in the printer software and on the Main tab, choose the media (paper) type you are using. Select Quality Options if you are having issues with the print quality. Uncheck the High Speed Setting and click OK. Please note that removing the check from the High Speed Setting will improve print quality but will increase print time. If needed, you can modify other settings and resend the print job.

Problem: When installing the Epson software in Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6, the computer stops responding. What can I do to install the software and prevent the computer from crashing?

What to Do: To solve this issue, you have to install Rosetta. Apple has made this software a non-compulsory installation in Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Before you proceed, make sure you know how your product is supported in Snow Leopard. Search for related articles on the internet to find this information. If you see that your product is listed to have an inbox driver that is included with Snow Leopard, you can temporarily use the Epson inbox driver until you have the updated drivers.

If your product is categorized as having a compatible download driver, you should be able to install the driver either from your Epson product CD (if it has a suitable driver) or the latest driver from the Epson website.

Problem: I receive a “Communication Error” message when starting a print job.

What to do: Make sure that your connections are in check then select Retry. If this does not resolve the problem, cancel the print job and open the Print Queue. Delete the print jobs. Make sure that the printer is not on pause or print jobs are not on hold. Open Status Monitor to see if it detected a problem with the printer like empty printer ink cartridge. If there’s an error, take the necessary steps to solve the problem.

Problem: The quality of the print outs is unacceptable (faded, streaked, smeared), some of the colors are not showing and the texts are shadowy and blurred.

Possible Cause and What to Do: You may be using poor quality generic cartridge hence the results are also poor. HP highly recommends using only genuine HP cartridges but if you can’t afford purchasing new ink cartridges then make sure you are using excellent quality compatible cartridges. This is at your own risk though because HP can’t give you a guarantee of the quality of non-HP supplies.

Another possible cause of low quality prints is the type of paper you are using. Some non-HP media may not work best with your HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 Printer. Always use the right type of media when printing. You can also check if your print settings are correct then perform a series of print tests.

Problem: Paper Jam error message even if there’s no paper stuck in the printer.

Possible Cause and What to Do: Paper jam, ink system failure and other internal hardware errors happen due to power. If your printer picks up high power, there is a possibility that the internal firmware will be corrupted.

Reset the machine by plugging it directly into the wall then shut it off, unplug from the back of the printer. Hold down the # and 3 keys as you plug back into the machine. Allow it to restart then release the keys. Try to print one at a time and see if this solves the problem. If not, call HP customer support. They should be able to tell you if your printer needs replacement.

Problem: Incomplete print jobs.

Possible Cause and What to Do: If the printer fails to complete the print job for some reason, the print queue will build up causing it to back up.

The first thing you have to do is to clear out the print queue, obviously. Open the Printer folder, double click the Printer for the print queue to show up then click Printer in the menu, click Pause Printing to stop the printing job. Select Printer again and then click Purge Print Documents or Cancel All Documents, click Yes to confirm. Reboot  the computer and check that the print queue is clear.