Power To Print High quality and low prices make inkjet printers a great option for small businesses.
By Jessica Hale
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
For many small-business owners, inkjet printers are the wave ofthe future. While the cost of laser printing (especially colorlaser printing) is often prohibitively high, new inkjet technologybrings near-laser-quality printing to the small- or home-officeuser at very affordable prices. Color printing is increasinglypopular among entrepreneurs who want to use bold color graphics tocapture and hold their customers' attention. The newest inkjetsmake desktop publishing of professional quality newsletters,banners and fliers inexpensive and easy.
Inkjet printers work by using nozzles to spray ink onto paper.Color inkjets use combinations of anywhere from four to seven inkcolors to achieve a wide range of color combinations. The keyindicator of print quality for inkjets is called resolutionand is measured in dots per inch (dpi). The speed of printing ismeasured in pages per minute (ppm). For each printer featured here,the maximum print resolution and maximum possible print speed arelisted.
Be aware that at the maximum resolution, most printers cannotreach their maximum print speeds. True photo-quality color printingsometimes requires special paper to obtain ideal results and can befairly time-consuming, depending on how graphic-intensive the imageyou're printing happens to be.
When shopping for an inkjet, know your computer'sconfiguration and whether you'll be printing exclusively fromWindows or from DOS-based applications. Ask to see a demonstrationof the printer before you buy, be sure the warranty period fitsyour business needs, and prioritize features such as speed, qualityand paper capacity to determine which printer is best for you.
Model: Lexmark 7000
Phone: (800) LEX-MARK
Print speed: 8 ppm black and white (b/w); 3 ppm color
Print resolution: 1200 x 1200 dpi
Paper capacity: 150 sheets
Extras: Lexmark Workshop CD-ROM software, LivePix CD-ROMPhoto software
Estimated street price (ESP): $349
The Lexmark 7000 Color Jet printer uses Excimer laser-craftedprint cartridges to deliver high-resolution results. Thelaser-crafted ink nozzles deliver ink drops more uniformly,resulting in crisper resolution. Lexmark's fast-drying,fade-resistant inks are waterproof in black and white, and theprinter prints on greeting card stock, index cards, envelopes,transparencies and four different paper sizes (legal, letter, A4and B5). Special driver technology uses on-screen ink-levelindicators to keep you from running out of ink unexpectedly.
Model: Canon BJC-7000
Phone: (800) 848-4123
Print speed: 5 ppm b/w; 3.5 ppm color
Print resolution: 1200 x 600 dpi
Paper capacity: 130 sheets
Extras: Canon Creative CD-ROM; Letter Plus paper samplepacket; black and white, color and photocolor printheads and inktanks
ESP: $449
The Canon BJC-7000 offers 100-percent water resistance in bothblack and white and color and uses a seven-color printing system.The BJC-7000 prints on index cards, glossy and plain paper, film,T-shirt transfers and fabric. Edge-to-edge printing on81¦2-by-11-inch paper is another bonus. Canon saysits photo-realistic printing matches the quality of 35mm filmoutput, using new dual-printhead design and bilevel inks to achievea wider range of color tones and more subtle hues.
Model: Apple Color StyleWriter 4500
Phone: (800) 538-9696
Print speed: 5 ppm b/w; 1.7 ppm color
Print resolution: 600 x 600 dpi b/w; 600 x 300 dpicolor
Paper capacity: 100 sheets
Extras: PrintMaster Gold, Photo Enhancer Plus, Stencil It!,Web It! Art Explosion Sampler, Bitstream Fonts
ESP: $339
Designed to work with Mac OS-based computers, the Apple ColorStyleWriter 4500 prints on virtually anything: index cards,envelopes, transparencies and labels, as well as plain and coatedpaper. Apple's ColorSync color-matching technology combines sixcolors of ink rather than the usual four, to produce millions ofdifferent color possibilities. With ColorSync, the colors you seeon your screen will more closely match the colors you see on theprinted page. The StyleWriter 4500's paper input tray accepts20 continuous-banner pages.
Model: Hewlett Packard DeskJet 890C
Phone: (800) 752-0900
Print speed: 9 ppm b/w; 5 ppm color
Print resolution: No information available
Paper capacity: 150 sheets
ESP: $449
Hewlett Packard says its new PhotoREt II technology deposits asmaller ink-drop size than other desktop inkjet printers. Morecolors per printed dot maximize color print quality andperformance, resulting in less graininess, smoother edges andbetter image resolution. The DeskJet 890C prints on plain andspecial paper, transparencies, labels and envelopes. The maximumprint speed of 9 ppm is the highest of all our featuredprinters.
Model: Epson Stylus Color 600
Phone: (800) GO-EPSON
Print speed: 6 ppm b/w; 4 ppm color
Print resolution: 1440 x 720 dpi
Paper capacity: 100 sheets
Extras: Sierra Print Artist, Adobe Photo Deluxe, Adobe HomePublisher (Macintosh only)
ESP: $269
The Epson Stylus Color 600 offers high-quality resolution at1440 dpi. It uses special piezo electronic technology whichutilizes electromechanical pressure rather than heat to place inkon paper. The result is greater consistency in dot shape and size.The Stylus Color 600 is PC- and Mac-compatible and can print fromboth platforms simultaneously. Epson's two-year warranty withtoll-free technical support is a bonus--most other manufacturersoffer only one-year warranties. It prints on card stock, envelopes,premium and plain paper in letter and legal sizes, transparencies,T-shirt transfers and continuous banner pages.
Model: NEC SuperScript 750C
Phone: (800) 632-4636
Print speed: 6 ppm b/w; 2 ppm color
Print resolution: 600 x 600 dpi
Paper capacity: 120 sheets
Extras: Broderbund Print Shop, NEC Media Sampler Pak
ESP: $199
The most affordable inkjet featured here, NEC's SuperScript750C offers five-color technology to help reduce color bleeding andimprove contrast. NEC's variable drop-size technology variesthe drop size of the ink dots, resulting in better overallcontrast. Multiple quality settings are available, enabling usersto choose between high-speed or high-quality settings. TheSuperScript 750C prints on transparencies, T-shirt transfers,envelopes and plain and photo paper.
Contact Sources
Apple Computer Inc., 1 Infinite Loop, MS 303-4PR,Cupertino, CA 95014
Canon Computer Systems Inc., http://www.ccsi.canon.com
Epson, http://www.epson.com
Hewlett Packard, http://www.hp.com
Lexmark, http://www.lexmark.com
NEC Technologies Inc., http://www.nec.com
