3M mPro110 - Upgraded to mPro120

3M has recently announced and are ready to roll out its second generation mini projectors. The 3M MPro120 mini projector which is a replacement for the 3M MPro110 that was introduced about this same time last year will have a few enhanced features. The new features are extended battery life, extended lamp life and stereo speakers.

The 3M Pro120 incorporating the new MM200 projection engine probably will hit the streets on the US market late September as there a few thousand units of the 3M MPro110 are still in the channel.

3M MPro 120 Specs

• Integrated flip stand and tripod
• Projection Brightness: 12 lumens of brightness
• VGA resolution: 640 x 480 resolution
• Projection size: 8 and 50 inches large
• Projection Ratio: 4:3 aspect ratio
• Battery Life: 2-4 hours
• Projection Engine: MM200

Personally, if I needed a pocket projector right now, I would buy the 3M Pro110 from Amazon for $199, than rather pay $349.00 for the upgrade version.

Guess Who Lost Marketshare for Printers?

By Michele Masterson, ChannelWeb Thu. Aug. 27, 2009

The print industry has not been immune to the effects of the sour economy, and in the first half of 2009, worldwide combined printer, copier and MFP shipments totaled 51.3 million units, a 20.2 percent decline in shipments from the first half of 2008, according to researchers at Gartner. "The market witnessed a weak demand as both businesses and consumers reduced spending, and the drop in shipments was also impacted by tighter inventory controls in order to minimize inventory levels in the channels," said Lai-Ling Lam, senior research analyst at Gartner, in a statement.

Office printing devices drove the overall decline in the global print market, with a 24.5 percent decrease in the first half of the year compared to the first half of 2008. "In this tough economic environment, businesses are delaying or eliminating purchases of new equipment altogether," Lam said. "The global downturn has also forced them to review their printing needs, which could change their print consumption in the long term. At the same time, it also makes print vendors increasingly look at alternative hardware strategies such as managed print service [MPS] and smart MFP adoption as ways to increase revenue."

Among vendors, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) remained in the No. 1 spot, with 40 percent of the market, although it lost 3.4 percentage points in market share from the same period a year ago.

Canon (NYSE:CAJ) followed as the second largest vendor with a 19 percent share of the market. The other top companies were: Epson, 14.2 percent market share; Brother at 6.2 percent; Samsung with 4.9 percent; and a combination of other unidentified vendors taking 15.6 percent market share.

PayPal Fee Calculator

Most of the online calculators for calculating the fees for Paypal service charges you can do only one total order at at a time. Time consuming! Especially if you have hundreds of imaging supply orders and need to calculate your PayPal fees per order.

How about calculating the margin you need, plus PayPal's service fees to calculate your selling price.

Have you ever thought, "I wish I had a PayPal Fee & Profit calculator in Excel that would calculate my price with the PayPal Fees."

Or, "I wish I could calculate my selling price by a margin percentage or GP dollars with PayPal service fees?"

PayPal Pricing Calculator in an Excel worksheet and we put it on a web page. Just enter your selling information, select your level, and Abracadabra! You have hundreds of your Service fees from PayPal at once.

Best yet, now you can calculate your selling price to the profit margin that best suits your business model needs for compatible toner cartridges or OEM cartridges.

Need to sell Compatible printer supplies at a 25% margin to cover your costs? This PayPal Profit & Pricing Calculator will show you the lowest prices that you should sell your products and cover those PayPal Fees.

Finally figure out those PayPal Service Fees. Now you can bookmark (Control "B") this PayPal calculator webpage to calculate your selling prices.

By the way it is free along with our other Cool Tools like the Office Supplies Price Comparison Tool and the Amazon Marketplace Price Calculator.

Just a few free tools for selling products to help you out.

NuKote Cross Reference on Steroids

Are you feeling the affects of Nu-Kote International’s Bankruptcy? It affected one large internet retailer and they stopped by our booth at the World Expo this year. Their comments and questions were, “Nu-Kote has a cross reference guide for ribbons, toners and inkjet cartridge, but it only covers the imaging supplies that they carry, can you help us out with the other products we carry? Do you cross reference other high margin supplies and accessories? What about paper rolls for receipt printers? What about a cross reference for batteries? Do you solution have a memory cross reference? Do you have a projector cross reference for lamps and lenses?”

Simple answer, “Yes to all of the above, plus more!”

The Nu-Kote cross reference service for Imaging Supplies has sufficed for many years, but as manufacturers and distributors expand their product lines and add more depth to their SKU offerings, businesses need a Nu-Kote-like cross-reference on steroids with a shot of B12.

Most internet resellers think they get a cross reference for free from Nu-Kote; that’s not quite true. If you sell any Nu-Kote product they are make a margin from the sales you just got! What do you think that margin is? It’s anyone’s guess.

Simply put, if an internet retailer can lower the cost of goods plus the expense of using a third party cross reference system then that results in more GP dollars.

Simple, but true….this large internet reseller stopped by our booth last year before the Nu-Kote’s bankruptcy filing. This year that same large internet reseller came by our booth to say “thanks”. They are realizing better conversion rates, more sales of the higher margin products and more GP dollars.

Let AnswerCo do the same for you!

New Canon Color Laser Printer

Canon LBP-5460 Series

Quick Spec Sheet
Print Speed: Up to 31 ppm (monochrome/color, letter)
Resolution: 600 x 600 dpi
Paper Sizes: Up to Legal
Paper Capacity: Up to 350 (standard) Up to 850 (maximum)

Supplies:
Canon Black Toner Cartridge (GPR-29): 10,000 Page Yield
Canon Cyan Toner Cartridge (GPR-29), 8,500 Page Yield
Canon Magenta Toner Cartridge (GPR-29), 8,500 Page Yield
Canon Yellow Toner Cartridge (GPR-29), 8,500 Page Yield

Hmmmm.... Better double check those supplies...

Buying Guide Fax Machine Features

Fax Machine Buying Guide - More Fax Machine Features to Consider:

Modem Speed is an important consideration if your fax volume is high and it is important to free up the phone line as quickly as possible.

Paper Capacity: The higher the paper capacity, the less often you have to reload paper. This is especially important if you tend to receive high volumes of faxes after hours and want to avoid out-of-paper situations. Higher performance machines may come with dual paper trays or the option to add a second tray, enabling them to handle higher volume applications or to load letter paper in one tray and legal in the other.

Auto Dialing & Broadcasting Auto dialing: This feature enables you to store fax numbers in the machine for easy retrieval and helps eliminate misdialed numbers. Broadcasting lets you scan a fax into memory just once, and then send it to multiple locations.

Fax Security: Higher performance models may offer additional security features such as password controlled access and memory backup in the event of power outages.

Fax Memory: enables a fax machine to store incoming or outgoing fax pages. The amount of memory required to hold a page depends on the density of print on the page. Consider a model with a large memory capacity and dual-access capability for use in departmental or multi-user environments.

Fax Volume Cost per page: This feature has become increasingly important simply because incoming fax volume has increased over the years as marketing strategies have evolved. Laser models with high-yield consumables may offer a lower total cost of ownership than lower cost inkjet or ribbon transfer models that have a higher cost per page.

PC Connectivity & Networking: Consider models with built-in PC interfaces if you want to make a safe investment in a machine that will be capable of addressing changing application requirements. Higher performance models also provide the capability of supporting multiple users on a network.

Fax Machine Buying Guide

Fax machines come in all sizes and prices to fit any workplace. When considering which model to choose for your office you need to think about your office’s fax volume, paper handling requirements, special applications and how much you’re willing to spend on the total cost of ownership. Additionally, most now double as convenience copiers.

Different Fax Machine Technologies: How are they best used?:

Laser Technology Fax machines are based on the same technology as laser printers. They produce excellent quality text and graphics and typically have a lower cost per page. Laser fax machines are best suited for mid- to large-size offices where a wider range of high-performance features are required. You might even want to consider using a Multi-Function Machine.

• Businesses, High Usage and Low Cost-per-page.
• Manufacturers: Brother, Canon, Panasonic, Xerox, Konica, Okidata

Inkjet Technology Fax machines, just like inkjet printers, the initial purchase of these machines are in the mid-range level and offer high value and superior output quality. The more versatile models feature full-color capability for faxing, copying and sometimes even printing. They are ideal for home and small office use as well as low volume departmental and corporate environments where their color copying capability represents a significant added value.

• Desktop, Small Office, Store Front, Expensive Cost Per Page, Capability to Print
• Manufacturers – Brother, Canon, Hewlett Packard

Ribbon Transfer Technology Fax machines offer the lowest acquisition cost but usually have a higher cost per page than any other model. They provide convenience and ease of use and come packaged with pre-assembled print cartridges. They are ideal for light-volume faxing or copying .

• Desktop, Small Office, Store Front, Expensive Cost Per Page Limited Printing capabilities
• Manufacturers – Brother, Panasonic, Sharp

We will be putting up a post of Fax Machine and Multi-function printer features for the next buying guide.

The Smaller the Chip, The More Powerful

The Channel Wire

August 17, 2009

IBM Develops DNA-Like Microchips

Scientists at IBM Research and the California Institute of Technology have developed a method of manufacturing more powerful microchips by using artificial DNA nanostructure, according to IBM. The new chips would pack more power and speed, while costing less and using less energy, according to IBM. The chips combine lithographic patterning with self assembly - a method to arrange DNA origami structures on surfaces compatible with today's semiconductor manufacturing equipment, according to IBM.

Today, the semiconductor industry is challenged with developing lithographic technology for sizes smaller than 22 nanometers and exploring new classes of transistors that employ carbon nanotubes or silicon nanowires, according to a release from IBM. Using artificial DNA molecules as a "scaffolding," where millions of carbon nanotubes could be deposited and assembled, could help reach sub-22 nanometer lithography, according to the company.

"This is the first demonstration of using biological molecules to help with processing in the semiconductor industry," IBM research manager Spike Narayan said in an interview with Reuters. "Basically, this is telling us that biological structures like DNA actually offer some very reproducible, repetitive kinds of patterns that we can actually leverage in semiconductor processes."

While expensive right now, the DNA origami process could trade hundreds of millions of dollars in complex tools for less than a million dollars of polymers, DNA solutions, and heating implements if the DNA origami process scales to production level, Narayan told Reuters. "The savings across many fronts could add up significantly," he said.

The short segments act as staples, according to IBM. The short staples can be modified to provide attachment sites for nano-scale components at resolutions as small as 6 nanometers.

The lithographic templates were made at IBM using the same semiconductor techniques used to make the chips found in today's computers, according to the company.

Posted by Scott Campbell at 7:45 AM

Multi-Function Printer Buying Guide

Multi-Function Machines - MFP

Multifunction machines combine printing, scanning, copying and faxing capability in one integrated unit. They take up less space and are much less expensive than the cost of purchasing a copier, scanner, printer, fax machine, etc. to perform all of these tasks.

There are a number of things to consider before buying a multi-function machine.

How busy is your office? How you answer this determine what the type of multi-function printer you’ll be looking for. Here are our recommendations:

1) Large office with high printer volume – Check out Color Laser Technology Multifunction machines. These machines use color laser technology and deliver both high-resolution business color and monochrome output. They are for offices that mainly print and copy in black and white, and occasionally print high-quality color documents for presentations, proposals and color copies.

2) Medium to large office with variable printer volume - Monochrome Laser Multifunction machines use monochrome laser technology to produce high-quality, high-resolution black and white text and graphics and are a good fit for offices with mid- to high-volume printing and copying needs. These machines run faster than inkjet models and are less expensive than color laser machines. You’ll also find these machines have a lower cost-per-page than other machines.

3) Small to medium office with low printer usage - Color Inkjet Technology Multifunction machines provide the highest quality color reproduction – “photo-quality” in many cases. These machines cost less than most others; however, they have higher cost per page issues. These machines are best suited for offices with lower copying and printing volumes that need true photo-quality color output from time to time.

Will you need fax capabilities in your machine? If so, then you need to check out the modem speed. The higher your fax volume the faster you’ll need your modem to be.

Does your office handle letter or legal size documents? Or both? Many multifunction machines offer adjustable paper trays that accommodate both letter and legal and other sizes, and some also provide multipurpose trays or slots to handle envelopes, card stock and letterhead.

How often do you want to fill the machine with paper? Depending on your answer you’ll need to investigate the paper capacity of the machine. The higher the paper capacity, the less often you have to reload paper; this is especially important if you receive a high volume of faxes after hours and want to avoid out-of-paper situations. If your office is larger and has more printer, copier and fax volume then you’ll want a machine with dual paper trays or have the option of adding a second tray, enabling them to handle higher volume applications or to have letter paper loaded in one tray and legal or photo paper in the other.

Does office use duplexing? This can save on paper and mailing costs—and provide more professional-looking documents—by printing on both sides of a page automatically.

Will you need a network ready mulit-purpose machine so you can print, Some multifunction machines come ready to install directly to your wired or wireless network.

Did you do marketing via fax? Broadcasting enables you to scan a fax into memory just once, and then send it to multiple locations.

Document Security for printing and faxing. If you share a printer/copier with other people in your office and occasionally need to print confidential documents have you considered a password-protected feature on a multifunction machine? Some multifunction machines provide a way to password-protect the printing of confidential faxes and documents so that only the person who is supposed to see them actually does.

Will the machine be used in a PC or Mac workplace – or a combination of both?

Just some things to consider before you go out and buy the cheapest machine.

Calculator Buying Guide

Calculators come in several different varieties and purposes. The most popular types of calculators are Printing Calculators, Graphing Calculators , Display Calculators, Scientific Calculators, Financial Calculators and Solar Calculators.

Printing calculators, some call them Adding machines, contain a paper roll on which they print the input and results. These numbers and figures are displayed on the screen as well. Most printing calculators perform only basic mathematical and accounting functions. They generally cost between $30 and $100. Some of the most popular brands are Canon, Casio and Victor.

Graphing calculators perform advanced functions. They have larger memories and are able to store and graph equations. Graphing calculators have a larger screen to display the graphs. Prices range from about $40 to $150. The most popular scientific calculators are made by Hewlett Packard and Texas Instruments.

Display calculators are the most common and basic calculators available. They perform basic math operations such as adding, subtraction, multiplying, and dividing. Many display calculators also have a small memory to store the result. These calculators usually contain an LCD display and many are powered by solar cells. Display calculators are inexpensive and generally cost less than $10. Some of the most popular brands are Canon, Casio, Sharp and Victor

Scientific calculators perform trigonometric functions and have a larger memory than your basic calculator. These calculators usually cost between $20 and $100. Some of the most popular scientific calculators are made by Hewlett Packard and Texas Instruments.

Financial calculators are specially designed to perform financial calculations such as mark-up, gross profit dollars and margin calculations. They usually cost between $10 and $30. Some of the most popular brands are Canon, Casio, Sharp and Victor

Solar Calculators use photovoltaic cells for their energy. They convert sunlight into electrical energy. The photovoltaic (PV) cells, which are made of silicon, absorb part of the light that hits them. This releases electrons and creates an electrical current. The current is transferred to the calculator by metal contacts located on the top and bottom of the photovoltaic cells. These calculator are usually pocket-sized or very portable. There are many brands, which many are given out as promotional items.