As early as 1991, legendary investor Warren Buffet warned that newspapers no longer had a monopoly on the news. More recently on CNBC he jokingly noted that if Guttenberg had invented the Internet, no one in their right mind would invest in print publications had they come later.

Joshua Karp of The Printed Blog apparently didn't get the memo. Yesterday, he announced the closure of his short-lived venture. His mission was to publish blog posts in print form supported by advertising. We give Karp an "A" for idealism and an "F" for his business plan.

Our friend Jim Lyons covered The Printed Blog a few months ago, concluding his coverage with a caveat: "Appreciating what print offers, and not just devising ways of how to print more, may be the key to success for The Printed Blog." Wise words that Karp did not heed.

We think Karp should have hunted for gems written in unknown blogs with no audience and given them a larger stage — on the Web and maybe in an iPhone app, but not in print. The publishing business is hard enough. Why make it harder by trying to sell advertising in an unmeasurable medium?

About Databazaar Blog
Virtually everyone who uses a computer uses a printer. But computers get all the glory. So we launched this blog to give printers their due. We hope you find our coverage enjoyable and useful, and encourage you to subscribe and participate.

Peter Rojas and Ryan Block of Engadget and GDGT fame seem to take pride in never discussing printers on their popular podcast. But they couldn't resist HP's full court public relations press so they broke down and chatted about the Photosmart Premium With TouchSmart Web on their June 25, 2009 podcast.

Rojas sees Apple envy in the printer, likening HP's Web-enabled applications to Apple's App Store for the iPhone. He jokes that every app platform has the same core apps — Google Maps, Fandango, etc. He likes the capacitive touch screen and appreciates HP's need to sell more printers, which typically outlast computers.

Block doesn't like the concept. He suggests that HP treat the printer as a node and not an endpoint. He wants a $1/year fax service that puts eFax out of business. He also wants to send his friends links to photos and other documents that they could click and print on their Photosmart Premium With TouchSmart Web.

Maybe we don't understand Block's point, but doesn't email and any old printer already do what he wants? Nonetheless, we agree with his assessment that HP may have misread the market. People may not want to print from the touch screen no matter how nice when their iMac with a 24 inch monitor lies just a few feet away. Time will tell.

In discussing the Photosmart Premium With TouchSmart Web, Rojas recalled another novel HP printer, but he couldn't remember its name. We've got your back Rojas — it's the Presto.

Photo by Barb Dwybad / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

About Databazaar Blog
Virtually everyone who uses a computer uses a printer. But computers get all the glory. So we launched this blog to give printers their due. We hope you find our coverage enjoyable and useful, and encourage you to subscribe and participate.

You can now buy an iPhone for $99. The catch is that the two years of service will cost you at least $1,700, probably more. But such pricing works because most people think in the present tense. Inkjet manufacturers have long used this trick. With the new WorkCentre 3220 multifunction laser printer, Xerox has jumped into the game as well.

Priced at just $549, this handsome-looking printer offers speeds of 30 pages per minute, Adobe PostScript 3 for printing complex graphics, Ethernet networking, duplex printing, and support for USB memory drives. It can also copy, scan, and fax.

So what's the catch? It's a monochrome printer. It'll also cost you more per page in toner than Xerox's pricier laser printers. Nonetheless, we would like to see more printers with Postscript and consider the WorkCentre 3220 worth a look for that reason alone. Also, kudos to Xerox for listing cost per page.

Summary

Monochrome multifunction laser printer best for small businesses that primarily print documents at relatively low volume

MSRP: $549

Manufacturer

Press Release

Xerox Delivers 'Big Budget' Features to Small Businesses with New Low-Cost Multifunction Printers

Product Page

WorkCentre™ 3220

Supplies

Toner

106R01485 (Standard capacity toner cartridge), 106R01486 (High capacity toner cartridge)

Specs that matter

Release Date:	June 16, 2009
Notable Features:	Duplex printing, Adobe Postscript 3, Ethernet, fast print speed, print from or scan to USB drives, copy, scan, fax
Green Features:	Energy Star, high-yield toner cartridges, duplex printing uses less paper, Xerox Green World Alliance Program recycles toner cartridges
Pages Per Minute:	30
Resolution:	1200 x 1200
Paper Trays:	1 (with optional additional tray available)
Paper Capacity:	250 (500 with additional tray)
Interface:	Ethernet, USB 2.0, USB Flash Drive
Compatibility:	Windows, Macintosh, Linux
Dimensions:	17.5 x 16.2 x 15.6 inches
Weight:	30.73 pounds
Recommended Monthly Print Volume:	Up to 4,000 pages
Warranty:	1 Year

About Printer News
Your one stop source for information about new business- and consumer-class printers, Printer News covers everything you need to know. Well, almost everything. If you have anything to add to our report, please post it below.

Earlier this week we reported on HP's biggest printer announcement of the year — the HP Photosmart Premium With TouchSmart Web. Slated to ship in September 2009, the printer can print directly from the Web via specialized apps.

HP printer boss Vyomesh Joshi has long discussed the importance of Web printing so this printer comes as no surprise. What did surprise us is the coverage in Forbes, a mainstream business magazine. Therefore, we decided to round up some of the best coverage of the HP Photosmart Premium With TouchSmart Web from around the, well, Web. Know of any other articles? Post them in the comments.

Print, Please
"Think of it, suggest HP executives, as a hardware version of Apple's wildly successful App Store market for its iPhone. At least, that's how HP wants to think of it."

Hands-On: HP Photosmart Premium With TouchSmart Web
"The software is all very much still in development, but the home screen and surface level feature of many of the widgets were polished enough to get an idea of how this thing will work. And it's nice. The screen responds to your finger about as well as any capacitive-touch smartphone."

HP Touchscreen Printer Will Connect to the Web
"[Keith Kmetz] was guardedly optimistic on whether the technology would take off. Printers are still the mainstay in homes to print large documents from PCs. It may also take time to break consumers from their habit of booking tickets online at home but printing them out at the theater or of printing digital photographs at local print stores.

HP Reveals! Web-enabled Inkjet All-in-One Sets New Industry Direction
"The attempt to define a new Web-connect printing platform is a bold move from the industry leader, and is to be commended. The glass-half-full-or-empty argument may continue, with the market casting the final vote in the coming months and years."

HP Unveils Photosmart Premium With Touchsmart Web: "World's First Web-Connected Printer"
"We just had a chance to try the printer / Touchsmart for ourselves. First off, surprise, the screen is capacitive touch, and it works well.… The widgets are created with a combination of HTML5 and Java, and much to our surprise, video streaming has been implemented."

HP Introduces Web-Connected Touchscreen Printer
"Bringing maps, news and coupons functionality to a printer makes it more likely that the average user will get more value from their printer. But unless HP can bring that $400 price tag down significantly, this could end up as a niche product."

HP Teams With Google, Fandango for Web-connected Touch-Screen Printer
"There's also a "get more" button on the screen that brings you to HP's Web store — home to future apps, I assume; my helpful tour guide even mentioned the release of an SDK that would let developers create their own customized apps for the printer based on their own usage model … pending HP's approval, of course."

HP's TouchSmart Printers Print Web Content, No PC Required
"I fear that the ink and paper costs might quickly outweigh some of the conveniences (or, for example, the parallel cost of ordering a local paper). The idea of not having to handle newsprint is enticing, and this could be a viable means of delivering news content to homes; but, will it pay to print that 25 cent coupon on a page that might cost a third of that to print?"

5 Reasons Why HP Web-Connected Printer Will Be a Hit
"Speaking of new markets, while HP is the pioneer here, it won't take long for competitors to follow in its virtual footsteps."

HP's Plan To Primp The Printer
"For example, an app delivers content from USA Today. Newspapers could charge for this service as they struggle to find a new business model. HP VP Vyomesh Joshi believes this product turns the computer printer into a household appliance."

About Databazaar Blog
Virtually everyone who uses a computer uses a printer. But computers get all the glory. So we launched this blog to give printers their due. We hope you find our coverage enjoyable and useful, and encourage you to subscribe and participate.

We've long covered printers with PC-free features such as printing from memory cards or via PictBridge. But with the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, which we recently saw firsthand in New York City, HP has upped the ante.

The HP Photosmart Premium looks like a multifunction inkjet printer with an iPhone for a control panel. It's not really an iPhone of course, but a 4.33 inch touch screen from which you can run special Web-enabled apps.

For example, do you like Sudoku puzzles? You can print one anytime you want using the Sudoku app. Need directions? Enter your "here" and "there" and print a Google Map. Going shopping? Print some coupons. You get the idea. Other apps include Fandango for movie tickets, Snapfish for photos, weather reports, and various projects for kids from DreamWorks and Nickelodeon. HP promises more apps, all of which are free to use.

Will people want to print directly from the Web? We can certainly think of some use cases but only time will tell. HP is leaving nothing to chance. Its printer boss, Vyomesh Joshi, helped announce the Photosmart Premium, and HP has even launched a Twitter stream. HP often ships printers without even a press release.

The HP Photosmart Premium also handles old-fashioned PC printing with speeds up to 33 pages per minute. It copies, scans, and faxes. And like a few other HP printers, the Photosmart Premium can print screenshots from your Playstation PS3. Who wants to frame their college diploma when you can instead frame your score in Killzone 2.

Summary

Color multifunction inkjet best for people who want the world's first Web-enabled printer

MSRP: $399.99

Manufacturer

Press Release

HP Introduces World's First Web-connected Home Printer

Product Page

HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web

Supplies

Ink Cartridges

HP 564 (Black), HP 564 (Photo Black), HP 564 (Yellow), HP 564 (Cyan), HP 564 (Magenta); High-yield: HP 564XL (Black), HP 564XL (Photo Black), HP 564XL (Yellow), HP 564XL (Cyan), HP 564XL (Magenta)

Specs that matter

Release Date:	September 2009
Notable Features:	Web apps optimized for printing, Memory card printing, large touchscreen, automatic duplex printing, borderless photo printing, automatic paper-type sensor to prevent wasted ink and paper, Ethernet and WiFi
Green Features:	Energy Star, HP Planet Partners cartridge recycling program, high-yield ink cartridges reduce waste, duplex printing saves paper
Pages Per Minute:	33 (b/w), 32 (color)
Seconds Per Photo:	18
Resolution:	Not Yet Available
Paper Trays:	1
Interface:	Pictbridge, USB 2.0, WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth
Compatibility:	Windows and Macintosh
Dimensions:	17.99 x 19.33 x 7.76 inches
Weight:	16.53 pounds
Warranty:	1 year

About Printer News
Your one stop source for information about new business- and consumer-class printers, Printer News covers everything you need to know. Well, almost everything. If you have anything to add to our report, please post it below.

Many of us spend one-third of our lives or more in office space surrounded by copiers and laser printers, both of which use toner — the new second-hand smoke. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration but Lidia Morawska and her colleagues at the Queensland University of Technology continue to investigate a danger that may lurk in the average office — laser printer particle emissions.

Morawska Ups the Ante With a Follow-Up Study

Morawska's initial 2007 study Particle Emission Characteristics of Office Printers, created some bad blood with HP because it reported that HP LaserJet printers had among the worst emission levels.

In our 2007 interview, Morawska told us that further research was needed. She has since followed up on that promise with a new study. Her findings show that a laser printer's temperature might correlate with the amount of particles the printer emits.

In a nutshell, the researchers looked at two popular printers — an HP 2200, a "low-level" emitter, and an HP 1320n, a "high-level" emitter. The study sought to answer what comprises these particles, under what conditions do they form, and why some printers emit more particles than others.

Morawska found that high-level emitters suffer from temperature spikes between the time that paper has exited the printer and the time when a new sheet of paper enters the printer. While the paper comes in contact with the fuser during printer, it absorbs surplus heat to keep the temperature even. "Unless the printer can pre-empt this process, by reducing the power delivered to the heater before the paper is removed, the temperature must rise rapidly until a new sheet arrives to absorb the excess heat," the report explains. Otherwise, these temperature instabilities cause spikes in the amount of particle emissions.

Environmental Science & Technology published the report, An Investigation into the Characteristics and Formation Mechanisms of Particles Originating from the Operation of Laser Printers, in issue vol. 43, no. 4, 2009. (You can purchase the full report for a $30 fee.)

Similarities to Cigarette Smoke?

In some ways, the particles that laser printers emit resemble those from cigarette smoke, household appliances, or car pollution. But they also differ in very important ways.

"The indoor concentration of the particles from printer operations can reach similar levels as indoor concentration of second hand cigarette smoke or outdoor concentrations near busy roads," Morawska explains.

But laser printer particles are secondary in nature, whereas cigarette smoke and other pollutants are primary and "comprised of solid carbonaceous material." The chemistry of cigarette smoke and car pollution differs completely from laser printer particle emissions.

That's nice but what does it mean? Should we all dump our trusty laser printers?

Morawska anticipated this question and offers some practical advice. She suggests that you keep laser printers in well-ventilated areas away from where office workers sit. If your office space uses mechanical means of ventilation, like air conditioning, make sure it works at all times.

And remember, the particle emissions only occur when the printers are actually printing. If you have a home office in which you occasionally print a document, your emissions will stay low. But if you're printing one document after another in an enclosed space, you should employ adequate ventilation before your particle levels reach dangerous levels.

Too bad ventilation doesn't work as well for trans fats.

About Databazaar Blog
Virtually everyone who uses a computer uses a printer. But computers get all the glory. So we launched this blog to give printers their due. We hope you find our coverage enjoyable and useful, and encourage you to subscribe and participate.

Email, SMS, Facebook, and the Internet in general have taken a bite out of the US Postal Service's revenues. But the Post Office is among the most entrepreneurial government agencies. No bailout needed thank you very much. Thanks to the vision of its leadership, many options exist for printing your own postage.

Consumer Postage Printing Options

The USPS offers immediate shipping label printing through its online Click-n-Ship program. Once you download the software and weigh your packages, you just need to follow the steps to print a shipping label for domestic or international packages.

But not all of the USPS services give you instant gratification. When it comes to garden variety postage stamps, you'll need to order them from the Web site and have them mailed to your home or office.

Endicia's PictureItPostage consists of software for Mac and PC that enables you to design your own stamps. But, just like many other custom postage stamp services, you can't print these stamps from your own computer. The USPS approves the image you upload (you can imagine how some people might abuse this kind of customization unless the USPS screened the images) and then ships you the number of stamps you requested.

Zazzle offers thousands of postage stamp designs that suit any occasion — from baby announcements to birthdays to bridal showers. Or, show off your hobbies and personal preferences with animal postage, Star Wars postage, sports postage, etc. Browse Zazzle's postage by category, and then select the stamp you like. As with Endicia, you have to wait for your custom stamps to arrive in the mail.

Anyone can create Zazzle postage, including you. When you buy a contributor's stamp design, the contributor earns royalties from the sale. If you think you can design a postage stamp that people will buy, you can upload your design and receive your own royalty check.

Business Postage Printing Options

With Stamps.com, you can print your own stamps in any price denomination. You can also upload an image or marketing message to personalize your postage stamps.

But Stamps.com is not without its downsides. You have to print the stamps on Stamps.com's specific NetStamps labels (which cost money, of course). And you need to register with Stamps.com, which will cost you $15.99 a month. On top of the costs involved, Stamps.com's software only works with Windows, so Mac users are out of luck.

While your subscription also gives you access to discounted mailing rates, you might want to try Stamps.com's 4-week free trial to determine whether printing your own stamps — along with their other services — make the monthly fee worthwhile.

Stamps.com doesn't hold a monopoly on online postage services. PitneyBowes' Shipstream Manager work with your PC, your office printer, and a USB-integrated scale. Shipstream Manager offers more business-oriented features, like postage tracking and address verification. You can also hide the shipping amount from recipients. And, like Stamps.com, the Shipstream Manager service offers discounts on your postage. But you won't find much in the way of customization for your postage's appearance. You can try out Shipstream Manager free for 60 days, after which it costs $18.99 per month.

eBay also offers its own online postage service for small businesses. Unlike some of the other online services, eBay's service is compatible with several label printers in addition to standard office printers. Another stand-out feature for eBay is its Carrier Pickup service. And eBay also offers features similar to other online postage services, such as package insurance, hidden shipping costs, and even international shipping.

About PrinTips
Sometimes useful, sometimes fun, and always interesting, PrinTips enable you to get more out of your ink jet or laser printer. That said, we don't profess to have a monopoly on printer tips so if you have anything to add, please do so below.

If the Lexmark T652n and the Lexmark T654n were roleplaying characters, they'd belong to the Thief class, with high speed stats and the ability to stay quiet. Lexmark designed these monochrome laser printers for high speeds and heavy work volumes.

The T652n and T654n models come network-ready as evidenced by the "n" in the model name. Lexmark also sells the T652dn/T654dn, which adds duplex printing and the T652tn/T654dtn, which adds a paper tray.

Jeff Roberts, Lexmark's Manager of Channel Marketing, seemed particularly excited about the extra high-yield cartridges for the T654n when we spoke with him. He says that you'll print 36,000 pages from an extra high-yield toner cartridge, which means you'll throw fewer cartridges into landfills. In the role-playing world, your alignment increase a few points for that, but in the real world you'll have to settle for a lower cost per page.

Summary

Monochrome laser printer best for law firms and other businesses that print high volumes of documents

MSRP: $799 (T652n); $1,099 (T654n)

Manufacturer

Press Release

Print less, save more with powerful new family of Lexmark monochrome laser printers, MFPs

Product Page

Lexmark T652n; Lexmark T654n

Supplies

Toner

Standard: Lexmark #T650A11A (Return Program Black Toner), Lexmark #T650A21A (Black Toner); High-yield: Lexmark #T650H11A (Return Program Black Toner), Lexmark #T650H21A (Black Toner), Lexmark #T650H04A (Return Program Black Toner for Label Applications); Extra High-yield (T654n only): Lexmark #T654X11A (Return Program Black Toner), Lexmark #T654X21A (Black Toner), Lexmark #T654X04A (Return Program Black Toner for Label Applications)

Specs that matter

Release Date:	October 20, 2008
Notable Features:	First page out in as little as 7.5 seconds, network connectivity, high paper capacity (4,300 max), automatically adjusts toner level for consistent printouts, Job Waiting feature prints next job in queue while putting current job on hold when a problem occurs, print directly from USB flash drive, secure PIN release for print jobs, staple finisher (optional)
Green Features:	Eco mode saves energy, Quiet mode reduces noise pollution, high-yield toner cartridges (extra high-yield on T654n) reduce packaging waste, Lexmark cartridge recycling program
Pages Per Minute:	50 (T652n); 55 (T654n)
Resolution:	1200 x 1200 dpi
Paper Trays:	2 (up to 4 with optional trays)
Paper Capacity:	650 standard (4,300 maximum)
Interface:	USB 2.0, Ethernet, Wireless (optional), USB flash drives
Compatibility:	Windows, Macintosh, Citrix, Linux, Novell
Dimensions:	16.8 x 16.7 x 20.1 inches (T652n); 17.2 x 16.7 x 20.1 inches (T654n)
Weight:	50.7 pounds (T652n); 51.6 pounds (T654n)
Warranty:	1 year

About Printer News
Your one stop source for information about new business- and consumer-class printers, Printer News covers everything you need to know. Well, almost everything. If you have anything to add to our report, please post it below.

Former HP executive Jim Lyons recently reported sliding printer and supplies revenue at HP. We suspect HP is more concerned about supplies than printers because that's where the big money lies.

To this end, the new HP Photosmart Plus All-in-One offers a glimpse of an interesting strategy — embedded software designed to persuade people to print more pages. For example, from the Photosmart Plus' TouchSmart control panel, you can print notebook paper, Sudoku games, calendars, and more. You can also use HP's bundled software, HP Photo Print Gadget and HP Smart Web Printing. And of course HP touts its iPrint Photo app for the iPhone.

As for the hardware, HP claims the HP Photosmart Plus "strikes a balance between everyday and photo printing." It prints in color at 23 pages per minute, offers a dual-use tray that switches between document and photo paper, connects to your network via WiFi, and will cost $149 when it ships in August 2009. How long until we see a PC embedded into a printer?

Summary

Photo multifunction inkjet best for students and others who want to print lab-quality photos and documents

MSRP: $149

Manufacturer

Press Release

HP Gives Students a Head Start with Sleek, Affordable PCs and Printers

Product Page

HP Photosmart Plus All-in-One

Supplies

Ink Cartridges

HP 564 (Black), HP 564 (Photo Black), HP 564 (Yellow), HP 564 (Cyan), HP 564 (Magenta); High-yield: HP 564XL (Black), HP 564XL (Photo Black), HP 564XL (Yellow), HP 564XL (Cyan), HP 564XL (Magenta)

Specs that matter

Release Date:	August 2009
Notable Features:	WiFi, PC-free printing, TouchSmart control panel with embedded printing projects, copying and scanning, auto-engaging photo tray, manual duplex printing
Green Features:	Energy Star, HP Planet Partners cartridge recycling program, high-yield ink cartridges reduce waste
Pages Per Minute:	29 (b/w), 23 (color)
Resolution:	1200 x 2400 dpi (scanning)
Paper Trays:	1
Interface:	USB 2.0, WiFi
Compatibility:	Windows and Macintosh
Dimensions:	17.39 x 16.59 x 6.69 inches
Weight:	10.13 pounds
Warranty:	1 year

About Printer News
Your one stop source for information about new business- and consumer-class printers, Printer News covers everything you need to know. Well, almost everything. If you have anything to add to our report, please post it below.

In the old days (i.e., 2-3 years ago), companies like HP improved their printers by making them faster, better cheaper. Nowadays, they improve them by making them greener. The new HP Photosmart C4700 All-in-One Series uses 30% less energy than its predecessor. It also features duplex printing, which saves paper.

Green features aside, HP's competitors will find an inconvenient truth beneath the hood as the Photosmart C4700 offers WiFi printing (including via iPhone), lab-quality photos, 23 pages per minute in color, and copying and scanning — all for just $129 when it ships in July 2009. In fact, they might become green with envy (except perhaps for the manual duplex printing, which we view as pointless).

Summary

Photo multifunction inkjet best for students and others who want to print lab-quality photos and documents

MSRP: $129

Manufacturer

Press Release

HP Gives Students a Head Start with Sleek, Affordable PCs and Printers

Product Page

Photosmart C4700 Series

Supplies

Ink Cartridges

HP 60 (Black), HP 60 (Tri-Color); High-yield: HP 60XL (Black), HP 60XL (Tri-Color)

Specs that matter

Release Date:	July 2009
Notable Features:	WiFi, PC-free printing, manual duplex printing, copying and scanning, TouchSmart control panel with embedded printing projects
Green Features:	Energy Star, HP Planet Partners cartridge recycling program, high-yield ink cartridges reduce waste, duplex printing saves paper
Pages Per Minute:	29 (b/w), 23 (color)
Resolution:	4800 x 1200 dpi
Paper Trays:	1
Interface:	USB 2.0, Memory Cards, WiFi
Compatibility:	Windows and Macintosh
Dimensions:	17.39 x 16.59 x 6.69 inches
Weight:	10.13 pounds
Warranty:	1 year

About Printer News
Your one stop source for information about new business- and consumer-class printers, Printer News covers everything you need to know. Well, almost everything. If you have anything to add to our report, please post it below.