World’s first web-connected printer

Posted in: Printers, blog by Jack on 22 June 2009

Looking to make the wild and not-entirely-wondrous world of printers exciting for the first time in decades, HP has just unveiled the “world’s first web-connected printer.” If you’re wondering how it plans on accomplishing such an impossible mission, let us just say this: the Photosmart Premium is going the way of the widget. Up on the 4.33-inch front panel is Touchsmart Web, a touchscreen interface with several bundled, online apps to accommodate usual paper-friendly tasks such as printing Google maps, tickets from Fandango, coupons, recipes, Sudoku, etc. There’s even a full-on HD Apps Studio just in case downloading new apps on one’s printer really becomes the new hotness. The API’s being made open for the entire realm of developers, but we have to wonder what kind of interest we’ll see here. Pricing is set for $399…

HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web is the world’s first Web connected home
printer. Powered by touch and empowered by the Web, this sleek device provides quick,
simple touchscreen access to important, useful and personal online content.(1) With the
largest LCD touchscreen of any all-in-one inkjet printer (4.33-inches), the HP TouchSmart
Web control panel conveniently connects users to the Web via pre-loaded HP apps.
Part of an entirely new Web-based printing platform, these apps enable easy printing of
maps, coupons, movie tickets, recipes and more from partners including Google,
DreamWorks Animation, Fandango and Coupons.com, among others.

Users can also connect to Snapfish and directly from the HP Photosmart Premium with
TouchSmart Web, which saves time and enables customers to archive or print photos
from the site like never before… just touch, print and go. People additionally can
access projects from the HP Creative Studio.

A versatile printing solution with print, fax, copy and scan functionality, the HP
Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web is perfect for multi-tasking households –
meeting all their high-quality home printing needs in one premium product, from laserquality
text to lab-quality photos. With a full range of wired and wireless connectivity
options, this printer provides the freedom and flexibility to print directly from Wi-Fi
enabled PCs, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, the iPhone™ and the iPod touch™ using HP
iPrint Photo. Expected to be available for purchase September 2009 in North America.

Click over to Engadget for a full rundown on the capabilities of the HP Photosmart Premium.

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A practical alternative to printing

Posted in: blog by Jack on 17 June 2009

Just because we’re in the business of supplying printer consumables doesn’t mean we think everyone should print out everything they need to transfer from one computer to another, or every picture on their camera. Even remanufactured consumables cost money, and saving money is something we are all interested in these days.

Many of us have several computers we use everyday, one at work, another at home and maybe a laptop we use on the road. There are times when I have a document or picture on my work computer I’d like to transfer to my home computer or have available to me when I’m out using my laptop. In the past I might have emailed that document or picture to myself, or even uploaded it to my webspace so I could download it when I needed it. These methods work, but they also require work. There’s a simpler way I’ve been testing and am pleased to recommend.

Dropbox is a web-based application that makes transferring any file as easy as dragging-and-dropping it from one folder to another. Dropbox works equally well in Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

When you install the desktop portion of the Dropbox application you’ll have a tray icon that, when clicked, opens a window on your desktop similar to a Windows Explorer interface. To save a file, folder or picture simply drag it from its location on your computer to a folder in the Dropbox window. Dropbox will synchronize itself on the server side, so that when you open the application on another computer all your files are there. You can also log into your Dropbox account from any computer. This makes it easy to share files with family and co-workers.

Best of all Dropbox is free for storage of up to 2 GB. Need more space? You can get a 50 GB account for $9.99 per month or $99.00 per year, and 100 GB for $19.99 per month or $199.00 per year.

I highly recommend Dropbox to anyone who frequently works from different computers or people who need a dead simple way to share files and images with others (and don’t mind giving out their account name and password).

Check it out for yourself at GetDropbox.com.

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Cartridge Exchanges

Posted in: Recycling, blog, store by Jack on 11 June 2009

Some of our new customers get confused about how we work, especially when it comes to exchanging cartridges. Let me see if I can clarify how it works.

When you buy a refilled or remanufactured cartridge from us, we need to replace the cartridge you’re buying in order to keep our prices as low as they are.

One way for us to replenish our stock of empty cartridges is to buy them from brokers or our customers. We generally pay $1 for empty ink cartridges and $3 for empty laser cartridges.

If you come in to buy a cartridge without an empty one to exchange, we have to add the cost of replacing that cartridge to your purchase. For example, if you’re buying an HP 56 black ink cartridge without an exchange, the cost to you is $12.99, a dollar more than it would be with an empty cartridge to exchange. If you bought an HP Laserjet 2600 cartridge for $49.99 without an empty to exchange, the actual cost before tax would be $52.99 ($49.99 + $3 core charge).

It’s really no different than when you buy a car battery. Without an old battery to exchange for the core, a core charge is added on in order to replace the battery you’re purchasing.

To encourage recycling, we also buy empty cartridges that are in good shape, are original cores and ones that we need. So if you came in to buy an HP 21 black ink cartridge and you had 3 empty cartridges with you, we would consider one to be an exchange for the one you’re buying and we’d give you an additional $2 off for the extra cartridges.

We don’t always purchase empty cartridges (in many cases we already have plenty of empty cores) but we are always willing to recycle any you have. This prevents them from winding up in our local landfill. We prefer to reuse cartridges, but if we can’t reuse we want to at least recycle.

If you ever have any questions regarding what we do or how we do it, and your questions aren’t answered on this website, please call us, send an email or drop by. We’d be happy to answer any question you may have.

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Malware alert: Gumblar

Posted in: Security, blog by Jack on 4 June 2009

More than 1,500 Web Sites have been Attacked.
Severity: High Risk

What is it?
Gumblar is currently targeting users of IE and Google search, delivering malware through compromised sites that infect a user’s PC and subsequently intercepts traffic between the user and the visited sites. This means that once infected, anything the victim types could be monitored and used to commit identity theft, such as stealing credit card numbers, passwords or other sensitive data. Visitors encountering the compromised website also risk having their subsequent search results replaced with links that point to other malicious websites. The malware can also steal FTP credentials from the victim’s computer and use them to infect more sites, thus increasing the spread of this threat.

Who is at risk?
Users of Internet Explorer and Google’s search engine.

Prevention
Make sure you anti-virus definitions are up-to-date and practice caution when sharing your personal information online. Make sure you only do so on secure sites (https://)

(information courtesy of Zone Alarm via Gmail)

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HP laptop battery recall

Posted in: blog by Jack on

Important Safety Recall
HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program
May 14, 2009

This program addresses an issue with specific battery packs used
in certain HP, HP Pavilion, HP Compaq and Compaq Notebook PCs. The
battery packs have the potential to overheat posing a fire and
burn hazard to consumers.

o  HP customers will be eligible to receive a replacement battery
pack for each qualified battery pack at no cost.

o  Visit the HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program
website for additional information:
http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement

(from Gmail)

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