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Alternatives to Printing
Posted in: Productivity, blog by CW on 8 July 2010 | No Comments
Image via Wikipedia
This may sound strange coming from someone who makes a living from selling printer cartridges, but there are times when printing isn’t the best storage solution. That’s all printing really is, a means of storing text or images on a paper medium by using a device that imprints that data onto paper using either ink or powdered toner.
Printing as a storage medium is among the oldest concepts in computing. The first printers widely adopted were dot matrix printers. Printers haven’t evolved all that much beyond their origins. Printing isn’t much more than writing on paper done by machine.
As a storage medium ink, and to a slightly lesser extent toner, on standard print paper has a short shelf life. Most printed pages start to yellow and fade within a few years. They are subject to damage from exposure to water, the Sun, high humidity, insects and a host of other common factors in our environment.
For the storage of non-vital images and documents this is usually not a major problem. However, for important personal documents, business documents and treasured photos, a more permanent and less vulnerable means of storage is required.
Currently the most popular media for extended storage are compact disk (CD), digital video disk (DVD) and digital tape. Something to keep in mind; advances in technology will most certainly make CDs and DVDs unusable and unreadable within a couple of decades. Can you imagine what it would be like to have all your important business paperwork stored on 8-track tapes or cassettes?
Some printer manufacturers make the claim that their inks and papers will permit images to be preserved up to 100 years, a bold claim that no one has been able to fully substantiate yet. It is acknowledged that printing on acid-free paper with archival inks, then controlling the environment in which the pictures are stored, provides the best chance that images will survive for years and most likely decades.
In light of all this our recommendations would be:
- For everyday printing of non-essential documents and images, standard ink and regular copy paper/photo paper is completely adequate.
- For important pictures, use archival-quality ink and acid-free paper then store the prints in a controlled environment.
- For important personal and business documents, record them to CD, DVD or data tape. Keep two copies, one on-site and the other off-site. As storage media evolve, transfer the documents to the most current medium.
- Revisit your stored media at least once a year to asses its condition. Signs of wear or discoloration may indicate a need to re-record the data to new media.
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Phil McArtridge says: “Backups are important.”
Posted in: Productivity, blog by CW on 4 May 2010 | No Comments
Phil McArtridge, "Buy your backup cartridges at CW San Diego and save."
Print a lot? Go XL
Posted in: Productivity, blog by CW on 4 February 2010 | No Comments
Image by osde8info via Flickr
Many printer manufacturers these days are offering their customers an option when it comes to cartridge volume; newer printers often accept both low yield and high yield cartridges. High yield, sometimes labeled as XL, cartridges contain twice to three times as much ink or toner as the low yield version. If you do a lot of printing, an XL cartridge will last longer and reduce the number of times a month you have to come in for refills.
HP is leading other manufacturers in offering high yield ink and toner cartridges. They currently offer XL versions of their #60, #74 & 75, #88, #901, #920 and #940 ink cartridges and many of their laser cartridges (denoted by an “X” at the end of the cartridge number; C7115x, the high yield version of the C7115A). A few other manufacturers have followed suit, but HP has the largest selection of high yield cartridges.
If you print frequently or in large quantities you should consider purchasing XL or high yield cartridges for your printer if they are available. They may cost a bit more up front, but your overall cost-per-page will be lower. You will also reduce the risk of running out of ink or toner in the middle of a large print job.
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Your Office in the Clouds
Posted in: Productivity, blog by CW on 7 October 2009 | 1 Comment
The primary advantage to cloud computing is accessibility. You can access your Gmail account from any computer or smart-phone with a browser anywhere in the world. The primary disadvantage is that your data is stored on someone else’s server. Should their server crash or that company go out of business, your data may no longer be accessible. A related disadvantage is the inability of the user to know for sure how secure their personal data is.
For those reasons most computer and security experts advise not relying on the cloud for personal and/or confidential data storage just yet. Whatever you store online should have a local backup. Thankfully most of the major players in the cloud computing arena offer local backups without too much effort.
Local backups will become an even larger issue once Microsoft releases Office 2010. Much of it will reside in the cloud. This means MS Office will share some of the same advantages and disadvantages as other office applications that are web-based.
If you have a Gmail account you also have a Google Docs account. Open Gmail and look at the upper left corner menu. Click on Documents.
Google Docs offers nearly the same interface and functionality as Microsoft’s Office suite. You can use Google Docs for word processing, developing a spreadsheet, designing forms or creating presentations. There may not be perfect integration between the formatting in Google Docs and Microsoft Office, but there are helper applications like OffiSync that brings integration closer to reality.
For many the most productive aspect to Google Docs is the ability to collaborate with others. You can choose which documents to share and with whom you share them.
There are security concerns being voiced about Google Docs. Should one company be trusted with both your email and your documents? Will the contents of what they store for you be sold to advertisers? At present there are no sure answers to these concerns. Each user will have to decide for themselves if the risks outweigh the benefits.
Another online alternative to Office is Zoho Docs. Zoho offers collaboration and file sharing and has three levels of service. A free account gives you 1GB of storage, $3 a month per user increases that to 5GB and to get 15GB of storage you’ll pay $9 a month, which covers 3 users. Those appear to be reasonable prices for the ability to not only access but store your documents, spreadsheets and presentations online and share them with others in your office or on your team. Since Microsoft has yet to reveal the pricing for Office 2010 we can’t say whether Zoho’s prices are competitive or not just yet.
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