Buying a New or Used Copy Machine on the Internet? "Buyer Beware"

Sneakers, Software, Computers, and Clothes all good things to buy via the Internet. New or Pre-Owned and used copiers....not a good thing to buy over the Internet.

In my 28 years in the business, copy machines are service intensive machines, whether they are analog or digital, they need a qualified service engineer in order to service them correctly and keep them running. Without getting very technical and I could, but its late on Sunday and I'll need some down time later. I'll list a few reason why you should not buy used, pre-owned or off lease copy machines over the Internet.

1. There is no "car fax" for copy machines, you have no idea who serviced the unit, how qualified the service engineers were, if the machine was in a flood, dropped, re boxed or if the factory updates were ever performed. This alone should be enough to scare you away.

2. How will it be shipped? Copy Machines are very susceptible to bent frames, broken covers, trays and displays when not shipped properly. Do you want to go through the hassle of an insurance claim if the copier arrives damaged? Be wary of any copier that ships via UPS, real copiers are heavy and very susceptible to damage.

3. Who will service this new beauty or the very low volume system that only grandma used to make a few copies a week. Are there reliable service engineers in your area that are Authorized to make repairs? You could have everything go right and the copy machine is perfect, however your local service company does not know how to fix it, or they will take three days be on site or maybe the closed Authorized Dealer is 150 miles or more away!

4. Who will assist with all of advanced functionality of the unit? Are you prepared to spend hours on the Internet searching for manuals, software and drivers? Or countless hours to figure out how it making print, scan and fax connections?

5. When the machine arrives are you prepared to pay for someone to install the unit or train your staff how to use the system?

6. Meters on copy machines, if they can be turned back on cars, they can also be turned back on copy machines. Are you willing to take that risk and get a machine that has a million pages on it, when you thought the meter was 100,000 pages?

Buying anything new, used or pre-owned is a risk on the Internet, especially copiers. If you want a new, used or pre-owned call your local dealer and ask what they have to offer. Most dealers will be able to accommodate your needs with new, used or pre-owned copy machine that they have service from day one!

Decesion Making for the Right MFP!

The following features will help you decide which is the right All in One Printer for you:

Speed: Pages per minute(ppm) is the average speed printing black and white pages only. Since color images need to be scanned thoroughly and printed differently, they tend to take longer than black and white copies.

Resolution: Resolutions is measured in dots per inch - the more dots, the finer the resolution of the text or image. As images are more complex to copy than text, image resolution can be different than the text resolution. RAM: Or buffer memory holds the graphic information on its way to be printed. The larger the buffer memory, the faster the printer can print complex graphics.

Parallel Port: An Interface cables is typically used for two way communication between the printer and the PC, usually they aren't included with printers.

USB Port: Or Universal Serial Bus Ports are a different and new way to connect printer and Computer. USB ports allow more than one external devices connected to the same port, to the computer. Not only are they easier to install they transfer data much faster than the parallel or serial ports.

MacIntosh Port: Some printers come with mac interface ports which looks like the round keyboard and mouse ports on PC.

FAX: If there are going to be multiple users for the same machine, a single click copy and fax function with easy to read front panel is ideal. Fax Speed: This is the maximum bits per second that can be sent or received by the fax machine. Actual speed can be different as it also depends on the machine on the other end of the fax.

Fax Forwarding: This feature automatically forwards received faxes to another number programmed.

Fax Page Memory: A larger memory allows you to leave the fax machine unattended for a longer period of time. It keeps recently received faxes in memory if the fax machine runs out of paper. After refilling the paper for the fax, it then prints out the faxes that were stored.

Automatic Document Feeder(ADF): ADF is convenient as you don't have to feed each page by hand. A large feeder has a number of pages and hence is more appropriate for long documents as it is not required to be reloaded soon.

Speed dial: Frequently dialed numbers can be programmed into the units memory for convenience.

Junk Fax Block: This feature provides the freedom to program numbers from which you don’t want to receive faxes. The fax machine still answers the call; it just doesn’t print anything out. On the other side the fax machine thinks the fax was transmitted and doesn’t call back.

Broadcast Number Locations: This features helps you in saving some money as it sends the same fax to different phone numbers. You only feed the documents into the machine once, enter a list of phone numbers, and the fax machine takes care of the rest.

Scanners: A scanner makes a digital copy of an image and outputs that into a file that you can view and change on your computer. Some MFPs combine a color scanner with a color printer, so they can function as color copiers. Others offer only a black and white scanner, providing you monochrome copies even if they include a color printer. Generally all the scanners let you scan to copy or fax, but some of them let you scan to disk, giving you all the benefits of a scanner.

Copy Speed: Is the speed in pages per minute for a series of copies. Copy speed of 1st page is different than the copy speed 2nd pages. Since the copier has to scan the original to generate the first page, it takes longer than the rest of the pages.

Enhanced DPI: The scanner enhanced DPI resolution indicates the resolution that the device is capable of yielding through interpolation (a software program in the machine does this).

Optical DPI: The scanners optical DPI is the physical resolution at which a device can capture an image. The larger the number of the optical dpi, the sharper the image will be. Compatability: Most MFPs work fine with windows PCs but not with a Mac system. So don't forget to check the compatability of your PC with MFP. Also make sure that your system has room in hard-disk and RAM for your Multifunction Printer, as is require

What is a "searhable" PDF?

ADVANCED FUNCTIONS- create searchable PDF documents with this application.

What is a “searchable” PDF?-
In simple terms, a searchable PDF is an image (picture) containing the “text” in a layer (usually behind the image and not visible). A scanned document (PDF as image format) is NOT searchable until an OCR (optical character recognition) process is performed on the document. Some scanning hardware can deliver a searchable PDF (the OCR process is performed during the delivery process). A searchable PDF can also be created by PDF distiller software. This process “converts” a digitized file, such as a MS Word document, to a PDF format. Because the original document was digitized (contains text), the OCR process is not required and a searchable PDF is rendered. An easy way to determine if a PDF is searchable is to open the document with Adobe Reader or Acrobat and perform a “find” function. If the found “text” is highlighted, the document is a searchable PDF.

Benefits of a “searchable” PDF-

Searchable PDF’s are very useful for retrieving documents from a document Repository (full content management) and useful to find the location of a word (s) within the document.
Adobe Systems provides a free downloadable tool known as an iFilter. The iFilter provides a link between the “text” layer of the searchable PDF and an “indexing” engine. This connection provides for retrieval of the document by any word(s) contained in the “text” layer or in the metadata (Title, Subject, Author, Keywords) of a PDF. Indexing engines include:

A) The catalog feature of Adobe Acrobat- very powerful engine which provides advanced searching functionality.
B) MS Indexing Services- an “index” maintained at the server level with “load” processing options built into MS server platforms. Note: this application has an unlimited user retrieval tool that leverages this free MS service.
C) MS Desktop Search- a free, downloadable MS powerful tool that maintains an “index” on the desktop of either desktop files, server files or both.
D) MS Sharepoint- searchable PDF’s can be retrieved with the built-in query tool.
E) Other DMS- most document management systems can retrieve searchable PDF’s.



The requirements are:
1) A full license of TOCR (the OCR engine)
2) The “captured” document should be a Group 3 or IV B/W tif.

There are two components that are used to create “searchable” Pdf’sOCR Processor must be set as Full Page; however, you may OCR All pages, the first page, or identify the pages to OCR.

Laser Printers vs Inkjet!

For Printing requirements the choice is Laser Printers versus Inkjet Printers.

Laser printers usually are capable of producing professional-looking text and images. They are ideal for handling heavier printing jobs at a lower cost per page.

Inkjet Printers on the other hand are less expensive, but they're designed for modest printing needs.