TCPglobal - news, views and issues on total cost of printing

Issue #0433/2 - Innovative new products from Lexmark are encouraging new products, not only because of new design but also because of more competitive running costs.

A sudden burst of energy, innovation and creativity from Lexmark is bound to make one wonder if Dell might be having a good influence on Lexmark’s inkjet engineering crew!

Each of the devices introduced in September include styling, design or technology innovations for Lexmark that mean the new products bear little resemblance to previous generations. This can only be a good thing for the user.

Photo inkjet

Lexmark has now introduced a new generation of photo inkjet products that represent a major step forwards for the company after years of effectively being behind the field in its printing technology and design.

Quality and competitive performance of the new products can only be determined by experimentation and testing but, on paper, Lexmark finally has products that are up-to-date and competitive with offerings from Canon, Epson and Hewlett-Packard in terms of technology, capabilities and looks.

Two models of photo inkjet have joined the Lexmark line-up. Based on the same print engine, styling is also shared between the two models, offering standalone photo printing capability in the P915 Photo Printer and Print/Copy/Scan capability in the P6250 Photo All-in-One.

Both models have card slots for standalone printing from memory cards and are PictBridge compatible for direct printing from PictBridge enabled digital cameras. To facilitate standalone printing and copying, the machines are equipped with a 2.5-inch colour LCD screen. The screen is capable of playing help and demonstration videos, and provides a countdown timer to let the user know how much longer the printing process will take, in addition to providing print navigation functionality.

Another of Lexmark’s recent innovations is what is described as a ‘hybrid ink system’ that is said to combine the benefits of the broad gamut (range of colours) offered by dye-based inks with the enhanced ink durability and permanence of pigment inks. The print system is 6-colour, comprising Cyan, Magenta and Yellow in the #33 (moderate use) and #35 (high capacity) cartridges and light Cyan, Magenta and Black in the #31 photo cartridge.

What this appears to mean in practice (according to the product specifications) is that the CMK inks in the photo cartridge are pigment-based while the normal CMY colours are dye-based. Result? Lexmark claims fade resistance of 65 years under glass and 200 years in a photo album (i.e. in total darkness).

Lexmark has taken the unprecedented step of publishing yield for the photo cartridge as number of 10×15 photos – but, what is not published is the print mode for which this figure is recorded. Ideally, it should be full glossy photo mode and certainly the figure quoted for the #31 cartridge (135 photos) sounds to be in the right order of magnitude.

In addition, there are two optional black cartridges, #32 (moderate use) and #34 (high capacity) that are pigment-based giving maximum sharpness and durability for text printing.

Note that the #32 or #34 black print cartridges and the #31 photo cartridge cannot be installed at the same time. The #31, #32 and #33 cartridges are existing cartridges brought forwards from the X5200 series launched earlier in the year but the #34 and #35 are brand new for the P915 and P6250. They also fit the X5200 series.

As photo cartridge yields are not generally available, our comparisons shown in the tables take the usual format of comparing the devices on the basis of 4-colour document printing, rather than 6-colour photo printing.

6-colour photo printers with memory card slots. Comparison for 4-colour document printing

UK - 250 pages per month	Purchase	Nominal CPP		Mixed mono/colour CPP over 3 years
Lexmark P915	£99.99	Mono Colour	3.11 pence 7.05 pence	5.41 pence
Canon Pixma iP6000D	£199.00	Mono Colour	3.60 pence 14.42 pence	8.77 pence
Epson R300	£109.79	Mono Colour	2.10 pence 8.69 pence	5.21 pence
Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart 7760 (No. 56/57)	£105.00	Mono Colour	3.02 pence 8.55 pence	5.82 pence
Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart 8150 (No. 339/344)	£142.00	Mono Colour	2.45 pence 7.36 pence	5.66 pence

6-colour AiO with memory card slots. Comparison for 4-colour document printing

UK - 250 pages per month	Purchase	Nominal CPP		Mixed mono/colour CPP over 3 years
Lexmark P6250	£149.99	Mono Colour	3.11 pence 7.05 pence	5.97 pence
Epson RX500	£194.99	Mono Colour	2.10 pence 8.69 pence	6.16 pence
Hewlett-Packard PSC 1350 (No. 56/57)	£111.00	Mono Colour	3.02 pence 8.55 pence	5.73 pence

Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying tables includes initial purchase and is calculated on the basis of 250 pages per month and takes into account any standard, or starter cartridges shipped with the printer.

Notes:

• Lexmark P915 and 6250 ship with #31 photo cartridge and #33 moderate usage tricolour cartridge but no black cartridge.
• Hewlett-Packard PS 7760 ships with No. 57 colour and No. 58 photo cartridges but no black cartridge.
• Hewlett-Packard PS 8150 ships with No. 348 photo cartridge and No. 343 moderate usage tricolour cartridge but no black cartridge.

Rather out of character for Lexmark, the CPP for both of the new photo printing devices fall within the competitive price grouping rather than lying well above. Historically, Lexmark has tended to be very expensive on running costs in comparison to the competition. Perhaps we are beginning to see a change of heart at Lexmark?

In the printer category, the only competitor that offers a lower long-term CPP than the Lexmark P915 is the Epson R300 while, in the AiO category, the Lexmark P6250 falls directly between the Epson and the Hewlett-Packard machines.

In terms of the nominal CPP, there is a slightly different picture. In the AiO category, the black CPP for the Lexmark is the highest, though by only a small margin from the Hewlett-Packard No. 56 cartridge, while it is the Epson that stands out as being rather lower. However, Epson loses out in the long term because its colour CPP is the highest of the three and the purchase price is 30% higher than the Lexmark. Hewlett-Packard picks up the lowest long-term CPP, despite its high nominal running costs, only because the purchase price of the PSC 1350 is 26% lower than Lexmark’s P6250 and 43% lower than the Epson.

Lexmark would also have had the most expensive black ink in the photo printer category, had Canon’s running costs not been so high. The Canon Pixma iP6000D is a far more expensive machine than the others highlighted here. However, it is the lowest cost machine from Canon with 6-ink capability and memory card slots (iP8500 is 8-ink). It is the most expensive machine of the group in terms of black, colour and long-term printing. This is really surprising bearing in mind the fact that, where photo-printing is concerned, the 6-ink Canon i905D faired so well in our photo-printing tests earlier in the year, proving not only to have the lowest cost per photo but also to be the fastest of the printers on test.

PC connection for both of these new Lexmark models is via a USB 2.0 interface.

Specifications for these printers again highlights Accu-Feed as a feature. Previous implementations of Accu-Feed have not yet impressed. Paper feed problems have been severe in many Lexmark machines, both laser and inkjet. Lexmark has now taken the step of creating a media cover to prevent users spilling coffee or dropping their paper clips into the rear gravity-feed assembly but – has the actual feed mechanism been improved on these new models to prevent paper twisting and misfeeds?

It is a shame Lexmark has not gone for front paper feed on these models, as on the X7170, it would have made these machines attractively compact. Print speed is claimed to be up to 22ppm mono and 15ppm colour in draft print mode – with 12ppm mono and 6ppm colour in normal print mode. For 4”x6” photos (note discrepancy between quoting cartridge yield as 10×15cm and print speed as 4×6 inch), print speed is quoted as 38 seconds in ‘QuickPrint’ mode – i.e. it will take significantly longer to print in the best mode that users will wish to use for their photos.

Inkjet four-function business AiO

In a major innovation and change in design strategy for Lexmark, the new X7170 business All-in-One does have a paper feed configuration at the front rather than the rear gravity-feed configuration traditionally used by Lexmark, Canon and Epson. Hewlett-Packard has been the only major manufacturer previously to utilise a front feed mechanism in its inkjet printers (the configuration was also used briefly by Xerox/Sharp).

Front feed not only reduces the effective footprint of the printer but also has a tendency to improve the feed reliability, reducing the danger of paper twisting and jam problems typically associated with previous, and current, Lexmark printers.

Being a device targeted at small businesses rather than at the personal, home market, the X7170 is sold as a 4-colour configuration but with the capability of printing in 6-colour as an option. For the photo printing option, Lexmark has taken another leaf out of Hewlett-Packard’s book and provided a 10×15cm paper input tray for photo media.

Also to enhance its photographic capabilities, the X7170 features a PictBridge USB interface but it does not benefit from memory card slots.

However, this device certainly has been fitted out for serious small business usage. Not only is it a four-function machine, with colour fax capability, but it also has an Automatic Document Feeder (50-page!) as standard and networking as an option in addition to its standard USB 2.0 interface.

In terms of the competition – Epson does not have any AiO device with built-in fax functionality, while Canon’s only four function machine with Automatic Document Feeder is priced a full £100 higher than Lexmark’s X7170. Hewlett-Packard is the company with the most direct and effective competition – with two machines that straddle the X7170 price-wise, both with ADF and both with optional duplex module (a feature not available on the X7170) but using two different ink systems.

UK – 1,000 pages per month	Purchase	Nominal CPP		Mixed mono/colour CPP over 3 years
Lexmark X7170	£200.00	Mono Colour	3.11 pence 7.05 pence	4.86 pence
Canon MP730	£299.00	Mono Colour	3.07 pence 8.89 pence	5.60 pence
Hewlett-Packard OfficeJet 6110 (No. 56/57)	£167.00	Mono Colour	3.02 pence 8.55 pence	5.15 pence
Hewlett-Packard OfficeJet 7110 (No. 14)	£243.00	Mono Colour	1.95 pence 6.15 pence	3.75 pence

Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying table includes initial purchase and is calculated on the basis of 1,000 pages per month and takes into account any standard, or starter cartridges shipped with the printer.

I have always maintained that to separate the print heads from the ink tanks is beneficial to the cost of running inkjet printer devices. This table proves the fact.

Hewlett-Packard’s OfficeJet 7110 might be £43 more expensive to buy than the Lexmark X7170 and £76 more than the Hewlett-Packard OfficeJet 6110, but it has the distinct advantage that the user will probably never need to change the colour print heads.

Expected life of the colour print heads is 30,000 pages. Over a three-year period of ownership this would require more than 800 pages to be printed every month, where every page was a colour page, in order to exceed the life expectancy. More than this though, on the basis of printing 70% mono pages and 30% black pages, that page count would have to rise to almost 2,800 pages per month in order for the colour print heads to need changing within three years.

More even than this though, if the user is printing large enough quantities to require a change of colour print heads, the cost is only £67. At these volumes, the OfficeJet 7110 would have cost only 3.35 pence per page before the head change and, if no further pages were printed after the head change, the cost would only rise to 3.43 pence per page.

Now, clearly the heads could need changing before the 30,000 page life is exhausted because there is always the possibility of head failure at any time and, if the machine is not used for extended periods of time, the heads can dry out and become clogged and unusable.

Unexpected maintenance aside, what is quite clear from the calculations is that the Total Cost of Printing of the ink system used in the OfficeJet 7110 (No. 14 ink tanks and print heads) represents an exceptionally good value option for any small business user. It works out only a little more costly to run than the Hewlett-Packard Business Inkjet models at a similar page count (2,500 pages per month) and is comparable to the cost of running the majority of the ultra low-end colour laser printers on the market at a similar page count (2,500 pages per month - excluding the new Dell 3000 and 3100 models).

At what we believe to be a more typical monthly usage, 1,000 pages per month, the CPP of 3.75 pence for the OfficeJet 7110, including hardware purchase, is exceptionally competitive when compared to the other AiOs represented here.

However, back to the point - Lexmark’s new X7170, as a four-function (Print/Copy/Scan/Fax) business device costing just £200, comes in as a reasonably capable and competitive machine with its long-term CPP of 4.86 pence when printing 1,000 pages per month.

This is underlined by the fact that both nominal colour CPP and long-term CPP are lower than those offered by Hewlett-Packard (OfficeJet 6110) – unusual for Lexmark! Not so surprising is the fact that the Canon appears to be expensive to run. TCPglobal has noted in the past that the Canon ‘Single Ink’ system is good value for photographic printing but not so economical for standard business usage.

~End~

This entry was posted on Friday, October 15th, 2004 at 12:02 am and is filed under Print Technology, Strategy, Hardware, New Products, News, Total Cost of Printing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.