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Continuous Feed Ink System- The COBRA!12 February 1999

The Cobra! Just noticed the Continuous Feed Ink System at the www.missupply.com coming soon from MIS Associates Inc.. Great that another company is getting into this alternative inking system. Imagine, you'll only need to fill the bottles of ink, not the carts. Definitely something to look out for. Navigate down to www.missupply.com and look at the "What's New" section for more.( for newsworthiness).

 

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Ink-Service France!10 February 1999

You've Gotta See this..., Jean-Yves Durocher emailed me on a method of continuously feeding ink into the printer, presumably as an alternative to refilling ink cartridges. He read about it at a French site on Windows news. The company providing the kit is Ink-Service France. Click on the picture  for the full text (in French) ( for newsworthiness). I asked Jean-Yves Durocher what the device is called (I ventured a guess and had called it an "IV-Drip system") and he replied "As for the naming of the device, they call it a continous inking system, but I like your analogy of a IV drip, why not continue and call it the IV drip system: for Ink Value Drip obviously. Anyhow, Ink-Service has a web site, at http://www.ink-service.com/ . It is the typical French web site (they come in 2 flavors, full of every and I mean every gadget available or without any structure: theirs is in the second category) At the opening page,  go to the MODE D'EMPLOI button, then to Procédure d'emploi du système en continu, it is the first item in the grey box and presto, you have the easy to follow instructions (en français naturellement) but I guess that AltaVista should do a correct job of translating. The pictures are self evident. Anyhow, the system gives you 40ml of ink per bottle of the IV Drip system. Should have the real price of the system soon, their price list is confusing." Well, here's the page on the Ink-Service site which details the procedure involved. Read it here!  Jean-Yves Durocher emailed me later with more information:- "My good Parisian Friend has called Ink-Service, the price for the system is 828FF, with VAT, since the VAT is removed for export, the export price is 686,56FF +80FF for shipping to Canada. They can ship anywhere said my source, who should be thanked for his time.". Merci beaucoup  to Jean-Yves Durocher and his Parisien friend. Get it translated here

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Some News on new Epson printers!8 February 1999

Stylus 900! Check out the following thread at the comp.periphs.printers newsgroup on the Stylus 900 which has some interesting info on the performance of the 900 (look out for Deryck Lant's posts in particular):- Stylus 900 Thread Stylus 900 Benchmarks Three are some really interesting (real-world)  benchmarks from Deryck on the print speed of the Stylus 900.  Photo 1200! Seems that the Photo 750's bigger A3 sibling will be released in the UK under the name Photo 1200  for £300 plus VAT. Read about it in Deryck Lant's Post on the Photo 1200

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Archival Inks!8 February 1999

New Archival Inks. My thanks to Tony Mihok who emailed me the other day on  new archival inks -"Luminos corporation of Yonkers, New York, USA  is about to introduce two new archival inks and archival printing papers for Epson printers. The new inks will be fade free under normal viewing conditions for 25 or 65 years depending on the type of inks selected. I thought Epson fans might be interested in this exciting news.Their web site does not mention this information since the inks will not be introduced until mid February, but you can call them at their toll free number 1-800-LUMINOS, or check back at their web site for further information once it is posted. http://www.luminos.com"

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Swap File Optimisation!6 February 1999

Here's a site with a how-to on swap file optimisation for PC users under Windoze 95/98. Very detailed info and tips on how to maximise your SwapFile (Virtual Memory) for improved performance in pretty much all programs that you intend to run. Check out the Swap File Optimisation

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First Review of the Stylus 900?8 February 1999

WALT MOSSBERG's Personal Technology

You gotta see this...Walt Mossberg's Personal Technology may well be the first review of the Stylus 900 where the Stylus 900 is compared to the HP DeskJet 882C. Though not exactly a review written for digital imaging die-hards (it's featured in the Wall Street Journal website), it's still one of the first reviews on the Stylus 900. Here are some snippets:- The two printers aren't meant to be comparable, but I still thought it was worth testing them as a pair. You won't go wrong with either, but I'd only recommend the high-end Epson for home users and small businesses that need maximum speed in printing color graphics. For everyone else, I found the HP 882C to be a better choice, offering a more economical balance of high quality, convenience  and very good speed-better text speed, in fact,than the Epson.. The reviewer gave the  HP 882C top marks so those looking to buy should also look at the HP. As for me, my main interest is still in the small droplet size of the Stylus 900 (3 picolitre) for photo-realism.

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Digital Camera review/pics at Digital Photography Review!6 February 1999

Always in the loop and up to scratch with the latest and the greatest in digital cameras, DD's affiliate Digital Photography Review has posted a review on the Minolta EX Zoom 1500 and some sample pictures from the Fuji MX2700 (FIRST LOOK!)and Kodak Pro DCS 520. Drop in for a look.

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GET RID OF THE PIZZA WHEELS!6 February 1999

Starwheels	Royce Bair of Stock Solution has done a fantastic job showing how the dreaded metal starwheels that cause the 'pizza wheel' effect on paper can be removed from a Stylus 3000 complete with pictures and all!    Check it out!
	Do also have a look at my short write-up of the pizza wheel tracks.

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Refill Guide!6 February 1999

Just added  Refill Guide at the Features section.   Check out Refill Guide

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FUJI MX-2700!6 February 1999

Head on down to DD's affiliate Digital Photography Review for a look at Fuji's MX-2700 2.3 megapixel digital camera and some news on the FUJI Total Imaging Solution.

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PRINTING TO THE EDGE (Full Bleed)!6 February 1999

Here's a how-to on printing full bleed to the bottom of those expensive gloss photo by Tom Morris of Interactive Imagery, Tucson Arizona which was first posted by Tom at the Leben list. Thanks Tom for your contribution. Check it out

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DOT SIZE MATTERS!4 February 1999

The just announced Stylus 900 with amazing 3 picolitre droplet size does raise one question...approximately how much smaller is the dot size (diameter on paper?) of the droplet from the Stylus 900 as compared to the 6 picolitre droplet from the 740/750?  A picolitre being a unit for measuring liquid volume (as pointed out by Susan Page at the leben list), would mean that a 3 picolitre droplet size does not necessarily translate to a dot size that is half the size of the 6 picolitre droplet size.

The following factors also need to be considered:-
 

how a droplet (spherical?) is converted into a flat surface	micropiezo technology of the epson printhead;
evaporation between the print head and paper	dot gain (bleeding).

Anyone willing to venture a guess? I can barely multiply these days so I won't be able to do the math involved!If the 3picolitre droplet is actually much smaller in size (on the paper) than the dot size of the 750, there may be little need to go the way of 6 inks. For instance, the colour pictures in your average magazine are produced by 4-colour print process (CYMK and not the CCYYMK of the Epson photo printers). Drop me a note if you have worked out the math on the above query.
 

New Stylus 900!2 February 1999

David Chien of Dotty Spotty just emailed me on the new printer as well. Here's his note - "Epson is gearing to release in a month a new Stylus Color for business with 3!! pl. dot sizes in the USA.  900 and 900N models to replace the 800/800N/850 models currently available.  No price stated, but they should be in the same $350-500 price range of the current 800 models. Imagine then, what a Photo Stylus output would look like when they release a model that uses the 3 pl. dot sizes vs. the 6 pl. in the current Japanese/European releases of the latest Photo Stylus models!! david =)"

HP 2500cxi .  David also commented on the HP 2500cxi:-
"(The HP 2500cxi is) Exactly the same as the HP 2000 (which is to say that it runs on the same base technology as the HP 71x/72x/89x/11xx series but with an 8 pl. dot vs. the 10 pl. dot used in the lower end models.). Handles the larger tabloid sized paper vs. the HP 2000 and geared towards business office use. Very, very fast inkjet printer, but at $1200, it isn't quite a 'home' printer pricewise....and it's huge!  larger than most laser printers and more like a hefty HP 6.  Available on display at the local Best Buy and CompUSA computer stores here in the US. Output is very similar to the lower end HPs with very little noticable difference in improved picture performance (hey, these are still running at 600x600dpi after all)."

Well, all I can say is my decision to sit out the Photo 750 this time round may not be so bad after all! This time next year, who knows whether a 6-colour, 3 picolitre, 6 variable-sized droplet technology Photo printer will be released.  Here's a quick summary of the advancements in printer technology as seen from the reduction in dot size and the use of variable-sized droplet technology:-

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OFFER for Stylus 740- Singapore Only!2 February 1999

Just heard that EPSON Singapore is having a TRADE-IN on the latest EPSON Stylus Color 740 which could be yours at $108 LESS its normal  price if you trade in your *old printer. Just Bring down your old printer (I think it has to be in working  condition) to THE EPSON SHOP #02-72/72 Millenia Walk (located next to Pan  Pacific Hotel) & get yourself a BRAND NEW EPSON Stylus Color 740 at only  $421. The promotion is on from NOW till 21 Feb 99 only.

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FONT ATTACK!2 February 1999

If you're ever in need of fonts, especially the more iconic ones, drop in at Acid Fonts which has a  large collection of freeware and shareware fonts (some may have specific restrictions on use) for your personal use. All fonts are in True Type format. There are also instructions on how to convert them for use with Macs. Great for sprucing up your printouts or designs. Visit>

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HP 2500cxi - Anybody seen output from it?!1 February 1999

Read PC Mag's First Look at the HP 2500cxi

Marg Boyd emailed me with a query on a recommendation - the Photo 700/EX/750 or the HP 2500cxi? Anybody had a look at the output from the HP 2500cxi? If so, do drop me a note and Marg Boyd as well. Marg pointed me to PC Magazine Online's First Lookat the HP 2500cxi printer and here are some of the laudatory comments made in the review:- "This near-perfect printer combines speed, easy  connectivity, economics, and drop-dead gorgeous output. The 2500Cxi's text output quality is on a par with monochrome laser printers, and its color photographic printing beats color lasers and competes well with thermal dye and wax printers." However, the 2500cxi is only a 4-colour printer but it uses an 8picolitre dot size for its droplets. If you will recall, the PhotoEX uses a 10picolitre drop size whilst the 740/750 uses an amazing 6 picolitre. Still, there's nothing like looking at the actual printout instead of relying on the specs. So anybody with info on the HP printer, please drop me or Marq  a note.