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When I did my printer hunting a little over a year ago I ended up with a Xerox 6505. I was looking for a color printer, and they have overall good reviews. When you are looking at toner, there are fairly cheap aftermarket toners you can get for Xerox printers that keep costs down.

One thing I looked for in a printer that would let it work on any OS was that it could accept PCL and PostScript (that way you don't need a print driver). Though, still having a printer driver is nice for configuring little things (like duplex printing if your printer supports it).

This data is out-of-date at this point, but I put together a spreadsheet of all the different printers I was considering.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0As4u6h7EmJ5sdHhRalNzMl9OV2x6Q2xRSU0zdjJHcEE&usp=sharing

I don't remember my exact issues with HP and Brothers printers at this point, but the one thing I did like about Xerox versus some of the others was their toner cartridges were stand-alone from other components. So it made it cheap to get after-market toner.

From this file, located on Xerox's site:
 
 

Different devices represent different levels of ris
k. It’s axiomatic that as functionality increases
so does the potential risk. For
those devices, countermeasures are built into the m
achine to reduce the risk.

  Not all copiers have hard disk drives. Those that d
o not are not at risk.

  Some copiers and multifunction devices have hard di
sk drives, but do not use the hard disk drive to sa
ve document images. These are also not a risk.

  Those copiers and multifunction devices that do use
hard disk drives to temporarily store images, shou
ld have an "image overwrite" feature that destroys the copied image immediately." That function should be built in, (which Xerox does), or installable via a security kit. If neither solution exists for the product, it is at risk.

  Also, most copiers and multifunction devices that have hard disks include a disk encryption feature which encrypts all stored
customer image data with the state-of-the art AES encryption algorithm.

  Xerox has developed a disk removal program so that prior to a device being returned a Xerox technician will remove the disks and leave them with the customer. This program charges a flat fee per machine for the service. Contact Xerox Customer Support for information on fees and availability in your geography.

 
Clearly, some Xerox "copiers and multifunction devices" store image data in non-volatile memory, in the course of their operation. Stop being a jackhole.

I work for Xerox. I specifically support these machines in a tier 3 capacity. I have not seen or heard a single case of this.

So does Francis Tse, and he's apparently heard of it.

My group handles calls from all of North America, and some South.

You might want to talk to somebody who handles calls from Western Europe - Germany, in particular.

Try a Xerox Work Center. Our's sucks monkey, but it does print PDF directly.

Apple's printer support is pathetic.

A printer (Xerox Phaser 6100) which had a Tiger driver, and is still supported quite nicely in CUPS elsewhere is NOT supported in Snow Leopard or Lion. Her MacBook is the last Apple my wife gets to use, since she relies on me for support, and I'll never do another for her.

You are blaming Apple because Xerox will not provide proper drivers for their product?
http://www.support.xerox.com/support/phaser-6100/downloads/enus.html?operatingSystem=macosx&fileLanguage=en

Obama outlined his goals Monday, outlining a push that he developed with the help of his Jobs and Competitiveness Council. That presidential commission has 26 members, including CEOs at several tech firms: Paul Otellini, the CEO of Intel; Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox; John Doerr, the venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; and Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook. The chairman of the Jobs and Competitiveness Council is Jeffrey Immelt, who is chairman and CEO of GE.

Ursula Burns is, at this very moment, preparing to outsource most of her company's Engineering to an Indian company, HCL, to leverage the scale of their talent pool whilst cutting the Engineering budget.

America has plenty of Engineers, just not the kind who would be delighted to work for only $10k a year.

When all that expertise has gone to India, you can bet your bottom dollar that costs will be cut again and the Americans will be let go.

http://open.xerox.com/Pages/Terms%20Of%20Service " 4. Your Materials You shall be solely responsible for any content or applications that you make available directly or indirectly on this Site ("Your Materials") ... For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in Your Materials. However, by placing Your Materials on this Site or making Your Materials available through this Site (for example, by linking or through an API) you specifically give Xerox the following permission: you hereby grant Xerox a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licenseable and fully transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, prepare derivative works of, publish, display, and perform Your Materials, in public, in any media formats and through any media channels. You also hereby grant users accessing Your Materials on this Site a non-exclusive license to access Your Materials for personal, non-commercial use. .... "

Why not post a link to the actual Xerox website?

Open Xerox

It gets worse. Xerox wants a consulting division, so they are planning to buy Affiliated Computer Services. If Dell and HP can buy consulting companies, why shouldn't Xerox?

Problem is, ACS is in the bottom 25 of worst places to work. (Entry #21). The former head of ACS left due to a back-dating-stock-options scandal, and as a part of his golden parachute, the ACS Board gave him a $1 million per year salary allowance for security services. He needs $1 million per year in bodyguards, and the Board gave it to him. Oh yeah, they are a class act with the utmost integrity.

And Xerox wants to marry them.

In my opinion, if you have Xerox stock, sell it. Sell it now.

Actually, that's not necessarily the marketer's dream. Kleenex and Xerox have also had headaches because when the name becomes that ubiquitous, you have some issues keeping the rights to it. If the courts decide that your name has become a generic word, then you're in trouble in terms of legal enforcement of your trademark. Xerox in particular has discouraged people from using 'xerox' as a verb, because they're concerned about losing the trademark. From their own website's company factbook, italic emphasis mine:

The Xerox Trademark
Xerox is a famous trademark and trade name. Xerox as a trademark is properly used only as a brand name to identify the company's products and services. The Xerox trademark should always be used as a proper adjective followed by the generic name of the product: e.g., Xerox printer. The Xerox trademark should never be used as a verb. The trade name Xerox is an abbreviation for the company's full legal name: Xerox Corporation.
XEROX is a registered trademark of Xerox Corporation.

Wikipedia has a little information on this, too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox#Trademark

Replying to myself, I know, but this link states Xerox already has printable semiconductors and dielectrics. This breakthrough was for printable conductors of the same quality, meaning that the entire circuit could be printed: conductors, transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, inductors. The only additional components that would be needed would be those that require specialized materials (LEDs, for example).

A couple of interesting links to (short) videos about the process there also. http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/inv_rel_newsroom.jsp?ed_name=NR_2009Oct27_Xerox_Scientists_Develop_Silver_Ink&app=Newsroom&view=newsrelease&format=article&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US

I have a Xerox Phaser 5500N that I love. It has every feature you need now and is future proof. Also it's as upgradeable as you can imagine if your needs evolve.

If you're going to redo it and you want a real document management system at a reasonable price, get Xerox Docushare. Free download to try it out... And you'll never want anything else.

Xerox is about to announce a "solid ink" machine capable of 11x17 sizes that is waaaay more environmentally friendly.

Update:
Xerox CopyCentre 265/275 uses a 20A plug (110-140V, 60hz, 20A)

Cost 'starts at' $16k, and prints at 65ppm.

So they do exist, they're just intendended for larger offices expecting high volumes.

In this presentation the CEO of sunpower tells a fascinating story about his company's founding, but also plots the cost per watt vs. the number of solar cells produced to date. It's a surprisingly consistent change that holds true for most inventions. He plots that rate against other inventions, and well, I won't spoil the story.

You must have gotten them right as they were being discontinued. In terms of normal prices, Xerox wants $350 for a printer that's relatively shitty.

In other words, not only is it out of the price range to begin with, it doesn't even count.

If you're looking for an index, a document management system probably makes sense. This one is inexpensive and very good.

That would be rather easy to remove, though; making it easy to avoid the kind of situation the GGP was talking about.

The post I was replying to said "Printers do not have hard drives!" I did a quick Google search to find an example of a "printer hard drive". If you want to get picky about printer hard drives that are not obvious to the printer user/owner, how about this bad boy?

http://www.office.xerox.com/userdoc/P8200/8200_Web /pdfs/internalharddrive.pdf

How many people would put their printer on eBay or trade the printer in without taking a printer like that model apart to see if the printer had a hard drive installed inside? That is the question raised by the original post.

So should we all move towards solid ink. Less consumables, no getting dirty refilling toner cartridges. No toner cartridges to throw away, although there is one major consumable every 7-10K pages. I guess if a toner is refilled at least three times it is about the same.

'if you build a better mouse trap, the world will beat a path to your door'

No, you license a mouse trap to a company whilst not actually owning one, then go out and buy one from a third company and get the first company to pay for it. Later on you license the same mouse trap to other companies as first company neglected to get an exclusive deal. Later on first company tries and fails to wriggle out through the invention of their own mOuSse2. YOU take the money and spend it on MouseNT trap instead. Fool me once, shame on you etc .. :)

You also declare all other rodent incarceration methods as violating your IP and make vague litigation noises in the press. You then offer cross-licensing deals with said other companies as long as they agree they are violating your IP. If anyone sues YOU for copying, then your defence is that they all stole it from Xerox PARC back when we all attended that big demo.

Re:Markets, not quality, decide predominance (Score:5, Informative)

PARC Forums from the last couple years also available online here.

I don't have a good estimate on the price per print, [read: I'm tired and don't want to do the math] but the site says a typical box of six sticks of black ink will give you about 6,800 pages for $104.99. Slightly more expensive than your typical toner printer...

If I get into a real pro vs. con session, this post will likely be modded down because some bastard thinks it's spam. I just happen to like the printer.

Funny... my store's website has a much higher price than Xerox for the same ink...

I don't have a good estimate on the price per print, [read: I'm tired and don't want to do the math] but the site says a typical box of six sticks of black ink will give you about 6,800 pages for $104.99. Slightly more expensive than your typical toner printer...

If I get into a real pro vs. con session, this post will likely be modded down because some bastard thinks it's spam. I just happen to like the printer.

Funny... my store's website has a much higher price than Xerox for the same ink...

Color lasers are not all that cheap, besides the color toner (which is usually double the price of black toner or more) lasers have a bunch more hardware that needs replacement, such as the drum or imager roll, fuser, and fuser roll, then some may also have the charge grid, etc.

Look at the Xerox laser parts list to get an idea, you usually don't see it in the HP list as in the fine print the fuser and other parts fall under service and maintenance (you pay them to replace it).

One that has pretty compelling costs is the Solid Ink printers (which we refer to at work as the "Crayon Jets" which are part wax based inks (look a lot like big chunks of crayon) and full-width inkjet printing. Vibrant color as lasers, very fast printing (even duplexing), though the 'ink' is a lower melting point then toner so you can't heat laminate them with good results.

After a year or so of use page cost is about 7 cents a page (factoring in costs of ink and the maintenance kit, which is the only other replacement part) This is with printing bunches of signs and brochures.

They have a multifunction solid ink all-in-one but that's overkill for us so I can't say much more about it.

Cheapest Xerox color printer I saw on their site costs $350 (I don't regard "rebate" prices as real; and if I did, I'd compare their "$250" price to something below the expected street value of the kodaks). Doesn't look like free toner cartridges are mentioned either....

"None! They use laser!"

I realize you're young and everything, but...INCORRECT!

Got a Xerox Phaser 860 a while back - BLACK ink is FREE! Yes Free! http://www.office.xerox.com/programs/fbi/freeblack ink.html Outputs like Laser (and is water proof! - but it is really based on inkjet technology) and is tons fast for color or B&W. Sure every 40,000 copies I have to spend 200 for a maintanice cartridge (chip and oil roller) but other than blocks of colored wax there is NO other consumables. Color an't that bad of price too. OEM $220 per color per 7000 pages yeild - but I got well over 10000 per with doing just spot colors- can cost much less for 3rd party ink - about $80 per color for the same amount of ink. I figure that after 150000 copies printed - my cost was less than $0.07 per page on average doing color INCLUDING PAPER. Print just B&W was like less than $0.01 WITH PAPER (cost more for the paper than the ink!). If you can Pickup a used 840/850/860 - the best quality for the price. The newer 8500 series is good too - but the Black ink is no longer free - cost just a small amount - but they include a free block or two of black when you purchase color. People buy these older printers - get JUST the FREE BLACK INK and use it as a straight MONOCROME printer - The fill all the slots with BLACK - Dremel drill is your friend!

Xerox do far more than copiers. The operate the PARC research faility.

From wikipedia: "PARC (Palo Alto Research Center, Inc.), formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California that began as a division of Xerox Corporation. It was founded in 1970, and incorporated as a separate company (wholly owned by Xerox) in 2002. It is best known for inventing laser printing, Ethernet, the modern personal computer graphical user interface (GUI) paradigm, object-oriented programming, and ubiquitous computing. Today PARC collaborates with sponsors and clients to discover novel business concepts and transfer scientific findings into production. Current research areas include biomedical technologies, "clean technology," user interface design, sensemaking, ubiquitous computing, large area electronics, and embedded and intelligent systems."

I work in the networked printer/multifunction industry. While HP is popular on desktops, other brands are gaining, and rule in the 50ppm+ arena. These devices come from other vendors like Canon, Sharp, Kyocera and Xerox. These multifunction devices provide scan, fax and print services and run a variety of OS's from VxWorks to Solaris. Yes Johnny, that means Windows XP embedded as well. Although I have to say, I haven't seen a DOS based controller in about 6 years.

We routinely receive questions about security, and help patch and configure these boxes to meet network security requirements as closely as possible. Unfortunately, we have limited access to the core OS, so we go as far as we can and workaround the rest. Many vendors, especially those using Windows, provide controller patches with security fixes included. EFI even allows an admin to RDP in and use Windows Update to keep current

These devices aren't perfect, but they have come a long way. That being said, if you haven't heard about this in the past, you have no business being in charge of network security. Multifunction devices today are just as powerful as your desktops and servers, running the same software. Admin control is limited, and vulnerabilities are a reality - note the recent Xerox vulnerability

I would say it is important to stay in contact with your local vendor/dealer to stay on top of these issues. We work with these products everyday, and receive regular notices about security issues and solutions, not to mention a wide variety of other product data. We are a resource, just like any other outside consultant, to help you get and stay secure.

Caveat: I'm an online game developer, so I have my own biases.

However, I'd recommend that anyone interested in this area go watch Nick Yee's presentation at Xerox PARC from earlier this year. Interesting stuff from someone who does real research into virtual worlds instead of just talking about it idly as we are doing here.

The most interesting thing he says, related to this conversation, is that people who spend excessive time in a game world often show signs of depression. This is something the parent poster incorrectly discounts in a later post. The time spent online is simply a means to escape the depression, at least temporarily. The danger here is that the individual might not spend time to look at his or her root problems. Of course, this can be true for just about anything.

...because of [an online game's] surrogate (I would say "pseudo-") sociality...

There's nothing "pseudo" about it. Nick's presentation linked above mentions that a large number of people that play online games do so with people they know offline. When I played WoW myself, I was in a relatively small guild of people that were friends offline. Even now, I play EQ2 because a friend of mine that recently moved away to Alaska plays, and I can spend time socializing with him while we're bashing virtual enemies with mutual friends. The socialization is just as "real" as what you get in any other social situation. Spending time playing EQ2 with my friend is no less valid than if we were hanging out at a bar unwinding after a day of work. The difference is that I can play EQ2 with him even though we live a few thousand miles apart.

...because it offers a straightforward path of action that can be very appealing to people who lack one in their real lives.

And, frankly, you can say the same thing about just about any entertainment. For example, there are plenty of war movies where the heroic good guys valiantly fight the despicable evil guys in a justified war. Unfortunately, the world is not quite so divided between black and white. But, it feels good to not have to deal with this level of ambiguity in entertainment, even when the truth isn't quite so unambiguous. Despite the fear-mongering that goes on, (online) games have no monopoly on the "escapist" aspect of entertainment; that existed long before computers and computer games started catching so much blame.

Have fun,

Quote:

"But simply enlarging a graphic display or workspace won't help users navigate large, complex information environments and diverse content sources. How information is organized, presented, integrated, and controlled directly affects how easily and thoroughly users will analyze and understand it -- especially in mission-critical and time-pressured situations."

CC.

I think researchers need to stop this sort of research which is based on hollywood science craption and focus on creating things that are actually real...

The stuff being developed at PARC (the same guys who invented windows and the mouse) is far more exciting to me than this. With Modular robotics and digital clay, plus a software development platform, this sort of work promises to provide a revolution similiar to what they did with personal computing.

It just makes me sad every time i see something like this where people have spent years of their lives developing completely dead end technology, in order to produce something that is really nothing more than a stupid high tech gimmick. Mechanical objects that can do nothing other than sing, dance, or make meaningless smalltalk don't impress me.

Yeah, yeah. So they copied from Xerox PARC and Project Athena. Didn't everyone?

...Discarding a $170 million project as "useless" because there are bugs seems kind of silly.

The real gist of the Washington Post article is that instead of getting a shrink wrapped document management app that works (i.e. Mambo, DocuShare http://docushare.xerox.com/ , DB2 Document Manager http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/cm/docmgr/ ), and customizing the working app, the FBI in all of its infinite wisdom decided to contract with Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) to write one from scratch.

Xerox (see "The Xerox Trademark" at the bottom of the page) has been getting bent out of shape for years over the thought of people "xeroxing" things; why should Google be any different?

Oh please... both companies can still take lessons from Xerox PARC. This link points to a cool idea for a Plays Anywhere technology which could eliminate much of the proprietary format/interface issues.

You can try this: http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/equipment/prod_subcate gory.jsp?cat=Software/Knowledge%20Sharing&Xcntry=U SA&Xlang=en_US

"Or a company on its last legs can make a crazy last-ditch effort to sue themselves into profitability, like SCO. But what's Lucent really doing here?"

Isn't Lucent in the middle of a takeover or buyout attempt by a French firm? Maybe this relates to that deal. Possibly a shot at making it seem more of a player via it's IP rights and thus add to it's value. Maybe its a way to complicate or delay the takeover process. Maybe this is a move by both parties in the takeover to drag the issue into French courtrooms as well, or make an implied threat of such apparent to Microsoft.

"Isn't Microsoft going to turn around and use it's double-click patent to try to make Lucent stop selling everything they make that involves a GUI at any point?"

Apple or the folks they got the idea from http://www.parc.xerox.com/ PARC might have something to say about the GUI issue. From the PARC history page.

In 1973 the PARC "Alto personal computer becomes operational. As it evolves, the Alto will feature the world's first What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) editor, a commercial mouse for input, a graphical user interface (GUI), and bit-mapped display, and will offer menus and icons, link to a local area network and store files simultaneously."

In 1975 PARC "Engineers demonstrate a graphical user interface for a personal computer, including icons and the first use of pop-up menus. This interface will be incorporated in future Xerox workstations and greatly influence the development of Windows and Macintosh interfaces."

Matthew

Surely this is the Big Red X...

so it actually prints at 330 feet per minute... which works out at about 1440 pages per minute. which is a bit better.

"So HP fired Alan Kay? That's good for Alan. Because who wants to work for an ink-n-toner company?"

The same people who wouldn't work for a copier company.

---
The "are you a script" word for today is...perverts!

Xerox used to sell several ink jet printers and multi-functions that had seperate print heads. Although Xerox no longer activly supports them, you can still purchase the replacement heads.

See A Global Approach to Automatic Solution of Jigsaw Puzzles

PARC (and others) have already tackled that problem. Here's my favorite research paper on the topic.

Goldberg, D.; Malon, C.; Bern, M. W. A global approach to automatic solution of jigsaw puzzles. Computational Geometry. 2004 June; 28 (2): 165-174.

These people have always been at the forefront of HCI design...

Xerox PARC laboratory projects
and
Some more projects

These people have always been at the forefront of HCI design...

Xerox PARC laboratory projects
and
Some more projects

I've got a Xerox Phaser 8200 (now superceded by the 8400) which would be virtually impossible to pull a "region code" trick on... the ink comes in solid blocks that just slot into the top of the printer - no cartridge at all, and no waste.

I've got a Xerox Phaser 8200 (now superceded by the 8400) which would be virtually impossible to pull a "region code" trick on... the ink comes in solid blocks that just slot into the top of the printer - no cartridge at all, and no waste.