Craig Crossman column for 3/19/2001

LASER ADDRESSES BOTH SIDES OF THE PAGE

QUESTION: I'm very happy with my current color inkjet printer. So what's the story with laser printers? Color lasers still are very expensive, so please explain any advantages offered with the black and white models if any.

ANSWER: Laser printers have several advantages over inkjets. For starters, they print faster and cheaper than inkjets. Depending on the model, lasers usually print around 12 pages per minute (ppm). Costs usually average somewhere around 1 to 2 cents per page. Lasers usually can hold more paper to be printed in their trays and toner (powered ink) cartridges average around 3000 pages before needing a change. Most lasers also have their own memory, processor and page layout language such as PostScript. This means the computer needs only to send a minimal amount of data and the printer handles all of the processing needed to produce the document. This nice arrangement frees your computer to do other things while your documents are printing out.

Some of the newer laser printers offer duplexing. Originally found only on expensive office models, duplexing allows a laser printer to print on both sides of a page. Brother recently introduced the first under $600 laser printer that prints at 16 ppm and comes standard with duplexing. The HL-1650 prints at 1200 dots per inch, has PostScript Level 3 compatibility, has a toner capacity of up to 6,500 pages and offers both parallel and USB connectivity. It works on both PC and Macintosh computers.

Given the lower costs of printers these days, it makes perfect sense to have both an inkjet and a laser printer hooked to one computer.

www.brother.com (800) 276-7746

Mouse lets you feel better

Logitech has come up with a really novel mouse that lets you literally feel your computer's virtual desktop. The iFeel Optical Mouse has a patented technology which uses a tiny motor to vibrate in such a way as to simulate any ridges, edges, textures and gaps you see on the computer's screen as the mouse pointer passes over them. For example, when you select a menu bar command and open a pop up menu, it feels and sounds like a rubber band popping when you pass over the commands. And it won't be just limited to your computer's desktop. According to Logitech, numerous websites will soon be incorporating this technology and allow you to feel different landscapes as your pointer passes over a page. I wonder how it would feel passing it over one of those nude photos you downloaded... Logitech's iFeel Mouseman is currently available for Windows only and sells for $60.

www.logitech.com

Top o' the Monitor to you!

If you find yourself running out of desk space, here's a clever way to find some new desktop acreage. The PC Monitor Shelf is a clever device that sits on top of your computer's screen assuming you use a traditional cathode ray tube type and not one of the newer flat screens. It converts what was once wasted space into a shelf that¹s ideal for storing just about anything ranging from office supplies and speakers to a printer or fax machine. It¹s made from reinforced polystyrene and installs in just a few minutes. Just attach the rear legs, adjust for proper height and place on top of a monitor. It fits computer monitors up to 19 inches and is strong enough to hold up to a 22 pound printer. It sells for about $15.