How long have you had your home printer? Maybe you have a printer that came as a package deal with your desktop or free with your laptop purchase. Look in many home offices and you’ll probably see a less-expensive inkjet printer sitting beside even the swankiest monitor. Here’s why it’s time for an upgrade.
You should know that printers are often sold at cost or even as a loss leader (below cost to get your business). After all, once you get that cheap/free inkjet printer, you’ll pay for ink cartridges for the life of the printer. To make sure they get your money, manufacturers often sell new printers with half-empty ink cartridges from the start!

You’ve heard “you get what you paid for,” right? Well, that’s definitely true for low-cost printers. Manufacturers are cutting production costs to keep the price down. These printers are not built with longevity in mind. Printer owners encounter all kinds of problems:

• multiple sheets pulled from the paper tray at once;
• paper jams;
• slow printer response;
• drop off in print quality;
• ink smearing.

Frustrated customers soon discover they’ll pay more to fix their printer than they would to buy a new one.

Upgrading to An Office-Grade Printer
Our solution? High-performance commercial printers. Office-grade printers are designed as work horses. These robust printers are built to withstand heavy use with speed and reliability. Yes, they cost more, but they are also less prone to problems and more likely to be a long-term valuable addition to your home office.

You’ll have many printer profiles to choose from. You might select a printer based on its pages-per-minute printing speed. Or maybe you want a larger paper tray capacity and bigger ink cartridges. Depending on your needs, you might want a printer that allows for simultaneous operation. That would let one person print while another is able to scan or copy. Built-in Wi-Fi could also be useful in small home offices if you’re tired of tripping over so many unsightly cords.

While you’re in the market for a new printer, know that we recommend laser printers over inkjet. Laser printers use a dry toner rather than wet ink. The toner cartridges are more expensive, but they print more sheets per cartridge than inkjets, plus, toner doesn’t dry up like ink. And you don’t have to worry about the printer heads getting blocked. Lasers print faster, and you’ll have fewer problems, which means these printers are typically less expensive to operate long-term.

Inkjet printers typically have a minimum life span of three years, whereas you can expect a laser printer to last five years, although this will depend on frequency of use, of course.
When looking at laser printers, give serious thought to whether you need a color printer. How many times do you actually use color? Does it merit the added expense of that option? People who are printing photos at home only occasionally could probably get their images printed professionally for less overall cost.

Prioritize Your Printer
Even in our increasingly digital world, there are still times when we want to print. Whether it’s a family photo, school report, resume, or slide deck, you want to count on your printer for high quality and reliable performance. There are many, many office-grade printers to choose from, and it can become overwhelming. What and how much you print should factor into your decision.

By Emporia State University | The Bulletin

The PCs you choose to power your small business can dramatically impact your company's productivity and competitiveness. However, many small businesses fall for common myths about computers, leading to poor purchasing decisions. Here are four myths about PCs – and realities to help you make smarter technology decisions for your business.

Myth 1: Consumer PCs Are Interchangeable with Business PCs
Reality: Because they're built for activities like watching videos, checking email and surfing the web, PCs for the consumer market will not always have the computing power or security features sophisticated business applications demand. If a family laptop reluctantly boots up or crashes, it's annoying, but not serious. PCs for the consumer market will not always have the computing power or security features sophisticated business applications demand. For a business, however, computers are mission-critical. Employees are more likely to run multiple applications simultaneously, use resource-heavy applications or use software as a service (SaaS). PCs built for consumers often lack the computing power to handle these tasks – resulting in lost productivity. Consumer-level PCs may also lack built-in security features of computers designed for businesses, which could make your business – and sensitive customer data – vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Myth 2: RAM Is the Top Factor In Computer Performance
Reality: Adding more random access memory usually allows a computer to manage more data. But RAM alone won't improve a computer's performance – unless the PC has sufficient processing power. To make a PC faster and more efficient, you need a powerful central processing unit to optimize the RAM. While RAM is the memory, the CPU (or processor) is the computer's "brain," receiving instructions, performing calculations and processing information. To run today's resource-intensive business software efficiently, look for computers with plenty of RAM, plus processing power.

Myth 3: You Can Wait Until PCs Fail Before Replacing Them
Reality: Long before a PC fails, its performance may suffer, costing your business time and money. Waiting for an older PC to start up every day can waste up to 11 hours a year. Crashing, freezing or slow computers can keep your employees from working efficiently, and may appear unprofessional to customers or clients. Sluggish, malfunctioning PCs can reduce employee satisfaction, as workers become frustrated with outdated technology. 
Don't wait until your business PCs slow to a crawl before upgrading. Be proactive. Look for hardware that exceeds your software vendor's recommended system requirements. This will help ensure your PCs can handle future software upgrades. Then set a regular schedule for upgrading your hardware.

Myth 4: You're Saving Money by Repairing Old PCs
Reality: Repairing or adding RAM to squeeze more life out of older computers may seem economical. But the cost of keeping older PCs running quickly adds up. According to research from J.Gold Associates, repairing breakdowns of a five-year-old computer costs an average of $662 per year. The same research found 43 percent of the small businesses surveyed had PCs that were over five years old – and malfunctioned each year. At that rate, you'd soon be spending more on repairs than on a brand new, more powerful computer. Besides losing productivity during breakdowns and repairs, older computers are also slower. Using five-year-old PCs can make your employees up to 29 percent less productive, potentially costing your business up to $17,000 per year, per worker.
Older PCs can also put your business at risk of cyberattacks. Per the J.Gold Associates survey, small businesses estimated that 34.47 percent of their computers over five years old had been hacked. With the average cost of a single data breach worldwide estimated at $35,745 per employee, an older PC rapidly becomes an expensive liability. In the same survey, small businesses reported that just 5.92 percent of their PCs newer than one year old had experienced cyberattacks. Newer computers frequently offer built-in security features to reduce risk of cyberattacks.

Blindly accepting myths about PCs can be expensive for your small business. Upgrading to more powerful computers can optimize the performance of your business software, enhance your cybersecurity and boost employee productivity. The next time you're making decisions about computer purchases, be sure you base your actions on reality. Then choose the right PCs to make your business more competitive.


This article was from Emporia State University / The Bulletin and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

We all know Windows 10 has lots of capabilities that most people don’t even know exist. This list is a handy way to discover some new tools and techniques.

1. Windows Sandbox
   Windows Sandbox provides a virtual machine environment you can use to download and test software and suspicious files separate from your regular operating system. It works as a “window inside a window,” which enables you to drag and drop safe files from the Sandbox window onto your normal desktop.
   Where to Find It: Start > Apps > Windows accessories NOTE: You’ll need to enable Windows Sandbox first. To do so, go to “Control panel > Programs and features,” then click “Turn Windows features on or off” and select the “Windows Sandbox” checkbox.
   
   
2. Windows Timeline
   Windows Timeline enables you to group related apps you’ve used in the past to create “activities”. This makes it easy to access apps you frequently use to complete certain tasks or workflows, boosting productivity for any anyone who completes repetitive tasks or needs repeated access to a certain set of documents.
   Where to Find It: Taskbar > Task view OR Windows key + Tab
   
   
3. Cloud Clipboard
   Microsoft 10 has taken the copy-and-paste function to the cloud. It enables multitaskers to share content copied to the clipboard across Windows 10 devices. You can also hold multiple passages of text and images on the clipboard, and the Pin function allows you to retain pinned items in the clipboard.
   Where to Find It: Start > Settings > System > Clipboard > Sync across devices
   
   
4. Your Phone Companion
   Strengthen the link between your Android smartphone and your Windows 10 PC with the Your Phone Companion app. It enables you to view and manage notifications, text messages and images on your PC. Sorry iPhone owners, but your device doesn’t play nicely with others. ☹
   Where to Find It: In the Microsoft store.
   
   
5. PC Snip & Sketch
   Take a screenshot of any portion of your screen with the upgraded Snip & Sketch tool. The screenshot will be automatically copied to your clipboard and available to share with other Windows 10 devices via Cloud Clipboard.
   Where to Find It: Press Windows key + Shift + S
   
   
6. Near Share
   Many organizations are banning the use of flash drives due to the security risks they pose. Thankfully, Near Share is here to replace those once-prevalent gadgets. Use it to wirelessly share URLs and files with Windows 10 devices that are within range. It works via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and automatically selects the available channel, with recipients getting a pop-up notification.
   Where to Find It: Enable Near Share in “System > Shared experiences,” then open Share in Microsoft Edge or File Explorer.
   
   
7. Controlled Folder Access Windows 10 is combating ransomware attacks with Controlled Folder Access. It prevents malicious apps from making unauthorized changes to your files and folders. Manually select folders to be protected and grant access to trusted software.
   Where to Find It: Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage ransomware protection
   
   
8. Aero Shake
   Don’t suffer from desktop clutter any longer. The Shake features allows you to instantly close superfluous windows. Just grab the title bar of the window you want to keep open and give it a shake to close all other windows. Shake it again to reopen the windows.
   Where to Find It: Just do it! :D
   
   
9. Secret Start Menu
   Enjoy much easier access to administrative tools like the Command Prompt, Control Panel and Task Manager via the Secret Start Menu. It also displays more shutdown options and gives you access to Power Options.
   Where to Find It: Right-click the Windows Start button.
   
   
10. Dictation 
    Speech recognition has been given a 21st-century makeover in Windows 10. It’s so good you might be tempted to throw away your keyboard. Just press the Windows key + H in any text field and Cortana will start taking dictation. 
    Where to Find It: Settings > Time & Language > Speech