Lexmark has new ownership

We just had notification that Lexmark has entered a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by a consortium of investors.  According to the press release and our representative at Lexmark we should see and change in services or availability of product and that this merger will help to provide a larger base of cash to continue to grow from.

Supporting Quotes

“This is an exciting transaction that Lexmark’s Board of Directors believes is in the best interests of our shareholders following an exhaustive strategic alternatives review process to maximize value,” said Paul Rooke, Lexmark chairman and chief executive officer. “The transaction will benefit our customers and provide new opportunities for
our employees. 

“As part of the Consortium, Lexmark will be able to reach the next level of growth and innovation, to the benefit of our customers, business partners and suppliers, faster than we could achieve on our own,” added Rooke. “With the Consortium’s resources, we will be able to continue to invest in and grow the business to more fully penetrate the Asia
Pacific market for hardware, software and managed print services.”

Jean-Paul Montupet, lead director of the Lexmark Board of Directors, said, “This transaction represents the culmination of an extensive review process by the Board of Directors and the next step in Lexmark’s growth and transformation. We anticipate that the transaction will cause no disruption to our operations or our ongoing cost-savings
initiatives, and will only strengthen the business.”

“Lexmark is a recognized global leader in printing technology and enterprise software, with a proven track record of performance, a consistent annuity-based business model and a talented workforce,” said Weijian Shan, group chairman and CEO of PAG. “We look forward to working with Lexmark’s management team and focusing on expanding
the business in the Asia Pacific region.”

“Lexmark’s passion for excellence and unwavering commitments to customers, employees and communities represent a tremendous cultural fit,” said Jackson Wang, Apex Technology chairman. “We are excited to work alongside Lexmark as it continues  to invest in advanced technologies and solutions to best serve its customers and business partners while simultaneously pursuing additional untapped opportunities for future growth.” 

Lexmark Printer Promotion

Lexmark Printer Tip–Prevent Paper Jams

Here are some techniques on how to help prevent paper jams in you Lexmark printers.

While your competitors are parked on the phone with tech support trying to clear a paper jam, you can zoom right past them on the road to success. To avert paper jams before they happen, try these easy tips:

· Fan the paper like you do with playing cards and then align the edges.
Quickly prepare the paper. Watch video »

· Make sure the paper lies flat in the tray.

· Don't remove trays while the printer is printing.

· Don't load trays or feeders while the printer is printing. Load them prior to printing, or wait for a prompt to load them.

· Don't load too much paper. Make sure the stack height does not exceed the indicated maximum height. Best way to load paper. Watch video »

· Make sure the guides in the paper trays and feeders are properly positioned so they are not pressing too tightly against the paper or envelopes.

· Push all trays in firmly after loading paper.

Paper tray recommendations

• Make sure the paper lies flat in the tray.

• Do not remove trays while the printer is printing.

• Do not load trays, the multipurpose feeder, or the envelope feeder while the printer is printing. Load them prior to printing, or wait for a prompt to load them.

• Do not load too much paper. Make sure the stack height does not exceed the indicated maximum height.

• Make sure the guides in the paper trays, multipurpose feeder, or envelope feeder are properly positioned and are not pressing too tightly against the paper or envelopes.

• Push all trays in firmly after loading paper.

Paper recommendations

• Use only recommended paper or specialty media.

• Do not load wrinkled, creased, damp, bent, or curled paper.

• Flex, fan, and straighten paper before loading it.

• Do not use paper that has been cut or trimmed by hand.

• Do not mix paper sizes, weights, or types in the same stack.

• Make sure all sizes and types are set correctly in the printer control panel menus.

• Store paper per the manufacturer's recommendations.

Envelope recommendations

• To reduce wrinkling, use the Envelope Enhance menu in the Paper menu.

• Do not feed envelopes that:

  • Have excessive curl or twist.

  • Have windows, holes, perforations, cutouts, or embossing.

  • Have metal clasps, string ties, or folding bars.

  • Have an interlocking design.

  • Have postage stamps attached.

  • Have any exposed adhesive when the flap is in the sealed or closed position.

  • Have bent corners.

  • Have rough, wrinkled, or laid finishes.

  • Are stuck together or damaged in any way.

Following all these recommendations and still getting paper jams? If you've been getting a lot of mileage out of your Lexmark printer, it may be time for a new maintenance kit or pick rollers. Contact Lexmark to help with printer troubleshooting before taking any more action.

Lexmark Printer Tip – Lost Printer CD

Want to connect your trusty Lexmark printer to a new computer, but can't find your printer CD? Don't put work on hold while you search every nook and cranny of your office. You can quickly download the most current drivers for your Lexmark printer right from our support site—and speed ahead like the pro you are. Here's how:

1. Go to support.lexmark.com

2. Choose one of the following steps:

a. If you're a visual person, select your product type from the images and then select your printer model.

b. If you want a shortcut, enter your printer model in the product box above the images and then click on the printer model.

3. Click Support & Downloads on the left side of the page.

4. At the bottom, select your operating system and version to see all options for your printer.

You can now download current printer drivers and check out other tools to keep your device running smoothly, like firmware updates.

Lexmark Inkjet Printer Tips

This is from a recent email sent out by the Lexmark News Group on some suggestions on how to maintain the best quality printing from your Lexmark Inkjet Printer.

Don't get stuck troubleshooting print streaks, missing colors, or other print quality issues. Most of these printer problems are caused by clogs in ink cartridges, which form when ink dries inside the print head or ink nozzles. But if you keep your cartridges in good condition, your Lexmark printer will continue to run like a well-oiled machine. Here's a little advice that can help:

1. Do you use your printer regularly? Of course, you shouldn't just print for printing's sake, but when you naturally have print jobs to do, don't hold back! Printing black and color documents multiple times on most days will help to avoid print quality issues by keeping the ink flowing, so it doesn't dry out.

2. Use your printer less frequently? If your printer goes unused for lengthy periods of time with ink cartridges inside, your cartridge nozzles can dry out. This can affect your print quality or interfere with your printer's ability to do its job. When you're not planning on using your printer for a long period of time, remove your cartridges from the printer, place them in an airtight container and store them somewhere cool.

3. Regardless of your print habits, don't let your cartridges run completely out of ink. Just like you wouldn't let your car run on empty, you can't let your printer run until the very last drop of ink is used. Replace your cartridges just before you're running on fumes—your printer will alert you when it's time. This simple step will ensure that your printer continues to function properly.

Lexmark Pro5500

The Lexmark Pro5500 is a really solid business class inkjet printer. All our old preconceptions of the limitations of inkjet printers go out the window when looking at these new class of inkjet printers. Priced at $399 the Pro5500 is fast and inexpensive to operate. This is a multifunction printer with Print, Scan, Copy and Fax functions that is network ready with wireless AirPrint capabilities.

Features:

• Legal-sized Flatbed Scanner
• 4.3” touch screen with SmartSolutions
• Fast laser-quality printing: 21/14 ipm
• 300 sheet tray
• Optional 550 sheet tray takes the paper input capacity to 850 sheet total
• Automatic duplex printing up to legal size
• After market High Yield cartridges provide 2500 b/w 1600 color pages per cartridge
• Business class fax with duplex and backup memory (up to 900 pages)
• Network Ready: Ethernet & Wireless N
• 50 Sheet ADF with single pass duplex scan
• Front USB port & media card reader
• Solid and reliable- 30k page duty cycle
• Cost per page: 1.5/7.9 cents BW/Color

I have one of the earlier Pro901’s but I really want to replace it with this one. Just the duplex scanning feature alone makes it worthwhile as well as the AirPrint capability. Take a look at the demo video below.

Do the scheduled printer maintenance, and extend the life of your printer…

Yet another message from our friends at Lexmark…

Most people routinely change their car's oil, spark plugs, and wiper blades. And yet few people think to clean internal printer parts, replace their print heads, and perform regular printer maintenance. But just like newer cars these days, today's printers are more sophisticated machines that require a bit of service occasionally in order to operate at their highest standards. And when it comes to maintenance, a little attention goes a long, long way. By following these simple tips, you'll ensure that your printer runs great for many years to come.

• Don't ignore warnings: Just like ignoring a "check engine" light on your car, ignoring printer maintenance notifications can lead to everything from print quality issues to costly repairs—or worse, the need for an all-new printer. To prevent this from happening, just keep in mind that printers are affected by normal wear and tear, just like cars.

• Keep your machine clean: If your wiper blades started streaking, you'd try to clean them off, right? It's the same with your printer. When you see print quality declining on your inkjet printer, start by running a Deep Clean on your printhead. Simply go to your printer's control panel and follow the steps for performing a Deep Clean. If quality problems persist, it may be time to replace your printhead, just like you'd replace your wiper blades. If you own a laser printer and use it to print glue-based labels, make sure you order a special label cartridge and clean or replace the fuser wiper as directed. These fast, easy steps will ensure print quality and extend the lifespan of your printer.

Little known printer tricks for reducing business printing costs…

Lexmark has sent out the following list of tips to help you reduce the cost of printing. In fact, this advice works for any manufacturer’s printer line as well.

Customize your printer setting and save.

Did you know that you can change the settings on your printer to save paper and even energy? In fact, one simple change, like switching to 2-sided printing, can reduce your paper consumption by up to 50 percent.

The following small changes can help you save big while avoiding many of the typical printing problems—and many of them can be made with little or no reduction in performance or quality. Best of all, you can change these settings in a snap, all from the main menu of your printer:

	• Print double sided: Set your printer to "duplex mode" to print on both sides of your paper. You'll save paper and the environment.
	• Use black and white: Change your settings to black and white printing, and make color the exception.
	• Adjust the darkness: Set your ink or toner darkness slightly lower to reduce consumption and get more from each cartridge.
	• Print only when you're ready: Set your printer to "print and hold" a print job in the printer until you are ready to retrieve it, instead of sending it to print and forgetting to pick it up.
	• Print in draft mode: If you have an inkjet, set it to "draft mode" to use less ink for internal and draft documents, and to print much faster. You can then switch to higher quality settings when you need to print the final version.

Need a fast Network Monochrome Laser Printer?

Lexmark has just made it easier to purchase their T652n Monochrome Laser Printer. This printer is normally $1,299 but this month they have lowered the price to just $899!

What a deal. So if you were thinking of getting a solid printer for your office this is a great product at a great price.

A little more about the Lexmark T652n Laser Printer…

High-Endurance Printing at Its Best: Simplify high-volume jobs with a fast-thinking powerhouse featuring robust monthly duty cycle, up to 50 ppm print speed, and generous input capacity (650 sheets standard, up to 4,300 sheets with options). Plus diverse media support and a rich selection of paper handling options to choose from.

Let It Decide the Best Speed: Identifies the size and complexity of your job and automatically calculates the optimal speed—quicker time-to-first-page for short jobs and more pages per minute for longer jobs.

Intelligent Job Waiting: No more letting missing media derail hours of print time. The innovative Job Waiting feature will simply hold that job aside, letting others go on working without interruption (requires the hard disk option).

Outstanding Print Quality: Combines true 1200 x 1200 dpi with automatic darkness adjustment and pixel-boosting technology to ensure high-quality, professional documents every time.

Cutting-Edge Security: From network security to user-access restrictions, you’ll be fully equipped to keep valuable data safe and sound. In addition to IPSec, SNMPv3 and 802.1x network security, the Lexmark T652dn offers an alphanumeric pad for easy PIN authentication, plus encryption and disk wiping to secure the optional hard disk.

Less Work for IT: Network-ready and very easy to set up, plus Universal Driver support for simple deployment. Includes Lexmark MarkVision™ Professional software for time-saving remote management and automated tools.

CES 2010 – Part 3 Lexmark Announcements

Lexmark has a new Pro-line of Inkjet Printers that will definitely shrink you ink supply budget needs. These Printers range in price from $199.99 - $399.99  and notably share several characteristics that will put them in the forefront of other similar products from other manufacturers. The first feature that I have alluded to is the cost of printing. High yield ink cartridges priced at $4.99 for black and $9.99 for each color cartridge is easily a fifth of the cost of most of the  competition. Each cartridge yields around 500 pages with giving you a calculated cost of $.01 per page to print. These printers boast the four basic multifunction capabilities including Scanning, Copying, Printing and Faxing.

	The Industry's Best Warranty - Focus on work and leave the worry to us, thanks to a 5-year warranty plus lifetime priority phone support (Receive a 1 year limited warranty plus 4 years extended limited warranty by registering within 90 days.). Most of your inkjet printers have at most a 1 year warranty so this should give you some idea to the reliability that Lexmark has put into these products.
	The cost of printing has always been a concern of mine with inkjet technology. You have probably experienced needing to purchase cartridges that cost $25-$45 per cartridge for the same yield as this printer line. The high-yield black cartridge costs just $4.99 each and yields ~550 pages giving you a cost per page in black of about $.01/page. Each color cartridge is an individual cartridge so when one color has run dry you are only replacing that color as needed. This gives you more yield between cartridge changes.
	WiFi Printing is becoming an important part of your network setup. These units incorporate a simple, automatic setup that joins your wireless network quickly and easily. This is of course subject to the range restrictions of your WiFi enabled Router. It supports IEEE802.11b/g/n protocols. It also allows you to connect the system hardwired which will give you even more capabilities.
	Scan and Import Business Cards This advanced technology allows you to easily scan and save information from business cards, such as name, address and phone number. Rather than entering the information manually, you can scan up to 8 cards at a time and synch it with your address book software like Outlook.

Spend more time managing success, and less time managing paper supply with 150-page input capacity on the Pro705 and Pro805 and 300 pages on the Pro905. All three printers boast a 50 page automatic document feeder. Save money and resources with automatic two-sided printing. Print speeds up to 33 ppm black and 30 ppm color in draft mode. Color resolution up to 4800 x1200 dpi and black up to 2400 x1200 dpi. The 4.3 inch web enabled touch screen allows you to create customized 1-touch SmartSolutions to simplify common tasks on the Pro805 and Pro905 printers. Setup tasks such as scan to email or scan to a folder on your system. You can even get the news, view your favorite photo sharing sites and discover the weather – directly from your printer.

Lexmark Pro705 priced at $199.99 

Lexmark Pro805 priced at $299.99

Lexmark Pro905 priced at $399.99