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

CES 2010 – Part 2 Laptop Announcements

Lenovo IdeaPad U1Hybrid Notebook

Lenovo seems to be causing the most interest at CES with its wealth of new product announcements. The one that really catches my attention is the new IdeaPad U1 hybrid notebook that will be released in the June 2010 timeframe and will be priced around $999. What makes this product so special is that it is a combination slate and notebook. The screen detaches from the notebook shell and it becomes a Linux multi-touch slate that is enhanced for digital media consumption. You can use it to watch video, listen to music, watch a movie or read a book. It has full wireless so it can also be used to browse the internet as well while detached. When you bring it back to the notebook shell it snaps into place and it instantly (or relatively quickly) switches back to a Windows 7 based notebook.

Now let’s look at its basic features: The screen is an 11.6 inch HD Led backlit multitouch screen that is detachable and weighs 1.5 pounds. When attached to the shell it weighs 3.8 pounds, is cherry red, has two operating systems each having its own processor running independently or sharing info between them.  We don’t know the specific Intel dual-core processor that is in it yet that is used on the Windows 7 side. The Screen runs the SnapDragon Processor. It also sports a 1.3-megapixel webcam, ethernet 10/100 ports, 802.11 a/b/g, Bluetooth, (2) USB ports and an eSATA/USB combo port to attach more storage if you care to. This is the first notebook/slate computer that combines the versatility of a notebook with the entertainment value of a slate style computer. Jim Louderback does a nice video review of this product that I have included below.

 

Lenovo Ideapad S10-3t

Tekzilla announces this Lenovo convertible Netbook a iTablet Killer. Lenovo’s Ideapad S10-3t will be released this month and will be priced starting at $499. With a 10.1 inch capacitive touchscreen that can be swiveled and laid back against the keyboard to turn this netbook into a Tablet PC. It will be available with either an Intel Atom 1.66GHz N450 processor or a 1.83GHz N470 processor, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 320GB 6400rpm 2,5 inch SATA hard drive. Network connection is important and this unit comes with a built in 80802.11b/g/n2.11b/g/n wireless radio, Bluetooth 2.1 and Ethernet port. 3G and WiMax will be available as options as well. It has two USB 2.0 ports, a 6 in 1 card reader, VGA external port, headphone and microphone jacks, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. A 4-cell or 8-cell battery will also be available providing up to 10 hours of battery life on the 8-cell battery. Again, Jim Louderback did a very nice video review of this system.

CES 2010 Part 1 – Initial Show Notes

I am going to start off by saying that I am really excited by this year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show). For any of you that are not familiar with this product showcase that happens every January in Las Vegas, it is the show that has survived over the years as a presentation platform for both concept products and soon to be released products in the electronics industry. This show has probably survived all of the others because of its wide range of focus.  You will find just about every kind of electronic gadget you can imagine.

This year seems to have quite a lot of products involved in several major product lines, EBook Readers and Mobile Computer Technology.  In fact, notebooks and netbooks are equally in the lime light, and the main manufacturer that seems to be coming out with the greatest innovations is Lenovo.  Smart phones are also all will blows and I think we will see quite a few new products in this arena as well.With the advent of the movie Avatar, 3D has been brought back into focus (pun intended). We will see both TV’s and players that will be giving you 3D imaging right in your living room, but that is not all. Content from multiple sources is becoming more important and we are seeing the addition of internet access right on your TV of Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Picasa, Bloomberg news, weather and now Netflix Streaming and even Skype video phones. So now you have the ability to have Video Phone conversations with your friends and families right from your Television.  Cameras and Camcorders are going to be interesting as well. High Def is the keyword this year and we will see many products providing High Def in many different form factors. Gadgets in your cars is fast becoming the biggest competitive area for Auto Manufacturers. Ford is starting to become the king in this area with the Ford Sync being the its initial offering now they are piling on with other video presentation of car function  and information access. I will go into this in much greater detail in future postings. I am getting to the point that I want a Ford because of the technology they are offering more than the car. I have got to touch and feel this soon!

Below is a quick list of the different technologies zones that are highlighted this year at CES. The links provided below will take you to a better definition of each of these technologies zone designations and will give you a better feeling of what CES is all about.

Digital Health TechZone
eBooks TechZone
Experience 3D TechZone
Femto TechZone
HDMI TechZone
HD-PLC TechZone
Higher Ed TECH TechZone
HomePlug TechZone
i-stage TechZone
Kids@Play TechZone
Lifestyle Gadgets TechZone
Mobile DTV TechZone
Mommy Tech TechZone
Netbooks TechZone
PC Gaming Alliance TechZone
Robotics TechZone
Safe Driver TechZone
Silvers Summit TechZone
USB TechZone
Wireless Mobility Brought to You by Qualcomm
ZigBee TechZone

This is probably the first year that CES so excited me with the potential of the products that were going to be presented that I contemplated hopping and chat and when there myself to see them firsthand.  But, we're so blessed with th the state of the techno: Jude from presenting information across the Internet that I can take full advantage of those individuals and companies that do this full time.  So over the next couple weeks I'll be digesting all of the information that I can from all the various sources that are available and come back to you with those products that I have found most interesting and useful for all of us.

Lexmark X543DN Color MFP $100 Instant Rebate

This well built workgroup color multifunction printer is now costing you $100’s less than before. Normal Retail on this product is $749 but for a limited time (Promo ends on Jan 30, 2010), your price is just $599. This printer supports network scanning,  copying and duplex printing with output speeds up to 21 ppm in black and color.

The only drawback with this unit is that it is missing a fax function and if you need that you could upgrade to the X544DN! See product demo by clicking here!

And here is something that you don’t see every day…

Lifetime Pricing Guarantee - For as long as you own your X543dn, Lexmark guarantees never to increase the U.S. toner cartridge price found on Lexmark.com.

Feature Highlights:

Paper Handling Standard - 150-Sheet Output Bin  Integrated Duplex  Single Sheet Manual Feed 250-Sheet Input Tray

ADF Paper Input Capacity : Up to 50 pages 20 lb or 75 gsm bond

Standard Ports - Ethernet 10/100BaseTX (RJ-45)  USB 2.0 Specification Hi-Speed Certified (Type B)

Scan Area, Maximum 8.5 x 14 inches

Size (in. - H x W x D) 18.23 x 17.32 x 21.14 in.

Recommended Monthly Page Volume 500 - 1,500 pages

Microsoft Big Easy Offer 4.0

In this economy it is important to take advantage of all of the offers that are available to you. Here is one more that you can take advantage of to help with any current installations you are planning this Quarter.

The Microsoft Big Easy Offer 4.0 runs from Jan 3, 2010 thru Mar 31,2010 and provides partner subsidy funds that can be used with us to help with the implementation of your Microsoft solution including software, hardware and services.

A subsidy is a check made payable to the Microsoft partner of your choice, us I hope. This subsidy can be used to enrich and implement your Microsoft solution. The subsidy allows you to purchase additional products or services from the us thus lowering your Total Cost of Ownership.

You can build up your subsidy by choosing:

• Products from more than one product group.
• Licenses with Software Assurance.
• Advanced or Enterprise Editions.

Talk to us and we can help you decide what you want to implement now to help you afford the best solutions for you.

Here’s the big question: How do you take advantage the Big Easy offer?

• Make a qualifying purchase between January 3, 2010 and March 31, 2010.
• Redeem your purchase within 30 days of purchase date at http://www.microsoftincentives.com/BigEasy4/redeem.aspx.
• Receive your partner subsidy check from Microsoft.
• Spend your subsidy funds with your Microsoft partner upon receipt. Please note that subsidy funds expire after 90 days of the check issue date.

There is a Big Easy Calculator that is available that will allow you to work on the best scenario for your situation.

How to use the calculator:

1. Select the license type for each product version. If you don’t know which license type to select, contact your partner for more information.
2. Select the product group from the second list.
3. Select the product from the third dropdown list.
4. Enter the number of licenses for each product in the worksheet below.

Increase your subsidy amount by adding more product groups and number of licenses, choosing advanced or Enterprise versions, and choosing licenses with Software Assurance (L&SA)!

The bottom line is that if you are considering upgrading, then here is something else that you can take advantage of to help offset the cost of implementing your installation. Be sure to contact us to help you make the best decision for you!