There comes a time in every business when space, simplicity and cost collide to bring the need for a multifunction printer into the office. No longer does the non-business worthy ink jet machine suffice. Aside from the expensive ink, obnoxious driver and low quality prints your productivity is creating a professional work environment that needs a professional printer.
Duplexing? It would be nice.
Faxing? People still use that?
Scanning? More and more every day.
After you have this list you are brought to look at the Xerox WorkCentre 6505 and the Xerox Phaser 6180MFP. With similar pricing you may wonder what the extra $150 will get you. In a word or seven, you get less cost per page and a more durable printer with the 6180MFP.
Let's look at cost per page. The main idea with printers has always been a pay now or pay later model. Cheap printers equal expensive ink or toner. Expensive printers equal less expensive consumables. To make all of this easy to measure, Xerox includes a simple cost per page calculator for their machines. The WorkCentre 6505 offers 5% black pages at $0.0035, while the 6180MFP is at a penny less. That means at black and white printing alone after you print 15,000 sheets, the 6180MFP is now a better bargain. That print count goes down when comparing color costs. At 20% coverage the WorkCentre 6505 jumps in at $0.167 per page, while the Phaser 6180MFP is 3 ½ cents less. So if you print a lot of color documents you may realize the savings in as little as 4000 or so pages.
But I mentioned durability, so let's hit that up. The Xerox Phaser 6180MFP has the world open when you open the front door. All of the toner cartridges have the drums and developers built in. What this means to you is that you can swap out the toner. No mess, no technician needed and it is a quick and simple operation. The Xerox WorkCentre 6505 has similar easy to swap toner cartridges without the aid of drums and developers. Those items are part of a larger unit that may or not ever need replacing, dependent on usage. I like the idea of simple and effective. Downtime means losing money.
What advantages does the WorkCentre 6505 have over the Phaser 6180MFP? Price. Initial price to be specific. If you find that you do not print more than 4000 sheets in a few years it may be worth considering the 6505.
But for my money, I would jump on the Xerox Phaser 6180MFP. Fast, durable, cheap to run.
It seems that we may be tumbling towards a world filled with mediocre customer service. I don't know when exactly it happened, but I am experiencing it almost daily now. Oddly enough, it took a 10 year old kid to point it out to me. Even more odd is that I was on the wrong side of the counter to receive this young gentleman's complaint.
It started a couple decades ago. I was working at a movie theatre. Everyone knows that attending the movies is a relatively expensive affair. Between overpriced tickets and beyond obnoxiously priced concessions you can lay a quick wad of cash down for 2 hours of entertainment. The main reason movie theatres can do this is because they are selling great entertainment. Beyond the adventure the movie itself presents you have the majesty of the theatre. Walking into the box office and being greeted as if you were the only person this great complex was built for. Smelling the popcorn and hearing it pop making you yearn for just a few small kernels, if not a jumbo sized barrel full of it.
But after paying for your tickets and proceeding what if you did not hear the popcorn popper? What if the crowd was sparse? What if the prices did not change but the economics of scale forced the theatre to adjust practices on slow days. That is what can lead to any companies customer service issues, and this case was no different.
You see, I worked at a theatre and loved the fast paced action of Friday and Saturday nights. The team behind the concession counter worked in unison to make sure everyone was happy, fed and entertained. But when a Tuesday afternoon rolls around and the theatre is open you find yourself a little less excited. Part of that has to do with the stale popcorn you saved from yesterday that you place into the giant popcorn bin. This bin has a heater on it, a heater that is often not started as soon as it should be.
Back to our 10 year old diplomat, he was in need of some popcorn. He and his mom were on a happy mother and son date of sorts. This kid likely looked forward to this all week. Here he was, a half hour past when we opened, mere moments after the popcorn bin heater was turned on and he was ready to get a snack that goes hand in hand with the movies. My fellow coworker and I served him up with beverages, popcorn and candy. We even joked with him about the movie and whatever else. He and his mom proceeded to be entertained by their movie. 10 minutes or so later, frustration struck. Frustration hit this kid so hard that he got up from his seat in a dark theatre, walked over to the concession stand and asked a simple question.
"Your sign says, Hot Buttered Popcorn, but we did not receive hot, buttered popcorn. We received cold and stale popcorn. Why is that?" Ouch. This action by this kid took guts and we were completely at fault. So my coworker and I proceeded to make a new batch of the finest popcorn we could muster and brought it to him and his mom in the theatre. We saved face for a moment, but that is hardly the point.
The point is that it took a 10 year old kid to leave a movie and tell us we were messing up. We likely messed up countless times before that. It likely cost us countless customers. But we had the perception that we were bigger than our customers. We didn't need this 10 year old kid. Because we had thousands of other 10 year old kids to take his place. But the reality is that not everyone that does not complain is happy. So it is best to consider the advice of the people that do.
Since Doc Jams is not in the movie business, and our customers have no one to walk to when they are unhappy, Doc Jams Printer Repair has implemented a simple feedback form. We send it to our customers shortly after they receive our service. They send it back and get entered for a drawing. We change what needs to be changed and get commended for the things that do not.
So lucky for us, we do not need to change too much. Though if you think that we do, please let us know.
Soon it will be Thanksgiving, and that can only mean one thing– you finally get a few days off. With those days off you are likely planning on eating too much while meeting with people you see on rare occasions and maybe watching some football. But the real point of this whole weekend is Black Friday.
You want to be fueled on turkey and ready to go when the stores open at midnight or 2am, or for those that sleep in, 5am. You want to rush into the mad chaos of the stores to push and pull and drag and scream to save a few bucks on some gift for some friend or relative that may or may not deserve it. I understand, I do the same thing almost on a regrettable scale.
But I am writing this to give you a tip. You may be attracted to the siren song of a cheap printer. Maybe you want to get the up and coming student something to bang out their assignments with, maybe your grandma likes printing thousands of pictures of her grandchildren for you to one day have to go through. You may even want to sneak a printer as a 'present to yourself' to help you with taxes. These cheap printers will be hiding in the multitude of ads that you will enjoy paging through and circling with so much care and planning it'll seem like an airstrike is being prepared. Unfortunately through all of this you will end up with a cheap piece of plastic with complicated drivers, and the need for expensive ink. Merry insert your holiday here, I just got you the gift of endless hatred for all things printed. You might as well give them the first payment on a timeshare in Delaware. Your gift just cost your beloved recipient big money.
My suggestion? Call a reputable printer dealer and ask for a used or refurbished printer. Sure it may not be in a cute and colorful box. The printer will likely be an ugly beige color. But what this printing beast lacks in aesthetic appeal it more than makes up for in practical document printing. Besides, any gift you need to plug in should be glowing with practicality.
These reputable printer dealers may have something available for similar pricing to the cheap machine, but you won't need to get ink for the holidays every year. Instead you'll be the highlight of a new tradition that starts with your happy gift receiver saying something like, "That printer is still working and I haven't had to touch it! You are the best ever!" This will be followed by big hugs and you receiving a great gift every year for years to come. An investment in the future could not give a better return.
Is there any better gift?
Look under just about any office desk and you will see a mess. Aside from the scraps from lunch two weeks ago and a few cookie crumbs I am talking about the surge protector. We see these abused surge protectors all the time.
They remind us of the scene in Christmas Vacation that shows the brutal wire mess that Chevy Chase utilized to light every bulb in his house via one outlet. It may surprise you that most offices are the same. We as printer technicians often end up under the desk of many an office worker. Aside from our charm sometimes we need to plug in a vacuum cleaner or unplug a printer. What we see under that desk is just this side of amazing.
It is amazing in the fact that we see this everywhere. This is not saved only for the offices that are in reused warehouses from 200 years ago, this happens even in newly constructed offices that look as if no expense was spared. No expense except for the electricians. They skimped there with the assumption that the mighty $10 surge protector would offer all the power needed.
What is in these lonely surge protectors? This list would include a computer or two for sure, a monitor, maybe a printer or possibly a space heater or fan. Let's not forget a desk lamp, coffee maker or heating pad. Perhaps the outlets are filled with cell phone chargers. Certainly these items were not planned for so we can't blame the architects.
So I'd like to take the time now to pay homage to the great surge protector under your desk. He works hard, taking all of the electricity from one outlet and splitting it at least 6, if not 8 ways or more. He holds on to the huge transformers that were squeezed into a place they certainly were not meant to go. Filled with dust and crumbs he keeps most surges away from your expensive computers and printers. Aside from a few random accidental kicks all we do to thank this abused victim of the cube is toss some potato chip crumbs on him as an offering.
Thank you, Mr. Surge Protector. Hopefully someday architects and engineers will soon understand that this is indeed the 21st century and things need electricity. More than 2 things per desk, I am afraid. And though the strong surge protector has offered years of trouble free mindless service, it may be time to install more than one outlet per cubicle. Next time, simply skimp on the art.
Doc Jams Printer Repair is 5!
Doc Jams Printer Repair is five today. That's right, we have continued to survive despite the paperless society that is slowly threatening to maybe, someday approach us. We have seen a lot of changes. We have seen many great customers close their doors. We have seen a lot of great contacts switch jobs or even locations. We have even seen internal change under our own umbrella of business.
I'd like to take this time to thank all of our paying customers, both past, present and future. You helped shape the Madison area and beyond to the entire country to what it is today. Without you we at Doc Jams Printer Repair would be a few people with screwdrivers looking for a jam. Without us you would be a few companies with a few printers that have jams. It is good that we found each other so that you may continue printing and making this a great place.
We debated what to do for our five year anniversary. Do we have a party? Do we send out birthday cards? Do we keep moving and acknowledge the anniversary with a blog and nothing else? I guess we'll just wait and see.
I actually thought this day would mean more to me and everyone else. It turns out that the expectation for success means that you achieve continued success. Five is certainly a milestone, but almost more like a mile marker. We're still going strong and continuing to be successful.
Doc Jams recently acquired new software to enhance our abilities to get you our customers back to printing. We've updated our website gradually to allow you to get fast access to service. We even bought a building to maintain stability for you. All of this, we do for you, our customers.
So here's to another great five years of Doc Jams Printer repair helping you succeed in your business by keeping you jam free and full of toner.
Recently we have been tied to the whipping post in regards to price increases in office supplies such as ink and toner. The increases are rarely more than a dollar or three, but they occur often. Somewhere around 1-3 times a month. Whether the blame is put on a natural disaster like an earthquake in Japan or issues such as cost of materials causing increases in prices, we end up taking the brunt. We can't pass on every increase to our customers, it is not practical. In a slim margin business such as office machine supplies including ink and toner this hurts. Especially when we live in a world where a $70K a year head of purchasing will spend a few hours chasing after a $2.50 savings. That small savings may be realized 6 times a year, for a total cost savings of $15. At around $33/hour salary that savings just cost the company this purchaser works for about $85 annually.
So every little price increase chews on the bottom line of the vendor. That makes us as the vendor become choosey about our customers. Do we want to deal with purchasing departments that are unaware of the error in chasing $2.50 savings? We have decided against. Do we want to deal with purchasing departments that understand that if the pricing is close but the service and delivery is better than the opportunity cost far outweighs a meager $2.50 savings? A resounding yes is heard.
What if the ink/toner was ordered wrong?
What if the ink/toner fails?
What if this failed ink or toner messes up my machine?
How long is too long for down time?
I ran out of toner, how soon can you get here?
Can I pay on terms?
I don't know how to install this toner, can you personally help me?
So if you are the purchaser that understands this blog, feel free to contact us.
Call, fix, smile. Quick and easy.
We live in a fast moving world. Our world is so fast moving that most speedometers go up to at least 140 miles per hour, even on economy cars and SUVs. This leads me to believe that often our world offers the illusion of speed without the actual cheek stretching action of going quickly.
In our world when a printer jams, we need to be at the customer's site very quickly. Though it is rare that our speedometers ever hit 140, we do our best to get to the jammed printer in a jiffy. When we schedule these zippy repairs we try to get to the printer patient in less than a few hours. Call, fix, smile. Easy.
We recently attempted to schedule a service for some equipment of ours through a local company. In full disclosure it was not office equipment and it certainly wasn't bringing our business to a halt, but headaches resulted from this service being needed. We first talked to the company on a Tuesday and were told that if we did not hear from them on Friday to call them. Red flag number one had been seen and we are on the first conversation with this company. After not hearing from them Friday we called them the following Tuesday, 1 week after initial contact. We were told that we would be called 'in a day or two' to discuss scheduling. Really. In my concerned tone I asked if it actually took 2 days to schedule this service. I received a chuckle and a 'sometimes' answer.
Maybe it is my crude look on the schedules of other people. We at Doc Jams feel that your time is important, and you called us because you wanted something to get done when you wanted and not when we felt like it. If you wanted us to take our sweet time and offer you a load of 'maybe', 'kinda', 'sorta', 'probably' and 'I think so' you would not care enough to have your printer repaired. So when we call a company for service and they offer the 'maybe', 'kinda', 'sorta', 'probably' and 'I think so' we feel they need a couple things: a calendar and a clock.
Have you ever wondered how some businesses can survive in spite of some of the decisions you see made? Sometimes this can go on the grand scale like quality at a major auto manufacturer that can kill a great brand name. Other times it can be a much simpler mixup due to the scale of the decision.
Take for example the choice of printers available to businesses today. These office machines run the gamut from cheap fifty dollar machines up to grandiose devices that can cost thousands of dollars. Given the wide cost range you would think that options would be almost endless. Oddly enough the variables for each machine are pretty narrow.
If the end result is a printed page your options are basically whether the print is in color or black and white and how fast do you want each print to come out. Beyond that you have connectivity through USB, parallel or network for your current office setup. All that is left is how you want the machine to get the original document to the printing portion of the office machine. Then you need to know if you would you like the machine to be able to copy, scan, fax or simply print from your computer. That's it.
Color or not, fast or not, multifunction or not and how to connect are the major points to look at when buying an office machine for a business. So why do businesses bother spending thousands of dollars when hundreds or even tens are available?
I'm sure you know the answer, because that question is mirrored in everything we purchase. Why buy the best when the cheapest will do? Businesses often buy the cheapest because they don't understand the value in the best, or at least something better. It works just as well with printers as it does with toasters, socks, cars, food and other items we consume everyday. If we don't understand the value of great we are happy to settle for cheap. We may even feel as if we beat the system by spending so little.
Companies that manufacture many of these items bank on the lack of intellect required to make smart buying decisions. These companies are happy to sell you cheap knowing that you will continue to buy cheap over and over. This may end up costing you many times what great would have cost. In addition cheap have corners cut to allow it to reach a certain price point. Do you think that the quality in a $100 printer is equal to a $1000 printer?
When speaking with business professionals we often are turned off by odd things. A crooked tie, wrinkled shirt, odd speech pattern, lazy eye or whatever may cause us to pause. One major thing that stops us in our tracks is the business professional handing out a document or sales literature printed on an inkjet printer. The text is mottled, horizontal lines cut through the print and images, and it even looks smeared in some areas. This is the equivalent of walking into a sales meeting with messed up hair and an untucked shirt. It is clear you simply do not mean business.
So when shopping for printer for your professional business it may be advisable to actually look into professional level machines.
It is a sure sign an office is the right place for you when you feel that walking over to an office machine with a coffee cup in your hand is considered a normal routine. This fact is reinforced by the fact that most office machines have a mark on them showing they are used. This mark is not significant in any way, it doesn't even appear to be toner or ink or even paperclip related. Nope, we're talking about the coffee ring.
The coffee ring is the simple result of a combination of a long hard walk from cubicle to printer, and the limited patience of someone who can't wait for a document without resting themselves and setting that heavy coffee mug down. Flat surfaces surrounding office machines are sometimes limited, which is why the manufacturers of these office machines were kind enough to make the top of the office printer flat and readily available for that splashing coffee mug to be set down.
We at Doc Jams understand that the lonely office walks must be long and cruel, resulting in a weary office traveler to land abruptly at the printer with the coffee mug in tow. The coffee mug being gracefully set on the expensive electronic equipment is not even an option at the end of this perilous journey; it slams into the case of the printer with a just enough care to keep it upright. The resulting splash of brew is not enough to typically short out the office equipment, but it is just enough to leave a temporary tattoo of sorts on the printer to let other office explorers know that others have made the same journey as them. You as a well caffeinated office employee are not alone.
Doc Jams recommends that you either move your cubicle closer to your printer to limit the hydration necessary to make a shorter journey, or simply talk to Doc Jams about getting a printer at your desk.
Eight dollars a gallon seems like a lot to pay for anything. It seems like a crazy amount for something as simple as sugar water, or more specifically a cold soda. But on a hot day when you've been sweating hard and you just finished filling up with gas, that big number seems reasonable. At least when they put it into nice, cold and refreshing liter size bottles. If you were not at a place that relied on your convenience to mark up prices you may think twice about paying eight dollars for multiple gallons of soda.
This paying extra for convenience is completely understandable, but what if you didn't need to pay extra for convenience? What if a simple phone call or email that could be finished in 30 seconds or less could get you the same or better pricing than driving somewhere or using complex online forms? Would you be interested?
Doc Jams Printer Repair has been around for a while and we have learned a few things about customers. Mainly they don't want to be bothered. They just want to click print and have their documents come out. Minimal interruption, except for reading a few blogs about printing on the Doc Jams website. So Doc Jams has created a simple way to order toner or service with a guarantee of the whole order process taking less than 30 seconds for existing customers and less than 1 minute for new clients. That is less time than it takes for you to remember your account number at some other place.
Turtle Toner is what we call the companies that feel that toner and service orders should not be fast. They act as if you are but a number and they are bored with your requests. Through them the initial order should take at least 5 minutes plus you'll wait a few days for the order to arrive and if you have a problem you'll be frustrated and on the phone for almost an hour. This is our competition and we welcome them. They're cute and you can put them on their back for a chuckle.
Doc Jams does not think that the turtle will win the race. Turtle Toner can't get you your toner quickly like Doc Jams. Turtle Toner cannot respond to toner failures like Doc Jams can. Turtle Toner is slow and you are just another number. Doc Jams counters that by being fast. Our whole motto is 'Getting You Back to Printing That Damn Fast'. We do that by making everything from ordering to shipping to repair fast, convenient and competitive.
Tell us your problem and we will solve it. How else would you like it?
If a vendor you use is keeping you happy with great service and competitive prices then why would they need to enforce a contract? Wouldn't you naturally continue buying from a vendor who is working hard for your business? And wouldn't you naturally want the freedom to shop around if you are unsatisfied?
At Doc Jams we work hard to earn your business with great service at reasonable prices. No contract necessary. Call us when you get your freedom back!
Office machines haven't had much of a breakthrough since they have been created in regards to a basic printed page. Sure they've gotten dramatically faster, and the connectivity to your computer or network has gone through some evolutions. You could even argue that resolutions and overall print quality has improved. But the basic result of a printed page has seen little in the way of anything a customer would really care about.
Enter Lexmark's new SmartSolutions option available on many of their all-in-one machines. Generally speaking we don't advise people to purchase low end multi-function machines. The inks are expensive and small, and the build quality is not equal to the higher grade machines available. One thing that these higher grade machines fail to do is offer you the weather. Or allow you to purchase stamps directly from them and print that postage on your media of choice. They don't even have a calculator on them. It turns out these new Smart Solutions capable machines can do many things available as apps for modern cell phones all at your fingertips in your office.
This means that you can print out your resume as well as the postage needed to mail it, check the weather before you drop the resume off at the mailbox, and calculate the cost of mailing multiple resumes. You can do this all from your handy little multi-function Lexmark SmartSolutions printer. It almost seems clever.
If you find yourself with stamps, a standalone calculator and a window, all of these features may seem pointless. We'd have to agree with you. One thing that they do offer is a differentiation in a polluted marketplace of price-point multi-function machines. The machines that customers typically expect to pay little or nothing for and are brutally surprised by the expense of running them. But now these machines offer something in return for the gross cost of running them. Something only offered by TV, internet, your phone, friendly neighbor and a quick peek outside—the weather. Why didn't someone think of this sooner?
We recently have been attempting to locate some good software for our business. The current software was not living up to the tasks we had added to it and the issues were getting tiresome. Having system upon system that took time and effort to make a smooth flow will kill a day and make your brain hurt. So we needed to find something better.
After perusing over dozens of offerings from as many companies gave us headaches that no one could have predicted. After looking at so many options it is clear that software shopping is a difficult and time consuming task. More importantly is that it is very difficult to compare apples to apples, so to speak. The wording used by software companies tends to be overly simplistic and vague in order to instill knowledge on the shopper as quickly as possible, or it seems to be filled with pages of documentation explaining everything the software can do.
One thing that seemed to crop up routinely was the idea of the real cost of this software. At first glance we saw many offerings that included annual fees to essentially lease the software as well as opensource software that was initially free or very low cost. Free sounds like a great price to pay, but alas, free is not the total on that bill.
Ordering software is like ordering pizza. Except if you want anything other than or additional to the cheese and pepperoni offered the chef will need to make some updates. You say you want mushrooms on that pizza? The chef will need to start from scratch and head to the woods for a few hours. You want some feta cheese? Bring in the goats. This would add extreme time and expense to the implementation of this pizza. Unfortunately that is exactly how software shopping works.
On top of the initial cost of the software, we need to add a few expenses. Hardware to operate the software, including necessary backups. Training of employees on the new software. Time spent troubleshooting bugs that were not openly apparent when you were shopping for the software. Setup and installation of the software. Additional programming needed to cater the software to your business. Updates and fixes that will forever need to be added to the software. All of this is needed even for free opensouce software. Total costs can exceed thousands of dollars. No wonder new small businesses just grab a $100 copy of brand name software. The savings in aspirin alone are worth walking away from potentially better software.
This reminds me of customers we run into that have a printer that runs on the lower end of the business class laser printer cost scale. They feel that instead of repair they should simply buy a new machine. After all, we live in a disposable society and it is acceptable to toss 30 pounds of electronic waste out the window. They don't call them 'land-empties'. We need to fill them! What the customer often fails to recognize is the additional costs of purchasing a different printer. These costs seemingly run parallel with new software. The initial purchase, installation, training, downtime, workarounds and discoveries of issues you never saw coming are only a few of the hidden costs with replacement printers. Add to that the loud shrieking a tree makes when a printer is thrown away and you have a hefty number on the bottom of that bill. When a simple repair bill equates to a fraction of that cost it seems that no one would ever want to replace a printer.
Alas, it seems we are prone to many of the thoughts and issues that our customers face. Sometimes the budget for repair may seem high until you consider the true cost of replacement. I better order a pizza and think about it for a while.
Did you know that your color documents may be able to be traced to your specific printer? This feature has been around for quite some time. Its purpose is to be used by law enforcement to chase down bad guys, or at least their printers. Specifically those bad guys, or rather lawfully challenged individuals, which may be in the counterfeiting business.
For a fun time at the office, switch the yellow and black toner cartridges if you can. You may have to trick the printer a little (if you have trouble figuring it out, just call Doc Jams). Print out a color document. Be amazed at the myriad of tiny black dots that show up in a dazzling pattern of guilt to those who would dare challenge the integrity of the mighty dollar. Typically that feat is saved for the likes of non-paying customers. These dots are not needed for those folks.
These dots are typically printed small and in yellow so they are all but undetectable to the naked eye. These nearly undetectable dots are great for counterfeiting, until you stumble upon a sharp eye. Then the cuffs and accusations come.
This is simply an FYI to those that may be interested in pursuing printing things of illegal intent. Rest assured Doc Jams will be blissfully unaware of the output of your prized laser printer document's content. We simply get you back to printing.
I Just Bought This Shirt!
In the recent past, we have had to help a lot of new customers with toner issues. Toner issues that should have never happened. These issues range from the simple random spots on prints, to the extreme of having piles of toner inside their printer that should be held captive inside their toner cartridge and then inside their printer.
We'll be the first to confess that toner cartridges sometimes fail. Toner cartridges, like everything else, are unable to make a promise of NEVER failing. What we will also attest to is the use of high quality toner. Whether that toner is remanufactured or the name brand of the machine it works in doesn't really matter. High quality toner cartridges may fail at times, but those times are few and far between. That leads us to seeing a pattern of failures around our neck of the woods in Madison Wisconsin. Some toner cartridges are not of the high quality mark.
Clearly the companies that offer toner around Madison must realize that like any metro area, many printers are used in offices and homes. Thousands of laser printers work day in and out to bring documents and files to the hands of the people that need them. We are seeing a disturbing trend that what some companies whom offer toner to some of these laser printer users fail to realize is that if they continue to offer a leaking, messy, I-just-bought-this-shirt toner cartridge they will not make the world a better place. Sure a few sweatshops might get to sew a few more shirts, pants and dresses because a toner spill or seven dominated more than a couple tense moments in the copy room. That may trickle down to a little more economic movement somewhere. But we'd like Madison to be a vibrant and bustling city of excellence. That can't happen when people are embarrassed due to messy clothes from commonplace toner malfunctions.
We here at Doc Jams feel that if we want economic movement, we'll need to continue to provide the laser printer toner that rarely fails, accompanied with laser printer service that excels in speed. This will simply allow people to do their job, so that everyone else can do their job. That should make the great city of Madison and its surrounding cities great places to live, work and play. Though that may not pan out so well for some clothing manufacturers that exist oceans away.
So if you have a problem with your laser printer toner cartridges that is becoming somewhat of a routine mess, simply call or email Doc Jams and we will take care of you in a hurry.
We've been working at hiring a few good techs. Technicians of the dreamy variety. Technicians that arrive when they should to a customer's site, are dressed nice, speak kindly, are able to diagnose and repair a printer and can do it all quickly. We have had a hard time fulfilling these positions. Some of the technicians we have tried have even come from competitors. Maybe our standards are too high. Or maybe most possible job applicant's past employers standards are too low.
It seems we live in a world of almost unending unemployment payouts. Many candidates simply told us the pay does not justify them actually getting a job. Who knew it was more fulfilling to sit on the couch and watch cartoons all day? Many applicants were under the impression that they could fix anything if given the chance. Broken stereo, no problem. Cracked concrete, no sweat. Noisy air conditioner, give me 10 minutes. All was fine right up until we offered up a printer with a jam. All of a sudden these mechanical gods are brought down to a repair person looking like a tyrannosaurus rex. You know the kind, a lot of whining and arm flailing with no real repair being done.
Mechanical aptitude is something you are born with. Many people can fake it for a while, but eventually they'll get stuck with no mind for how stuff works.
Customer service is something that many people claim they know about. Still more claim they have high abilities in this regard. Few actually do. If you don't seem nice on the phone, over email or in person, your customer service skills are suspect.
Cleanliness is next to godliness. As in, if you and your space around you are clean, you are a pretty swell person. If you are a mess, people don't trust you and they feel you are better suited somewhere else. Having your shirt tucked in and hair combed for an interview speaks volumes about how you'll look at a customer's site.
Combining all of these rare attributes into one person and have that person looking to you for employment is like finding the perfect specimen. The only problem beyond this seems to be convincing some individuals that although they think they fit these criteria, their past performance proves they do not.
So we are looking for some advice. We need to find some individuals to fill service positions that meet our high standards. If you or someone you know fits that bill, please let us know. Many office printers in the world need them.
So we just received an email blast from HP, claiming that refilled or remanufactured toner cartridges are not the deal they first appear to be. To be completely honest, with this broad statement, HP may be correct.
They site 4 reasons why their cartridges are better than the other brands available. Before we tear apart their reasoning, let's look at some of the supporting arguments for their claim.
First, a refilled or remanufactured cartridge is only as good as the people, parts and equipment used to make that cartridge. So if an unskilled worker puts faulty or worn parts in a cartridge in the back of his dusty garage and attempts to sell it as equal to OEM quality, it may be misleading. Though, presumably those toner cartridges are sold at rock bottom prices.
Secondly, so many companies are now offering alternatives to HP toner cartridges that to make a blanket statement that all of them are unequal is simply too vague to judge. HP sites a study that compared 7 brands of non-HP toner. Seven. We can name seven brands in a 5 mile radius of our fair city. So from a fair testing perspective, seven represents such a minute number of actual brands, the test seems suspect at best.
Thirdly, HP wants to sell you toner. Every company needs to sell something to survive, and most printer manufacturers do so by selling consumables such as toner and ink. The odd thing is that if you read the side of most brands of toner, be it HP or another brand, it states it includes both new and refurbished parts. So HP seems to be dismissing the very products they make.
Truth: Remanufactured cartridges can save you money, if you use a trust worthy brand. Faulty cartridges can lead to wasted time, money and effort, as well as paper and energy. This article fails to mention HP has a reported failure rate of around 2%.
Truth: Alternative cartridges can be just as reliable, if not more so. HP has had a few issues with certain types of cartridges. The resolutions were found by remanufacturing companies R&D. Generally speaking, if the brand is trustworthy, the cartridges will be reliable.
Truth: Remanufactured print cartridges can have equal print quality in most situations. Black and white is typically equal, if not better. Color cartridges do offer a problem when very specific (such as Pantone) colors are needed to be printed. This is typically not an issue for anyone but people in design fields. In that case, those designers rarely rely on HP printers. That's where Xerox comes in.
Truth: Generally speaking remanufactured cartridges are better for the environment. The argument HP poses is that toner cartridges end up in landfills after they are remanufactured because, "94 percent of remanufactured cartridges sold will ultimately be thrown away due to the remanufacturers' preference to work with cartridges that have never been remanufactured and the unavailability of recycling for non-usable cartridges and replaced parts". This unavailability of recycling for non-usable cartridges is a problem HP has as well. HP simply fails to tell the reader that little detail. So if a given toner cartridge is used twice, once as a new HP toner cartridge, and once as a remanufactured cartridge, that leaves 1 toner cartridge carcass out of the landfill for every 2 toner cartridges used. HP's way doesn't allow for that, unless they are remanufacturing their own toner cartridges with the supplied returned toner cartridges sent to them with their return shipping label. At which point their article is worthless, and ours is a waste of time.
Can't we all just get along? And everybody buy Doc Jams toner?
MPS (Managed Print Services) has been hitting the printer and copier market for a while now, with most service companies dabbling in it, and others attempting a full frontal assault on customers in an attempt to utilize the smoke and mirrors that can be common with MPS. Though MPs can be a very worthwhile endeavor, you should be aware of a few issues.
MPS is basically a fancy way of saying that we have software on our network that watches and records how and when printers and other office machines are being used. This software can generate reports that indicate many things, including number of prints, toner and supplies usage, and effective costs of using certain office machines.
Since MPS can be a very useful tool for tracking printer and office machine usage, it can then be used to bring costs down based on analysis of the reports that MPS software provides. So a high-end printer with low operating costs can be in an office that has a lot of printing to do. Many MPS providers even provide machine swapping, allowing customers to choose from printers with different costs per page based on usage during different times of the year. For example, a tax accountant from February through April may be printing much more than during the months of May through September. So a heavy duty printer can be added or used to replace a lesser machine for a few months.
Many MPS companies offer a pay-per-click, or cost-per-page model that allows a customer to have any printer they want with no or little upfront cost. The cost difference can be made up in a simple cost per page adaptation.
The secret to getting the most out of an MPS contract is to read the contract. Duration, escape clauses, service times, speediness of delivery and setup are paramount to the smooth running of your business. Finally, you may want to make sure you are actually saving the promised dollar amount from the time before any MPS system was put in place. The MPS system is only as good as the software that keeps track of the office machines, and the people and software that analyze the reports the MPS software generates.
Many companies are doing quite well without MPS, thanks to a little homework that was done by themselves, or a reputable company like Doc Jams doing it for them before an office machine was purchased.
If you are unsure whether MPS is an acronym you need nothing to do with, or if MPS could save you some solid cash to make it worth asking a few questions, contact Doc Jams and let them help you decide if you need to pursue this new twist on an old way to count.
We've been hearing a lot from people who are stuck in contracts or leases on their current machines. Many of them have the same thing to say…"We hate it.". Hate seems like an awfully strong word to use in any context, but to hate something that you are paying a lot of money for seems almost torturous.
After reviewing a few of these contracts we see that they are typically well written in regards to limiting the options for the lessee to escape the iron grip of poor service. Like a cell phone contract that states that if your calls drop continuously you are still unable to leave the contract without financial punishment. So the entire reason you are getting the contract is to make life easier, and now it is clearly (or not) written in the contract that your life may actually be harder due to signing this contract. Say it isn't so!
Watch what it takes to get out of the contract. If you need to give more than 30 days notice and after doing so you need to continue to jump through hopes—pass. Eliminate that wording or adjust it to meet your needs. 30 days is long enough to deal with a troublesome piece of office equipment.
If you need to pay to get out of the contract, barter a clause that states that if the service delivered fails to meet your criteria within a given time frame, that charge is voided. Be specific in order to be fair. I'd suggest not allowing more than 3 visits from a technician within a week on most machines. That is typically much more than most office machines will ever need. If the salesperson balks at this, ask why? What are they hiding? Are their technicians really that poor?
Avoid a service contract altogether. You may have to be diligent about finding brands that can work with this and local service companies that work with those brands, but that is much easier than you may think.
Find a month to month contract. Or find a bank of hours to purchase at a discount. This limits how much you need to stick your neck out.
Watch how pages are counted. You may be charged a fee per page, or given a page allowance, with excessive pages costing more. Find out who counts what, and how. Also find out what to do if descrepencies exist. Better to find out now than to get an unforeseen bill for a lot of money that you disagree with.
Basically you need to make certain that your machine will work when you need it to, and that it will not cost you too much to ensure this. A service contract seems like a great way for that to happen, but typically does not do much to guarantee that it will happen. The best advice we can give is to actually read your contract. If the contract is more than a few pages, or written in a super small font, be very cautious.
The best way to get out of a contract you don't want is to not sign one in the first place.
Here at Doc Jams Printer Repair, we are all about speed. If a printer is down, we need to get there as fast as possible. If a customer is out of toner, we are there on the double. Well just for fun, we went to a big box store to see what a distant competitor's idea of speed is. We did this for a couple reasons: 1- we need to keep up on what the option of jumping in a car and hitting a store for printers and toner really costs in time and money, and 2- we are often gluttons for punishment, as we will further illustrate.
We went to this big box store with a plan for easy purchasing and exit. We had the idea of grabbing a simple, small black and white laser printer for $200. We knew the model number, and the location. Often the prices on these lower end models are offered cheaper to the general public then they are offered by wholesalers to retailers like us. Who knows why, I am guessing because retailers like us typically work with durable commercial grade machines, and these machines cost more to ship individually then their true value. Who knows, and who cares.
10:37am: Drive to big box store and wonder how all radio stations can be playing commercials at the same time.
11:04am: Walk through front doors of this behemoth of bricks and logos.
11:05am: Grab printer, head to checkout.
11:13am: Ummmm, I'm still waiting to be checked out. I see one light on a register station, there to indicate that the checkout guy is available to check people out. He is having an in-depth discussion with some potential customer about the merits of her credit card and how the machine is not agreeing with her interpretation of valid credit. I see another checkout line at a register with a person running the cash register, but he has no light. People are not exactly flying through that line, so I patiently wait where I am. I am almost to the point of offering to pay for the bulletin board the credit-challenged first customer is so desperately trying to barter for.
11:16am: Another register is opened at the service counter to quell this mess of customers. This poor checkout guy was about to go on break, too. The people towards the back of the line flock to this kid. I make my way that direction. The first customer at the first register is beyond assistance, and I am graying by the second.
11:19am: I finally make it to the register. I am asked if I have some membership/rewards/perks card. I just waited in line over 10 minutes and they think I will torture myself enough with that process on such a routine basis that I am willing to carry a card that not only lets people know I belong to this group of zombies, but also am willing to be reminded every time I sit on my card stuffed wallet that this should bring a reward?!? I tell them I don't have the card with me. They say they can look it up by phone number. I give them my number; I hear a sigh of pain behind me. It is another customer, hating his life at that moment. That guy has likely been waiting a few minutes less than I have, and he'll have to go through the same steps.
11:20am: I am now asked if I considered an extended warranty. The checkout guy paints a picture of missiles flying and printers blowing up at random and the shock and awe that I will be stuck with if I don't get the extended warranty. You can check out my rant on extended warranties later. I assure him I will kindly decline the extended warranty and go about my day and not lose any sleep.
11:22am: I am asked questions that go down a checklist the checkout guy has in front of him. Do I need toner? No. Do I need any printer cables? No. Do I need a different warranty extension? No. Do you enjoy being tortured? No! I don't have the card, remember?
11:25am: I am asked for payment. 6 minutes after arriving I am finally asked for payment. I had one item. I even put the printer on the counter with the barcode facing the checkout guy.
11:27am: I gather my newly purchased printer, my 4 foot long receipt, and my willpower to move out of the store and head back to the office without congratulating the store on such a fine display of customer service. Seriously, I've made it out of clothing stores with my wife faster than this. I remember that even though the checkout guy was able to find my membership/rewards/perks card, I have felt no membership, no reward was given, and I feel no more perky. Arguably, I am much less perky.
12:04pm: I make it to the office with a printer in tow. Now I need to get it to the customer. I also get to set it up. I have smart customers.
We say, "OK." And go over the details of what they need, want and are willing to pay for.
We get them a printer, and setup the machine where and how they want it setup.
Total time investment on their end can be less than 1 minute. Total time for them to research and purchase a machine themselves is countless. We'll suffice it to say that 'longer' is a safe number.
In addition, guess who gets to resolve a problem if the machine is setup incorrectly, or the machines bells and whistles don't work as the customer thought they would if we picked the machine out for them? Guess who pays us for that burden if the customer did the research on their own?
Some days, I wish I was my own customer.
Service, Quality and Price. Pick Two.
In the business of office machines, many avenues exist to concentrate on to make money. Like any other business, you can focus what will drive the company profits, potentially causing sacrifice in other areas. For example, a copy machine dealer may rely on pushing new machines and selling leases with them. Other dealers may rely on service contracts.
We have noticed a few things in the recent past. That many office machine companies are now beginning to rely more on consumables than anything else. Specifically, these companies are attempting to rely on the sale of remanufactured toner cartridges and the like. After all, every office machine needs some type of consumable to print. It is only natural for your office machine vendor to also sell the consumables.
1) Block other office machine companies from getting into this current client.
2) Block other service technicians from possibly seeing the mess that a certain brand of remanufactured toner has potentially made of a machine.
3) Allow the office machine company to send lower skilled technicians to a call without much care since the service is 'free'.
4) Makes the client feel that they are getting the deal of the century.
5) Hiding the fact that the client is paying more in downtime, poor quality toner and weak service.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. If the service you are being offered seems to be excessively cheap, you are likely getting more of a disservice. Time is money, and downtime is lost money. If you purchase consumables from a company simply because they offer free service when you do so, you may be getting exactly what you paid for.
If I told you that quality service technicians cost an office machine company a fair amount in salaries, you'd probably agree. So if I was to send a well paid service technician to do a free service call, I'd need to recoup the lost revenue from somewhere, right? So if I sold you consumables I'd expect to make such a handsome profit from that I'd send all the service you could handle your way. The issue arises when we see that in any selling proposition the customer needs to decide on one major thing. Look at service, price and quality, and pick 2.
No company offers the best of all 3. If they did, they would have no competition, or they would quickly go under for not making any money. So when someone offers something for free, are they sacrificing service or quality to get to that price point? Like any cut throat business, office machine sales and service companies are constantly trying to find the next big thing to give them a step ahead of the competition. Many of these companies may not have realized that if you give great service and lasting quality, price really doesn't matter. At least not for the clients and machines we work with.
$0.0058 per page. That is $2.90 to print one ream of paper. This is from a simple black and white printer. How much does your copier contract cost you per page? Check those decimal points again.
We meet with a lot of people that tell us they are moving towards utilizing a few large copiers instead of an office full of printers. The argument goes that these machines are cheaper to run. They have more bells and whistles and they come with a thick contract, so they must be good right?
Maybe we should take the time and break down a few fallacies about copiers vs. printers. Would you believe that many printers are less expensive to run per page than many copiers? Would you believe that the initial cost of these machines could be paid for in the time you lease your overpriced copier? That means that after your would-be lease, you actually have a great working printer instead of the distant memories of an expensive copier. Sounds good, doesn't it?
So you're probably wondering what the catch is? How is it that so many printers are being replaced by copiers? We wish we knew. The simplest answer we can find is that copier salespeople are great at selling bells and whistles that are rarely, if ever, used. The reality is that many companies have poor communication between the people that use the office machines and the people that buy the office machines.
So what is the solution oh-mighty-blog-writer? We would suggest working with a company that can assist both the users and the buyers. In addition, you the buyer has to pay attention to total costs. So if an employee had a printer at their desk that was within arms reach, how long would it take to reach a print? If that same employee printed this document out at a copier down the hall and to the left, how much longer would it take? Who would they run into on the way to the copier? Do you think they would they talk about the weather a while? Maybe that printed document is now in somebody else's pile of printed documents. Now the employee has to start the whole thing over. If they make $60K a year, and it takes them 5 minutes to get a document, that journey cost the company $2.40 for the employee to take a walk.
Maybe all of this is to keep healthcare costs down.
Isn't it amazing how marketing trends come and go? Consumers are seemingly running around wildly gobbling up products that are presented to them in a manner that fits the latest marketing fads. A lot of companies are continuing to latch onto the "green movement" by touting products that are eco-friendly or some such claim. Some products and services actually are, while some consumers may just need to fill their conscience with the claims.
Let me tell you a little story about how marketing green is possibly doing more harm than good. We see a lot of offices, and we see a lot of waste. One of the things that blows our minds is the fact that many companies that may tout themselves as green utilize terrible practices in their businesses, some of which could be called more black or red than green.
For example, say you have a company that offers commercial construction, new buildings, remodels, and the like. The customer may prefer to lean towards the green movement at this stage to save money over time. In this case it would be with energy efficient lighting, high R-value insulation and other inexpensive cost-saving measures. When the space is finally complete, the building will be filled with Styrofoam cups, take-out wrappers, wasteful printers and a parking lot full of the easy to hate gas-guzzlers.
Well since our focus is printers, we'll leave the rest for other bloggers to write about. This fancy building has been built with smooth company workflow in mind, with a touch of greenness to save cash and to get yourself a pat on the back. What happens if the wasteful printer you added to this grand buildup breaks? You likely throw it away and buy a new one. Maybe you even drive to the local we-have-it-all store and purchase the deal of the week. Tell me exactly where this "away" is that you are throwing your broken printer? Stop looking at the floor, you know what you've done.
Let's continue to ridicule the pseudo-green purchaser and toss in the whole ink needed for wasteful printers. They're destroying the planet one expensive ink cartridge after another, so some harsh ridicule by the rest of the world seems marginally harmless. When you throw away that old ink cartridge you are adding to the waste that we need to deal with. You have your ink refilled? When does that patent protected cartridge wear out to the point of not being able to be refilled, and where does it then end up? You recycle your ink cartridges? That sounds fantastic, and do you expect these "recycled" cartridges are collected and turned into park benches somewhere? I'll save the details of that illusion for another post, just suffice it to say no dolphins will be in line to hug you.
So what can you do? Simple, all you need to do is either accept the fact that you as an individual or company are really not that green and you are a member of the burden that rests on the world's shoulders, or you can change your hypocritical ways and find a better option. What do you suppose an option would be to fill the void left by a throwaway printer? If you said a non-throwaway printer, you are correct. Your genius shines when challenged.
How would you describe a non-throwaway printer? Big, expensive and complicated? Or would you describe it as efficient, fast and frugal? We would suggest a change in perspective to allow you and your company to see that professional companies have professional printers. If your office equipment is disposable, what does that say about your office?
If you work for or own a small business, you may be overwhelmed with the tasks thrown upon you. You alone may be taking care of hiring & firing, accounting, purchasing, leading, selling, managing, cleaning, advertising and networking. Then you may actually throw in the job that you actually need to do to make money. When all of these tasks are put on you, many details may fall through the cracks. These details may include office equipment purchases. Maybe you'll fall into the trap of buying something cheap and hoping it is good enough. Maybe you already have.
Rest assured, we understand your position and we can help. One of the best things about small businesses is the ability to adapt and outsource. Say you need some ad work done, you hire a graphic designer. If you don't like the work or how it is being handled, you could get a different graphic designer. Outsourcing your tasks can save a ton of time and will lead you to do your job better.
Would you trust a mechanic to help you find a car, if they offered that service? Would also likely trust an appliance repair professional to offer suggestions on what home appliances can stand the test of time and the abuse you may give it? If so, than would it make sense to speak with a printer service technician in regards to what office machines you should consider purchasing?
It would be a simple meeting or even a simple phone call or email conversation. You outline what you are looking for, and the service technician does a little homework to find exactly what you need. Often we at Doc Jams are able to find such dramatic savings that the office machines are able to essentially pay for themselves in cost savings. Can you imagine that? Basically a free high quality professional office machine, all because you had the stunning intellect to ask a professional printer service technician.
Business success is just a great printer technician away!
What is Document Management? Very simply it is a way to acquire, store and retrieve documents of all types. You acquire documents by receiving email attachments, creating new documents, or scanning hard copy documents. Storing documents is done by saving them to a digital file somewhere- your hard drive or a server as well as a backup or two to avoid any catastrophic loss of data. Finally you need to be able to retrieve those documents to edit, print, and view when you need to. This includes being able to quickly search for documents with limited information. You utilize document management software to help you make these tasks seamless and easy. File cabinets will go the way of the typewriter.
Once you get started, it is easy and you'll wonder how you lived without it. Just imagine if construction workers were afraid to use a bulldozer because it was big and scary. They'd be shoveling for days what a bulldozer can push away in minutes.
You don't need to be very computer savvy to work with current document management software. Some would argue that it is easier and much faster than dealing with paper documents. Especially if you need to find documents quickly. With the right document management setup, you could be on a beach with a laptop sipping drinks and perusing every document you would ever need.
If your office burns down or a tornado wipes out your building, are your documents safe? With well backed up document management system in place, you can work anywhere with barely a hiccup. Transfer and email documents quickly and painlessly to keep your business running.
Most document management software is designed to work with a certain brand of machine. When searching for software and vendors, be aware that not all software is created equal, and not all machines are as cost effective to maintain as others. Doc Jams can help you decide which software and office machine will serve your needs best.
Many office machine companies attempt to sell the machine first, with the document management software as a second thought. If the document management software is any good, you'll be utilizing it much more than the machine. This includes copiers, scanners, printers, or multi-function office machines (MFPs). Doc Jams typically finds the software that will work best for a client, than finds a machine that will work well with the software. This eliminates a lot of frustration on what will be used most.
Document Management is heading towards being a necessity rather than a frivolous technology. With office space minimized and employee time diminished document management will quickly pay for itself in a short period of time. Doc Jams can help you decide if utilizing a document management program is worthwhile investment when budgets are tight.
It may be time to replace the office equipment you now have. After all, the continual jams, the discontinued toner, and the continuous form paper are all indicators that time has passed since the Constitution was written. Copies of this document may have even gone through your relic of a machine.
Notsofast you say. We can't budget for a new printer. You may not need to. Doc Jams offers refurbished printers at a substantial savings to new machines. That means you may be able to purchase a refurbished color machine for the price of a new black and white printer.
But before you decide to purchase a refurbished machine, you should be aware of a few simple facts. The first fact is that refurbished means different things to different people.
To some companies refurbished means that they purchased it from someone else, and sold it to you with nothing more done to the machine.
To other companies refurbished means they tested the machine. A passing test means the machine is now refurbished.
Yet to others refurbished means they tested it, but they'll replace a few pickup rollers just to cover any warranty time frames.
Continuing on refurbished to others is defined by the machine being taken apart, meticulously cleaned, common failure parts replaced, and the machine polished to like new status.
So how do you know what companies offer when they offer "refurbished" printers? You don't. Unless you purchase a refurbished printer from a local and trusted source. Maybe you found a deal online. What will you do if your refurbished printer you purchased online fails? Ship it back? How do you like down time? How much does a working printer like to be shipped across the country?
Doc Jams offers refurbished printers on a sliding 1-3 scale.
Printer has been tested working and is offered with a 7 day parts and labor warranty. This is often the least expensive option, but also offers the ugliest printers.
Printer has been thoroughly tested and all rubber components have been cleaned, rejuvenated or replaced. Machine is cleaned, vacuumed and inspected. These machines come with a 30 day parts and labor warranty.
Printer has been completely disassembled, with all parts refurbished or replaced. These printers come with a 6 month parts and labor warranty. They have been fully cleaned and inspected and are mere steps away from being brand new printers. These are typically the most expensive of the 3 options, but also offer the most longevity.
Many companies that offer refurbished printers do not qualify their machines as to how they have been refurbished. Keep this in mind when searching for deals.
Bigger, Better, Faster, More. Really?
Bigger, Better, Faster, More. That has been the way to sell new technology to anyone who may think they need it. What if we told you that many new machines are faster, they may even be bigger, they certainly cost more, but we continue to argue that they may not be better?
Better is a very subjective word. I think that steak tastes better than lunch meat. But steak is more expensive than lunch meat, so isn't lunch meat better financially? I can eat lunch meat at my desk very easily, steak not so much. Steak is delicious with beer, lunch meat on the other hand, well lunch meat is too. Beer is fantastic.
My point is that a new office machine may not necessarily be better than what you have. We come across many people who have office printers that are 5 or 10 years old. They call a service technician every 2 or 3 years. Would you say that sounds like a new machine could do better? Many of these people are printing one or 2 documents at a time, so the fractions of a second in speed savings are hardly measurable, let alone noticed. In the end a printer needs to do one thing well- print a document. All the rest of the details are simply garnish.
If you can print to your current office machine without having to mess with it, change supplies, call a technician, give it a hit or two until it works, you likely have a machine that suits you very well. If the machine is plagued with jamming issues, you possibly only need a little Doc Jams Printer Repair love. However, if you are changing ink or toner on a very recurrent basis, or you hate waiting for your machine to do what you told it to, it may be time to call Doc Jams to see what is available.
To continue on the good old days of printers, refurbished printers are available. That means you can eat steak at the cost of lunch meat. Have you ever considered a refurbished machine to replace your current beige pile of frustration? Doc Jams Printer Repair offers a large selection of office machines including new and refurbished machines. Or you may think about your machine and just remember the good times you had with it. How well it has been to you all these years. How a simple error may be the printer just asking for a hug that only Doc Jams Printer Repair can give.
You love printing, printers love Doc Jams.
The lie that has upheld the copier industry for decades is about to be revealed due to the lingering advent of continuous new technology. Does it seem odd to you that both a copier and a laser printer use the same technology to produce a document, yet the copier needs a service contract to cover things like replacement of a drum that a simple laser printer may include in its own customer replaceable toner cartridge? That means that the technology exists for a copier to be as maintenance free as an office printer. Many copier companies decide not to utilize those engineering marvels such as simplicity, and ease of maintenance.
What if you purchased a car that you needed to pay someone to fill with fuel? Would you buy it? Knowing that your other vehicles were very simple to gas up and move on, this new vehicle had some technicalities associated with it that made it too time consuming or too technical for you to do quickly. Seems like a terrible idea, doesn't it? We couldn't agree more.
The simple fact is that most copy machine manufacturers make anything beyond toner replacement an unnecessary burden. Add on top of that the fact that the toner replacement itself can often be a messy affair. Why would an office machine manufacturer do this? We can only speculate, but we certainly lean towards the reasoning that you can create a big market with a little bad engineering.
This may be changing soon, at least we hope so. The copier industry is always attempting to take away market position from the printer industry. So the printer industry targeting the copier industry with MFPs: Multi-Function Printers. These are printers that have the capability to copy and often scan, fax and email documents. With a simple MFP you can do all of the things a copier can do at a fraction of the cost. Throw in the fact that many copiers need huge amounts of office space while many MFPs take up no more than a simple desktop printer, with a little more height.
We would also like to point out that many of these MFP machines can handle the volume that copiers do. Size in this case, is not everything. As always we suggest one of two routes: either do your homework, or call Doc Jams and have us do it for you.
So the next time the ill-informed copier sales person knocks on your door, ask them if all of this contract maintenance is necessary for the copier they are trying to sell you, or for the quota they are trying to fill.
Some printer companies take a certain economic stance on pricing office machines: initial cost of the machine is cheap, cost of supplies is expensive. Other companies take an opposite approach: initial cost of the machine is expensive, supplies cost is reasonable.
Would you be surprised that many office equipment purchasers fall for the cheap initial cost machine, only to regret it later? The allure of the cheap printer is obvious, when comparing one machine to another using machine statistics alone. Especially without considering supplies costs it seems like a no-brainer. But like most siren songs, this one could end up ringing in your ears for quite some time.
Dell takes quite an extreme approach. Dell almost (and often does) gives their machines away. The lucky owner of this printer soon realizes (we hope they do, anyways) why. Like a child who is given a great toy at Christmas only to find out it needs an endless supply of batteries, which are so often not included, the Dell owner finds out that Dell supplies are in short supply and always running out. In addition to this injustice to giveaways Dell also hoards its ink to the point of limiting its purchase from a very few select suppliers. These suppliers include Dell, an individual office supply store, and the gray market. That is it. Whereas most other brands are available quickly from a medley of sources of the customers choosing, Dell decides to ration available supplies.
This may seem like Doc Jams is not a fan of Dell machines. Though that is true, our main reasoning is brutally simple. It is our job at Doc Jams Printer Repair to keep Getting You Back to Printing. Doc Jams prides itself on the speed we are able to do this at. Dell makes it very difficult for anyone to do that, let alone quickly.
So to those with Dell printers, you received a stellar deal we are certain. Or did you?
How Much Are You Willing to Pay to Save?
How much do you print to justify the initial expense?
At what point will the initial cost of the machine essentially pay for itself in cost of ink savings?
Am I bright enough to figure all of this out? Do I have the time to figure all of this out?
Maybe I should just call Doc Jams Printer Repair.
I'm guessing you don't spend much time talking about printers & toner, but how would you recommend finding out if some of your associates might be open to hearing from us?
Ever wish you could make your job easier? If only you had more time or money or help the day would go so much smoother.
Doc Jams is here to help. We have a few ways of doing this. One of the better ways is for us to take care of your toner inventory. We count what you have, what you need and keep just the right amount of toner on hand at your office to make sure you don't run out. You never have to count toner and ink again. You will have that much more capital available to run your business. You will also have more time to run your business. All you have to do is click 'PRINT'.
In addition to the toner maintenance plans that Doc Jams offers, we also offer help on a wide variety of business operations. Well, we don't actually do any of the help, we guide you to resources that can help you. You see, Doc Jams works with hundreds of professional businesses just like yours, and they all specialize in something that may be of use to you.
Jams can lead you to a professional that is just waiting to help you.
With all of this help, you may actually be able to sneak away for a vacation this year.
Q: Aren't most printers throwaway?
A: For consumer level models, certainly. Many printers are designed to be cheap and use a lot of ink. Printer companies will give a machine away knowing that it will be useless to the end-user without ink or toner. Ink and toner supplies in consumer level machines are dramatically smaller than professional level machines. This ends up costing you and the environment a hefty sum.
Professional level machines are anything but disposable. They are built to last, and have the low cost per page to be able to sustain a great printing atmosphere. If you have a throwaway printer, you are likely throwing more money away than anything else.
Q: Can I repair my own printer?
A: Printer repair is like any repair, you need a small degree of mechanical skill, a positive attitude, and the need for a little adventure to tackle a repair. You also need the right parts, and a good technical support team to back you up, that's where Doc Jams comes in. We supply detailed instructions with images to help you with your repair. We also offer limited free technical support, should you get stuck.
Q: Why should I buy a Xerox Phaser instead of a cheaper printer?
A: Quality. Xerox Phaser printers are meant to take on the daily beatings that graphic designers, engineers and other professional offices that utilize color in their daily activities dish out. Xerox does not offer a cheap inkjet for a reason—they are in the professional printer business. You certainly could buy a cheaper printer, but do you think that you would be getting a quality machine?
Q: Can I mix and match Phaser Ink Sticks?
A: No. Each printer is designed to work within the temperature range of its own ink stick. Mixing them can cause printhead issues, as well as jamming ink loaders.
Q: Are aftermarket ink sticks ok to use?
A: We feel that no current aftermarket ink manufacturer is able to offer similar quality to genuine Xerox Solid ink. Some aftermarket companies do ok, but none are great, and most eventually destroy printheads.
Q: Is aftermarket toner ok to use?
A: Yes, as long as it is from Doc Jams. Doc Jams only offers the highest quality compatible toner cartridges. Not all aftermarket toner cartridges are created equal. Many are terrible at best. When in doubt, simply ask these three questions: Who do I call if the toner fails when I have a deadline? Who can repair my machine if the toner fails and I have a deadline? Are they the same company?
A: Because it offers a superior image. Especially when compared to other types of machines on a cost and quality level. Cost per page is equal or less than laser printers and durability is dramatically better than inkjet printers. In addition, solid ink printers offer a print with a nice sheen similar to high end photo paper, without the expense of photo media.
Q: Do you sell printers?
A: Yes. Contact us at 1-888-362-5267 and we can discuss your needs and help you find a printer that fits your office.
Q: Do you buy printers?
A: Yes. Contact us at 1-888-362-5267 and we can discuss what you have to offer.
Q: Do you recycle printers?
A: Absolutely. Doc Jams does everything it can to limit the amount of resources that are wasted and taken to landfills. From parting out machines, to separating the metals and plastics, you can be sure that Doc Jams is doing what it can to make sure we can print tomorrow in a beautiful world. What good is color if the sun can't shine?
Q: Why is ink so expensive?
A: This question can be answered many ways. Printers need ink like cars need fuel. Some printers are very efficient, and some printers are ink and toner hogs. Generally speaking, the more expensive the printer, the more efficient it is. That is a very solid rule with Xerox Phaser printers, and most other brands follow that principle. If you are buying ink more than once a month you may be costing yourself too much money. Call Doc Jams and let us identify how to help you save on ink and toner costs.
A: We are located in the capital of Wisconsin in beautiful Madison. Madison, Wisconsin is situated in scenic Dane County. Our address is 4611 Dovetail Dr. #1 Madison WI 53704. We offer onsite printer service and repair for the southern half of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Franchise opportunities are available anywhere in the US.
Silly Writer, Crayons Are For Prints!
Xerox Phaser printers typically come in 2 different varieties. One is the typical laser printer. The other is the solid ink printer, utilizing sticks of wax to create vivid color without a lot of waste.
Solid ink printers use very little packaging, and have very little waste as a result. It is actually quite deceiving that such a small brick of wax can print so many pages, as compared to a large toner or ink cartridge capable of similar amounts. The difference is packaging. Toner cartridges need a carrier to protect them from the elements, hold many rollers and wiper blades, and contain a waste toner area. Solid ink has none of those issues.
Solid ink prints look better. Solid ink printers utilize a wax based ink which gives prints a nice sheen, similar to some photos. This can be achieved even with the use of regular copy paper, saving you the expense of coated media.
Solid ink is clean and easy to change. Are you afraid of wearing white on the days you know you need to change toner or ink in your office machines? You can wear your white tux or wedding dress when changing solid ink on Xerox Phaser printers. No mess and no cleanup necessary.
Solid ink is cost effective. Many solid ink printers offer cost savings over many laser and inkjet printers. Some solid ink printers even offer color printing for the typical cost of black and white! In addition, solid ink takes up much less storage space than typical ink and toner, so you can have more room to store other supplies.
With all of these advantages it is hard to come up with a reason not to purchase a Xerox Phaser solid ink machine. If you can think of any, let us know.
What If We Were All Only 5% Covered?
So they say there are 3 kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics. I'm here to truthfully tell you what to look for when pricing supplies for your office machines. You do check the cost of supplies before purchasing your office machines, right?
The office machine industry standard for assistance in determining an apples to apples comparison in regards to ink/toner quantity is 5% coverage. 5% coverage is roughly equal to one letter size page of text. Few people will ever actually print routinely at 5% coverage, most will print somewhere around that number. Consider that most full page photographs are getting much closer to the 100% coverage for each ink/toner cartridge. What does that mean? It means that the small price difference of a few cents for each page you discovered when comparing inks/toners to each other is not closer to 20 times the difference.
If toner #1 costs you $0.021 per page, and toner #2 costs you $0.026 per page you might not care. Multiply that by 20 (5% = 100%/20) and you get a difference of a dime. No big deal right? Until you print more than one page.
Then suddenly, the multiplier shows up. Ten pages turn into a dollar. 100 pages turns into a few cups of joe. A few thousand pages turns into a car payment.
The solution is simple. Do your math before you buy an office machine, or have Doc Jams do the math for you.
Have you ever received a copy of a supposedly professional document that was likely in color, but it had striping issues and bleeding text? We see it all the time, sometimes even on business cards. Now we understand wanting to run an efficient business, but a retail quality printer is not the way to do it.
Aside from the fact that most retail printers are price point machines, products to get you in the store and buy lots of other items, and the fact that most of these retail machines have astronomical ink costs, they are very inexpensive to purchase initially. So the siren song often allures business people into purchasing substandard machines. The result is a cheap machine, with expensive ink and a terrible print.
We see a lot of real estate signs around with document holders that contain many printouts of the MLS sheet. Most of these sheets are printed on cheap inkjet printers. Guess what happens when it rains? Instead of a potential buyer seeing a professional printed document that may answer their questions and lead to a showing they instead see a mottled mess of colors and something that appears to have been text. Realtors need not worry too much, until it rains.
Realtors are not the only professional businesses we often see wasting money on ink to have a mediocre print. Many small business owners even create their own brochures and business cards on these inferior printers. They might as well be using crayons and construction paper.
Out point is that when you give a document, brochure or business card to a potential client, you want to make the best impression possible. Sometimes that means you need to spend some cash upfront to get a nice printer.
The paybacks in ink savings will soon follow, and the potential clients will see that you are more than a business trying to scrape by; you are a business that can help them and will do it professionally.
We live in a world where most people enjoy color printing at home though they may not have that luxury at work. Isn't it odd that a place of business is not utilizing color to make their brand stand out?
Printing a color logo on every piece of correspondence is a great way to create unity and brand identity. Ask any graphic designer and we are certain they will agree, color says it better.
Be careful what machine you use for color, though. Check out our other blogs for advice on professional color printers.
As a small business in Madison, Wisconsin, we dream of having millions of clients and the ability to swim in capital, saving the world from printer woes. That will be a long while coming, but we also fail to envy the companies who have reached this success. From an outsider viewpoint some actions just seem silly.
To be a company of this size means that you are hard to contain, and hard to manage. Although the sheer creation of jobs alone is seemingly worthwhile, the mishandling of simple tasks on a daily basis is to the point of being almost humorous.
Let's look at this from a printer repair perspective.
Company X is a huge Fortune 500 company with locations worldwide, including some local branches. If an employee from Company X has a printer issue they need to inform some IT group. This IT group is typically located in some distant land, but has control over the entire infrastructure nonetheless. IT person in distant land instructs Company X employee to follow a few simple steps to repair said printer issue. Keep in mind the salaries of at least 2 distinct individuals are being paid at this time to solve an issue neither one has a clue on how to resolve.
Hopefully the IT group member can help Company X employee, if not the issue is escalated to a purchasing group. Purchasing group goes through current vendor contract with a national outsourcing company that contracts with other local service professionals. Calls from the outsourcing company are now made to find a suitable candidate to resolve the printer issue. This is done in a bartering fashion in which the national outsourcing company attempts to get the repair done for the least amount of cost, regardless of quality of the repair or service provided to the end-user.
Finally a technician is dispatched, and hopefully the issue is headed down resolution road. National outsourcing company typically supplies parts as well, regardless of inventory of local service company. This causes further delays in the repair as well as headache for all involved. All this happens because Company X finds this much more appealing and cost effective vs. hiring a local company to resolve the issue directly and quickly.
In our experience it is not uncommon for Company X machines to be down for weeks at a time while the issue makes its way through all of the red tape. Doc Jams customers are greeted with courteous technicians that are aiming for less than 2 hours from call to resolution.
It almost seems too easy!
Do you want to save money on printing? Stop buying cheap printers.
The best way to save money printing is to not purchase a cheap printer. Cheap printers use expensive ink. When you purchase a printer, you purchase it once, and a cheap printer is great when you first purchase it. You barely paid more for that printer than you would spend on a night on the town. But those starter ink cartridges that were included with your cheap printer are soon empty, and now you have a problem. Your cheap printer uses some expensive ink. In fact, it may be cheaper to just buy a new machine altogether. Quite the green footprint you'd be leaving on the world with a reaction like that. How could the printer companies take advantage of you like that? Because you didn't call Doc Jams Printer Repair for some advice, that's why.
Printer ink and toner cartridges use a universally accepted rating of 5% coverage on a page to help compare apples to apples when it comes to cost per page of printing. A 5% coverage page is equal to a simple page of text. Not all printed pages use the same amount of ink, so this rating helps determine how much ink or toner use you can expect to receive from a given cartridge. A simple black ink cartridge for an ink jet printer may cost $40 and run 500 pages at 5% coverage. That's $0.08 for a page of text, no photos, graphics, or fancy color! Let's look at another laser cartridge rated at 12,000 pages that costs $170. That produces pages at just over $0.01. The initial cost of the first machine is less than $200. The second cartridge is used in a printer that costs $800. So the initial cost of the machine hurts once, but the expensive ink will make itself known every time you print. Lets take an example of 10,000 pages printed on both sample machines. Cheap Inkjet A costs $800 to print 10,000 pages. Wonderful Laser Printer B costs just over $141 to print those same 10,000 pages.
Consider that the next time you need to buy ink for the tenth time this month. Sometimes being green can save you money.


text:
Governance of the Göttingen Campus
The Göttingen Campus Council (GCC, established in 2006) is the main governing body for the Göttingen Campus. It represents the interests of all Campus members, develops joint strategic directions for the Göttingen Campus and ensures standards and quality. It identifies Campus-wide priority research areas, supports and encourages collaborative work in research and teaching, and is committed to delivering the best possible training to young academics. The GC Executive Board is responsible for the preparation of the GCC meetings and the implementation of measures in accordance with the decisions and guidelines established by the GCC.
Click for zoom in
President of the University of Göttingen
Prof. Dr. Metin Tolan
Spokesperson of the Board of the University Medical Centre Göttingen
Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Brück
Prof. Dr. Stefan Treue
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Prof. Dr. Stephan Herminghaus
GCC Members from the University of Göttingen
Vice President for Research of the University of Göttingen
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Brümmer
Chair of the Foundation Council of the Foundation University Göttingen
Prof. Dr. Peter Strohschneider | Prof. Dr. Barbara Ischinger
Research Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wienands | Prof. Dr. Peter Rehling
Voting member of the Senate
Prof. Dr.med. Mathias Bähr | Prof. Dr. Dorothea Bahns
Representative of the Deans of the University of Göttingen
Prof. Dr. Rolf Daniel | Prof. Dr. Inge Hanewinkel
Member of the University, nominated by the Senate - Humanities
Prof. Dr. Heinrich Detering | Prof. Dr. Eva Orthmann
Member of the University, nominated by the Senate - Social sciences
Prof. Dr. Nicole Mayer-Ahuja
Member of the University, nominated by the Senate - Life science and mathematical science faculties
Prof. Dr. Sarah Köster | Prof. Dr. Siegrid Löwel
GCC Members from the non-university research institutions
Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Prof. Dr. Daniel Göske
Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Scherberger | Prof. Susann Boretius
German Aerospace Center
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dr.-Ing. habil. Andreas Dillmann | Mark Schmidt
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Prof. Dr. Rodnina Marina | Prof. Dr. Christian Griesinger
Prof. Dr. Dr.h.c. Eberhard Bodenschatz | Prof. Stephan Herminghaus
Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine
Prof. Dr. Klaus-Armin Nave | Prof. Nils Brose
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
Prof. Dr. Steven Vertovec
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Prof. Dr. Laurent Gizon | Prof. Dr. Ulrich Christensen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


a fleeting guest in Earth's Land.
from God's hand in God's hand.
Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine was the only daughter of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his first wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Her parents, nicknamed 'Ernie' and 'Ducky,' were first cousins who married at the behest of their common grandmother, Queen Victoria.
The marriage was an unhappy one from the start.
Princess Victoria Melita was eighteen at the time of Elisabeth's birth. She was fond of her daughter, but Elisabeth was Daddy's little girl from the outset.
Ducky wanted to end the unhappy alliance, but Queen Victoria refused to consider permitting her grandchildren to divorce because of what it might do to Elisabeth.
However, when Queen Victoria died in January 1901, so ended opposition to the end of the marriage.
The couple were divorced in news that scandalized the Courts of Europe.
It was unheard of for a sovereign to terminate his marriage legally.
Though both had done their best to make a success of their marriage, it had been a failure …Their characters and temperaments were quite unsuited to each other and I had noticed how they were gradually drifting apart.Princess Louis of Battenberg.
Ducky went to live with her mother at Coburg. She shared custody of Elisabeth, who spent six months with each parent.
Elisabeth blamed her mother for the divorce and Ducky had a difficult time reconnecting with her daughter.
Elisabeth and her loving father now had nothing but time to spend together.
They played endless games in the grounds of Wolfsgarten.
One day in early 1902, Elisabeth told her father about her dream of a small house of her own, hidden deep in the woods.
During a visit to her mother in Coburg, Ernie built a perfect, miniature house, just as she described, with white walls and a steeply pitched roof, a chimney looped to look like a needle, and glass witch balls in the garden to keep the little girl safe.
This little house was built just for me in the year 1902.
In autumn, 1903, Elisabeth and her father traveled to Poland for a long visit with their Russian relatives at Imperial hunting lodge of Skernevetski.
Elisabeth played with her cousins on swings and rides in a small carriage pulled by a pair of tame deer.
The next morning, when Elisabeth complained of a sore throat, the Russian court doctor put it down to too much excitement.
Elisabeth seemed in good spirits, but suddenly, she lapsed into unconsciousness.
Injections of caffeine and camphor revived her, but she was in agony, with sharp pains in her chest and had difficulty breathing.
By early morning, the doctor diagnosed a virulent form of suppressed typhoid.
I think I'm dying. Send a telegram to Mama.
By the time Ducky received the telegram, it was too late.
Just as she was leaving, a second telegram arrived with the tragic news that Princess Elisabeth had died at 7 a.m.
My dearest Elisabeth was my only sunshine.
Mother and father placed their daughter's body in a small silver casket for the long journey home to Darmstadt.
Elisabeth was buried in the Rosenhohe, in a ceremony planned by her father.
Her grave can still be visited today, halfway along a quiet wooded path, guarded by a perfect Art Nouveau angel, and within sight of Ernie's own resting place.


text:
HO F7 A/B w/DCC & Sound, EMD Demo #1950C/#1950B
NEW FEATURES FOR ALL F-UNITS IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT:
EMDX FEATURES:
This A-B-A set of EMD demonstrators were built in 1950 (hence their road numbers).
#1950A AND #1950C F7A
Horizontal twin-beam headlight
No dynamic brakes
Leslie A-200 airhorns
#1950B F7B
B-unit has steam generator
CNJ FEATURES:
#52, #53A F3A
Delivered to CNJ in 1947
"Chickenwire" grills
Tall fans
UNNUMBEREDS:
Model include decal sheet
UP FEATURES:
#1426, #1451, #1429 F3A
Winterization Hatch
Passenger pilot
Roof grabirons
Decal sheet with UP train numbers and locomotive numbers included
#1430B, #1432B F3B
Equipped with a steam generator
ATSF FEATURES:
Spark arrestors
Rear red marker light
#327L F7A:
Leslie A-200 horns
"Shop replacement" F-3 style dynamic brake grills
Operating clear and red oscillating lights
Can-type antenna
#340B F7B:
Steam generator vents and water fill
Red marker lights on each end
F-3 style dynamic brake vents
Leslie S5T horn
48" dynamic brake fan
Illuminated clear and red oscillating lights (Effect on DCC/sound version)
All units are powered
Factory installed SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound and DCC decoder (DCC+sound units only)
DCC+Sound models are "dual mode" and will operate under both DCC and DC
Directional constant lighting; headlight brightness remains constant
On DCC-ready B-units, back-up lights or marker lights (if equipped) will come with LEDS, but wires will not be connected to the circuit board.
Separately applied photo etched metal and injection molded detail parts
Cab interior
Body mounted McHenry scale knuckle couplers - Kadee compatible
DCC-ready Non-sound version features 21-pin NEM DCC plug
LEDs for realistic appearance
Blomberg-B trucks
Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Tsunami2 decoder pre-installed
Individual sound boards installed in both A and B units (sound units only)
Some functions are limited in DC
Excellent low-speed operation
Lighting effects such as beacons, Gyralight where prototypically accurate
CV chart included in the box
EMD F-units were a line of diesel-electric locomotives produced between November 1939 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors-Diesel Division. Final assembly for all F-units was at the GM-EMD plant at La Grange, Illinois and the GMDD plant in London, Ontario, Canada. They were sold to railroads throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Structurally, the locomotive was a carbody unit, with the body as the main load-bearing structure, designed like a bridge truss and covered with cosmetic panels. The so-called bulldog nose was a distinguishing feature of the locomotive's appearance, and made a lasting impression in the mind of the traveling public.
The F-units were the most successful "first generation" road (main line) diesel locomotives in North America, and were largely responsible for superseding steam locomotives in road freight service. Before this, diesel units were mostly only built as switcher locomotives, and only used in rail yards.
F-units were sometimes known as "covered wagons", due to the similarity in appearance of the roof of an F-unit to the canvas roof of a Conestoga wagon, an animal-drawn wagon used in the westward expansion of the United States during the late 18th and 19th centuries. When a train's locomotive consist included only F-units, the train would then be called a wagon train. These two usages are still popular with the railfan community.
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article "EMD F-unit" ; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
HO SD70M w/DCC & Sound, EMD Demo #7001 [ATHG69571]
HO SD70M w/DCC & Snd,EMD Demo/Rail Lubricator#7002 [ATHG69572]
HO F7A/F7B,EMD Demo #1950C/1950B [ATHG22743]
HO SD70ACe w/DCC & Sound, EMD Lease #1201 [ATHG89835]