We regularly get asked tips on how to save toner whilst printing, because as we all know, toner cartridges can be pretty expensive. Regularly replacing your toner cartridge can massively bump up the overall cost of printing, so it's important to try and save money where possible without ever comprimising the quality of our printing jobs. Here are our top tips for saving toner whilst still printing everything you need! 

1. Where possible, when shopping for your printer try and research which printer has the best value for money and cost per page. Occasionally you'll think you're purchasing a cheap laser printer but the cost per page far outweighs the low initial price. Quality over price will always help your printing costs in the long run! 

2. Get a printer which allows you to print double-sided. An automatic duplexer will allow you to print copy on both sides of the page - massively saving your printing costs. You'll also be far more economical by printing this way. Doing your bit for the environment is always a plus, right? 

3. Some printers will have an ink-saving or toner-saving mode. If you can select this in the settings of your printer then do - it will really try and get the most out of your cartridge.

4. Be sceptical of low-cartridge warnings. Printer manufacturers can afford to reduce the cost of their laser printers by charging a lot for toner cartridges, ensuring repeat purchases. They want your money as often as possible so always be sceptical when you get a warning message - you've probably got a few more prints before you need to replace it! 

5. Take care of your toner and ink. Run regular cleaning cycles of your printing nozzles and print test pages to ensure everything is working properly. Ensuring no build up of debris or ink/toner blockages are effecting your print will improve the ink/toner flow, meaning you get more out of your cartridges.

6. Perhaps most importantly of all - don't shy away from alternative toner cartridges. Branded toner cartridges can cost you a fortune, but here at City Ink Express we stock an enormous range of high-quality, alternative cheap toner cartridges which will keep your printer working in tip top condition!  

In recent years we've seen the cost of laser printers really plummet, making these up-market printing devices accessible to the majority of home owners, where previously they were more exclusive to offices and business owners who relied heavily on their printing devices. Indeed, it appears the more that technology develops, the more accessible these advanced technologies become to your average home owner, and we've seen a huge increase in the amount of laser printers found within domestic environments. Laser printers are renound for speedy printing and a professional finish - but there must be a catch right? We run through the pros and cons of low cost laser printers to help you decide whether or not a laser printer is a worthy investment for your home.

The Pros of Low Cost Laser Printers

• The quality of print that laser printers produce is undeniable. The majority have a great resolution which provides crystal clear printing and if you're primarily going to be printing documents then it's undeniable that a laser printer is the best in the game
• The speed of printing is second to none, with a laser printer able to polish off large documents in a very short space of time. The average laser printer can complete 20 pages a minute, which if you're on a tight schedule is a great plus, you'll have to agree! 
• Laser printers are smart looking and compact. Their size is continuously reducing and now rather than a huge pertruding machine, you can have a tidy looking piece of kit which won't ruin your office decor - a definite plus for the house-proud
• Rather than the traditional messy ink cartridges we're used to, laser printers print from a powder-like substance called toner, which is a powder form of ink. Toner is less messy, takes up less space and therefore your toner cartridges hold more - meaning you get more pages for your money per toner cartridge than you would per ink cartridge - another huge bonus 

The Cons of Low Cost Laser Printers 

• The first catch is toner - it's expensive. There's no way around it. If you're going to be printing regularly, a toner cartridge can set you back a good few pounds every time it needs replacing. Here at City Ink Express we try to offer a range of compatible alternative toner cartridges for all major printer models - so you're not getting branded toner, but you're getting completely compatible toner which is tested by us before shipping and a guaranteed quality products. Many of our customers opt for this method to cut down on costs. 
• Colour laser printers are available, but they're a bit more expensive. They also don't print pictures as well as an inkjet or specific photo printer, so if this will be your primary printing use you might want to research some other methods, because a colour laser printer may well be an unnecessary expense which doesn't perform how you want it to.  

So there you have it, the pros and cons of low cost laser printers. Which is the best option for you? If you need any help deciding please don't hesitate to give one of our friendly printing experts a call on 01332 347773!

At City Ink Express, we are always thinking of new ways to simplify the way our customers interact with our wesbite.

Take our 'Quick Search' as an example of this; we have recently made this feature more prominent on the page, to help ensure compatible toner cartridges are more accessible to you. Using our 'Quick Search' bar you simply type in the details of your particular printer model, and we'll show you a list of all the available toner cartridges to fit your device - and as this is City Ink Express remember, we stock both original and compatible cartridge options, making your selection is vast!

Using our Quick Search bar is the fastest way to purchase toner - so you can add speed to great pricing, high-quality, and excellent service for reasons to make City Ink Express your only toner vendor.

Choose your manufacturer here to access this awesome tool.

If you are looking for black toner cartridges, you're in luck! We pride ourselves on being the most comprehensive, well-priced, and customer service-focused toner vendor online.

What kind of things would you be looking for when purchasing black toner cartridges? Not sure? Well, here's what we have to offer...

• For a start, you can search via your device model itself, which ensures any cartridge you purchase will always be compatible.

• You can also trust that whatever cartridge you purchase from us is of an exceptional quality - we test all of our toner to ISO standards.

• Pleasingly, you'll also find our prices to be extremely reasonable, and the most competitively priced around!

• Even after you make your purchase with us, you can also benefit from our wealth of printing knowledge and expertise - this is accessible through a number of different communication methods and social media platforms.

Everyone needs to print from time to time. Even if you're not a professional photographer or a contract lawyer, there will still be the occasional errand that cannot be completed without some assistance from a printer.

When such errands arise, it's nice to have a printer of your own to rely on. The alternative is going to the library and paying for each sheet...or using the office printer while your boss isn't looking...or just hoping that one of your friends will let you use theirs.

You might think that paying for a printer (and, subsequently, the ink or toner necessary to keep it running) is a waste of money, but it's actually a very sound investment in the long run. Here are three reasons to take the plunge and get your very own printer:

Tickets and Boarding Passes

If you've travelled by air in the last couple of years, you'll know about all the bits of paper that you have to print out just to board the darn plane. It’s not just air travel, either; between the e-tickets for that concert on Friday and the proof of purchase that you need to present when you pick up your goods at a shop, there’s always something that needs printing, and having your own printer makes life much easier.

You'll Instantly Become More Popular

You know how we mentioned the friends that you rely on for printing purposes at present? Once you’ve got a printer of your own, you’ll become that friend. True, you may get tired of everybody making demands on your poor little printer, but think of all the favours that they’ll owe you!

Printers Aren't Just Printers Anymore

Multi-function printers (MFPs) are an increasingly large part of the market, and there are very few people nowadays who just want a printer. By investing in an MFP, you’ll also be getting a scanner, a photocopier, and goodness knows what else.

Convinced? Click here to see our printer bundles - these printers come with CISS systems, which means that you'll save money on ink right off the bat!

For some reason, printer manufacturers have never put a lot of effort into naming their machines. It would be refreshing to see someone like Brother or HP roll out a new model called 'The Inkredible' or 'Colourama', but no - it's always DCP this and 3800DN that. How boring.

But have you ever wondered what those names might mean? A quick browse through our toner cartridge range will throw up a mind-boggling variety of acronyms and suffixes, but unless you're already a printing expert, it's probably all greek to you. What, for example, is the difference between an HP LaserJet 3500 and an HP LaserJet 3500n? 

In today's blog, we're going to explain what some of those letters stand for. Note that different manufacturers use different nomenclature, so this information will vary between brands; still, most of these are reasonably universal:

• D is for Duplexing: This printer is capable of double-sided printing.
  
  
• L is...a tricky one. It can denote a low-speed printer (although this is more commonly written as LS); bizarrely, HP have also been known to use it to denote a stapler function (see S).
  
  
• M means that this printer has PostScript capabilities. Not to be confused with...
  
  
• MFP is for Multi-Fucntion Printer: This printer also functions as a scanner, photocopier, etc.
  
  
• N is for Network: This printer is network-ready, meaning that multiple printers can connect to it at once. Non-network printers must be plugged into the computer you're printing from.
  
  
• S is for Stapler or Stacker: This printer has a built-in stapling function...or a paper stacker for large jobs. Not to be confused with...
  
  
• SE is for Special Edition: This printer was marketed as a 'special' version of a previous model. Note that this doesn't refer to any specific features or functions.
  
  
• Si is used by Hewlett-Packard to denote high-volume printers.
  
  
• T is for Tray: This printer has an additional paper tray.
  
  
• W is for Wireless: Printer can connect to the network wirelessly (as opposed to N printers, which have to be physically connected to the network).
  
  
• X is used to denote that this printer has several different features - it looks a bit cleaner than DTNSL, after all!
  
  

Did we miss any? If you're still not sure what that model name means, why not get in touch?

Technology is constantly marching forward, and that applies to the printing industry just as much as it applies to anything else. Just compare a printer from the '90s with the printers that you get nowadays, and you'll see exactly what we mean!

Of course, we occupy an age in which 3D printing is commonplace - the printing world has moved far, far beyond the standard black-and-white documents that your office printer is so good at producing. Here are three of the most amazing new technologies from recent months:

Printable Food

Here's a story that emerged late last year: 3D printers that can actually prepare meals. You probably saw the video of NASA's 'pizza printer' - the results didn't look that appetising, but if you're up in space then any pizza would presumably be welcome. Personally, we won't be interested until they start making printable anchovies to go with the pizza.

The Pen That Can Recreate Any Colour

The Scribble Pen is a real-life version of the 'colour picker' tool from Microsoft Paint. Simply tap your pen on the colour you want, and it will start drawing in that colour - pretty amazing, eh? Ironically, the pen itself is only available in six different colours.

4D Printing

That's right - the human race is already bored of 3D printing, and has swiftly moved on to 4D printing. This technology is still in its very early stages at the moment, but the people behind it have promised that 4D-printed objects will be able to react to their surroundings and adapt themselves accordingly. Come to think of it, isn't that exactly what happened in the Terminator movies?

If you're still happy enough with that boring ol' laser printer of yours, remember that you can buy replacement toner cartridges for a wide range of printers from City Ink Express!

As we're pretty much experts in the field of HP toner cartridges, it is fair to say we've had our fair share of dealings with the HP LaserJet 5 series. As such, we thought we'd write a brief summary of this popular line to let you know the score.

The HP LaserJet 5 series was introduced in the middle of the 1990s as part of Hewlett Packard's existing LaserJet range. The LaserJet 5 series can unofficially support up to 32MB 72pin SIMM modules with parity, which lets you install up to 98MB of memory.

Being a range of monochrome printers, the 5 series will only allow you to print in black - making them ideal additions to offices, or anywhere that requires quality documents in black print. 

As far as the network connection is concerned, though the 5 series does not come with a network adaptor, there is an expansion slot and the firmware itself supports all network printing. A little tip for you: if you are struggling to install a network card, you can reset your printer back to its factory settings, then let the printer fully boot before releasing the online button. You should now be able to get the network configuration to work just fine.

All-in-all the HP LaserJet 5 series is a high-quality laser printer which will be most at home in office environments.

In case you haven't caught the exciting news, our products - the Edible Ink Starter Kit with Canon MG5550 A4 with Scanner Value - are going to feature on Saturday morning's Weekend Kitchen! 

The popular cookery-based TV programme features presenters Steve Jones and Lisa Snowdon, but with the welcome addition this week of master patissier, Eric Landard. With some help from our edible ink products, Eric shows us how you can utilise such tools to really enhance your baking.

If you'd like to get a head start on the show, you can check out our range of edible ink products here. Otherwise, make sure you tune in to Channel 4 at 9.00am this Saturday to see our wondrous ink in action!

We've got some very exciting news from the City Ink Express offices this week - and that is that some of our fantastic products are being featured on National Television! 'Weekend Kitchen with Waitrose' airs Saturday mornings between 9:00 and 10:00am on Channel 4 and on this week's episode (Saturday 4th October) our Edible Ink Starter Kit with Canon MG5550 A4 with Scanner Value Kit will feature alongside presenters Steve Jones and Lisa Snowdon.

Saturday's episode of Weekend Kitchen with Waitrose will contain a section on cake decorating with master patissier Eric Lanlard, and edible printing features as part of this. With our range of edible ink and edible ink printers you can decorate your baked goods with precision and flair, really taking the quality of your cakes to the next level!

With edible ink printers you can use a variety of different papers including edible wafer papers, icing papers and even some delicious choco icing papers! These will make your fantastic creations come to life in a delicious edible way.

Anyone who enjoys baking and would love to explore taking their creations to the next level should look at our edible ink products and see City Ink Express can help transform your baking.

Tune in to Weekend Kitchen with Waitrose on Channel 4 this Saturday 04th October at 9:00-10:00 am for some fabulous recipes and foodie ideas, and of course to see our fantastic edible ink starter kit in action!