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Hot.com.au > 2010 > June Technology Updates

June Technology Blurb

The end of the financial year silly season is almost in full swing, and what a good time to have a look at your ongoing expenses and find out where you, and your business, can save money in the years ahead. We find a lot of people can make big savings by shopping around for some of the smaller things – like printer consumables for your office or home.

While most people will happily shop around for the lowest price on their printer, we find many people get stung by companies claiming the "lowest prices" on laser toner and ink cartridges. Take Fuji Xerox toner as an example – using Hot for a full set of C1110 toners will save you over $100 when compared to a large competitor. Or look at the popular HP 35A black toner – using Hot you save a massive 35% on your HP toner costs. Have a look at the prices we collected across popular consumables on June 1, 2010 comparing hot.com.au to an office supply competitor:

These are just specific examples, and we'll be the first to say we haven't compared prices on every toner available – but we think it warrants a mention that you should shop around for your toner cartridges and ink. You could be saving yourself a great amount of money and lowering your ongoing costs.

June 2010 Content

Inkjet Photo Printers

For users in the A3+ market, the Epson Stylus Photo R2880 has been the leader of the pack for quite some time now, and with good reason thanks to its unbeatable print quality – especially in greyscale prints. Here at hot.com.au however, we are starting to notice a slight momentum shift towards the Canon Pixma PRO 9500 MkII. The Pro9500 Mark II uses pigment-based inks for all 10 colours, giving users a ginormous colour gamut and excellent longevity. The Pro 9500 Mark II features FINE print-head technology that allows precise placement of microscopic ink droplets - combined with a high resolution of 4800 x 2400 dpi, FINE produces photo quality which are sharp and grain free. The Pro 9500 Mark II an excellent printing solution for users who demand archival quality photos up to A3+ in black and white or colour – and a worthy challenger to the Epson 2880.

We've also got some of the best prices in Australia on popular multifunction printers that won't break the bank to get new inks. We've got the excellent Canon Pixma MX860 which can scan, print, copy and fax under $190!

View our entire inkjet photo printer range or go back to the top.

Specialist Printers

Already well established as the leaders in wide-format printing, Canon have upped the ante with the release of the new range of 12 colour ImagePrograf printers. The 24”/610mm Canon ImagePrograf IPF6300 takes over from the much-loved Canon IPF6100, adding a wider colour gamut to existing features such as in-built colour calibration and advanced nozzle-cloggage detection systems. The Canon ImagePrograf IPF6350 adds an 80gb hard disk for increased productivity.

Canon Australia have also launched the new Canon ImagePrograf IPF8300 , which looks set to become the choice of professional graphic arts studios requiring 44" output.

Until 31 July, Canon Australia are giving away a bonus warranty extension with any ImagePrograf large format printer. Enjoy peace of mind with a 3 year total warranty when you purchase any Canon IPF printer, including the new IPF6300, IPF6350 and IPF8300, as well as the popular Canon IPF510, IPF5100 and IPF6100.

On the subject of bonus give-aways, we have a great offer on our HiTi plastic card printers. Every purchase of a HiTi CS-310 or HiTi CS-320 ID card printer will come with a BONUS VIVO 22" LCD TV. If that’s not the best deal in town, then I don’t know what is!

The Epson Stylus Pro Photo 3880 continued to perform well last month, a trend which we expect to continue for some time. The Epson 3880 offers superb quality photographic prints and much better economy than most desktop printers thanks to its 80ml cartridges (and the 3880 is one of the rare printers to ship with full-capacity cartridges in the box!). Selling below $2K, this printer is perfect for users stepping into the wide-format market.

View our entire specialist printer range or go back to the top.

Laser printers

Now is your last chance to save on Fuji Xerox colour laser printers with their end of financial year offers! June is the final month that Xerox are offering 15% cashback on colour laser and solid ink printers, so get in quick! You claim your cashback via redemption based on printer purchase price (including GST) and including any accessories and extended warranty purchased with the printer - with a maximum redemption of $500 cashback per printer. Eligible printers for this promotion are as follows: DocuPrint 2065, Phaser 3100MFP / X, DocuPrint 3055, Phaser 3435DN, DocuPrint 340A, Phaser 4510,DocuPrint C1190FS, Phaser 5550, DocuPrint C2120, Phaser 6360, DocuPrint C2200, Phaser 8560, DocuPrint C2255, Phaser 8560MFP, DocuPrint C3055DX, WorkCentre 3210, DocuPrint C3290FS, WorkCentre 3220, DocuPrint C3300 and WorkCentre 4250.

The Xerox C2255 is our top selling A3 colour laser machine. It isn't the cheapest in terms of initial purchase price, but it comes with the most value out of any A3 colour laser printer under $5,000.00. Why? Because the Xerox C2255 comes standard with full toners in the box and a duplex unit. When comparing our two most popular A3 colour laser printers, the Xerox C3055DX and the Xerox C2255. The reason why you would choose one over the other is the volume that you intend to do, and what quality you are after. In terms of quality the Xerox C2255 is a better printer and is much cheaper in terms of running costs.

The Xerox DPC3055DX while selling for $1990.00 INC GST, comes with what is called "start up" toners. Typically they are 2000 page yield toners. An Additional set of toners retails for around $1000 , and these toners are rated at 6000 page yield. So to get the same amount of toner in this machine as you do in the C2255 you would have to purchase 2 extra sets of toners! i.e. An extra $2000, which brings the printer up to $3990.00 INC GST!!!

The Xerox C2255 while selling for $3659.00 INC GST ($3159.00 INC GST after 15% cash back), comes with full toners in the box (15,000 page black toner & 12,000 page colour toners) An additional set of toners is about $1200. Not only does the Xerox C2255 work out cheaper when compare toner you also get a much better unit in terms of printer quality, speed and ongoing running costs. Along with the $500 cash you get from Xerox and the duplex unit there isn’t anything that gives you as much value then the Fuji Xerox DocuPrint C2255.

The most popular high end home / business printer is the Fuji Xerox DocuPrint C3300DX. Hot is currently selling the unit for $1190.00 INC GST with 1.25GB of RAM. ($1012.00 INC GST after 15% cash back), The Xerox C3300DX has superb quality and impressive performance for busy enterprises. Fast, super high-quality colour output, network ready and loaded with features (duplex, low running costs and high duty cycle) The Xerox C3300DX with make your office run smoother with 30 ppm colour and mono output. In terms of running costs you can purchase a set of toners (6K black and 4K Colour) for only $495. At 20% coverage (5% of each colour) you are only paying 12 cents per copy!

View our entire laser printer range or go back to the top.

Projectors

Get yourself ready for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Imagine watching the games live on a huge screen in your own home! Well you can do that now in full high definition thanks to Epson's range of home theatre projectors. Also, if you purchase either the Epson TW-3500 or Epson TW-4500 home theatre projector, not only will you be the envy of all your friends, but you will receive a Toshiba Blu Ray DVD player valued at $299 absolutely free! Now that’s a score for anyone! This promotion runs until the end of July.

Home Cinema Projectors

The Epson TW3500 is currently priced to clear at under $2500. We also have an unbeatable deal on the TW4500 priced at under $3700 AND you get a free projector screen while stocks last! As we mentioned above, you also get a free Toshiba Blu-Ray player via redemption from Epson until the end of July on both popular models. These are great World Cup projector deals – so get in quick!

Data Projectors

Speaking of Epson specials, they’ve got another redemption promotion running on the excellent Epson W8 data projector which packs a powerful 2,500 lumen lamp. Purchase a new EB-W8 projector and you can claim a bonus 80" portable screen valued at $199 from Epson Australia.

We’ve also been selling quite a few of the feature-packed Sanyo PLC XU116 projector we featured last month. A whopping 4,500 lumens in a portable projector with features like XGA resolution, a small size, lightweight and it comes standard with a carry bag.

Projector Screens

hot.com.au are lucky to be one of only two Australian retailers carrying the Lonhorn Lumiere Projector Screen range. These are high-end cinema screens using micro ripple fabric, velour trim and a quality alloy extrusion. We’ve got the popular Longhorn Lumiere 100" Projector Screen for a mere $699 – saving you 46% off the recommended retail pricing for this premium screen.

View our entire projector range or go back to the top.

Flatbed, Film and Document Scanners

Microtek are selling their affordable A3 Document scanner, the super-fast Microtek FileScan 1600XL for $990.00 for a limited time only. You are saving over $500.00. You don't need to thousands of dollars if you are not scanning in transparencies (have a look at the Microtek 9800XL if you are). Save your money and get the fastest scanner that we have ever seen in this price range! It speeds through scanning documents, photos, blueprints and whatever else you throw at it! As you'll see from our review video, at 200 dpi the Microtek FileScan 1600XL is able to process a colorful A3-format document in less than 3 seconds letting you easily scan oversized originals contact sheets large pieces of art and mechanical blueprints which dramatically increases your productivities with a reasonable price.

Bundled with the newly improved ScanWizard DI program, the FileScan 1600XL offers you full document scanning tools, onscreen proofing, and a full host of features and image adjustment controls. With up to 800dpi optical resolution the FileScan 1600XL ensures that your scans will catch all the details and color fidelity presented in the originals. Also equipped with a Hi-Speed USB ( USB 2.0 ) interface the FileScan 1600XL gives effortless plug-and-play connectivity. See it at hot at

Canon as recently released a little portable document scanner and it is a little beauty. At under $500, the Canon P150 is ideal for Business trips and meetings away from the office where is important to have scanner equipment handy. The P150 is a portable scanner that can be folded down to just 42 x 282 x 98mm. Despite its remarkably small size, the Canon P-150 is a fully-functional duplex sheet-fed document scanner, capable of batch scanning up to 20 sheets at a time with a speed of 15ppm. The Canon P150 has a rear paper feed unclips and hinges up and out from the scanner's brick-link folded state. Guides fold out from the tray itself to support paper of any height and width up to A4. The main body of the scanner also hinges open to allow access to the feed roller and separation pad, which ensure the seamless feeding of scanned documents. These are consumable parts. You'll be prompted to replace the roller after 100,000 sheets have been scanned and the separation pad is good for 10,000 pages.

View our entire scanner range or go back to the top.

Digital Cameras

We've got some great specials on Olympus Digital SLR cameras this month, starting off with the fantastic E620. The world's smallest and lightest image-stabilized digital SLR. Packing a 12.3 megapixel Live MOS sensor and TruePic III+ processor, getting superb quality photos has never been easier. It manages to include in-body Image Stabilization in a lightweight 475g body. We’ve got two popular models available – the Olympus E-620 Single Lens Kit (with a 14-42mm lens) and the Olympus E620 Twin Lens Kit (with both a EZ-1442 14-42mm lens and a EZ-4015-2 40-150mm lens). Both cameras are at our lowest ever prices.

But that's not the only Olympus special we've got great savings on, the Olympus Pen E-P1 Twin Lens Kit is a great little performer. The E-P1 is a still photo, video and audio recorder in one. It is the world's smallest 12.3-mexapixel with interchangeable lenses camera and yet it has all the sophisticated features of a fully-fledged professional digital camera.

View our entire camera range or go back to the top.

Computers

With the recent revival in touch technology – we've taken a look at the MSI Wind Top All-in-one Desktop Computer. This is MSI's latest generation multi-touch all-in-one computer system with a gorgeous 20” widescreen display with full touch functionality, an Intel Dual Core T4500 processor and Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium ready to go. With uni-body exterior construction, stylish molding and inlaid leather – the Wind Top design reveals a distinctive taste. For those seeking an elegant and exceptional addition to the workplace or the home, the MSI Wind Top Desktop PC could be what you’re after.

We’ve also pushed another price drop on the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T tablet netbook, seeing the price at a fraction under $660. This is still a great, super-portable computer that runs Windows 7 Starter.

View our entire computer range or go back to the top.

Internet Security

This month we're republishing an article recently released by AVG about the all-important subject of Internet Security and what you can do about it.

So you’ve decided not to risk it any longer. You are going to install some much needed online security software. That’s a great decision! Now all you have to do is pick your package and away you go. It's as simple as that isn't it?

“Well, not always,” says Lloyd Borrett, Marketing Manager at AVG (AU/NZ). “You see, there are products featuring protection aimed at anti-virus, anti-spy, anti-spam, firewall and many more areas.”

Let’s take a look at what would normally be included in a security package. “Basically there are seven typical components of an online Internet security suite and depending on what you do online, you may, or may not, need them all,” Borrett continues.

Seven pillars of online security suite wisdom if you like – and knowing what kind of guidance and protection you need now becomes critical. You might never have tried to 'define yourself' before, but now is the time as you will probably be making a decision on what type of product you need based upon what type of user you are.

The seven pillars (components) of security wisdom

1. Anti-virus software: – everybody's bread and butter for the online safety:
This is the one that everyone has heard of. Anti-virus software is often free for the basic editions and it knows about, detects and prevents viruses, worms, Trojans and some other malicious software code intended to damage your computer or your data (basically, your personal information). Malicious software code may also intend to use your computer to launch attacks on others, and anti-virus and Internet security software can prevent that too.

2. Anti-spyware software: - if you don't have it today, then you need to get it:
This is protection against the category of spyware, adware and other malicious software that tries to watch what you are doing online in an attempt to steal your information; passwords, bank account number, etc. This is part of the reality of our everyday world and will soon be as commonplace to your PC usage as your keyboard is to you now. Today, most free and commercial anti-virus and Internet security products include anti-spyware protection.

3. Link scanning software: - essential for the casual surfer and the heavy web user:
A ‘Link scanner’ integrates into your Internet connection and automatically warns you if you are about to visit a web page that is a potential threat. You may have found the website hrough a link in a search engine’s results list, or through a link that has been sent in an email. This type of tool is an essential must-have for both heavy and light users for different reasons: the light user may not see enough potentially malicious links to build up a general awareness of what is harmful – and the heavy user might surf so fast that they fail to spot them, either way a link scanner becomes essential. AVG LinkScanner®, available as a free stand-alone product and included with other AVG free and paid products, provides real-time protection by checking every page for web exploits before it’s passed to your browser. Today, most other anti-virus products don’t include a link scanner.

4. Anti-spam software:- essential for new users, extremely nice for all of us to have:
Spam is the common term for ‘junk’ e-mail which you never asked for and don’t want. Spam is gradually getting more malicious, as it can now be the carrier of a ‘phishing’ attack – asking you to go to ‘your bank’ or ‘your Facebook account’ and then to enter your username and password. Anti-spam software filters out these messages so they never reach your inbox in the first place. Most regular PC users have their own spam filters set up via their e-mail client, but a little extra protection doesn't hurt.

5. Behaviour monitoring software:- especially useful if someone else helps look after your PC:
Different vendors have different names for this (AVG calls it Identity Protection), but essentially this is software that forms a layer on top of your anti-virus package to detect any suspicious behaviour of programs on your computer. Typically, behaviour-monitoring software doesn’t need to get updates from the Internet. Instead of watching for the latest known threats it watches out for software doing things that it shouldn’t. If you are one of those people that uses a friend or even a local software support company to help you run your PC, or you like to do shopping, banking or gaming online, then this kind of security layer is essential for peace of mind. Today, most free and paid anti-virus products don’t include behaviour monitoring protection, but some Internet security products do.

6. File download, online chat and social networking protection:- are you a heavy web application downloader?
This is software that specifically checks downloaded files for Internet threats after they have been received, but before you open them. If the file is perceived as a threat, it is normally blocked or archived somewhere on your PC where it cannot be activated. This type of product has a useful place on any PC for sure, but it will be of most value to those users who typically download a lot of applications from the web and/or are heavy users of web-based applications themselves. Today, most free anti-virus products don’t include this layer of protection.

7. Firewall :- not just for large enterprises and corporate businesses:
A Firewall watches everything on your computer that tries to exchange Information with the Internet and also watches anything on the Internet that tries to send data back to your computer. It then either blocks information exchanges that it knows shouldn’t be happening, or checks with you whether the software that you are running really needs to connect the Internet the first time that software tries to do so. While you might still perceive this kind of protection layer as something only used by companies, Firewalls have a place in all systems and it won't be too long before we start to think about bringing in Firewall protection layers. Some paid anti-virus products and most Internet security products include a firewall.

Borrett concludes, “Think about each of the above security components and how it might apply to you. Now that you're building up a robust understanding of Internet threat defence layers, you can feel more confident about selecting an online security product that will provide complete protection for everything you love to do on the web!”

Interested in securing your PC? hot.com.au offer AVG Internet Security (1 year subscription) and the better value AVG Internet Security (2 year subscription).

Back to the top.

June 2010 Updates