Five Tips to Get the Right Printer for You

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Buying a printer can be overwhelming. There are so many options available from different brands, and buying guides galore. Yet we still often see people with printers that aren't the best ones for their needs. That said, we're offering five tips to help you find the right one for you.

#1 Identify Your Needs

What are you going to use that printer for? Is it for family use? Home office use? Just as a backup for occasional documents you need to print and sign? For printing photos? For printing graphic designs? Your needs for quality, efficiency, speed, and color or black-and-white prints will influence your choice.

Different printers offer distinct perks. You may want one that prints quickly or one that is compact. Or perhaps you want one that holds a lot of paper. If your priority is photos, you may need a printer that can handle many types and sizes of paper.

If you are running your office from home, you may want to invest in a multi-function printer. These not only print but also scan and copy.

You may not even need a home printer. If you're using your printer for photographs, you're better off going to an actual photo printer. It's about five times cheaper to get photos professionally printed than to color print at home. Plus, you'll get top-quality copy every time.

#2 Don't Settle for Cheap

Yes, it's usually very cheap to buy an inkjet printer from the local big-box store. You may even get a free or dramatically reduced price on a printer with the purchase of your computer. That's because they're getting you to buy the printer so that you'll need to take on the high cost of ink. You'll also need high-quality printing paper if you want to avoid the ink bleed that can happen on normal office paper.

Another issue with inkjet printers? If you don't use the color cartridges for a long while, they can dry up, which will leave partial lines on your prints, or the printer won't work at all until you pay for a fresh, more expensive color cartridge.

#3 Consider Laser Printers

If you've decided you do need a home printer, consider a laser printer. Whether you want a printer that works fast or you plan to use it all the time, a laser printer is quick to start up and print. Plus, it offers high-quality results. There is a higher cost upfront, but in the long-term you could save on ink. These printers use a fine powder that doesn't dry out due to inactivity.

Color laser printing is expensive, yes, but black-and-white printing on a laser printer can be quite cheap and effective.

#4 Read the Reviews

The manufacturer specifications will help you learn:

  • monthly page volume;
  • estimated annual print costs;
  • printing speed;
  • maximum resolution;
  • Wi-Fi functionality;
  • card reader and media plug-in capability;
  • added benefits (e.g. automation features such as collating or stapling).

Still, customer and online reviews can help you find out about durability and productivity. Read both positive and negative reviews to get a full sense of how the printer will suit your needs.

#5 Let Us Help

Inkjet, laser, all-in-one, and photo printers each have their pros and cons, and there is a lot to consider. We can help you choose the right model, set it up in your home, and help you keep it going strong for the long term. Contact us today by calling us at (515)422-1995.

5 Benefits of Windows Virtual Desktop for Businesses

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The days of doing all our work in the office are gone for most businesses. There are clients to meet, conferences to attend, and roadshows to run. Employees are often on the move, and they want to work fully, wherever they are. Windows Virtual Desktops can help.

Windows Virtual Desktop allows staffers to work off-site with continued access to office workstations. All the business data and programs are accessible through the cloud. Plus, the individual can use a laptop, tablet, or other mobile device. They’ll log in to a virtual desktop that looks the same as the one at work. Let’s consider the many benefits Windows Virtual Desktops offer.

#1 Convenience

Allowing users to access desktops from wherever they are makes it easy to keep working. They can do whatever needs to be done, whenever they have the time to do so. Since virtual desktops mirror the office workstation, users are more efficient. They aren’t having to relearn a task when working remotely or off-site. That file they’re looking for is in the same place it would be if they were sitting at their office desk.

#2 Lower costs

Your business could use software that needs more power than users have on mobile devices. Virtual desktops tap into a powerful cloud-based network, which means your business doesn’t need to invest in the infrastructure to support those apps.

You don’t need to upgrade to multiple computers. The virtual desktop in the cloud will do the necessary work, and it’s easily scalable. This also saves time, as your business doesn’t have the long upgrade time of new infrastructure.

You might also lower business costs by hiring the best talent from wherever it is in the world. Everyone is working from a virtual desktop. So, someone logging in from North America has the same access as another employee in India, for example.

#3 Security

Your business may have policies about applications and devices people can use to do work. You’ve tried to limit risky software downloads and prevent staff from connecting on unsecured devices, except your employees are still going to take the path of least resistance. If they think it’s easier to do their work on an unapproved smartphone, they probably will. They’ll also use that prohibited app if it’s easier to access than the business-approved software.

But you don’t need to worry about this with virtual desktops, as you’re streamlining safe access to approved business applications and business data. With Microsoft, patches and updates come from a company investing heavily in cybersecurity.

#4 Business continuity

If you have moved to remote work in 2020, you probably already recognize the value of the cloud. Having virtual desktops hosted in the cloud provides business continuity. Even if you suffer a natural disaster or other disruption, employees can still get online. They’ll keep on working in a consistent computer environment with Windows Virtual Desktops.

The ability to quickly access necessary data and programs helps the business get running again. Regardless of the situation at one geographical location, users can continue working, even while restoration is in progress at the office.

#5 IT’s job is easier

With virtual desktops, IT doesn’t have to handle as much physical technology, as the system exists in the cloud. Plus, IT no longer has to spend its time clearing an old laptop and reconfiguring it for another employee. Instead, a virtual desktop can be saved and transferred to a new user.

IT experts can turn their attention to more value-adding activities. Freed from tedious, time consuming tasks, they can innovate and contribute revenue-driving ideas.

Of course, you can make it even easier on your in-house IT team by partnering with a managed service provider. Our tech experts can set your business up with virtual desktops. We’re also here to help manage and secure the cloud-based systems. Reach out to us today by calling us at (515)422-1995 to learn more!

Travel with Your Tech What You Need to Know

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Taking a business trip can be stressful at the best of times. Whether you’re off for an overnight conference, a week’s partnership, or a longer project, you essentially pick up your entire business and take it on the road. Besides showing up in the appropriate clothing (which you absolutely packed, right?), keeping your tech up and running becomes your number 1 priority. Take a look at our tech tips for business travelers:

Be careful with free WiFi

Most hotels have free WiFi, as do libraries, cafes, and bookstores. It’s now easy for any business to open their WiFi to the public with or without a catchy password. Unfortunately, that convenience can come at a huge cost. The wireless network you use to check your email while relaxing with a latte could be operated by a hacker. Most of the time, even the wait staff at the café wouldn’t be able to tell the difference either.

Even if you connect to a password secured network, someone could easily capture your information as it travels through the air. In short, If you don’t own the network, you can’t trust it! Using a VPN (like ProXPN or TunnelBear) can help tremendously, and once connected make sure the sites you visit have the little HTTPS lock icon in the browser window.

Connect via your cell phone

Hotel WiFi is notorious for being slow or insanely expensive. You may find that your mobile phone allows you to tether or hotspot a connection. That means you connect your laptop to your phone via WiFi or cable and piggyback on its mobile internet connection. Many carriers and phones allow this, but not all. Just be aware of how much data your plan allows as a computer can use a lot of data in one night of surfing! Also, if you’re in a foreign country it can also be worthwhile getting a local SIM card rather than pay expensive data roaming charges. It’s a good idea to check with your mobile provider before leaving to find out what charges and limits you will have when traveling.

Don’t forget power adapters

You’ve seen it before…people scrounging around for a charger or cable, huddling around in groups until their device has enough juice to get them through a few more hours. Of course, it’s only funny when it happens to other people. Be sure to pack your correct power adapters and cables, along with any plug/voltage converters required to match your destination. It’s worth carrying your USB charging cables on your person, as many planes and airport shops now offer a place for you to plug in for a quick boost. Personally, I would not plug directly into an unknown USB port, you never know what kind of data may be traveling through that cable!

Have plans for being offline

Sometimes you simply can’t get online, which will do you no good when you’re checking into a hotel and your booking details are tucked safely away in your cloud email. You can print out essential travel and business details on paper, but if you have a lot or don’t want to carry them, you can also save them to a document. Emails can be copied and pasted into a Word document, or you can print to PDF by pressing Print > Save to PDF (or similar). Many apps also have an offline mode that allows you to store the information on your computer, including Evernote and Netflix.

New Year’s Tech Resolutions You Should Actually Keep

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If your typical New Year’s resolutions lasted about 30 seconds, you’re not alone. Pledges to eat better, start running and learn how to juggle can be rebooted again next year easy enough.This year, we challenge you to think about your tech health with some resolutions you’ll want to keep.

No More Junk Mail

Whether you checked a box agreeing to get newsletters, or you have no idea how you got on that list, it’s time to say goodbye. Start by emptying your mailbox to zero unread messages – no you don’t have to read all that spam – you have permission to delete it unread. Let’s face it, if you were going to read it, you would have done so already. Away it goes.

Now that you’re starting with a clean slate and a huge feeling of accomplishment, resolve this: Each day, unsubscribe from 5-10 lists. Generally, if a newsletter gives the option to unsubscribe or Opt Out, you want to do that instead of just marking it as junk. So, keep an eagle eye out for that gorgeous ‘unsubscribe’ link and click it with confidence. Before too long, your inbox will be a refreshing place filled only with people and businesses you look forward to hearing from.

ProTip: Search your inbox for the word ‘unsubscribe’ to quickly find anything that has that option! You don’t need to give a reason if the link redirects to a survey page, but do watch for tricky buttons that will actually resubscribe your address.

Go Password Pro

With all these password leaks from LinkedIn, Myspace, and goodness knows who hasn’t come forward, now’s the time to get smart with your passwords. Because most people use the same passwords on every site, a single breach can be the hack that keeps on giving. If a bad guy has a set of credentials for one hacked site, they have automated programs that will check HUNDREDS of other sites to see if those same credentials get them in! Now that you know how important it is to use different passwords for each site, let’s be real, that’s a LOT of passwords to remember!

Instead of writing them down, we recommend using a password manager like LastPass or Dashlane. They remember all your various passwords for you, so all you need to know is the super-protected master password. Master passwords are kept encrypted on your system, not theirs (no chance for them to be hacked and expose your info!), and optional 2-factor authentication checks with you via text or a code on your smartphone for all big changes. We use LastPass in our shop, so we certainly feel that you can trust it for your valuable data.

Backup. No Really, Backup.

“I’ve been meaning to backup!” is the cry of someone who just lost all their photos. Good intentions don’t count AT ALL in data security because once the data is gone, it’s gone. With new modern cloud backup options, there’s no reason to put this off because backup apps are now easier and more accessible than ever before. You can backup to local hard drives instead, but this will take a little extra remembering on your part as you’ll want to have at least one drive that stays disconnected in case of encryption viruses.

There you have it. Three New Year’s resolutions you can easily keep, and that will make a real difference to your year. Opening your email will be a pleasure, you’ll be a spectator only in any future password leaks, and your precious files will be safe against all manner of disaster. Feels better than any diet, doesn’t it?

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