The "MICR laser printer" is becoming very popular. Businesses are discovering that they can save a substantial amount of money by printing their own checks on plain paper. However, to successfully do this, a business should have an MICR capable laser printer, an MICR toner cartridge, security paper and MICR check printing software.

HP laser printers are by far the most popular. In fact, most of the current HP models are capable of MICR check printing. MICR toner cartridges are available from both HP. Many third party MICR toner suppliers manufacture compatible MICR toner cartridges at substantial savings. It would take many pages to review the possible MICR printers offered by HP.

In addition to HP, Troy and Xerox also produce certified MICR laser printers. The Troy MICR laser printers are quite popular. Troy produces several different series of laser printers that are ideal for small workgroup settings. Troy printers provide high security check printing hardware and software. The Troy software makes digital signatures and logos a cinch to print on your personalized checks. Most of the Troy laser printers use both Troy and HP MICR toner cartridges

For over 20 years, Acom Solutions has provided MICR laser printers to business organizations for printing MICR laser checks. These laser printers use blank security check paper, which provides a huge cost savings and is a real deterrent of check fraud. Acom has enhanced several Xerox laser printers to provide MICR check printing at speeds of 26-45 pages per minute. Acom has been selected as the Xerox vendor of choice for certified MICR laser printers.

The following chart gives you a comparison of some of the most popular Troy and Acom MICR laser printers.

A Comparison of Troy and Acom MICR Laser Printers

MICR Laser...... PPM.... Pgs/Mo.. Input Capacity... First Page Out.... Toner Yield*

PHASER 4500...... 36.... 150,000... 700 sheets..... < 8 seconds.... 18K

DOCUPRINT N4525.. 45.... 250,000... 1050 sheets..... 4 seconds (ready).... 30K

Troy MICR 1320... 22.... 10,000... 250 sheets..... < 10 seconds.... 6K

Troy MICR 2420... 30.... 75,000... 250 sheets..... < 10 seconds.... 6K

Troy MICR 4250... 45.... 200,000... 500 sheets..... < 8 seconds.... 12K

Troy MICR 4350... 55.... 250,000... 500 sheets..... < 8 seconds.... 12K

Troy MICR 8150... 32.... 150,000... 1,100 sheets..... < 14 seconds.... 20K

Troy MICR 9050... 50.... 300,000... (2) 500 sheets < 8 seconds.... 35K

* Yields based upon thousand pages per 5% toner coverage on letter size paper

The Phaser 4500 and DocuPrint N4525 laser printers are available from Acom Solutions.

The Troy MICR Laser printers are available from Troy group.

A good MICR laser printer can help a business save as much as 75% on the cost of printing checks.