Next week, if all goes according to plan, all Ricoh printers will be replaced by Xerox printers for students to use and will be located in all the computer labs with one in Centennial Hall.

“The new system will allow students to print from any computer and from their own computers if they are logged into the VSU network,” Joe Newton, IT director, said.

“In order for students to print from their laptops, they must download the printer driver, Pharos, which will allow them to connect to and print from any of the Xerox printers,” Newton said.

Newton also mentioned another advantage of the new equipment will be the option to store print jobs and print later on.

“The system stores the information for up to four hours,” Newton said. “If this still is not enough time, the time limit can be extended, depending upon the number of people using it and the system’s storage capacity”

More printers will be available to use across campus, as the number is expanding from 41 to 55.

“Funding for the purchase comes from student technology fees,” Allen DeVane, Assistant IT Director for Client Support Services said.

“Only 13.38 percent of the student technology fees were used for the printers, and the fees will not to increase,” Newton said.

“The goal is not to create another fee for students (or) additional burden to the students.”

Currently, students are allowed $17.50 to use for printing, and, according to Newton, for the time being, this amount will not change.

Mariah Dewberry, a junior early childhood education major, said she does not have any problems with the printers we have now except for the ones in the computer lab in Nevins Hall.

“They never work,” she said. “It always says they’re out of order.”

Newton expects the new printers, due to their better design, to break down less.

“This equipment is much easier to work with, a better quality and can easily be maintained,” he said. “If the printers were to have problems, the staff will be able to fix them.”

“With Ricoh, the staff might have to wait four hours (for maintenance),” Newton said. “Xerox has more self-service than with Ricoh.”

If a printer isn’t working, then students will also be able to go to another lab or printer and print their items.

One of the purposes of Pharos is to update less efficient equipment.

“Our current equipment is getting old, and they do not support many programs, such as Windows 7,” Newton said.

Autumn Mosley, a senior early childhood education major, said that she had no problem with the printers and that there was nothing that she would change.

“VSU is leasing the new printers for five years with an option to buy them at the expiration of the lease,” Devane said.

Newton is hoping everything works out for the printers to arrive next week but there is a chance for them to arrive later.

“Possibly there will be a delay due to complexity,” he said.

For more information on the printers or locations to where the printers will be located, visit: http://www.valdosta.edu/helpdesk/guides/labprinting/index.shtml.