St. Joe's first campus to feature PrintPOD technology

PrintPODs, kiosks for high-quality printing on the go, have arrived on Saint Joseph's University's campus.

Global Print Systems Incorporated, the maker of the PrintPOD, is running a landmark trial program for its remote printers at Saint Joseph's. Three PrintPOD machines are currently installed, one on the second floor of Campion Student Center and one at each of the two Lancaster Court Apartment buildings.

A PrintPOD can be utilized in three different ways. The first way, printing remotely from a laptop, is useful to students on a college campus. To do this, a student creates an account at myprintpod.com, downloads the PrintPOD server, uploads a document and then prints it at a kiosk.

Students can also print by taking a memory storage device, such as a USB drive, right to the kiosk or e-mailing a document from a handheld device, such as a Treo or Blackberry, right to his or her specific PrintPOD e-mail address (which is generated when an account is created) and printing at the kiosk.

The PrintPOD software is not compatible with Mac computers, however, so PrintPOD is not a printing solution for the numerous students who own Macs. Anyone, however, can print train schedules and maps at the kiosk for free, without having to set up an account.

In October, the cost of printing at the PrintPOD will be 12 cents for black and white prints and 37 cents for color. In November and December, the prices will increase to 25 cents for black and white and 75 cents for color. For the rest of September, however, prints are free as part of the trial and effort to increase awareness about the PrintPODs.

The staggered price increase, according to Robert Borzillo, vice president of sales and marketing for Global Print Systems, is for the company to gain feedback on what prices students are willing to pay.

Steve Robinson, '10, says he will continue to use the PrintPOD system once the prices take effect in October. "With the PrintPODs I never have to worry about ink, paper, and the maintenance associated with owning your own printer," Robinson said.

The current printing system at Saint Joseph's provides students with 200 free prints every semester and then charges 8 cents for black and white prints and 35 cents for color.

Students have experienced the positive and negative aspects of this relatively new piece of technology. The ease of use is certainly a draw, according to Robinson.

"After a simple five minute registration I was able to print directly from my laptop as if I had any other printer," Robinson said.

Many students are finding the PrintPODs to be very convenient, as there are few other locations to print documents on campus. "Often times, students have to wait in line for a computer just to print in one of those facilities," according to Jeffrey Bachovchin, executive director of web and support services at Saint Joseph's.

The machines are also fully monitored by Global Print Systems, so the company can send a maintenance worker when paper or toner is low, or if a problem occurs with the machine.

According to Bachovchin, the PrintPOD trial is occurring because Saint Joseph's University is "really just looking to make printing more accessible to students."

Throughout the semester both Saint Joseph's and Global Print Systems will conduct surveys and gather feedback from students about the PrintPODs, so they can determine if the PrintPOD will become a permanent fixture on Hawk Hill.