Category: Product Reviews

Free Reusable Steel Water Bottle from Zebra Eco!

Posted on by Frankye

It’s never been easier for businesses and consumers to go green. Most of us understand the importance of using sustainable, eco-friendly products whenever possible. Still, it’s always nice to get a little reward for doing the right thing.

Zebra is offering just such an award for using eco-friendly office supplies. For the next two weeks, Zebra will give away a free steel water bottle when you purchase $20 worth of products from their Zebra Eco lineup. Consider it a little thanks from the folks at Zebra on behalf of the planet. Steel water bottles reduce plastic waste and are far more sanitary than just refilling a plastic water bottle. They also save money, but I can’t be the only one who balks at the thought of paying around 10 bucks for an empty bottle. The Zebra giveaway is tailor made for cheapskates like me! Plus, with the Zebra pattern, they’re pretty cute too. As Liz Taylor will tell you – animal prints never go out of style!

The Zebra Eco line includes quality pens, pencils and highlighters made from recycled materials. Your twenty dollars goes much farther at OnTimeSupplies.com than any other online office supplies retailer. On Time Supplies offers great discounts of Zebra Eco supplies. Qualifying purchases include:

  • ZebraEco Sarasa Retractable Roller Ball Pens
  • Zebra Eco Pink Ribbon Retractable Ballpoint Pens
  • Zebra Eco Retractable 3-Color Ballpoint Pens
  • Zebra Eco Jimnie Mechanical Pencils
  • Zebra Eco Jimnie Retractable Ballpoint Pens
  • Zebra Eco Zebrite Double Sided Highlighters

So stock up on great Zebra pens, pencils and highlighters at On Time Supplies, then go and claim your free steel water bottle! June 15th is the last day to get your free reusable water bottle.

Every office worker needs a good office chair with lower back support.

Posted on by Frankye

The new Weekly Deals at OnTimeSupplies.com continue to make your workday run a little smoother. We’ve talked about the importance of a good, supportive office chair before here at Smart Office, but I can’t emphasize the point enough!

I’m writing from personal experience. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with a herniated disk. For a few weeks, standing, walking and reclining were difficult and painful activities, but the worst was sitting. My lower back and leg would scream in agony anytime I sat in a chair that didn’t provide adequate support. There’s no way in the world I could do my job, which entails sitting in front of a computer all day, if I didn’t have a great office chair. Every office worker needs on office chair that promotes proper posture with good lumbar support and is fully adjustable. This week, OnTimeSupplies.com makes it more affordable than ever to get a good office chair. For one week only, you can snap up a contemporary, ergonomic Mayline office chair at more than 50% off!

First up are two executive office chairs. Both chairs are upholstered in genuine leather and feature deep cushions and sculpted padding for superior lower back support. Both the burgundy and black leather office chairs work beautifully with any office decor!

The third discount office chair on sale this week at OnTimeSupplies.com is a great black office task chair. This Mayline task chair features a fully adjustable footrest and a unique tractor-style seat that reduces pressure on the thighs. The Mayline office task chair is also a great back support chair, thanks to the inflatable lumber support cushion that provides truly customized lower back support!

Thanks to this week’s office chair deals at OnTimeSupplies.com, there’s never been a better time to get the attractive, comfortable and supportive office chair you need! Be sure to check out OnTimeSupplies.com every week for more discount office supplies and office furniture.

2/9 Daily Deals at OnTimeSupplies.com

Posted on by Frankye

There are just under six hours left to take advantage of the today’s office supplies and office furniture bargains at OnTimeSupplies.com! You’ve got until midnight to take 66% off view binders and 54% off task chairs and file cabinets. Check out OnTimeSupplies.com and  Smart Office everyday for the Daily Deals — great bargains on office supplies, school supplies and office furniture!

2/8 Daily Deals at OnTimeSupplies.com

Posted on by Frankye

I hope you’ve been following the Daily Deals at OnTimeSupplies.com. If not, you’ve already missed some great bargains on office furniture and office supplies! It’s not too late to get in on the money saving action though — On Time Supplies offers bargains every day. Today’s Deals are all about comfort in the workplace — they’re featuring steep discounts on workstations, task chairs and monitor filters. Check them out now because the Deal disappear at midnight!

I Love Office Supplies Too!

Posted on by Frankye

This blog is powered by research. We here at Smart Office are constantly on the lookout for career and office product information you can actually use. In the process of scouring the Internet for that info, I’ve come to a startling realization: there are a lot of people way into office supplies. I have seen countless odes to paper clips, mechanical pencils, sticky notes and markers in blogs from around the world! A Google search of the exclamation “I love office supplies” yields more than 26,000 hits. I work for a great office products supplier and all that office supply love seemed a little over the to to me, but it did get me thinking. There are definitely some office supplies that I find especially useful and some I just get a little kick out using. That realization presented me with an opportunity to indulge in the blogger’s favorite activity: list making! My favorite office products in no particular order:

Wrist rest: I’ve had my wrist rest for years, but I never even bothered to take it out of the package until I got this gig. After working from home for a few days, the numbness in my hands and shooting pains in my arms alerted me to the fact that my tiny desk was laid out fine for casual web surfing, but was murder as a workstation. That’s when I pulled out the keyboard wrist rest my least favorite aunt gave me a few Christmases ago. What a difference it makes! I thought I was going to have to buy a new desk, but now I work comfortably at all day. So, thanks Auntie! Maybe one day I’ll learn to love the ice scraper you got me this past Christmas as much as I love my wrist rest!
Multi-colored Post-it Notes: My Post-its are my everything — my message board, my note pad, my address book, my daily planner. I am so glad they are available in so many colors since my wall is covered in them. That way I can call it art instead of a mess!
Roller Ball Pen: For the most part, I only have to actually hand write notes and memos to myself, which is great because I have terrible hand writing. Plus, I get to use pink ink and not worry about looking unprofessional!
microSDHC Card: Ok, I’ll admit it. This isn’t so much an office supply, as a boost-the-song-storage-capacity- of-my-not-an-iPod-mp3-play supply. Still, I seriously couldn’t live without it!
Cable ties: I didn’t even know about this useful little product until I started at On Time Supplies. Again, now that I sit at my computer desk all day, I have a new appreciation of products designed to increase comfort and organization. These cheap ties work great to keep all my cords organized and neatly tucked a way.
Space Heater: You can’t just crank up the thermostat when you feel like it in most offices. I can here at home, but I also pay the heating bill. So yes, you still need a “work sweater” and a space heater when you work from home!
And there you have it — the office supplies I  pretty much can’t live without and the Smart Office Blog contribution to the “I love office supplies” meme!

How to Save Tons of Money When Replacing Your Ink Cartridges.

Posted on by Frankye

If you follow the Smart Office blog, you know that it is completely illegal for printer manufacturers to void your warranty for not using name brand inks. This is great if you use an inkjet printer, because those run through ink pretty quickly. I use an inkjet and it sometimes seems as if I am buying a new cartridge every other day! Since printer ink is a recurring expense, it’s a good idea to find ways to save money. You have three options when it comes to replacing ink cartridges: OEM cartridges, OEM-compatible cartridges and re-manufactured cartridges.

OEM means “original equipment manufacturer.” OEM ink cartridges are made or purchased by printer manufacturers and marketed under their brand name.  OEM ink cartridges are guaranteed to work reliably and produce great looking documents, but they also costs the most. The other safe bet is OEM-compatible ink cartridges. These ink cartridges are generics made to OEM specifications, so they generally perform reliably. They also cost significantly less than OEM ink cartridges. For example, if your office uses a Hewitt Packard Officejet K8600 Series printer, you’ll pay about $29 for the OEM cartridges at On Time Supplies. The OEM-compatible cartridges from Innovera are only $22.

Finally, there are remanufactured or recycled ink cartridges. These are used OEM cartridges that have been refurbished and refilled.  Re-manufactured cartridges are the cheapest option — some quick Googling turned up $26 5-packs for the HP Officejet printer. They are also the riskiest option — they may be filled with inferior inks that can clog your printer, produce poor quality documents, break down or otherwise fail to perform reliably. Use these at your own risk.

Blurb: 3M Recoups Shrinking Sales with Flu-Fear Products

Posted on by chase

Now maybe “fear” is the wrong term, but it’s as valid as any. MinnPost.com is reporting that 3M, long-plagued by shrinking sales in the new economy, is making back some lost profits with record sales of flu masks and other health and safety gear.

3M’s third-quarter profits of $971 million beat analysts’ predictions and prompted the company to raise its outlook for the fiscal year.

Health-care sales increased 4.7 percent to $1.1 billion, while its consumer and office division saw sales fall 4.8 percent to $923 million. Office products saw double-digit sales declines, the company said.

‘Tis the season to get sick, folks. There’s nothing wrong with a little caution, and 3M and the rest of the gang over at On Time Supplies are happy to help out with masks, hand sanitizer, and everything else you need to stay healthy and happy this fall.

EXPO Spotlights “America’s Most Inspiring Teacher”

Posted on by chase

How about some good news for once? Just posted on Reuters, EXPO® (perhaps best known for their dry erase products, and falling under the same Rubbermaid corporate umbrella as Sharpie®, Rolodex® and more) announced that Peter Torres of Davie, Fla., was the grand prize winner of the EXPO Extraordinary Educator Award.

What makes me so happy about this story is they picked a teacher who works to instill grammar basics (which I find awesome!) and break “text speak” such as using “u” for “you” and so on (which I find infuriating!) in a class full of seventh-graders.

According to Torres, there is a time and a place for “text speak” – using a
shorthand “u” for “you,” for instance – in today’s cell phone-wielding world.
But in the classroom, he says students’ increasing use of text messaging to
communicate has taken on even greater concern as it may also stunt their
academic growth. He adds that many students are putting “text language” in
their written materials and presentations.

“Kids these days do not know how to speak in front of people,” said Torres.
“They can express themselves in a social setting outside of school, but they
have trouble communicating in writing or when asked a question by an adult.”

Torres, who DJs professionally on the side, uses his entertainment skills to
keep language arts units dynamic, engaging and focused on the fundamentals.
His lesson plans include everything from challenging students to correct the
grammar used in rap lyrics to using well-known wizardly novels to get them to
unlock the hidden meanings of select prose.

The article goes on to say that Torres was chosen from hundreds of teachers nominated by students and parents nationwide. He will receive $5,000 in cash, a year’s supply of EXPO products for his school, a $900 mimio® Interactive Plus Capture kit and a “field trip” for two to Los Angeles or New York to attend the taping of an NBC Late Night Talk Show.

Teachers spend hundreds of dollars of their own money each year on school supplies – an average of $523 and $465, respectively, in large and medium school systems, according to a 2001 study by the National Education Association. The EXPO Extraordinary Educator Award is EXPO’s way of helping teachers defray some of those costs, and we salute them.

More Office Depot Chair Recalls

Posted on by chase

According to attorneyatlaw.com, Raynor Marketing is voluntarily recalling the Quantum Realspace PRO™ 9000 Series Mid-Back Multifunction Mesh Chair and Multifunction Mesh Chair with Headrest, both manufactured in China and sold exclusively at Office Depot.

Importer Raynor Marketing has received 33 reports of the seatbacks on the chairs coming loose and detaching, including 14 involving bumps, bruises, and other injuries, the CPSC said.

The falls occurred when bolts holding the seatback to the chair frame came loose and came off, officials said.

Quantum Realspace PRO™ 9000 Series Mid-Back Multifunction Mesh Chairs with SKU # 510830 and the Quantum Realspace PRO™ 9000 Series Mesh Chair with Headrest carrying SKU # 690690 are included in today’s recall. The Realspace PRO™ Mesh Guest Chair is not involved in this recall, the CPSC said.

The chairs sold for about $300 without headrest and $350 with headrest. If you own one of the two chairs seen below, check the SKU and contact Raynor to receive a repair kit. The contact information, as well as the full details of the recall, can be found in the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s official release. As with the last recall, I am not trying to use this as a jab at the big office companies; just getting the word out. They’ll give me plenty to jab at them with later.