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bob prohaska's usenet acc
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 Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 6:26 pm Post subject: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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Hi folks,
I'm looking to replace an ancient Apple Personal Laserwriter NTR.
The things that matter to me are reliability in intermittent use, high resolution and a standard interface in both hardware and software. From my experience PostScript was a good investment, is it still so? Color does not matter, speed is a minor issue. Mostly I want very clean, sharp text on an intermittent basis.
I've had inkjets and came away somewhat unimpressed; after sitting for a month (no, I don't print often) they always made me waste two or three sheets and maybe a cartridge if I was unlucky. Andreas Klemm's apsfilter package worked wonders, but getting it to work was a fair piece of work in itself.
The Laserwriter has given its share of trouble as well: failed scan motor, numerous failed cartridges (usually a drum problem) and one blown power supply. Not to mention hardened pickup rolls that I replaced with pieces of rubber tubing. The next time it breaks I'd like to replace it.
I'm sure (hopeful!) that things are better now, but I've been away from the subject for so long it seems wise to ask of folks later on the scene. It's a different world now.
Thanks for reading,
bob prohaska |
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Dave Balderstone
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 7:21 pm Post subject: Re: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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In article <a0p4i.1513$C96.467@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net>, bob prohaska's usenet account <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:
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Hi folks,
I'm looking to replace an ancient Apple Personal Laserwriter NTR. |
I bought a Brother HL-5040 a couple of years ago. Inexpensive, fast, great quality. |
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Dave Balderstone
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 8:36 pm Post subject: Re: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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In article <elmop-C388D0.20032021052007@nntp1.usenetserver.com>, Elmo P. Shagnasty <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
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In article <a0p4i.1513$C96.467@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net>, bob prohaska's usenet account <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:
> I'm looking to replace an ancient Apple Personal Laserwriter NTR. >
> The things that matter to me are reliability in intermittent use,
ANY dry ink laser engine will give you that.
> and a standard interface in both hardware and > software. From my experience PostScript was a good investment, > is it still so?
Absolutely. Adobe will eventually turn everything into PDF, including the RIP, but that's a ways away even for the very high end professional RIPs. Consumer printers are even farther away from that. Postscript it is.
But make sure it's Adobe brand Postscript. That's tough to find. Xerox uses it, but by and large HP doesn't. |
For basic text and images, Adobe PS isn't required. RIPping complex pages, maybe, but not home or office use. |
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bob prohaska's usenet acc
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:49 pm Post subject: Re: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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Dave Balderstone <dave@n_o_t_t_h_i_sbalderstone.ca> wrote:
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| For basic text and images, Adobe PS isn't required. RIPping complex pages, maybe, but not home or office use. |
In general, I agree, but trying to make non-postscript printers function in a mixed network of Mac, Win and Unix machines can be a real struggle. Right now the old NTR is hanging off a serial port on a FreeBSD 6.2 system and accepting jobs from two macs. Eventually I'll want it to take print jobs from a Windows box.
I looked at the Brother 5040 using Google. Seems to have been discontinued a while ago....is there a successor? And does it support PostScript? What gives the the lopsided resolution? 2400 by 600? It RIPs little bricks on the page? 8 -)
Thanks for reading,
bob prohaska |
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Dave Balderstone
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 1:21 am Post subject: Re: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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In article <JSs4i.8975$2v1.2334@newssvr14.news.prodigy.net>, bob prohaska's usenet account <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:
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Dave Balderstone <dave@n_o_t_t_h_i_sbalderstone.ca> wrote: >
> For basic text and images, Adobe PS isn't required. RIPping complex > pages, maybe, but not home or office use.
In general, I agree, but trying to make non-postscript printers function in a mixed network of Mac, Win and Unix machines can be a real struggle. |
We aren't talking about Postscript vs non-Postscript. We're talking about Adobe PostScript vs a PostScript clone.
| Quote: |
Right now the old NTR is hanging off a serial port on a FreeBSD 6.2 system and accepting jobs from two macs. Eventually I'll want it to take print jobs from a Windows box.
I looked at the Brother 5040 using Google. Seems to have been discontinued a while ago....is there a successor?
I'm sure there is. Google it.
And does it
support PostScript?
Yes. using a PS clone.
What gives the the lopsided resolution?
2400 by 600? |
You could Google that too. What it means is it's a 600 x 600 printer with an interpolated resolution in one dimension.
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It RIPs little bricks on the page? 8 -)
Sigh...
Thanks for reading,
bob prohaska |
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Mark Geary
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 1:38 pm Post subject: Re: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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In article <elmop-C388D0.20032021052007@nntp1.usenetserver.com>, Elmo P. Shagnasty <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
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| But make sure it's Adobe brand Postscript. That's tough to find. Xerox uses it, but by and large HP doesn't. |
What are the deficiencies of modern Postscript clones?
Mark Geary |
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Aawara Chowdhury
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| Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 7:42 am Post subject: Re: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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In <elmop-3C0FF4.05405222052007@nntp1.usenetserver.com>, Elmo P. Shagnasty <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
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| Anyway, the Brother stuff is superb. I have a little multifunction one, the 7820N, "N" being "network," and it sits on my Mac/Windows network (Mac OS9 and OS X both) without a problem--with full scanback support, too. Their software is worth twice what I paid for the entire thing. |
I have the same printer. Works well on my home Mac/Windows network.
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| Yeah, it emulates Postscript. |
Not that it matters for OS X, but also PCL6.
The OP was also concerned about printing costs. Toner that lasts about 2000 pages costs me about $30 (including shipping).
AC |
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bob prohaska's usenet acc
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| Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 11:30 pm Post subject: Re: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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Elmo P. Shagnasty <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
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In article <UYz5i.16321$qJ1.8244@newsfe18.lga>, Aawara Chowdhury <aawara@FEMA-trailer.org> wrote:
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| The OP was also concerned about printing costs. Toner that lasts about 2000 pages costs me about $30 (including shipping). |
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One of the annoyances of the old Canon LX engine was that drums tended to develop problems, whether they were active or not. How drums and toner keep when idle is important to me.
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Mine was $12 shipped for a refill from Ebay. Worked great. I think I got about 2500 sheets out of the factory fill. It was somewhere between 0.5 and 0.6 cents per page for toner.
I haven't had to do a drum yet, but those are easy and cheap as well. |
Is the photosensitive drum separate from the toner charge? That might help, especially if the drums tend to fail. A bad drum on a nearly-full $80 cartridge is a bit of a frustration.
In the (gasp!) fifteen or so years that I have owned the NTR it has printed only about 3000 pages. Of those, probably two-thirds are startup banners and test pages. However, the remaining thousand were all fairly important and worth the cost of keeping a high quailty printer up and running at home.
What's the print engine used in the Brothers? The one saving grace of the NTR was that the Canon LX print engine was popular enough so that it's still possible to buy (remanufactured) cartridges. They're down to about $50 now, and the refurb I have now works better than OEM so far. If the Brother uses a similarly popular engine consumable supply is fairly certain.
Thanks for reading and any insights.
bob prohaska |
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bob prohaska's usenet acc
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 2:43 am Post subject: Re: Reliable, sharp monochrome printer wanted. |
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Elmo P. Shagnasty <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
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It's a Brother print engine.
Check out Ebay for Brother toner and drums and whatnot. Cheap, cheap, cheap. |
Thank you!
bob prohaska |
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