[Shop-talk] Printers

[old dirtbeard]

Hi guys,.

Best home printer I had for its time was an IBM 4019 Laser Printer. Bought 
one in 1991 and it died this year after many  hundreds of thousands pages. 
It truly is the cost per page by the number of pages plus the purchase price 
of the printer factored by the life of the printer that determines the cost 
of a printer. The same comparison can be made for buying a cheap 60% 
efficient furnace versus the price of 95% efficient furnace over the life of 
the furnace. If you don't need a furnace, buy the cheap furnace. But if you 
are going to print, buy an "efficient" printer.

I am really impressed, though, with a new solid ink printer (not an ink jet, 
not a laser) I bought a few months ago:

Xerox Phaser 8560N

30 pages per minute BW or color, lowest cost per page on consumables of any 
printer I could locate, no toner cartridges to try to recycle, etc. You just 
drop in what looks like wax crayon "clumps" and off it goes.

I am responsible for an $8M/yr. IT budget and have found that:
    - current B/W HP laser printers are competitive on a cost per page basis 
with most manufacturers
    -  current color HP laser printers are competitive on a cost per page 
basis with most manufacturers when printing color
     - current color HP laser printers are not competitive on a cost per 
page basis with most manufacturers when printing B/W (they blend in color 
toner to print B/W -- they say it is because it keeps the toner refreshed)
    - I cannot speak yet of the reliability for the solid ink Xerox Phaser, 
but if it is performs as marketed, it will be the cheapest, fastest printer 
you can own (so far I love it, it looks like offset print)
    - no matter what you do, ink jets are the most costly printer per page 
to own. If you never need to print, buy an ink jet -- only then is it a 
bargain.The truly have become a ponzi scheme. "I'll give you the printer and 
I an only want your first-born child."

I apologize, but they are like cancer -- once they get in you operations, 
they eat you alive with the consumables and need so much attention 
refilling,etc.

>From an IT guy, buy a decent laser or one of Xerox's new solid ink cartridge 
printers and print away.

best,

doug

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elton E. (Tony) Clark" <eltonclark at gmail.com>
To: "Doug Braun" <doug at dougbraun.com>
Cc: "Shop-Talk List" <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 7:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Printers


> *My newish Epson CX 3810 all-in-one has a particularly annoying
> characteristic:  After I loaded my favorite cheapass ink, it bitches at me
> before every print job that I have "non-Epson" ink loaded and asks if I'd
> like to abort and buy Epson ink . . . Sheeeeesh!*
> _______________________________________________
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