Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 23:49:15 -0700 From: "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com> To: "Duke Normandin" <01031149@3web.net>, "Freebsd Questions" <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: RE: What is the magical incantation necessary to print to /dev/ulpt0 Message-ID: <001501c12556$65e4e780$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com> In-Reply-To: <20010814060128.A256101@mandy.rockingd.calgary.ab.ca>
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>-----Original Message----- >From: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG >[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG]On Behalf Of Duke Normandin >Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 5:01 AM >To: Freebsd Questions >Subject: Re: What is the magical incantation necessary to print to >/dev/ulpt0 > > > >On Mon, Aug 13, 2001 at 10:08:01PM -0700, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote: >> >> So what ends up happening is that the market in this group - people >> like me - have to go picking through the printer wrecking yards where >> the old business printers go to die, hoping to run across some beast >> that hasn't been thrashed within an inch of it's life and sporting a >> page count higher than the local Lotto jackpot. >> >> Ted Mittelstaedt tedm@toybox.placo.com > >So..... out with it! What are the brand names of some good old business >printers that turn your crank? I think that the best value today in old business printers are the HP LaserJet 5si's. Not the 5's, you want the 5si model. There were a ton of options for them, and today you can get them very cheap used because the printer is physically very large, so most home users shy away from buying them - which clears away the competition so the used prices are forced even lower. Also the large toner cartridge is available from every used cartridge refurbisher there is and holds a lot of toner which helps to keep your cost per page very low. Most importantly in used printers, there were a ton of them sold and they were very popular - so your going to see parts and support for years and years to come. The only problem with them is that they were workhorse printers and on the used variety the page counts are typically rather high, so it's a crapshoot buying them. If the previous owner kept the thing serviced your fine - but if they were the type of business that never serviced their printers until the printer broke down, then your probably going to have to pay for the cost of a service. Also, since they are physically large, buying them from places like Ebay you have to add $100 for shipping. But, look at what you get - a recent Ebay sale for a used 5Si MX (MX includes PostScript) with a jetdirect card and a 30 day warranty went for only $500! New, the JetDirect card alone probably went for $500! While $500 is a bit steep for a printer for a lot of home users, you have to remember that you spend it only once. A used 5Si today would probably easily last 10 years or even longer in a home setting with light duty printing. Probably next on the list would be a used HP 4 or 4Plus. These go for around $250 and used PostScript simms are cheap for them. Even better for home users the page counts can run as low as 2-3000 pages because typically these printers were used in small workgroup settings. (compare to the average of around 100,000 page counts for the 5si's) Their biggest problem is that most people didn't buy options for them and so used options are harder to get. I happen to own a used 4+ and it took me 6 months of looking to locate a used duplexer for it that wasn't way expensive. There were a lot of them sold, though, so your going to be able to get toner for a long time for these too. I'd be interested in models from the Lexmark side. A number of years back when I was supporting printers in a corporate setting I dealt with only HP and so never learned what was hot on the Lexmark side. Ted Mittelstaedt tedm@toybox.placo.com Author of: The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide Book website: http://www.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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