recommend me a ... Printer

[ironborn65]

Hi mates,
I would like to add a retro printer to my collection, possibly an Apple one, laser, without hassle when looking for a new toner and reasonably cheap.
Any recommendation?

 

[robin-fo]

StyleWriter II. You can still get cartridges from 3rd party suppliers.

 

[Durosity]

I have a Laserwriter 16/600 and it seems pretty bullet proof.. so far anyway.

 

[zefrenchtoon]

StyleWriter II. You can still get cartridges from 3rd party suppliers.

SW II is not a laser printer

 

[robin-fo]

SW II is not a laser printer

Oops, I thought the OP was not strictly looking for laser printers. My fault

 

[olePigeon]

While not Apple, it's really hard to go wrong with a HP LaserJet II/IIIP or 4M (regular IIs & IIIs and 4s can be upgraded to a "Macintosh" edition by adding a PostScript module and JetDirect card with AppleTalk.) I recommend them because not only were they ubiquitous and often used with Macs (probably moreso than Apple's own printers), but you can still buy refurbishment kits (with new-old-stock or refurbished parts) and relatively cheap toner.

Fantastic printers.

Edit: I have a LaserJet 4MP in my office. I saved it from ewaste. It was used in the main office of the building for about 20 years straight. I installed a roller kit and a new toner cartridge, worked like new again. It was missing the JetDirect card for some reason, but I had an extra external JetDirect doohicky that converts Parallel to ethernet, so it works anyway.

 

[adespoton]

I second @olePigeon's recommendation. Everything on the old HP LaserJets can still be repaired/refurbished, and the toner is just toner. If you want it networked, not even any need for a JetDirect card; just hook it up to a Raspberry Pi, and it can run netatalk 4, which provides printing for AppleTalk, as well as Bonjour advertising for more recent AirPrint-ready computers. Means that everything that can print to any type of PostScript printer can print to it.

 

[Chardonneret]

Oops, I thought the OP was not strictly looking for laser printers. My fault

Oops, I thought the OP was not strictly looking for laser printers. My fault

By the way, the CANON BC-0 ink cartridge works perfectly in my StyleWriter II

 

[chelseayr]

well @Chardonneret the 'small' stylewriters were pretty much canon hardware underneath the apple plastics to a certain degree so tbh expendables not surprisingly are alike at times. as a just-for-one-example footnote the bc10 ink would work in almost every older 2-digits canon bjc printers in additional to the same-mechanicals apple stylewriter 2200 for certain

and 'big' stylewriters were instead based after the deskjet although at that point I don't know how much was 'actually shared' tho (if you need a specific deskjet model to look up does-seem-similar photos for, try the 850c as its indeed very close to apple's)

 

[volvo242gt]

While not Apple, it's really hard to go wrong with a HP LaserJet II/IIIP or 4M (regular IIs & IIIs and 4s can be upgraded to a "Macintosh" edition by adding a PostScript module and JetDirect card with AppleTalk.) I recommend them because not only were they ubiquitous and often used with Macs (probably moreso than Apple's own printers), but you can still buy refurbishment kits (with new-old-stock or refurbished parts) and relatively cheap toner.

Fantastic printers.

Edit: I have a LaserJet 4MP in my office. I saved it from ewaste. It was used in the main office of the building for about 20 years straight. I installed a roller kit and a new toner cartridge, worked like new again. It was missing the JetDirect card for some reason, but I had an extra external JetDirect doohicky that converts Parallel to ethernet, so it works anyway.

And, the Apple LaserWriter printers are based on the same Canon guts that HP used on their LaserJet printers, so the same availability for toner and refurbishment kits applies to the equivalent LaserWriter.

 

[Unknown_K]

Postscript models would be the best choice.

 

[volvo242gt]

A Personal LaserWriter NT is essentially a LaserJet IIP with the PostScript and JetDirect AppleTalk module installed. Decent printer, albeit slow, compared to modern printers. Basically a page every 15 seconds. A LaserWriter IINTX or IIf/IIg model would also be good, but will definitely need recapping of the power supply by now. Prints a page every 7.5 seconds.

 

[olePigeon]

And, the Apple LaserWriter printers are based on the same Canon guts that HP used on their LaserJet printers, so the same availability for toner and refurbishment kits applies to the equivalent LaserWriter.

But not the original LaserWriter.

 

[Chardonneret]

well @Chardonneret the 'small' stylewriters were pretty much canon hardware underneath the apple plastics to a certain degree so tbh expendables not surprisingly are alike at times. as a just-for-one-example footnote the bc10 ink would work in almost every older 2-digits canon bjc printers in additional to the same-mechanicals apple stylewriter 2200 for certain

and 'big' stylewriters were instead based after the deskjet although at that point I don't know how much was 'actually shared' tho (if you need a specific deskjet model to look up does-seem-similar photos for, try the 850c as its indeed very close to apple's)

Thanks for the update

 

[ironborn65]

thanks.
I found this for €80.
Apple Personal Laser Writer
FCC ID: BCGM2015
1992

I'll make an offer for €50

is it a good deal?
I want to network it

 

[chrisrueckert]

The LS doesn't have Ethernet nor PostScript.

 

[Durosity]

I'd usually avoid any 'Personal' ones.. as the name suggests they're designed for local use, not network, and most (if not all?) didn't have Postscript from memory.

 

[ironborn65]

can't a print server connected the Lan use the serial mini din port?

 

[Durosity]

can't a print server connected the Lan use the serial mini din port?

I'm no expert on all the printers, but as far as I can remember the simple answer is no, that all the processing was offloaded to the Mac. I suppose it might be possible to share it from the Mac over the network? I know you could do that with some of the StyleWriter printers.

 

[fergycool]

I got myself a Laserwriter 4/600 PS a few months ago. It's single colour and networkable (LocalTalk). I had quite an adventure as even though it takes a fairly common HP toner cartridge (HP 92274A) these are all quite old now and the wiper blade (that removes excess toner) will likely have deterioated and will not work. So prints are streaky and pretty poor. I tried rebuilding two cartridges and only had limited success. Many HP 92274A cartridges (original and otherwise) are available on ebay. But these are also old and suffer the same issue. Eventually though I found a seller with remanufactured and guaranteed cartridges. Not particularly cheap but a pristine print. I also had to rebuild the printer a few times (which was also an adventure!) due to a misfeed issue. But It's now working great and I am pretty happy with it.