That looks an awful lot like a re-badged Alps MD-1000, which was a really cool printer that worked a lot like tiptoeturtle described, except that each color was a separate ribbon (C,Y,M,K)
And yeah, good luck finding ribbons =D
Hmmm, well, imho, I'd suggest that it is always true.
The mac portable may be more prone to cap issues and electrolyte damage (I haven't repaired any of those), which certianly could tilt the decision, but I'd be loathe to repair a machine that is working properly with no signs of leakage. That...