LaserWriter 16/600 PS - Free!

[TheIanMan85]

Got this from my Stepdad, the place he works replaced it with something newer. Page count is 101,827. Stock 8 MB of RAM. I connected it via one of the AAUI adapters I already own. I'm out of network ports without venturing into the dreaded basement to find another switch, so there's no network cable plugged in at the moment. I've tested it and it works fine both via AppleTalk on Macs running OS 9.2.2 and 10.4.11, and via IP printing from 10.8.1. It needs some cleaning; but it doesn't make any strange noises.

I plan on putting it on a milk crate near where it's sitting now, since I'm running out of space in that room. (I already have a Brother HL-5250DN I've owned since new, and a Brother MFC-8460N that I got for $12.99 at a thrift shop...) The 8460 would replace the 5250 if it duplexed. Since it doesn't I had two printers, one that scans and copies, and one that prints on both sides (and has a very low page count). Now the LaserWriter will be there if I want to print from something running less than OS 9. It may get sold, since I don't know how common that'll be, and I intend to move the LocalTalk card from the ImageWriter LQ to one of the ImageWriter IIs since thre only thing I really imagine wanting to print from an old Mac would be banners...

Anyway, here it is. Sorry for the lousy cell phone picture!

 

[mac2geezer]

Congrats on that conquest! Those are great printers and built to last. I have a spare 8MB Simm pulled from my 16/600 when I upgraded it to 24MB. It's yours for the mailing cost if you want it.

 

[insaneboy]

Nice! If I hadn't already snagged an HP laserjet I'd have been interested in that.

 

[gobabushka]

I'm just lovin my little laserjet 1012. Now I just have to get cups sharing working on ubuntu server...

 

[TheIanMan85]

@mac2geezer that's a generous offer, thanks. I may snag that 8 MB SIMM. While I don't have an immediate need, too much RAM isn't something I've ever complained about... :beige:

Despite owning many Apple products currently and in the past, this is my first LaserWriter. I did turn down one in the past once due to having too much stuff and not enough space. That was a Personal LaserWriter 300 or something similar, maybe 8 years ago.

I'm going to clean the case today to hopefully it'll look as nice as it performs.

@insaneboy in case you didn't see it, I saw a LaserWriter 8500 for free in Bath on craigslist. Just because laser printers are designed to serve multiple computers doesn't mean you can's geek out and have more than one...although it is hard to justify to the significant other...which is why I had trouble explaining the 16/600 and why I won't bother making a trip to get that other 70 pound beast... Even is the MacAddict in me wants to liberate it. } :rambo:

EDIT: Here's the ad for the 8500 is anyone's interested. http://maine.craigslist.org/sys/3264625192.html

 

[insaneboy]

does it come apart, cuz it'll only be me moving it.

and I can justify that, it prints 11x17 WOOO.

edit: looked at toner GACK! *dies* 8-o

 

[TheIanMan85]

At least with a 14,000 page yield on the 8500's toner, it'll be a while before you need another one! I don't know how easily they come apart. I've only seen a couple in person, and they were in service. At least it's a "last and best" model!

Also, if they're giving away a LaserWriter 8500, who knows what other cool things they might have kicking around...

 

[insaneboy]

You should go and get it than. I'll give ya $10 if ya bring it to me, you keep what ever other cool goodies they have. They're only available weekdays and I'm in Portland weekdays.

 

[olePigeon]

I have a Color LaserJet 5 (upgraded to a 5M.) It's slow as dirt, but the toner is only $2 or $3 per color. It also does 11x17 B&W prints (but not color for some strange reason.)

 

[beachycove]

I have a small collection of LaserWriters, and wanted to add an 8500 for a long time before I found one last year. Truth be told, however, I am not sure I should have gone to the trouble taken to get it. The 8500 looks like a fabulous machine, in theory: last of a distinguished breed, and all that. However, before you rush out to find one too, you should know a few things.

First, it is not as reliable as the bulletproof machines that share the chassis design of the 16/600 (I have, for instance, a LW Pro 630 from 1993, and it just goes on and on without complaint or fuss). It seems that very few 8500s reached high pages of service without repair.

Second, and as has been noted, unlike the cheap and plentiful HP-compatible toner cartridges that go in the LW Pro and 16/600, 8500 toner cartridges (IBM Infoprint 20-compatibles) are both rather hard to find and tend to be very expensive when you can find them. Parts for toners (cleaning blades, etc.), for those inclined to try DIY work on the cartridges, just cannot be had, so forget that. Your local toner refill shop can't help, because the printers were rare and the design short-lived. The regular price for a new OEM cartridge (IBM is the most common brand) tends to the $200-300 range, but there are a few places now selling remanufactured toners for about $100 a pop. So expect to pay minimally three times the price for the same number of pages printed using remanufactured cartridges in an 8500 rather than a 16/600, and much more if using OEM cartridges. In other words, you can buy something like three 16/600 toners (18,000 pages) for the price of one of the cheapest 8500 toner cartridges available (14,000 pages). More than that, those three cartridges can each be refilled maybe three times apiece, so you do the math and the cost/page sums; the 8500 will never come out on top.

Third, an 8500 is really big. You will need lots of space. Forget about popping it on the corner of your desk; it will want a desk of its own. I had seen plenty of photos of the 8500 before pressing the purchase button, and knew the dimensions, but was still not prepared for the looming size of the thing on arrival.

And fourth, an 8500 is pretty noisy. The engineers never reached the point of shutting off the fan at idle, like printers manufactured a couple of years later tend to do. Shame, really. I suspect this also means that it continues to draw a lot of energy at idle, since fan cooling is apparently always needed. Exhaust air is always warm, and I have set the energy saver to maximum via the Apple Printer Utility.

True, the 8500 can print on A3/ 11"x17" paper, and that is a rarity. The 8500 is also itself rare, and is an impressively fast printer for a machine of its era, while the print quality is also excellent. I do like the thing, especially as I have an interest in the big professional units Apple produced in the late 90s (and in machines of the "Gil" era generally, who I think is/ which I think are underrated), and I particularly like the fact that it matches my 8600/ beige G3 machines — but I'd probably replace it with a 16/600 for practical reasons if given the chance. I think the 16/600, the processor in which was a big step up from my LW Pro's 68030+68882, is probably Apple's best laser printer to look out for.

 

[mac2geezer]

In addition to all of the above, the 16/600 has two Ram slots for a max of 24MB, space and cable for an internal HD, and an HDI30 port for an external SCSI HD. Just in case someone wanted to go wild with the printer.

 

[beachycove]

And will take a fax expansion card. Wowza!

 

[TheIanMan85]

Thanks for the insight beachycove. While I was a little tempted to go for the 8500, I was already scared off by the size and cost of toner.

I always thought the 16/600 was one of the better LaserWriters. We had them in school and I can't really ever remember them having issues despite high volume use year after year. I wouldn't be surprised if they're still in use today given their reliability and my former school department's ever shrinking budget.

I'm pleased with this one so far. Acts exactly as it should, and the 101k page count doesn't seem too high compared to some of the others I've seen.

Here's a little side-topic question: What's the highest page count anyone here has on a LaserWriter? Or lowest?