Light duty laser printer advice

[BarnacleGrim]

I try as much as I possibly can to stay paper free, and I think PDF is one of the greatest inventions in the history of computing. But every once in a while I need to send a letter, and using my old 1960s mechanical typewriter will probably raise questions what century I'm living in.

I've been looking at inexpensive monochrome laser printers. Samsung ML1665 is dirt cheap, but I've heard mixed reviews about Samsung printers. One unit on a ship's bridge was completely useless, but it was also subject to much heavier use.

Another low end is the Brother HL-2035. Higher resolution, higher print speed, but an unacceptable standby power consumption of 70 W compared to the 0.45 W Samsung.

AirPort Express support is a must, as I have two working computers.

 

[Concorde1993]

In regards to wireless laser printers, I use a Brother HL-3070CW, however this is a colour laser, and not a monochrome. It's a great printer; I've put about 300 pages worth on that unit since purchasing it last November, and I have not run into any problems thus far (I know it sounds too early to tell, but I've seen other lasers begin to screw up at less than 50 pages).

Another good laser brand is Lexmark, and I would definitely recommend the T630 (although this is more for heavy-duty office use than light). I use one basically everyday at school for my B & W documents, and I've never run into any problems with the dozen, or so that are on the network. It's a great monochrome.

Stay away from Samsung & HP.

 

[tmtomh]

Can't speak to power consumption, but I love Brother B&W lasers. Compact, inexpensive, toners last long and don't cost a fortune, toner-save mode makes it even better, and they're tanks.

I can't speak specifically to Airport Express - but I have an APE I use with an HP inkjet, and AFAIK pretty much any USB-enabled printer will worth with APE (the HP driver is just the standard one, nothing special for APE or wireless).

 

[Scott Baret]

I don't have a wireless laser, but I do have a compact HP LaserJet 1022 that's been great in the 5+ years I've owned it. I have heard a lot of good things about Brother lately (although in 2005 the HP was, at least for me, the better buy all around) and would probably strongly consider one if I were purchasing a printer today. However, the long term reliability of the HP has been good enough for me to recommend it. I've got about 12,000 pages on it so far and am on my third toner cartridge.

I too have heard negative things about Samsung laser printers. I'm not positive on power consumption for any of these printers offhand, but kudos to you for being mindful of that, both for the sake of the planet and your wallet.

 

[IIfx]

I am using an HP Laserjet P1006, it was only 99 dollars on sale a few years ago. Its on its 2nd toner with no problems.

 

[LC_575]

I consider those little Brothers to be the modern-day resurrections of my lovable LJ4L. :beige: They're great printers.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

I was actually hoping to find an old wired ethernet printer that I can print to from my old Macs as well as from the new ones, but it's very inconvenient to track down the right model, and one that has all the parts.

I think I'll go with the Brother. Since I won't be printing every day switching it off between uses isn't that much of an inconvenience. I'm guessing it keeps the heating element on during standby. If I need volumes or colour I can just go to the university, I hardly use any of my yearly quota anyway.

 

[Concorde1993]

I was actually hoping to find an old wired ethernet printer that I can print to from my old Macs as well as from the new ones

The HL-3070CW has an ethernet port to print from if one does not wish to use the wireless option. According to the installation disc I have for the 3070, it is compatible with Macs running as far back as OS 10.3.9. You haven't really specified what OS you are running on your "old" Mac, so it's somewhat difficult to recommend what you really need, and what actually works with your systems.

There's also the HL-3040CN, which is the entry-level colour laser in the Brother lineup, and is currently going for $249.99 (source-> Brother website). This one does not have any wireless capabilities, and relies solely on ethernet.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

I figured 'old' to this forum would mean at least 20 years old.

I have never understood why printer compatibility is even an issue, or why we need specific drivers at all. Why are PostScript printers so expensive, and what's the point of custom printer languages?

 

[redrouteone]

I have a Lexmark E120n that I picked up for about $120. It has ethernet and postscript.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

Cheapest I can find new with both network and PostScript is the Xerox Phaser 3250DN at $308. Oddly enough it requires at least 10.3 or Windows 2000, you would think the point of PostScript was that you only needed a PPD file.

Is it possible to run printer sharing and GhostScript on my G5 and use the LaserWriter 8 driver to send jobs over the network? I tried sharing the PDF printer and printing from the 7600, but nothing happened. I used a generic PPD, the G5's IP address and the printer's name in the queue field.

 

[Concorde1993]

I figured 'old' to this forum would mean at least 20 years old.

"Vintage" is the correct term when referring to equipment made in the glory days of electronics. "Old" is so worn out in society today, that a device that was released even a year ago is identified as "old," even though it's still a fairly capable device. So you can see where the confusion lies in that statement.

Besides, you're looking for a modern laser that will function with your older Macs (I am assuming one with a G3 processor, as anything less powerful will definitely not function with today's lasers). You can't run a Brother HL-2035 on a Compact Mac for obvious connectivity/software reasons, so the Mac you're referring to can't be from that time period.

Cheapest I can find new with both network and PostScript is the Xerox Phaser 3250DN at $308.

Hmmm. On the Xerox website, the starting price is $349, so I wonder where you are getting your sources from. But still a nice laser, overall. Good luck with your search.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

Actually I got $345 from Swedish Xerox site, converted from Swedish currency. $308 came from an online low-cost dealer, they don't mark up their products nearly as much as the rest of them

I read the help for Mac OS X printer sharing. It accepts PostScript jobs using the LPD protocol. But it didn't say whether the printer had to be PostScript, or if interpretation was built-in. Doesn't that mean that any vintage Mac with the LaserWriter 8 driver can print through the Mac OS X machine.

 

[trag]

I was actually hoping to find an old wired ethernet printer that I can print to from my old Macs as well as from the new ones, but it's very inconvenient to track down the right model, and one that has all the parts.

I don't know if you're willing to look at used printers, but the HP 2100TN is a nice little black and white printer and it has LocalTalk built in. If you want ethernet you can add a JetDirect EIO card. The 10/100 cards are now pretty cheap (less than $20).

I read the help for Mac OS X printer sharing. It accepts PostScript jobs using the LPD protocol. But it didn't say whether the printer had to be PostScript, or if interpretation was built-in. Doesn't that mean that any vintage Mac with the LaserWriter 8 driver can print through the Mac OS X machine.

You would think it does. However, on my Kyocera EPS C170N color laser printer, which claims OS9.x as a minimum, I can print to it using Laserwriter 8 on my OS 9.x machines, but when I boot into OS 8.x, I cannot print to it.

I'm not sure what the difference is. It supports AppleTalk protocol over ethernet (or the specs claim it does).

But then I haven't experimented much with it yet, either. I only mention it, because while you would think that Postscript support would be independent of OS version, at least a little evidence suggests that it is not or that there are other more subtle requirements.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

There aren't really that many good printers on the auction sites, and it would have to be local pickup. I actually saw a dirt cheap colour HP just down the road from here, but when I checked the cost of the toner, even generic, I saw why they were selling it.

I think I'll take my chances with the Brother, take it home and see if it works. The important thing is to get a reliable printer for day-to-day use. If it doesn't work with the vintage machines I have a fortnight to decide if it's worth the trouble taking it back. I don't think I'll print much from them, but I like to preserve my Macs in a good working environment.

I should probably read up on LPD, CUPS, GhostScript, Foomatic, etc. Any good suggestions for people like me who are stuck in the Chooser days? xx(