[lug] CUPS question

[bgiles at coyotesong.com]

> On Thu, Jul 20, 2006 at 06:46:31AM -0600, bgiles at coyotesong.com wrote:
>>The bottom line is that it comes down to your needs.  If it's mostly
>>printed material with some color (e.g., syntax coloring, UML diagrams,
>>accent colors in reports, logos, and the occasional picture) a laser
>
> One of the things I really like about the color laser is that the "ink"
> doesn't expire nearly as quickly.  We had this Brother MFC that we mostly
> used as a fax machine, and we'd regularly have to replace the 3 color
> cartridges even though we rarely used them.  The printer wouldn't print
> black if the color cartridges needed replacing.  Total pain.
>
> We've only had the color laser for 7 months now, but ISTR that we had to
> replace the color cartridges in the other printer about twice a year.
>
> Funny thing is, now that we have a good color printer, we've been using it
> a lot more.  At PyCon we printed 400 brochures on the laser, which we
> never
> would have done on the inkjet because of the time, smearing, etc.  We're
> also sponsoring the Vancouver Python Workshop, and have a few hundred
> going
> out to them for attendees.  They include color and several photos.
>
> I'm fairly happy with the laser color for photos, but I'm also not very
> demanding.  For the brochures, printed on heavy weight glossy brochure
> paper, it looks just great for my tastes.
>
> We'll probably have to replace the toner by the end of the year, but even
> then it's not too bad.  I wouldn't mind if more of my printings came out
> in
> B&W, things like receipts for online purchases have no reason to come out
> in all these colors, printing google maps and stuff are nice to have
> color.
>
> Sean

I had an inkjet printer for awhile.  My per-page cost was between $5 and
$10.  I only used it occasionally (preferring my laser printer unless I
needed color) and the cartridge had inevitably dried out by then.

But times are a-changing.  You need color much more than in 2002 or so,
but I still hate the banding and smearing of ink jet printers.

Don't you have separate print queues for color and monochrome?  You can
always specify which print queue to use for receipts and such.