[lug] CUPS question

[D. Stimits]

bgiles at coyotesong.com wrote:

>>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.
>
>  
>

Most people probably can't afford it, but if you have nearly a grand, 
you can use the printer everyone at my work place loves. It's the Xerox 
solid ink printer, the Phaser 8500 series. It's native postscript level 
3 (pcl emulation), very fast compared to most anything in the home, has 
the least expensive 'ink' of any printer made aside from a dot matrix, 
and is probably one of the highest quality prints you'll ever get. It 
works on both its built in NIC, or USB. It never breaks. It's incredibly 
easy to maintain. The ink never grows too old. If you buy the large ink 
supply, you're talking about 1.5 cents for a full page for black. Each 
of the 3 colors are around 2.5 cents per page using a lot of color. CUPS 
loves it, you just import the PPD file, and you're done.

The technology is half way between an ink jet and a laser. It spits the 
equivalent of molten low temperature plastic out that is pre-melted, 
rather than having a laser fuser do the melting (in other words, there 
is a maintenance kit that is around 1/100th of a penny per page for 
solid ink, and far far far more expensive to pay for in a laser). There 
is no clogging like ink, it's thermal not chemical cure. There is no 
mess like toner, and the toner does not clump...it's basically a cube of 
low temperature plastic.

We decimate this printer at work with everything all day long, it 
refuses to cause trouble or fail. Lasers and ink jets are just plain 
junk in comparison. I doubt many people here want to spend a grand, but 
if you do, it'll save a lot of money in the long run. And it prints the 
best pictures and text I've seen, there isn't an ink jet made that looks 
any better. Sadly, I see expensive thousand dollar lasers at the local 
office supply stores that don't even remotely match the 
quality/speed/low-cost-supplies. Yes, I'm biased (so is everyone at my 
job the first time they use the printer) :P Never spend a grand on a 
laser if you can get solid ink. If you want to save on variable cost and 
want to print a lot of volume, nothing else comes close.

D. Stimits, stimits AT comcast DOT net