Thank you for the description and advice. I have been entertaining a
color laser for the convenience, and as much as I like the Minolta
output , and its nice matte surface on color laser bond paper, I need to
be able to put heavy stock through.

I recall looking at the 7300 some years back, quite a beast size wise,
but the 12 x 18" ability was so nice looking.

It's a pity that Minolta hasn't addressed the thick paper issue
thoroughly, because I still like the output. The Lexmarks I looked at a
few years back were not up to the Minoltas, but perhaps things have
improved. I've been very disappointed in Lexmark inkjet, so it always
makes me nervous.

What's interesting is the Minolta color copiers handle heavy stock
rather well. Too bad that hasn't trickled down into the laser printers.

Thanks again, I think you might have saved me some headaches.

Art


One Million Pictures wrote:

"Arthur Entlich" wrote in message
news:813Ed.49277$nN6.22734@edtnps84...

This is very useful information.

I use a 199GSM card/cover stock (matte) for my color laser printing
(currently done by a contractor on a professional machine).

Is the problem with heavier paper the inability of the fuser to heat it
fully (and thus the toner doesn't adhere fully)? Or is it transport
problems with slippage, or both? I wonder if to speed up output they
didn't sacrifice paper thickness and if it could be adjusted via an
internal or firmware/software adjustment.

On this printer does switching to the "Thick stock" option slow the
paper transport at the fuser so it has more time to heat, or does it
seem to boast the heating level of the fuser?

Other than creating a glossier result, does using the "Thick stock"
option alter the output in other ways, such as smears, loss of
sharpness, change of color fidelity, color density, etc?

I wonder if any 3rd party toner might work with a different fusing
temperature (lower)?

Art

Forget third party toner in a Minolta... Absolutely!
Choosing 'thick stock' reduces the printing speed from 4 pages per minute to
about 1.5 pages per minute. If ever you try to print several copies on thick
stock without setting the thing... It will result in toner being spread all
over both sides of the paper. You'll have to do a thick stock run with a few
sheets of plain paper to clean it.

I haven't had slippage up to 250 GSM. What happens with thick card is it
gets drag marks on it from forcing it through the tight paper path. A much
better (A4) printer for card is a Lexmark. They are a few hundred dearer but
paper handling is up to 225 GSM and the photos 'look better' than from a
Minolta 2300. I have both 2300 and 7300 Minolta printers... They were the
edge of the pack when they were put on the market a few years ago. Now, they
are sadly in need of a re-design to get them up to specs.