Postscript still important for laser printers? How much RAM is enough? LexMark?

I need to buy a "small office" laser printer to replace my Samsung
ML-2150, which has gotten very erratic lately. This printer has
Postscript emulation and 16 MB of RAM. (Years ago, I tried to upgrade
the RAM, but could not find a compatible third-party memory stick.)

Is Postscript emulation still important. I do mostly text, but also a
lot of PowerPoint, including graphics, plus the usual Excel graphics,
webpages, etc.

How much memory is really needed? I would like to be able to spool
off a 5 or 10 MB PowerPoint preso to the printer as soon as I click on
PRINT. Right now, my PowerPoint jobs often take several minutes to
complete, before PowerPoint is ready to do other tasks.

Finally, I have found a LexMark printer for about $200 that does
PostScript, has Ethernet support, etc. But I have the impression that
LexMark is not a quality brand. Is this correct?

Thanks,

-AH

Andrew Hamilton wrote:
I need to buy a "small office" laser printer to replace my Samsung
ML-2150, which has gotten very erratic lately. This printer has
Postscript emulation and 16 MB of RAM. (Years ago, I tried to upgrade
the RAM, but could not find a compatible third-party memory stick.)

Is Postscript emulation still important. I do mostly text, but also a
lot of PowerPoint, including graphics, plus the usual Excel graphics,
webpages, etc.

That's a judgement call. I'd say yes. A PCL-only printer is livable,
and some people can use a host-based printer without problems. But a PS
printer gives you more options and is more versatile.

How much memory is really needed? I would like to be able to spool
off a 5 or 10 MB PowerPoint preso to the printer as soon as I click on
PRINT. Right now, my PowerPoint jobs often take several minutes to
complete, before PowerPoint is ready to do other tasks.

More is usually better, although it depends on the printer and how it
allocates the memory. Adjusting how the computer spools the print job
can also make a big difference.

Finally, I have found a LexMark printer for about $200 that does
PostScript, has Ethernet support, etc. But I have the impression that
LexMark is not a quality brand. Is this correct?

I've been advising people to stay away from Lexmark for a long time.
Their high-end lasers are supposed to be good, but I may never know
because their anti-customer policies of years ago combined with their
terrible disposable low-end printers convinced me that giving money to
Lexmark will just encourage them.

You may be able to find a good deal on a used business-class laser which
will not have the problems of a low-end model:

http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/docs/...sedlasers.html

On 24 Jul 2010 15:11:56 GMT, Warren Block wrote:


I've been advising people to stay away from Lexmark for a long time.
Their high-end lasers are supposed to be good, but I may never know
because their anti-customer policies of years ago combined with their
terrible disposable low-end printers convinced me that giving money to
Lexmark will just encourage them.


I used to service Lexmark laser and color laser printers and hated them.
Everything was hard to get to, tech support/parts order sucked big time.
Documentation was terrible.

Replacement feed units were often refurbed, which is OK, but many had the same
problem you were trying to fix, so they probably were never touched in the
repair depot.

Their inkjets were absolute junk

On 24 Jul 2010 15:11:56 GMT, Warren Block wrote:


Is Postscript emulation still important. I do mostly text, but also a
lot of PowerPoint, including graphics, plus the usual Excel graphics,
webpages, etc.

That's a judgement call. I'd say yes. A PCL-only printer is livable,
and some people can use a host-based printer without problems. But a PS
printer gives you more options and is more versatile.

Sounds like I really should have a Postscript printer. I am
self-employed and can't deal with printer limitation hassles.



More is usually better, although it depends on the printer and how it
allocates the memory. Adjusting how the computer spools the print job
can also make a big difference.

Oh. How can that be done?


Finally, I have found a LexMark printer for about $200 that does
PostScript, has Ethernet support, etc. But I have the impression that
LexMark is not a quality brand. Is this correct?

I've been advising people to stay away from Lexmark for a long time.

LOL! Especially what MD34 said and he used to service the things!

Their high-end lasers are supposed to be good, but I may never know
because their anti-customer policies of years ago combined with their
terrible disposable low-end printers convinced me that giving money to
Lexmark will just encourage them.

What a shame. I'm enough of an old-timer to remember that Lexmark was
an IBM spinoff, for printers, keyboards, and other stuff (?). The old
IBM keyboards were my all-time favorites, and say what you might about
IBM, they usually didn't produce junk or have anti-customer policies.
Quite the opposite. Maybe they needed to expel this "foreign
organism" from their overall organization.

You may be able to find a good deal on a used business-class laser which
will not have the problems of a low-end model:

http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/docs/...sedlasers.html

Thanks, but I'm nervous about buying used stuff like printers. when I
used to work for companies, I saw plenty of printers that were simply
worn out, like a Hyundai with 200,000 miles!

On Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:37:51 -0500, MD34 wrote:

On 24 Jul 2010 15:11:56 GMT, Warren Block wrote:


I used to service Lexmark laser and color laser printers and hated them.
Everything was hard to get to, tech support/parts order sucked big time.
Documentation was terrible.

Replacement feed units were often refurbed, which is OK, but many had the same
problem you were trying to fix, so they probably were never touched in the
repair depot.


All good reasons to avoid them. In some ways this sounds like the
situation with my Samsung ML-2150. That printer has been to the shop
twice, because both mainboards failed, costing more money than the
money I saved by not buying the equivalent HP unit. And don't get
stared on the lousy treatment I got from Samsung when I had some
problems with a Samsung cellphone.

Their inkjets were absolute junk

On 07/24/2010 01:37 PM, MD34 wrote:

I used to service Lexmark laser and color laser printers and hated them.
Everything was hard to get to, tech support/parts order sucked big time.
Documentation was terrible.

In about a year, I'll buy a color printer for printing photographs. As
I've already said, years ago, I switched from A Canon BJ-300 to an HP
Laserjet 1012. I can almost say it was a change in lifestyle.

The BJ-300 ink was so expensive it drove me nuts and dealing with Canon
Canada was a hooredous experience. OTOH, printing with the HP laserjet
has always been a no-issue experience (that is after they updated the
Linux driver about 6 months after I bought it). Here is how ot works:

1) Plug the printer into a power outlet
2) Plug the USB cable into the computer
3) Put some paper in the tray
4) Turn the printer on
5) CTRL + P
6) Click "Print"

and it prints, every time, without a dpi missing or being added.

I don't have printer concerns anymore. The thing is there, it's a
printer, and it prints!

So, I don't intend to go back to inkjet printing and cleaningprint heads
ebery tiem I print. As for Canon, it's out for the rest of my life. I
don't ever want to hear about Canon anymore.

Though I won't print much, maybe 500 pages/year, I'd rather pay more on
the printer and less on consumables, even if it turned out to be cheaper
to buy a flimsy thing that brings profits on consumables. I don't agree
with this way of doing business and it infuriates me. (Note that the
Canon BJ-300 sold for $550... in 1989 and that ink cartridges that would
barely print more than 350 pages costed $30. I didn't consider this
closely enough when I bought.)

So, given that I won't print much, that I want inkjet comparable
quality, that I don't need wireless or networking, that I need fully
compatible Linux drivers, which printer would you go for?

On 07/24/2010 02:41 PM, Andrew Hamilton wrote:
On 24 Jul 2010 15:11:56 GMT, Warren wrote:


Is Postscript emulation still important. I do mostly text, but also a
lot of PowerPoint, including graphics, plus the usual Excel graphics,
webpages, etc.

That's a judgement call. I'd say yes. A PCL-only printer is livable,
and some people can use a host-based printer without problems. But a PS
printer gives you more options and is more versatile.

Sounds like I really should have a Postscript printer. I am
self-employed and can't deal with printer limitation hassles.

Maybe Andrew can explain further what he means by "more options and more
versatile" -- I must admit my needs are fairly basic -- but PCL
certainly does the job on my now old Laserjet 1012. (It doesn't feel old
in any way

I had the same worry when I bought this printer but never regretted.
Maybe the PCL drivers other manufacturers provide leave to be desired, I
have no idea, but the PCL standards are open, I believe. Linux drivers
for HP printers certainly are. So I suppose if the PCL drivers don't
work well, maybe the same will go for PS.

I'd certainly appreciate more explanations from Andrew for my own benefit.

More is usually better, although it depends on the printer and how it
allocates the memory. Adjusting how the computer spools the print job
can also make a big difference.

Oh. How can that be done?

Windows: http://articles.techrepublic.com.com...1-5034678.html

Linux: ...no idea. I never had to tweek a spool file. Maybe, since Linux
was basically designed as a server OS, it spools and sends everything to
the printer as the memory empties.

But maybe this is completely wrong. Experts, please?

On 07/24/2010 02:44 PM, Andrew Hamilton wrote:

All good reasons to avoid them. In some ways this sounds like the
situation with my Samsung ML-2150.

Oops, I din't know this. I almost bought a Samsung printer instead of my
HP since it was a bit cheaper, but the store manager told me to go for
the HP eyes closed. I thought if he was wrong I'd have better reason to
kick his ass if I went for HP

Tim Okergit wrote:
On 07/24/2010 02:41 PM, Andrew Hamilton wrote:
On 24 Jul 2010 15:11:56 GMT, Warren wrote:


Is Postscript emulation still important. I do mostly text, but also a
lot of PowerPoint, including graphics, plus the usual Excel graphics,
webpages, etc.

That's a judgement call. I'd say yes. A PCL-only printer is livable,
and some people can use a host-based printer without problems. But a PS
printer gives you more options and is more versatile.

Sounds like I really should have a Postscript printer. I am
self-employed and can't deal with printer limitation hassles.

Maybe Andrew can explain further what he means by "more options and more
versatile" -- I must admit my needs are fairly basic -- but PCL
certainly does the job on my now old Laserjet 1012. (It doesn't feel old
in any way

I had the same worry when I bought this printer but never regretted.
Maybe the PCL drivers other manufacturers provide leave to be desired, I
have no idea, but the PCL standards are open, I believe. Linux drivers
for HP printers certainly are. So I suppose if the PCL drivers don't
work well, maybe the same will go for PS.

I'd certainly appreciate more explanations from Andrew for my own benefit.

That's a quote from me. PostScript is the standard page description
language, usable on everything from low-end printers all the way to
overgrown copiers. It's resolution-independent: the same file can be
printed on a 300 DPI laser or a 2400 DPI phototypesetter. PCL, by
contrast, is only text or bitmap. If you get a PostScript printer, you
generally get PCL included for free.

Tim Okergit wrote:
On 07/24/2010 01:37 PM, MD34 wrote:

So, given that I won't print much, that I want inkjet comparable
quality, that I don't need wireless or networking, that I need fully
compatible Linux drivers, which printer would you go for?

There may not be a good answer to that. Epson has open-source drivers
and the printers don't seem to be terribly prone to clogging or drying
out. Good ink and photo paper is still expensive, though.

Another option would be local or online photo printing services like
mpix.com. That can be a lot cheaper than maintaining your own inkjet.