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#1
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printer recommendations for my needs ?
Greetings All !
I have an old workhorse in my basement: An HP color laserjet 4500n. She suddenly stopped feeding paper the other day. Even using the single-sheet feeder, I get a jam each time. Tried wiping the rollers with a damp cloth, which has fixed paper jamming issues before, but no good this time. I use this printer primarily for publishing newsletters. I've got a monthly one, which is usually about 60 issues, each being 3-4 pages, both sides. Then there's a quarterly one, which is about the same in terms of page length, but I produce about 250 copies of that issue. Page size is always 8 1/2 x 11. OK, so I found the repair manual for this thing online and I will put in a few hours trying to figure this out on my own. But I would think that calling somebody out to service a 15 year old printer would cost just about as much as it would be to buy some new printer that might fit my needs. But, I have a second need... a future need. I would like to be able to print wide-format items as well. Mostly, this would consist of sheets necessary to create copies of a board game. I'm recycling old Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit boards (19-20" square that fold in either halves or quarters). For my prototype, I went to a local printer and had three 20" x 20" copies printed up for me. That came to $14 per sheet! So, I was thinking maybe instead, I should buy my own large format printer and print up HALVES... each board consisting of two sheets. As long as I take the printing up to one edge of the paper, I figure I should be fine. Anyways, I guess I'm wondering: 1) Should I be looking for one printer or two (one for newsletters and one for the large-format printing)? I'm thinking if I convert to using tabloid-sized paper for my newsletters, I might be able to "get away with" using just one printer. However, I DO still occasionally need to print plain-old 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. 2) Can anybody recommend to me any color laser (or, I suppose, inkjet) printers that cost a maximum of maybe $400 (new or used) that might fit my needs? I guess the more time goes on, the more I find myself becoming like a small-time publisher. And I just don't know enough about printers and printing anything other than 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. Thanks! -= Dave =- |
#2
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printer recommendations for my needs ?
Most tabloid printers (in color laser models) will print up to 17 or 18"
long only. A few may print longer, but they aren't that common. I do not believe you can find a new tabloid color laser printer for under $400, however, the used market is very location specific so that's hard to answer. Required cost of any repairs may be an unknown as well. Also, used probably mean buying color cartridges and maybe drums, and with today's business model for color laser printers, it may be cheaper to buy new with toner cartridges installed than to buy a used machine and have to buy cartridges soon after. Tabloid color laser printers are also quite heavy, so shipping could get costly if shipping fees must be paid. In terms of color inkjet, initial cost of acquisition is lower, but that soon is eaten up in loss of speed, lower quality results with plain paper, more fragile results (vulnerable to water damage, etc) and possible seep-through of the inks on duplex printing. However, you can print over 20" long easily. Cost of the printers can be slightly below $400 if you shop carefully, but your ink costs will kill you, unless you install a constant inking system and us bulk inks. Depending upon the design on the laser printer, using one for both tabloid and letter size may prove more costly, since the letter size will wear the drums out equally to the tabloid prints, while you won't get full service from the wider drums. The price you were charged for the prototype prints was a bit high, depending upon the method of printing used. Locally (in Canadian prices) I can get a tabloid size color laser print (11" x 17" or so) for about 60-80 cents each. You will need to sit down and do so calculations to figure out what you need and can afford. Art If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste, I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog: http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/ dr4296 wrote: Greetings All ! I have an old workhorse in my basement: An HP color laserjet 4500n. She suddenly stopped feeding paper the other day. Even using the single-sheet feeder, I get a jam each time. Tried wiping the rollers with a damp cloth, which has fixed paper jamming issues before, but no good this time. I use this printer primarily for publishing newsletters. I've got a monthly one, which is usually about 60 issues, each being 3-4 pages, both sides. Then there's a quarterly one, which is about the same in terms of page length, but I produce about 250 copies of that issue. Page size is always 8 1/2 x 11. OK, so I found the repair manual for this thing online and I will put in a few hours trying to figure this out on my own. But I would think that calling somebody out to service a 15 year old printer would cost just about as much as it would be to buy some new printer that might fit my needs. But, I have a second need... a future need. I would like to be able to print wide-format items as well. Mostly, this would consist of sheets necessary to create copies of a board game. I'm recycling old Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit boards (19-20" square that fold in either halves or quarters). For my prototype, I went to a local printer and had three 20" x 20" copies printed up for me. That came to $14 per sheet! So, I was thinking maybe instead, I should buy my own large format printer and print up HALVES... each board consisting of two sheets. As long as I take the printing up to one edge of the paper, I figure I should be fine. Anyways, I guess I'm wondering: 1) Should I be looking for one printer or two (one for newsletters and one for the large-format printing)? I'm thinking if I convert to using tabloid-sized paper for my newsletters, I might be able to "get away with" using just one printer. However, I DO still occasionally need to print plain-old 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. 2) Can anybody recommend to me any color laser (or, I suppose, inkjet) printers that cost a maximum of maybe $400 (new or used) that might fit my needs? I guess the more time goes on, the more I find myself becoming like a small-time publisher. And I just don't know enough about printers and printing anything other than 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. Thanks! -= Dave =- |
#3
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printer recommendations for my needs ?
Before you plunk down a lot of money for a large format printer you may
want to reflect on the copyrights on the materials you're reproducing, depending on what you're doing with those prints. You haven't mentioned the challenge of scanning those large formats, so you must have that part working satisfactorily for your purpose. On 9/27/2009 3:53 PM, dr4296 wrote: Greetings All ! I have an old workhorse in my basement: An HP color laserjet 4500n. She suddenly stopped feeding paper the other day. Even using the single-sheet feeder, I get a jam each time. Tried wiping the rollers with a damp cloth, which has fixed paper jamming issues before, but no good this time. I use this printer primarily for publishing newsletters. I've got a monthly one, which is usually about 60 issues, each being 3-4 pages, both sides. Then there's a quarterly one, which is about the same in terms of page length, but I produce about 250 copies of that issue. Page size is always 8 1/2 x 11. OK, so I found the repair manual for this thing online and I will put in a few hours trying to figure this out on my own. But I would think that calling somebody out to service a 15 year old printer would cost just about as much as it would be to buy some new printer that might fit my needs. But, I have a second need... a future need. I would like to be able to print wide-format items as well. Mostly, this would consist of sheets necessary to create copies of a board game. I'm recycling old Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit boards (19-20" square that fold in either halves or quarters). For my prototype, I went to a local printer and had three 20" x 20" copies printed up for me. That came to $14 per sheet! So, I was thinking maybe instead, I should buy my own large format printer and print up HALVES... each board consisting of two sheets. As long as I take the printing up to one edge of the paper, I figure I should be fine. Anyways, I guess I'm wondering: 1) Should I be looking for one printer or two (one for newsletters and one for the large-format printing)? I'm thinking if I convert to using tabloid-sized paper for my newsletters, I might be able to "get away with" using just one printer. However, I DO still occasionally need to print plain-old 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. 2) Can anybody recommend to me any color laser (or, I suppose, inkjet) printers that cost a maximum of maybe $400 (new or used) that might fit my needs? I guess the more time goes on, the more I find myself becoming like a small-time publisher. And I just don't know enough about printers and printing anything other than 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. Thanks! -= Dave =- |
#4
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printer recommendations for my needs ?
I get the impression this poster was suggesting he is making his own
prototype gameboards up old using the Monopoly and Trivial Pursuits boards for the backing, so I don't think that violates any copyrights. Art If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste, I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog: http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/ B wrote: Before you plunk down a lot of money for a large format printer you may want to reflect on the copyrights on the materials you're reproducing, depending on what you're doing with those prints. You haven't mentioned the challenge of scanning those large formats, so you must have that part working satisfactorily for your purpose. On 9/27/2009 3:53 PM, dr4296 wrote: Greetings All ! I have an old workhorse in my basement: An HP color laserjet 4500n. She suddenly stopped feeding paper the other day. Even using the single-sheet feeder, I get a jam each time. Tried wiping the rollers with a damp cloth, which has fixed paper jamming issues before, but no good this time. I use this printer primarily for publishing newsletters. I've got a monthly one, which is usually about 60 issues, each being 3-4 pages, both sides. Then there's a quarterly one, which is about the same in terms of page length, but I produce about 250 copies of that issue. Page size is always 8 1/2 x 11. OK, so I found the repair manual for this thing online and I will put in a few hours trying to figure this out on my own. But I would think that calling somebody out to service a 15 year old printer would cost just about as much as it would be to buy some new printer that might fit my needs. But, I have a second need... a future need. I would like to be able to print wide-format items as well. Mostly, this would consist of sheets necessary to create copies of a board game. I'm recycling old Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit boards (19-20" square that fold in either halves or quarters). For my prototype, I went to a local printer and had three 20" x 20" copies printed up for me. That came to $14 per sheet! So, I was thinking maybe instead, I should buy my own large format printer and print up HALVES... each board consisting of two sheets. As long as I take the printing up to one edge of the paper, I figure I should be fine. Anyways, I guess I'm wondering: 1) Should I be looking for one printer or two (one for newsletters and one for the large-format printing)? I'm thinking if I convert to using tabloid-sized paper for my newsletters, I might be able to "get away with" using just one printer. However, I DO still occasionally need to print plain-old 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. 2) Can anybody recommend to me any color laser (or, I suppose, inkjet) printers that cost a maximum of maybe $400 (new or used) that might fit my needs? I guess the more time goes on, the more I find myself becoming like a small-time publisher. And I just don't know enough about printers and printing anything other than 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. Thanks! -= Dave =- |
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