Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 14:55:57 -0300 From: "Mark Dodel" Subject: [VOICENWS] HW: Tim's Warped Bargains: Color Laser Printer Update From: Timothy Sipples Dear Bargain Hunters: I recently received some e-mail inquiring about the Minolta color laser printers so aggressively marketed by office supply stores. My advice? Stay away! As far as I can tell, almost all the Minoltas are "host-based" printers, meaning your (Windows-only) PC must create the whole page before sending it to the printer. That saves about a nickel on the manufacturing cost, but it makes the printer unsuitable for use with eComStation, OS/2 Warp, Linux, or DOS, among other operating systems. It also imposes extra workload on your PC, taking horsepower from other applications. And it limits your networking options if you want to share the printer. Even if you run Windows, you'll be at the mercy of the printer vendor for a driver when the latest-and-supposedly-greatest Windows version comes out. (There are plenty of horror stories about not-so-old "Winprinters" inoperable with Windows 2000, ME, and/or XP.) Instead, check out the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 2500L, as I mentioned previously. That printer has true PCL and Postscript capability right in the printer, so it'll work with much more software, including your trusty DOS applications. It has both USB and parallel ports. (If you need an ethernet or wireless connection, third party print server boxes are really inexpensive.) There are also some extra paper bin options if you need them. Avoid the "dumb" HP 1500L model, though. Many places have refurbished LaserJet 2500L printers available at prices reaching below $600 now. I'm a big fan of factory refurbished laser printers for consumers on a budget. I bought a factory refurbished IBM Network Printer 17 years ago, and the darn thing is indestructible. Shop aggressively, search all the price scan sites (like dealtime.com, streetprices.com, etc.), check out the shopping forums (like techbargains.com and fatwallet.com), and don't forget coupons, rebates, etc. (like fatcash.com) and ebay.com. And don't fall for the "fly by night" mail order vendors. Many of the price scan web sites have vendor ratings, and you can also check out places like bizrate.com. Do all that and you'll have yourself a real bargain. Worst you can do is probably HPShopping.com, where the HP 2500L is listed at $899 brand new, no rebates. Fatcash.com will trim 2% off even that price. So treat that as your price ceiling. Oh, don't forget to factor in the cost of consumables, like toner cartridges. And be aware that some refurbished printers may come with used consumables unless indicated otherwise. By the way, I'm still looking for an affordable duplexing color laser printer. Doesn't seem to exist yet. I have no affiliation with any of these companies. - - - - - Timothy F. Sipples PGP Public Key: http://wwwkeys.pgp.net:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x45D3DE3E -- Warpstock 2003 - San Francisco, California, October 18-19 http://www.warpstock.org [Moderator's note: Because of the incredible increase in SPAM lately I will now endeavor to add DESPAM to email addresses in all posts to the News list. Yes I know that the ReplyTo and From addresses are not modified. This action is to protect email addresses that will appear in HTML pages. If you wish to send a response to someone listed in the post be sure to remove the "DESPAM" from any email address in the body of the post.] -- To unsubscribe yourself from this list, send the following message to majormajor at os2voice.org unsubscribe news end If you have an announcement you would like posted to the VOICE News list, please send it to submit at os2voice.org. Please include a valid reply address and a real contact name. If you wish to comment on this post, please reply to feedback at os2voice.org