[WinMac] Re: Color Laser Printer to Work with 7200 LAN

Daniel L. Schwartz(expresso[at]snip.net)
Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:52:31 -0400

        OK, here goes: I just rebuilt a Color LaserJet (the predecessor to the
Color LaserJet 5 and Color LaserJet 5M) printer(s). Many - but not every -
part & supply are common amongst these 3 printers... This particular Color
LaserJet was put in service again right next to a CLJ 5M!

        The $435 drum is common, as is the $200 fuser assembly. Both are good for
~40,000 copies each. Toner, which comes in bottles (instead of more
expensive drum/toner cartridge assemblies like that used in the CLJ 4500 &
8500) is about $24 apiece.

        The RAM is common among all 3 printers; and you can upgrade the CLJ and
CLJ 5 to the CLJ 5M configuration by adding a PostScript SIMM, more RAM
(which you'll need anyway) and a J2552A MIO card (10Base-T, 10Base-2, and
LocalTalk); or a 100Base-TX MIO card.

        [More inline]

At 03:28 PM 10/25/99 -0700, you wrote:
>Robert James, Jr. wrote:
>>
>> > As for a Laser printer brand, I think you'll need to qualify this a bit
>> > by specc'ing a price range.
>>
>> I'm less concerned about price than I am about quality. I guess I'm
>> thinking anywhere between $850-$3,000.
>>
>> Also, I remember Matt Harris saying that HPs and QMS printers
>> recently started using Postscript emulation, as opposed to Adobe
>> Postscript, which is supposedly better. Which one does Tektronix
>> support? Also, Dan suggested the old 5M -- since it's older, does it
>> support Adobe Postscript, or emulation?
>
>The 5 we have (and presumably the 5M) supports real postscript.
>Truthfully, though, we had a PS clone on a color Xerox printer for
>years, and I only saw a couple of problems with it being a emulation
>rather than the real thing. Dan tends to look at things from a
>publishing/service bureau point of view on these things.

        Well, that's true, because nothing is more frustrating than having a Quark
file choke a PostScript "interpreter" (emulator) -- Just ask LexMark on
that one!

        And if you think you can skate around this issue, keep in mind that you
(Robert James, that is) will be printing from Macs using the LaserWriter 8
PostScript driver, and not raster printing like one does in windows. In
short, using a PostScript emulator is just one more potential failure point.

>The problems with the old 5 series:
>
>300dpi, on 8 1/2 x 11 only
>very finicky about the paper it will take.
>toner consumeables aren't the only thing you'll be buying. From where I
>sit I see probably around $1000 of maintenance supplies:
>
>Color Developer unit
>Toner collection Kit

        This one doesn't need to be replaced - It can be cleaned out. If you want
to replace it, it's only about $6 or so.

>Black developer unit
>Drum unit
>Fuser unit
>
>as well as the four color toner bottles.
>
>These all have to be replaced an a fairly regular basis. (fairly long
>basis, such as the Drum) but it's not as easy to maintain as a black and
>white printer, foex.
>
>> Yeah, I know Ethernet is thankfully much quicker. I was mostly
>> concerned about needing the Ethernet ports on the 7200s for when we
>> eventually (hopefully) connect the LAN to the campus PC network. I
>> suppose there's a "through" jack on the hub that would allow for
>> that?
>
>Depends on how you end up doing things. Here all the machines connect to
>the network through wall jacks back to switches and hubs in the phone
>closets. In that case, each machine (including the printer) will connect
>via those, and the hub will be uneccesary. If you're just getting a
>single connection to the campus backbone, then you'll want to confer
>with your campus neworking people about what equipment you'll want to
>get.
>
>It really depends on your time frame for connecting to the larger
>network, and what that network looks like.
>
>If it's like the campus network here at the UA you may or may not be
>able to connect that hub (and associated systems) to the backbone. If
>you can, all you need it the configuration parameters (IP addresses,
>DHCP stuff, whatever) then plug that into the uplink port on the hub.
>
>--
>Bruce Johnson
>University of Arizona
>College of Pharmacy
>Information Technology Group

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