Getting an old laser printer

[BarnacleGrim]

I don't print very often, and I'm sick and tired of ink drying up in the print head, ink ending up on the rollers, etc.

What about getting an old laser printer? It would be extra cool to have one on a network with all the other Macs. I hear that printers using the LaserWriter 8 driver works with everything from the old 68k to the new Mac OS X. But which printers are they? I guess they must have TCP/IP to work with post-AppleTalk versions of the OS.

 

[TEG]

Most of the best old laser printers to get are the HP Laser Jets. I would recommend either a 4 or 4000, or a 5 or 5000, the former are older, the latter were produced until a few years ago. Don't worry if the 4000/5000 don't come with ethernet ports, you can get a JetDirect Ethernet port for them for about $30 on eBay. Then all you have to do, once installed is enable the Ethertalk (Apple Talk) setting on the Printer, and it will work with any Mac, running OS 7.5 or higher. You can also configure it with an IP address so PCs can print to it. I love my LJ4000, and would never dream of getting rid of it.

TEG

 

[gnasher729]

I don't print very often, and I'm sick and tired of ink drying up in the print head, ink ending up on the rollers, etc.

What about getting an old laser printer? It would be extra cool to have one on a network with all the other Macs. I hear that printers using the LaserWriter 8 driver works with everything from the old 68k to the new Mac OS X. But which printers are they? I guess they must have TCP/IP to work with post-AppleTalk versions of the OS.

Look for a new Samsung or Brother or other black-and-white laser printer. A Samsung ML 1910 is less than £60.

 

[killerrobot]

Most of the best old laser printers to get are the HP Laser Jets. I would recommend either a 4 or 4000, or a 5 or 5000, the former are older, the latter were produced until a few years ago. Don't worry if the 4000/5000 don't come with ethernet ports, you can get a JetDirect Ethernet port for them for about $30 on eBay. Then all you have to do, once installed is enable the Ethertalk (Apple Talk) setting on the Printer, and it will work with any Mac, running OS 7.5 or higher. You can also configure it with an IP address so PCs can print to it. I love my LJ4000, and would never dream of getting rid of it.

TEG

I second the HP 4L. I've had mine for 15 years now. Slow as hell, but it prints perfectly and I've only replaced the cartridge once. Way worth it.
As far as the networking you'd have to buy a model that has M in the name in order to use the JetDirect Ethernet port.
The 4000 and 5000 series are business oriented and can be quite large, but are also a lot newer. Look for one that has "n" in the name, signifying it's network ready.

 

[CJS7070]

HP laser printers are great, last a long time... I still have the IIP that my P2015dn replaced sitting down in my basement. The thing still works perfectly, I just don't have a parallel interface on any computers that I use.

 

[nanofrog]

HP laser printers are great, last a long time... I still have the IIP that my P2015dn replaced sitting down in my basement. The thing still works perfectly, I just don't have a parallel interface on any computers that I use.

The older HP's were built like tanks. Not so with the newer ones (avg. these days down to the thin plastic panels/doors that feel like they're going to break getting it open), and when you combine in the crappy drivers (very bloated) and expensive, chipped consumables (expire used or not), they're not the best choices anymore.

I've switched to Brother as a result. Drivers are decent and consumables are much better (no chips - so far).

 

[daze]

HP laser printers are great, last a long time... I still have the IIP that my P2015dn replaced sitting down in my basement. The thing still works perfectly, I just don't have a parallel interface on any computers that I use.

Get a Parallel to USB cable for it. It then will hookup directly to your Mac or PC or even the Airport Extreme/Express.

 

[davidp158]

I have an old Apple LaserWriter Pro that I use for printing text documents. It isn't very fast, but it still works and tone cartridges are still available for it. You can probably score a used laser printer for next to nothing, from someone who's replaced it with a "modern" color printer.

I have had 4 Epson inkjet printers, and although they work well for printing color images, but the frequent head cleaning rituals and high cost of ink/paper is frustrating.

 

[CJS7070]

Get a Parallel to USB cable for it. It then will hookup directly to your Mac or PC or even the Airport Extreme/Express.

Heh, it was time for an upgrade anyway... My P2015dn can do 227ppm two-sided as opposed to the IIP that cranked out pages at a whopping 4PPM.

 

[BarnacleGrim]

I would preferably have a late high-end Apple LaserWriter or Color LaserWriter. Combining usability and collector's value. I'll be looking on eBay, but international shipping for large old printers is expensive. The Mac shop in town moved a couple of years ago, so I'm sure they threw all the old stuff away. Besides, they are pretty arrogant and unhelpful. They refused to do a scheduled warranty repair on a MacBook because the warranty had ran out by the time they got it.