Today, Bayard Coolidge USG ZKO3-3/S20 gleaned this insight:
> Hi, Derek -
>
> Sorry for the slow response, but I don't get the list at home and I
> can't dial in.
No appology necessary... besides which I wasn't expecting much of a
response on the weekend; I have noticed that the list traffic reliably
dwindles to practically nothing on the weekend.
> I have been running with an HP660C Deskjet for years and it still
> works, but have been toying with replacing it. I looked over the
> market a few months ago, and figured out that HP seems to always
> have a printer in the $150-$200 price range, and then a faster one
> in the $400 range.
I have looked at the HP printers since I'm most familiar with HP products.
I have typically been very pleased with HP's products over the years; it
is only my OWN printer that I have been disappointed with. Naturally.
I've had this thing since the 660C came out (technically it's a 660Cse,
which I think means I got some extra paper included or something). After
about the third time I changed the cartridges, it started to, well, suck.
Cleaning and realigning the heads did absolutely nothing, and printing
quality was bad under both Linux and MS [poor excuse for] operating
systems. Every page I print has streaks at the top and bottom of the
print head.
> MOST (but NOT all) of them are Linux Compatible.
Right, which is why I asked! I know this question has come up here
before, and I know some of you have had to deal with this issue.
> What you need to do, of course (sorry for the implied insult), is to
> read the fine print on their specs VERY carefully. They've gotten
> better about it, after a lot of screaming and gnashing of teeth, but
> for a while, they were selling "WinPrinters". So, the catch is, get
> one that will work under Windows NT - i.e., no device driver
> _required_, but you can download the cute utilities to do a cartridge
> alignment, etc.
Interesting... When I was looking at the HP's, I had been looking for
printers that claimed to be compatible with MS-DOS. I didn't realize that
Windows NT was in the same boat.
> (BTW, have you tried to run those under Windows NT or Windows 3.1 ?
> Maybe all you need to do is clean the cartridge area, the paper
> handling area and put in new cartridges and do an alignment? Worked
> for me. I use ONLY HP cartridges - not the "money saving" refills.).
Oh, yeah, I also only use HP cartridges...
> Also, when you check their Web site, note that there are slight
> differences between the variants on the models. I was looking at the
> 970 ($400 - 11ppm B&W, 5ppm Color, kajillion dpi, etc.) and they
> have a 970cse and a 970mumble, and one has utilities the other
> doesn't,etc.
Yeah I've noticed that before... The model I was looking at was I think
the DeskJet 952C which has similar specs as what you mention above, but
costs about $299 retail, and I saw it for $229 on pricewatch. I had hoped
for a PostScript capable printer, but the cheapest one I could find (a
LexMark) was about $400, and I'd rather not spend that much just to get
PostScript capability. There is also the DJ 882C which sells for about
$200 (probably cheaper on pricewatch, haven't checked yet). It's
basically about the same printer as the 952 but slower, from what I
gather.
> They may compete with us in the PC and Enterprise space, but leave
> everybody in the dust on the printers. I simply can't deny that. Some
> folks have been using LexMark printers, and I'd like to do a feature
> comparison on those at some point.
I've heard a lot of good things about the Cannons, and my dad has an Epson
that he's been very pleased with (though I have no idea if it's a
"winprinter" or not). Don't know how these compare price-wise though, I
haven't gotten my butt out to check yet. =8^)
Thanks to everyone who's replied!
--
You know that everytime I try to go where I really want to be,
It's already where I am, cuz I'm already there...
---------------------------------------------------------------
Derek D. Martin | Unix/Linux Geek
[EMAIL PROTECTED] | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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