At 02:36 PM 18/07/2006, Winterlight wrote:
Here's a thing - when you print black only on it, does it spin
all four toners or just the black?
I don't know, it's in another room... has a network interface. I
know what your thinking, do they mix the colors to get black like a
Inkjet does, and I think the answer to that is no. Black looks like
any other laser black. Every time it comes out of power saving mode
it does go through a diagnostic and make a lot of noise so it is
impossible to tell if it is using just the black cartridge. But OKI
would know for sure, so ask them.
I wasn't thinking mixing. I just recall that at one of the Lexmark
repair courses, they mentioned setting the printer in one of two
modes: in one mode, it left all four toners inline and each one was
turned, even if it wasn't used. Turning creates wear on the
cartridge, and on printers that were used heavily for black printing
to have colour toners wear out before they were empty. The other
mode lifted the colour toners out of the way, so they weren't engaged
and didn't turn. It meant it took longer to print colour, but the
cartridges lasted longer. I was thinking that if the Oki has a
similar setup, you might want to check it just to prolong the cartridge life.
OKI doesn't really make home user products, and consequently their
support is pretty good, and easy to get a hold of. Plus they offer a
free exchange if something goes wrong during the warranty. I didn't
know much about OKI, except that I take care of medical / dental
offices and I have seen their track fed dot matrix printers pounding
out insurance forms year after year without ever having a problem. I
think I had to fix one once, just by cleaning up the track and roller.
They used to make home grade, and they sucked. The 320s are awesome, however.
T
