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From: zlraa@marlin.jcu.edu.au (Ross Alford)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: PRINTERS - HP InkJet Vs. 24pin Vs. LaserPrinters
Message-ID: <1991Apr12.075506.22771@marlin.jcu.edu.au>
Date: 12 Apr 91 07:55:06 GMT
Article-I.D.: marlin.1991Apr12.075506.22771
References: <1991Apr11.095612@snowking.Eng.Sun.COM>
Organization: James Cook University
Lines: 51

In <1991Apr11.095612@snowking.Eng.Sun.COM> tomj@snowking.Eng.Sun.COM (Tom Jacobs) writes:

>I'm looking to purchase a printer for a 386 home system that I 
>will be using infrequently, but when I do use it it will be for
>printing both simple text documents and graphics.  I'm used to 
>high-speed/high-quality laser printers at work, but can't really
>rationalize spending a lot on something that I won't be using much.

>Therefore, I have been looking mostly at the HP DeskJet 500 which
>seems to have nearly laser quality.  I can get it for ~$489 at
>Fry's and it comes with a 3/yr HP warrenty.  $500 is my maximum.
>Are there any other ink-jet type printers that I should look at?
>Are there any 24-pin printers that have nearly the same print 
>quality and font flexibilty for less money?  How about inexpensive
>laser printers?  Thanks!

I have owned and used several types of 24-pin printers, and now own and
use a DJ500.  There is no comparison.  The 24-pin printers have several
pitfalls:

   o They almost always use nonstandard ribbons which are often quite
     expensive.

   o The print quality *with a new ribbon* may approach laser/inkjet
     quality, but within 50-100 pages it begins to deteriorate as the
     ink is used up.

     o  This means that to actually have consistently very-high-quality
        printouts, you end up replacing expensive ribbons quite
        frequently; ribbon costs may amount to several cents/page.

   o 24-pin printheads seem to be fairly prone to slight wear, causing
     slight pin misalignments that might not even be noticeable with a
     9-pin printer but are annoying when you want near-laser quality.

The DeskJet, on the other hand, has consistently high quality (very hard
to distinguish from a Laserjet II) almost to the end of the life of each
ink cartridge, and when you replace the ink cartridge, you replace the
printhead, so there usually are no problems with deterioration over
time.  The ink cartridges can be refilled a few times each with some
success, using ink available from aftermarket sources.  I've worked out
my costs, and even without reinking, the DJ is cheaper to operate than a
NEC 2200 24-pin printer and gives more consistent and higher print
quality.  In case you haven't guessed, I'd suggest getting the Deskjet.

Ross
-- 
Ross A. Alford
Department of Zoology                      Internet: zlraa@marlin.jcu.edu.au
James Cook University                      Phone:    +61 77 81 4732
Townsville, Qld 4811 Australia