| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Jeff Relf" |
| Date: |
17 Oct 2004 06:58:13 PM |
| Object: |
A PostScript printer at home ? |
Hi all,
Does anyone have a PostScript printer at home ?
How much does it cost to operate per year ?
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| User: "!SpamMe" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
18 Oct 2004 02:23:01 PM |
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Hi Jeff,
The following may not answer your questions; however, it may give others
some feedback regarding using a laser printer @home.
I just installed a refurbished Brother HL-5040 laser printer (along with an
Airlink+ USB2.0 printer server) that I bought for US$120 - US$50 rebate from
a local Fry's Electronics store. At the time of purchasing this laser
printer, I checked the toner prices as follows:
1. The price of a 2x refill toner package was US$20 (IIRC each refill
can print up to 3,000 pages).
2. New toner was US$60 (support 4,000 pages).
3. A new drum cartridge price was US$40.
I believe this laser printer only talks HP PCL 6 language; however, FWIW
this printer suffices to fit into my SOHO and cuts my printing costs
dramatically as compared to using any inkjet printer. I defintely can buy
the 2x refill toner package to perform 2x refill before the drum wears out
and this 2x refill toner costs about US 0.34 cents/page. So, with the cost
of paper, investment of this laser printer, and electricity, I would say it
costs no more than US 1 cent to print a full page, (of couse, YMMV).
It looks as if the price of a laser printer has become more affordable these
days. Perhaps after using this laser printer for two years, I may replace
this one with a better laser printer.
I hope this may help you to venture a laser printer, be it a PS or PCL, for
your SOHO.
--
Mazi
"Jeff Relf" <Me@Privacy.NET> wrote in message
news:_Jeff_Relf_2004_Oct_17_TbwK@Cotse.NET...
Hi all,
Does anyone have a PostScript printer at home ?
How much does it cost to operate per year ?
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
18 Oct 2004 03:47:59 PM |
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Thanks Mazi,
Yours is the cheapest printing system I've ever heard of.
( Thanks for accounting for every last detail )
Although Jim Pennino is using PostScript(r) proper,
and Donn Miller is using .PDF files,
....most people here are using either Windows or PCL printers.
The trick is to buy a refurbished laser printer from Fry's
which takes $ 40 cartridges and " 2x refill toner packages "
( $ 20 / 6,000 pages )
....Bringing the _ Total _ cost down to a penny per page.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
18 Oct 2004 03:56:53 PM |
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In sci.physics Jeff Relf <Me@privacy.net> wrote:
<snip>
Although Jim Pennino is using PostScript(r) proper,
and Donn Miller is using .PDF files,
...most people here are using either Windows or PCL printers.
Most all postscript printers (at least from HP) also speak PCL.
Never heard of a printer that speaks PDF; your application converts
PDF into what the printer can handle.
<snip>
--
Jim Pennino
Remove -spam-sux to reply.
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
18 Oct 2004 04:17:12 PM |
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Hi Jim,
HP printers use PCL and are probably emulating Postscript
( with PCL underneath, slowing things down a bit ).
And I realize that .PDF files have
little or nothing to do with what printer you might be using.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 09:25:38 PM |
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In sci.physics Jeff Relf <Me@privacy.net> wrote:
Hi all,
Does anyone have a PostScript printer at home ?
Yeah, two of them.
How much does it cost to operate per year ?
Toner cartridge cost X number pages per cartridge / number of pages per year,
Same as any other printer.
--
Jim Pennino
Remove -spam-sux to reply.
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 09:47:52 PM |
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Hi jimp,
Re: The annual cost of operating your two PostScript printers,
You replied: <<
Toner cartridge cost X number pages per cartridge
/ number of pages per year,
Same as any other printer. >>
No, that wasn't my question.
Perhaps you've never sat down and calculated this out,
But I was wondering about the total cost to you personally was,
....expressed as an annual amount.
i.e. Do you use it a lot ?
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 10:14:01 PM |
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In sci.physics Jeff Relf <Me@privacy.net> wrote:
Hi jimp,
Re: The annual cost of operating your two PostScript printers,
You replied: <<
Toner cartridge cost X number pages per cartridge
/ number of pages per year,
Same as any other printer. >>
No, that wasn't my question.
Perhaps you've never sat down and calculated this out,
But I was wondering about the total cost to you personally was,
...expressed as an annual amount.
i.e. Do you use it a lot ?
The toner is the majority of the cost. Both are under $100 and for me
last much longer than a year, especially since I have two.
Since they were purchased cash, there is no loan to amortize.
Electric costs are power consumption in kw X hours per year on / electric
cost in dollars per kw, just like anything else, though it is trivial.
Like any other electical appliance, I turn them on when I want to use them
and turn them off when I'm done.
Since the cost is determined by how much you use it and the electric
costs where you live, only you can answer the question.
The fact that they both are postscript has no influence on anything other
than purchase price.
--
Jim Pennino
Remove -spam-sux to reply.
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| User: "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 09:06:45 PM |
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Jeff Relf <Me@Privacy.NET> wrote in
<news:_Jeff_Relf_2004_Oct_17_TbwK@Cotse.NET>:
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,news.software.readers,sci.physics
It'd be nice if people answering Jeff's printer questions would not
crosspost the replies. I don't see what relevance the topic has in any
of the groups, and there's no point in posting it to all of them.
(fu set to poster, not that I particularly want any replies)
--
»Q«
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| User: "mlw" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
18 Oct 2004 04:48:47 PM |
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Jeff Relf wrote:
Hi all,
Does anyone have a PostScript printer at home ?
I do, its in my basement, gathering dust. I am using a paintjet, and use
ghostscript when I need postscript capability.
How much does it cost to operate per year ?
When I used it, it would cost (toner/opc cartrige * $cost) / (#pages *
%black.) + electricity.
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
18 Oct 2004 06:57:36 PM |
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Hi mlw,
You said your Postscript printer was: <<
...in my basement, gathering dust. I am using a paintjet,
and use ghostscript when I need postscript capability. >>
Yea, Postscript is dead as far as I'm concerned, PCL is worse,
I'll just continue to use the Windows' API to draw to printers,
it's much cheaper/better.
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| User: "ray" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 07:36:13 PM |
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On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 23:58:13 +0000, Jeff Relf wrote:
Hi all,
Does anyone have a PostScript printer at home ?
How much does it cost to operate per year ?
I don't, but let me fille in a little info for you. Most PostScript
printers are lasers - there are some high end inkjets, as well. The
inkjets are quite expensive and will be quite costly to operate. So, let's
talk lasers. There are very few true PostScript printers available any
more (probably due to licensing costs due Adobe); most run a PostScript
emulator on top of another page description language, and are slower than
molasses. New PostScript capable printers are expensive.
I previously used a TI Microlaser 600Plus - it's about 10 years old by
now, but one of the fastest PostScript printers in the world (in terms of
time to render a page - that's what count, not how long it takes to print
40 copies of the same page, which is what 'pages per minute' refer to). I
believe the cartridges are still available - if you could find one it
would be very reasonable to operate - one cartridge does a LOT of
printing.
You'll find that Samsung and Brother both offer inexpensive ($120 -
$180) laser printers which will work with Linux. They are PCL, not
PostScript, but via GhostScript, will print any sort of postscript
document you might have.
Is there a particular reason you require PostScript?
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 07:47:15 PM |
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Hi Ray,
So PostScript(r) proper is too expensive
and GhostScript on PCL is " slower than molasses ".
I used to use/program NeXT computers
and I loved Display PostScript,
....Too bad no one uses it much anymore.
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| User: "ray" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
18 Oct 2004 12:10:32 AM |
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On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:47:15 +0000, Jeff Relf wrote:
Hi Ray,
So PostScript(r) proper is too expensive
and GhostScript on PCL is " slower than molasses ".
I used to use/program NeXT computers
and I loved Display PostScript,
...Too bad no one uses it much anymore.
I'll attempt to clarify: PostScript proper (i.e. real honest to God
PostScript in the printer, rather than a PostScript emulator running in
the printer over something like PCL) is almost impossible to find in a new
printer - if you can find it, it will be very expensive. A 'native' PCL
machine with a PostScript emulator will be faster than running through
GhostScript, but it's still going to be fairly expensive (I expect $500
up, although I have not really priced it lately). Printing via GS to a PCL
printer is not that much slower than a PS emulator in the printer, and you
can do it for $100 - $180 (depending on whether you can find a cheap
Brother or Samsung laser printer on sale this week at OfficeMax, BestBuy,
CircuitCity, . . .).
I know the cheapie Samsung comes with a half sized cartridge which is
supposed to do about 2500 sheets whereas the full one does about 5000
sheets - I think the cost is around $60. You can check these data at
Samsung website and e.g. OfficeMax.
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| User: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Lin=F8nut?=" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 08:12:01 PM |
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ray poked his little head through the XP firewall and said:
I don't, but let me fille in a little info for you. Most PostScript
printers are lasers - there are some high end inkjets, as well. The
inkjets are quite expensive and will be quite costly to operate. So, let's
talk lasers. There are very few true PostScript printers available any
more (probably due to licensing costs due Adobe); most run a PostScript
emulator on top of another page description language, and are slower than
molasses. New PostScript capable printers are expensive.
I can sort of vouch for this. Printing pages from my Linux laptop (using
enscript -- they were source-code modules) to a Windows printer was much
slower than printing them from Windows, and the reason was almost surely
Postscript processing.
--
Penguins love icebergs.
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 08:17:53 PM |
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Hi Linønut,
You mentioned: <<
Printing pages from my Linux laptop
( using enscript -- they were source-code modules )
to a Windows printer was much slower
than printing them from Windows,
and the reason was almost surely Postscript processing. >>
Doesn't the term " Windows printer " seem a bit odd to you ?
Do you print more from Windows or Linux ( and why ) ?
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| User: "Rick" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 09:08:35 PM |
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On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 01:17:53 +0000, Jeff Relf wrote:
Hi Linønut,
You mentioned: <<
Printing pages from my Linux laptop
( using enscript -- they were source-code modules )
to a Windows printer was much slower
than printing them from Windows,
and the reason was almost surely Postscript processing. >>
Doesn't the term " Windows printer " seem a bit odd to you ?
Buy a clue. Ther are win-printers and win-modems.
Do you print more from Windows or Linux ( and why ) ?
--
Rick
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| User: "Rick" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 07:06:04 PM |
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On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 23:58:13 +0000, Jeff Relf wrote:
Hi all,
Does anyone have a PostScript printer at home ?
How much does it cost to operate per year ?
Same as any other laser printer ... to print.
Or, you can run Ghostscript with a inkjet and pay small change for the
printer, but a LOT more per page.
--
Rick
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 07:11:50 PM |
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Hi Rick,
So do you have a Postscript printer at home ?
How much is it costing per year to operate ?
Are you running Ghostscript instead ?
Do any of your apps have Ghostscript-enabled GUIs ?
( OS X ? )
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| User: "Rick" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 07:22:46 PM |
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On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:11:50 +0000, Jeff Relf wrote:
Hi Rick,
So do you have a Postscript printer at home ?
No, I use PCL printers at work. I have an inkjet at home.
How much is it costing per year to operate ?
Are you running Ghostscript instead ?
I have an Epson Stylus inkjet. Cartridges are $25-35 apiece. A rarely
print, so my price/page is high because the cartridges dry out.
Do any of your apps have Ghostscript-enabled GUIs ?
( OS X ? )
I don't use OS X. And I'm not sure what you mean by Ghostscript-enabled
GUI.
As for your pricing, all you have to do is do some research on page per
cartridge.
--
Rick
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 07:30:11 PM |
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Hi Rick,
Re: The annual cost of running a PostScript printer,
You replied: <<
As for your pricing,
all you have to do is do some research on page per cartridge.
I'm asking people here,
....I think it'd be interesting if no one here uses one.
Re: Me asking you if you used a PostScript GUI
( like the one NeXT had, and if OS X has one ),
You replied: <<
I don't use OS X.
And I'm not sure what you mean by Ghostscript-enabled GUI. >>
Apps draw on the screen/printer using PostScript.
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| User: "Rick" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 07:36:48 PM |
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On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:30:11 +0000, Jeff Relf wrote:
Hi Rick,
Re: The annual cost of running a PostScript printer,
You replied: <<
As for your pricing,
all you have to do is do some research on page per cartridge.
I'm asking people here,
...I think it'd be interesting if no one here uses one.
Why would that be ionteresting. I don't have a laser printer because I
can't afford one at the times I'm looking at them.
Re: Me asking you if you used a PostScript GUI
( like the one NeXT had, and if OS X has one ),
You replied: <<
I don't use OS X.
And I'm not sure what you mean by Ghostscript-enabled GUI. >>
Apps draw on the screen/printer using PostScript.
That's called Display Postscript. NeXt used it. OS X uses a PDF variation.
--
Rick
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| User: "Jeff Relf" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 07:39:19 PM |
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Hi Rick,
So your answer is that you didn't buy a PostScript printer
because it was too expensive... Thanks.
You mentioned: " OS X uses a PDF variation. "
Thanks.
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| User: "Liam Slider" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 08:49:41 PM |
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On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 20:36:48 -0400, Rick wrote:
<snip>
Apps draw on the screen/printer using PostScript.
That's called Display Postscript. NeXt used it.
GNUstep does this too, or at least has it's own varient.
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| User: "tj Frazir" |
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| Title: Re: A PostScript printer at home ? |
17 Oct 2004 09:16:00 PM |
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try alt pinhead pc group fuckhead
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