All appearances are that after about 12 years of faithful service, my trusty LaserJet 4M Plus (with duplexer) has finally succumbed to old age. It's been throwing increasingly frequent random MIO errors for several weeks now, and today it finally croaked in the middle of a print job with a 79 Service (06FF) error code which persisted across at least four power-cycles (and which will not clear), accompanied by anomalous metallic clanking sounds from the duplexer. (I don't know whether the clanking sounds represent a mechanical failure or the blown formatter board trying to do unreasonable and improbable things with the duplexer hardware, nor do I know — if the latter is the case — whether this has damaged the duplexer mechanically.)
I've managed to locate exactly three replacement formatter boards, all used, all of varying ages, for prices ranging as high as $260 ... but it looks like I can assemble myself a LaserJet 4500DN with a 500-sheet feeder for about $150 plus shipping. If so, that would replace both the LaserJet 4M Plus and the DeskJet 2500CM, which has been a passive-aggressive royal pain in the ass ever since we got it.
(I didn't find out until after we'd spent $300 on the printer and supplies for it that the individual we got it from had not tested it, and had only the verbal assurance of the person HE got it from that it worked. Had I known that beforehand, I wouldn't have bought it from him. I won't mention any names, I'll just say that most members of the Rescue list won't ask money for anything that they haven't personally verified as working, and if offering something that is not fully working, they'll say so up front.)
If anyone else we know has any other suggestions for a printer we should consider, I'd like to hear them. We pretty much require laser technology (inkjets are just too damned slow to be useful for more than the occasional page), and duplexing (since we do book-on-demand printing). Color would be a big plus, and if it's color, 11x17 capability would also be a big plus. (If it's not color, large-format doesn't matter, letter-size is fine.) A proper envelope feeder would be a nice bonus, but isn't essential.
The last condition is what makes it hard — we're on a tight budget, so it needs to be relatively inexpensive to buy and operate. Used is OK, as long as it works.
