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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.
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If not, look at the Brother desktop laser printers. They're cheap (like $75 cheap), and speak PCL. No duplexing at that price.
If that won't cover you, the Laserjet 4500DN sounds like a good bet. I've put a few of those in service, and they've lasted quite well. I would STRONGLY avoid any of the recent desktop-sized HP printers. They've gone down the toilet, and I'm going to hold on to my Laserjet 5MP as long as I can.
Color in a laser printer is going to be expensive. Large-format color EXTREMELY expensive. If you want to do 11x17 color, your best bet is probably an older wide-carriage color inkjet printer. One that's _not_ a Deskjet 2500CM. I have nightmares thinking about that printer... *shudder*.
The one thing to remember about the inkjets is that you must print _something_ on them about once a week, or the inks clog/dry out. I've been down that road, and it ain't pretty.
In summary: Go for a letter-sized laser printer for day-to-day stuff. Look at a larger inkjet if/when you need color printing.
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The thing about color is, we don't use a lot of it. And certainly we'd be doing very little large-format color printing. But when we did do large-format color, it'd need to look good, because it'd most likely be prints of my paintings, intended for sale. I've yet to see an inkjet printer, except a dedicated photo printer, that doesn't show visible banding even at "best" quality.
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I recently got a Xerox 6120 color laser. No duplexing without extra attachment (which is way too much money), and my color needs aren't demanding, so can't speak to it's quality for artwork. However, I got the printer for $260 shipped. Duplexers look to start at $350 by a quick froogle check.
Sorry I can't be more help.
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You haven't been looking at them lately, then.
My last two printers, both bottom-of-the-barrel Epsons, have been quite competent when it comes to photo printing. I've had a couple people look at the pictures on my desk at the office and wonder how much it cost to have 'em blown up like that. And those pictures were printed from GIMP on my garbage $75 Stylus 66.
Now, Stephen's photo printer (Epson R400) looks even better, but my cheap-ass Stylus 66 is competent. No banding. Take a look at some of the modern inkjets-- they've gotten fivefold better in print quality in the past 5 years.
Of course, the other part of your comment is dead-on. I used to work for HP. I'm talking about my Epson printers...
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Two catches:
1) I have no idea how functional they might be. They worked once, but it's been years.
2) I suspect it would be pricey to ship, but if there are any #c folks passing through, we might be able to arrange a transfer chain to get them to you. Shadowcat has some expertise in that area.
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I can tell you that my personal printer is a Samsung ML-1740. I needed laser and buggerall else, so I got the cheapest I could. Until recently is was not well supported under Linux, but it's decent now. Only problem is that I've run out of toner, so I get to decide if it's worth putting new toner into, or if it makes sense to get a better printer.
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