Inteligent Printer

[Scott]

Really annoying, isn't it.  I would much rather they get their profit out of me for the printer and then sell the cartridges for the $2 each they are worth.  It makes the printers disposable, instead of the ink cartridges.   

Like how hotels charge full price for the room and then fair prices for the minibar, room service and pay per view?

(Or is this hitting below the belt?    )

Nope    We have no minibars, don't offer room service and have lousy antennae TV (in only 8 of our rooms).  Even offer free parking, free wifi and breakfast is included with the room price. 

No gouging here Jeri...you should come for a visit.   

[Scott]

Good advice Wizzo.  We're almost ready to buy a new fax/printer (why on earth do people still communicate through faxes??).  I've been looking at inkjet's, but think now I'll go for a laser.  Any make/model suggestions for a wee little hotel like us?   

[Wizzo]

Scott, if all you use it for is to print off faxes then make sure your new model has a 'fax to email' feature. When a fax is received it is not printed off but instead sent as a pdf attachment to your inbox. If you use this feature then it doesn't matter which fax you buy as printing costs will be virtually nil.

If you want a combined printer/fax and mainly use this for printing then I assume you need colour. It is very difficult for me to recommend anything when I do not know budgets or the quantity of pages you will be printing.

[vintly]

Scott, can you not simply stop using the fax? A couple of years ago we got rid of ours and there's no issue - others simply email you instead. Suppliers, clients, enquiries - doesn't matter, there's always a way round it.

Wiz will know better than I, but I had a very good OKI colour laser printer for a couple of years. It was A3 but they do A4 as well - favoured it over the Canon one previously, and it was super quality. Not cheap to run (toner and fuser oil), but I think it's a false economy to print poor quality colour - you may as well not bother. IMHO good stationery pays off. Branding innit.

[cosworth151]

I have a question, Wizzo. I know a number of model builders you print their own decals. ALPS printers have long been gone from the market over here. Is there any other way to print in white?

[Scott]

One of our suppliers only uses faxes...it is our produce supplier and the delivery prep starts hours before anyone is in the office to print off an email for the gorilla's putting together the order, so they have a fax that they can just rip off the sheet and prepare the order.  I know it's archaic  .

There are also a couple of tour companies that will still only use faxes (they seem to think sending a fax means they have a confirmed reservation, while an email can get lost), and every now and again a guest who sends us one.  Otherwise we occasionally need it to send/receive a signature for a contract or the bank.  We ARE joining the 21st century by moving our reservation system to the cloud, and when that is finalized I will get my wife a shiny new iMac for her office needs (actually, I will buy the new one for myself and install my old one in her office - what she doesn't know, won't hurt her  ).

I like that print to email feature - I will look into which models offer that.  We print perhaps 50pgs per week on the office printer/fax - not necessarily in colour (I have a printer in the house we can use when we need colour for the hotel), need it to fit on a desk as opposed to a floor model, and would prefer to keep it under $500 I suppose.

Advice I am really asking for is the brand more than the model.  I have a serious hate on for HP since I have bought probably 7 printers in 11 years here, all HP and all having one or two faults within the first couple years.  I can't afford to send it in if it is still under warranty because we can't be more than a day without one.

[Wizzo]

I have a question, Wizzo. I know a number of model builders you print their own decals. ALPS printers have long been gone from the market over here. Is there any other way to print in white?

Yes, you need a printer with a 'negative' feature. These are mainly on larger multi functional products but I'm sure there must be a smaller printer with this feature somewhere. Simply type what you want to print, hit negative and everything is reversed i.e black becomes white.

Advice I am really asking for is the brand more than the model.

My advice here would be Ricoh. They are the market leaders for business printers and multi functional products. They make some large kit but have also expanded into the small business market to take on the likes of HP etc. If you can stretch to it then the MPC305SPF is an A4 laser colour, copy, print, scan & fax and has every feature you will ever need. If mono is the way to go then look at the MP301SPF, all the features above in black & white.

Do look at a service agreement on these machines, don't be put off by the thought of a contract (business users only). We charge 0.005p per mono page printed and this covers you for parts, labour and ALL toner cartridges! At 50 pages a day you'll be looking at a charge of only £7.50 per month - yes, including cartridges!

There is one golden rule. The more you pay for the printer the cheaper the running costs should be. You can often recover the extra cost of the printer in a few months. Be careful though - it's a minefield!

[Scott]

Send me a contract...I'll fax it back to you.  I'm sure one of your techs could pack his/her skis along for each visit 

That's great.  Thanks for the info.  I will look at Ricoh and see if there is a reputable firm to get a service contract with.

[cosworth151]

Simply type what you want to print, hit negative and everything is reversed i.e black becomes white.

But the printer still can't print with white ink. For example, trying to print a white "meatball" with black number for a classic era racing car on clear decal film.

[Wizzo]

But the printer still can't print with white ink. For example, trying to print a white "meatball" with black number for a classic era racing car on clear decal film.

You're correct the printer does not print in white but if for example you made a black circle with a white number in it and hit negative would that not achieve the same results without the need for a specialist printer? Forgive me if I'm not understanding the problem correctly.

Send me a contract...I'll fax it back to you.  I'm sure one of your techs could pack his/her skis along for each visit

Hey I might look after you personally. Can we arrange a regular preventative maintenance visit? Say, the last weekend of every month? 

[vintly]

Simply type what you want to print, hit negative and everything is reversed i.e black becomes white.

But the printer still can't print with white ink. For example, trying to print a white "meatball" with black number for a classic era racing car on clear decal film.

Cos, these guys make white ink cartridges that I think fit Epson printers amongst others. They may be able to help: http://www.alps-supplies.com

[cosworth151]

Thanks, Vintly, but it looks like they only make white for ALPS and ALPS-made Kodak & Oki models.

Here's an example, Wizzo. If I were building a model of Jim Clark's Lotus-Cosworth 49 from Zanvoort 1968, I would need to print three white circles with a black 5 in the middle of each one. I would then spray them with sealer, soak each in water until the clear decal film (with circle & number on it) slides off the backing paper onto the car.

I don't think anything is available, but I couldn't help but ask. White printing for decals has become sort of the Holy Grail of model building. Thanks for the help, guys! 

[Wizzo]

Ahhh now I get you, I missed the fact you were printing onto a clear sheet hence the need for the white ink.  Sorry Cos, I've never seen anything like that. 

[vintly]

Hmm I love a printing challenge, and will think on this further. I see it is indeed the holy grail for model enthusiasts. Regards to decals and printing white, here's a few links that may or may not be of great use to you...

http://www.atttransfer.com
http://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/decals.htm
http://www.pulsarprofx.com/decalpro/
http://www.druckeronkel.de/index.php?id=469
http://vsrnonline.com/DecalArticle/WhiteDecalsAtHome.htm

[cosworth151]

Thanks, vin!