The HL 1470N does look like a good choice. I'm just not completely confident in Brother's Mac support (for no good reason, really). An other option which I like is picking up a second hand Apple LaserWriter. For $250 you can get a networkable laser printer with good Apple and PostScript support. I think the 12/640 and the LaserWriter Pro (or something like that) are good models.
I have a Base Station, so for me, having 802.11b built into my printer would provide no additional benefits. It's not like I want to drag my printer into the yard and print out there. Laser printers are too large and heavy to be anything but stationary.
<strong>I have a Base Station, so for me, having 802.11b built into my printer would provide no additional benefits. It's not like I want to drag my printer into the yard and print out there. Laser printers are too large and heavy to be anything but stationary.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Heh, I don't really intend to move my printer around. It just means I can put the printer in a better location. My base station is positioned to provide the best coverage possible, and as such is stuck to a wall under the mezzanine.
Are there any problems with just plugging your printer into the base station?
I agree with you about Brother's commitment to OS X, and yet I can't find one company I trust over this issue. The two big guns (HP and Epson) are not doing a good job of filling me with confidence.
I'd go with HP or Lexmark for a laser printer. But then again I'm looking for a duplexing network printer.
I've been looking at the old HP 4M's on ebay. It's just a matter of time. IMHO, HP will be the first to offer proper OS X support for their laser printers. Remember how fast they got OS X drivers out for their newer inkjets?
HP's are used in the industry, and a lot of mac run businesses need those drivers.
Belle: Did you ever decide on a printer? What about you, Nebagakid?
Since Epson is still giving no indication as to whether they will support my EPL-5700i with an OS X driver, I am still looking into this issue. Brother still looks like a very affordable option. A recent search on MySimon revealed that Amazon.com has excellent pricing and is currently offering free shipping.
The 1470N looks like an excellent value, especially for a home environment. The 1670N is more powerful, featuring auto-duplexing, web-based administration, more memory and faster printing. I'm really tempted to go for one of these (I'm leaning towards the 1670N) and offload my crappy Epson on eBay.
A couple weeks ago I hooked a ton of people up with Apple LaserWriter 16/600s for under $200, got one myself, they rule, but at the moment I have no access to more and generally they sell for $400-500.
Bogie: MegaMacs is selling <a href="http://www.megamacs.com/v1/?cat=50002&action=view&pid=289585"; target="_blank">16/600's for $330</a>. What are the strong features of this printer? How does it perform in an OS X environment? How does it deal with complex PostScript print jobs? Certainly sounds like a good option.
So far, it has been great. Runs without drivers, you can set it up via Classic with an Apple utility for it, does great PostScript, 600 dpi, 17 pages per minute letter [16 A4 whatever that is].
I love it, has a minimum life of 450,000 pages before it dies, mine has 170,000 on it, I am told that if it has over 250,000 that you should make sure you pay under $200. But I love it.
It is a TCP/IP native printer, does Serial, LocalTalk, EtherTalk, Parallel, and seems to work great on a network as I have it, I have an OS X Server and two clients, works with them all, just plugged into my switch.
A4 is the standard paper format used everywhere but in the US. A4 is slightly narrower and slightly taller than US Letter size. It's actually a very elegant DIN (Deutsche Industrie Norm--German Industrial Standard) standard. Fold a sheet of A4 in half and you get A5. Take two sheets of A3 and get A5.
Geometrically, the proportion between the long and the short side of all Ax paper formats is something like 1 to the square root of 2. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. It's been a while since my grade school math teacher told me about the beauty of the DIN paper standards.)
<strong>HP laserjet 2200 series. great printer. don't know about the price though.</strong><hr></blockquote>
If I had the money, I would go for the LaserJet 2200 series without second thoughts. Unlike all the other printer makers, I trust HP and they have always supported the Mac.
The LaserJet 1200N, which is the low-end network printer comes in at a more reasonable $599. But the network print module is external and the 1200-series don't have PostScript. In terms of price the two Brother printers referenced above are really tough to beat.
I guess you really pay for HP's support and reputation. HP is great for a business environment where cost is secondary. But at home, where price matters, HP is out of reach for most of us.
Escher
[Edit: Had to correct pricing after some more research.]
Now that I'm receiving paychecks again for my summer job, I'm looking into getting a networkable PostScript laser printer again. I've given up on Epson ever releasing an OS X driver for my EPL-5700i (see <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000770"; target="_blank">this thread</a> for more Epson rants).
Does anybody here have new ideas regarding a networkable PostScript laser printer? If so, I'd like to hear them.
<strong>I've given up on Epson ever releasing an OS X driver for my EPL-5700i.</strong><hr></blockquote>
While I'm digging up this old thread, I should point out for the record that Epson did introduce an OS X driver for the EPL-5700i about a month ago. It works well, but is very slow (about 30-60 seconds per page, which is unbearable for long documents). So I'm sticking with the zero cost option (no new printer) for now.
I picked up the Brother 1270N on clearance from Office Depot, less than $300. It's great for what I paid for it. I use Apple's laserwriter driver (OS X) with the Brother 1270N PPD for printing (not the Brother driver) and haven't had too much trouble, though I do get postscript errors sometimes from PDF files.
I'll second the recommendation for a used Apple 16/600. That printer still kicks ass, even though it is a bit larger than the Brother. The Apple laserwriters use native PostScript for printing, not an emulator like most other companies.
I use both the 1470(USB) and the 1470N in a school network. The 1470N has been a champ. We'll keep buying them. I'm not as excited about the USB implementation on the 1470.
Comments
My ideal printer would have the following features:
0. Solid OS X driver.
1. 600dpi laser.
2. Ethernet and printing via TCP/IP.
3. Native PostScript 2 (PS 3 would be nice).
4. less than $500.
I don't think there is such a product available at this time. Any thoughts on close approximations?
Escher
<strong>0. Solid OS X driver.
1. 600dpi laser.
2. Ethernet and printing via TCP/IP.
3. Native PostScript 2 (PS 3 would be nice).
4. less than $500.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I've been looking at the <a href="http://www.brother.com/usa/printer/info/hl1470n/hl1470n_ove.html"; target="_blank">Brother HL1470N</a>, which meets all your requirements, with the partial exception of 0. It uses the Postscript driver included with OS X. Details of the Mac OS X support are <a href="http://www.brother.com/E-ftp/macosxstate.htm"; target="_blank">here</a>.
I'm looking for a printer very much like this myself, though I'd love one with built-in 802.11b.
<strong>
I've been looking at the <a href="http://www.brother.com/usa/printer/info/hl1470n/hl1470n_ove.html"; target="_blank">Brother HL1470N</a>.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The HL 1470N does look like a good choice. I'm just not completely confident in Brother's Mac support (for no good reason, really). An other option which I like is picking up a second hand Apple LaserWriter. For $250 you can get a networkable laser printer with good Apple and PostScript support. I think the 12/640 and the LaserWriter Pro (or something like that) are good models.
I have a Base Station, so for me, having 802.11b built into my printer would provide no additional benefits. It's not like I want to drag my printer into the yard and print out there. Laser printers are too large and heavy to be anything but stationary.
Escher
<strong>
I think the 12/640 and the LaserWriter Pro (or something like that) are good models.</strong><hr></blockquote>
For example, check out <a href="http://www.megamacs.com/tab_macs.shtml"; target="_blank">MegaMacs</a>: $230 for a LaserWriter Pro 630.
On second thought, I'm not sure whether the older LaserWriters can print over TCP/IP. But they were cross-platform compatible.
Escher
<strong>I have a Base Station, so for me, having 802.11b built into my printer would provide no additional benefits. It's not like I want to drag my printer into the yard and print out there. Laser printers are too large and heavy to be anything but stationary.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Heh, I don't really intend to move my printer around. It just means I can put the printer in a better location. My base station is positioned to provide the best coverage possible, and as such is stuck to a wall under the mezzanine.
Are there any problems with just plugging your printer into the base station?
I agree with you about Brother's commitment to OS X, and yet I can't find one company I trust over this issue. The two big guns (HP and Epson) are not doing a good job of filling me with confidence.
I'd go with HP or Lexmark for a laser printer. But then again I'm looking for a duplexing network printer.
I've been looking at the old HP 4M's on ebay. It's just a matter of time. IMHO, HP will be the first to offer proper OS X support for their laser printers. Remember how fast they got OS X drivers out for their newer inkjets?
HP's are used in the industry, and a lot of mac run businesses need those drivers.
Go HP Go!
<strong>i really dont care about TCP/IP (that much), rather than AppleTalk, or maybe some other X standard?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I was under the impression that TCP/IP was the standard networking protocol in OS X.
Escher
Since Epson is still giving no indication as to whether they will support my EPL-5700i with an OS X driver, I am still looking into this issue. Brother still looks like a very affordable option. A recent search on MySimon revealed that Amazon.com has excellent pricing and is currently offering free shipping.
* <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005MEPT/ref=pd_sbs_e_1/102-8716758-6569739"; target="_blank">Brother HL-1470N</a> for $439 at Amazon.com
* <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000059RDQ/qid=1011717635/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1_1/102-8716758-6569739"; target="_blank">Brother HL-1670N</a> for $699 at Amazon.com
The 1470N looks like an excellent value, especially for a home environment. The 1670N is more powerful, featuring auto-duplexing, web-based administration, more memory and faster printing. I'm really tempted to go for one of these (I'm leaning towards the 1670N) and offload my crappy Epson on eBay.
Escher
Escher
I love it, has a minimum life of 450,000 pages before it dies, mine has 170,000 on it, I am told that if it has over 250,000 that you should make sure you pay under $200. But I love it.
It is a TCP/IP native printer, does Serial, LocalTalk, EtherTalk, Parallel, and seems to work great on a network as I have it, I have an OS X Server and two clients, works with them all, just plugged into my switch.
<strong>16 A4 whatever that is
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Thanks for all the details, Bogie.
A4 is the standard paper format used everywhere but in the US. A4 is slightly narrower and slightly taller than US Letter size. It's actually a very elegant DIN (Deutsche Industrie Norm--German Industrial Standard) standard. Fold a sheet of A4 in half and you get A5. Take two sheets of A3 and get A5.
Geometrically, the proportion between the long and the short side of all Ax paper formats is something like 1 to the square root of 2. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. It's been a while since my grade school math teacher told me about the beauty of the DIN paper standards.)
Escher
<strong>HP laserjet 2200 series. great printer. don't know about the price though.</strong><hr></blockquote>
If I had the money, I would go for the LaserJet 2200 series without second thoughts. Unlike all the other printer makers, I trust HP and they have always supported the Mac.
The USB-only 2200dse is $799, which is not unreasonable. But the networkable 2200DN is $1199 (again <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005AV82/qid=1012083477/ref=sr_11_0_1/102-8716758-6569739" target="_blank">at Amazon</a>), which is beyond the average home printer budget.
The LaserJet 1200N, which is the low-end network printer comes in at a more reasonable $599. But the network print module is external and the 1200-series don't have PostScript. In terms of price the two Brother printers referenced above are really tough to beat.
I guess you really pay for HP's support and reputation. HP is great for a business environment where cost is secondary. But at home, where price matters, HP is out of reach for most of us.
Escher
[Edit: Had to correct pricing after some more research.]
[ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: Escher ]</p>
Does anybody here have new ideas regarding a networkable PostScript laser printer? If so, I'd like to hear them.
Escher
<strong>I'm looking for a printer very much like this myself, though I'd love one with built-in 802.11b.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Belle: Have you seen this <a href="http://www.linksys.com/Products/product.asp?grid=22&prid=432"; target="_blank">Wireless Ethernet Bridge</a> from Linksys? It is supposed to plug into the Ethernet port of a printer and work without drivers.
[quote]Originally posted by Escher:
<strong>I've given up on Epson ever releasing an OS X driver for my EPL-5700i.</strong><hr></blockquote>
While I'm digging up this old thread, I should point out for the record that Epson did introduce an OS X driver for the EPL-5700i about a month ago. It works well, but is very slow (about 30-60 seconds per page, which is unbearable for long documents). So I'm sticking with the zero cost option (no new printer) for now.
Escher
I'll second the recommendation for a used Apple 16/600. That printer still kicks ass, even though it is a bit larger than the Brother. The Apple laserwriters use native PostScript for printing, not an emulator like most other companies.
Love the tiny form factor.