Short story writers, interested in displaying your work on www.short-story.net? www.ciao.co.uk/short...
Short story writers, interested in displaying your work on www.short-story.net? www.ciao.co.uk/short_story_net __5645883 for anyone wishing to review it!
See my Auctions for your chance to have an @short-story.net email account!
Member since:26.11.2003
Reviews:57
Members who trust:66
I know you may be groaning at the thought of a printer review (not exactly the most exciting are they?), but hear me out!
I sat at work today (yes...on Sunday!), doing overtime for big wads of cash. So naturally, I managed to milk it for as much as possible! One of these ways was by making full, pointless, use of the amazing colour printer sat in the corner looking all innocent and blending in with the rest of the greyness surrounding it (and that's without all the old geezers that usually populate the place!)
Anyway, I usually use this printer daily, and as I've noticed that it has come down in price hugely, I thought I'd spout my felling here for any of you on the lookout for something that you can print out your dirty pics on.
Anyway...back to the subject....
Introduction:
Recently superseded by the slightly faster, and more powerful (hence bigger wallet denting) 8400 series, this printer has been on sale since 2002.
At the time it was the first of its kind, a market leader. This is all down to the Xerox patented single-pass technology (nope, doesn’t mean much to me either!). Looking into it, this means that the ink is transferred to the paper all in one go, meaning the speed of printing is greatly increased.
This is a network/workgroup colour printer, using solid ink rather than the usual wet ink that inkjet
printers throw at the paper. Basically it melts a coloured wax-based substance onto the paper (who knows, it may have come from Jason Donovan’s Madame Tussaud’s waxwork, seeing as it isn’t wanted any more).
As I have found out from a quick browse of the Xerox homepage, this printer is capable of handling 65000 pages each month, so can easily squeeze out the entire contents of one of those 'special' websites, if need of course! ;)
Looks:
At first glance, most people would think it was a castrated fax machine. But on studying it closer, it is actually a nicely curved piece of machinery.
This printer does not have a manual feed tray, so you are stuffed if you want to easily use a letterhead (say if you want to send a nasty letter, and make sure the sods can see the red writing!)
There is a single output tray located at the top of the printer, and in front of this is a very handy LCD display. The display is capable of showing a good 5 or 6 lines of text, so is very descriptive with it’s messages, rather than just displaying the standard ‘Error’ message when something goes kaboom.
Connecting:
Same as with most hardware these days, this is a simple plug and play device. Supplied with a good ethernet card built in, you can simply hook it up to the network and get printing (once the damn thing warms up!).
This printer is compatible with all Windows systems from Win 98 upwards, MacOS 8.0 upwards, as well as all kinds of Linux & Unix systems. As ever, Windows has a basic driver installed that will run this, but I’d wholly recommend that you install the drivers and software that is supplied. There’s everything from Colour Management, to Printer Setup utilities, meaning you can fine tune this beast to what suits you best.
Use:
Firstly, when you send a document to print, the printer will have to warm itself up (otherwise the printout would look as smooth as a four year olds crayon drawing). This usually takes a good 10 to 15 seconds.
After warming up, it seems to print pretty rapidly, considering the amount of detail that needs to go into each page. I would even go as far as saying that it can print a photo quality full page ..erm.. photo within 30 seconds. Even at standard quality, this machine will happily fire through, on average, 16 pages per minute of colour printing (provided there’s no particularly complicated colour mixing involved).
There are an amazing 136 true type fonts preloaded, so there is next to no worry of odd margins or jumping text at all.
With 64MB of SDRAM as standard, this printer can accept a huge amount of documents to print, leaving the network server free for those of us that wish to browse the internet for money making opportunities and obscure music. This means the queue time is greatly reduced, and as the printer processes much of the print itself too, it also cuts down the pressure on the network server.
The detail and text output is outstanding, due to the solid ink used. Every line and curve is flawless, and you can even feel the edge of the print! Thankfully the paper is always dry when it churns it out, otherwise I’d have lovely coloured fingers by now (watch it!).
One thing that I find a little disconcerting is the fact that it doesn’t really sound like a printer when it’s at it. You hear nothing until a somewhat disturbing whistle/whirr and it chucks the paper at you!
Technical info:
The serious stuff…..
Solid ink colour workgroup printer
Size – 43.2cm x 60cm x 39cm (not all that big eh?)
Weight – 36kg (roughly the weight of a 10 year old kid, or half an alsatian)
Max Resolution – 1000 dpi x 1000 dpi (although there is also an enhanced 1200dpi model)
Speed – 16 pages per minute (average), in both colour, and B & W
Processor – 300MHz PowerPC RISC Processor. Just shows it takes a lot of effort to get the colours right eh?
Paper capacity – A paltry 200 sheets of A4, but there are extended trays available at an extra cost
Software supplied – Basic Drivers & Utilities. The utilities are essential, as this is where you fine tune the colour output, as well as the desired quality.
Warranty – Limited 1 year on-site parts & labour warranty.
Compatibility – As I’ve said above, this printer will run on basically anything! Mac’s, PC’s, Workstations, Toasters, you name it! Well, I went a bit far with toasters, but you get the idea! Windows 98 and upwards, MacOS 8.0 upwards, Unix/Linux, and even SunOS (for you designers out there)
I ca just sense the anticipation of you lot on reaching this part….not because you’re interested in the price, but because you’re nearing the end!
Well, up until recently, you couldn’t find one of these for under Ł900. But now, as they’ve been made obsolete by the 8400 model, you can get one for a bargain Ł600 (or Ł699 direct from Xerox). I know you may think it’s expensive, but when you see what this thing can do in an office it is a small price to pay!
Now, ink is the real killer. It takes 4 ‘sticks’ in total. Black, Cyan, Magenta, and yellow. Each of these costs Ł60 to replace, and they only last for an average of 7000 – 8000 prints! That’s a lot to shell out if you’re forever printing fancy shmancy brochures etc.
Still, the paper smells goooood when it’s fresh out of the printer ;)
Contact info:
Xerox Office Printing Business Sutherland House, Unit 3 Millboard Road Bourne End Buckinghamshire SL8 5XF
Sales: 0800 787787 To find a local reseller: 0870 2413245 Support: 0870 241 3459 FAX: 01628 553301
Definitely a printer to consider if you require top quality colour prints, such as photos for newsletters or brochures. It may seem to cost quite a bit to run, but it pays dividends in with the outstanding quality of the printing. With the high resolution, and photo quality output, this printer can easily be used to print highly detailed pictures/documents.
It may not be the quickest out there, but again, it’s a case of quality rather than quantity. At 16 pages per minute, I doubt this’ll cause any tailbacks (or nagging) when used in a reasonably sized office.
I can tell you one thing though, the feeling of the ink on the paper can make some people cringe (you know that feeling when you chew cotton wool?)…it’s horrible! Sends a cold shiver down my spine just thinking about it!
Anyway, I can recommend this printer to anyone who needs a competent and highly detailed colour printer. Suitable for use in a small to medium office setting, you will have no complaints at all. Easy to set up & use, and it is also very easy to renew the ink.
Mmm curvy
Thanks for reading,
Marc
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
exceptional by (8%):
very helpful by (92%):
