28 Jan
2008
28 Jan
'08
6:56 p.m.
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:44:22 -0600
From: Jules Richardson
Does the old printer do what you need better than a
new one (build
quality, interfaces, print quality, reliability)? (although you hint at
some answers to that above)
Build quality? No--I've mentioned that the Panasonic's an industrial-
grade beast. Interfaces? Both have parallel; I've never used the
serial or Appletalk interface on the Panasonic, which doesn't have
USB. The new Brother is head-and-shoulders above the Panasonic
regarding print quality; 1200 dpi vs. 300. Reliability? Hard to say
at this point, although I've owned the predecessor model to the
Brother for a couple of years and never had a problem. Speed? The
Brother is much faster, particularly when rendering graphics; the
halftones are superb.
At this point, a big factor--cost of operation skews things a lot.
Replacement drum and developer cartridges for the Panasonic are
getting pretty dear.
How does the expected lifetime if given a new drum
stack up against the
cost of new printer(s) (which IME don't seem to be very serviceable or
built to last)
While I might find a NOS drum for the Panasonic on eBay for a good
price, I'm also aware that the shelf life of OPC drums is finite. If
I elect to purchase a remanufactured drum unit, it'll cost me more
than $100 plus shipping. The Brother cost me $40 shipped. I suspect
that for the shipped price of a single Panasonic drum unit, I could
buy three Brothers and stash two of them away for the future.
How guilty do you feel about sending something which
could be repaired off
to landfill?
It wouldn't go to the landfill. I'd disassemble it and send the
metal parts off to recycling and hang onto any interesting
mechanicals and electronics for my hellbox.
I might try freecycling it, but I saw an HP color laser recently go
without a single nibble on the local Freecycle.
Some old things, however well made, seem to be eclipsed by more
modern technology.
Cheers,
Chuck