Sometimes the gods do smile upon us... Last week ebay had someone from the Hartford area put up a pallet of old computer / office "stuff." Just wanted to clear it out of an old warehouse that was about to be rented again. Since it was local I was able to preview it - 3 old PS-2 towers, 3 older VGA monitors, a Mac II, some answering machines, lots of power cords and cables, etc. Not much I wanted, so someone from Washington (state) won the lot for about $15 (and good luck with shipping!). I had a brief conversation with the guy who was selling off this stuff and told him about my interests in really old computers. He said that he had taken home an HP-85 laser jet printer which worked. I told him that I didn't think that it was the right model number. But he said it was definitely a laser jet printer. He called me yesterday and told me it was really a LJ-III, that his son wanted a color printer, and would I be interested in it for $50 since he had just put a new toner cartridge in. I called a friend who wanted it, and went to pick it up today. When I arrived, he said he figured out why he called it an HP-85. He then took me back into the warehouse and showed me TWO HP-85's, covered in dust and grime, plus 3 unopened boxes of thermal printer paper, 2 rolls to a box, plus two 3-ring binders marked HP 80 series. He asked me if I wanted them. How could I say no? Turns out that the docs are two copies of the manuals for an HP-86B, but I am not complaining! Those beasties are heavier by five pounds just due to the accumulated dirt and grime. It will be several weekends from now before they are clean enough to even think about a power-on smoke test. In the meantime, is there anyone out there who could trade some HP-85 docs (or copies) for my HP-86B docs? What kind of tape cartridges do I need? (as if I think there's a chance in hell that the drives will still work!) Never having used one of these before, any advice or comments are welcome. Bob Stek Saver of Lost Sols