(no subject)
Way back when, the very first time Joe and I went to the auction (nearly two years ago, now), we came home with an HP ColorLaserJet 4500 DN printer. When I worked at Amex, we had one just like it - which we paid more than $3000 for at the time. It was a fantastic printer, and one of my lesser sorrows of leaving Amex was that I would no longer have access to it. So I figured this one was worth a bid of at least $150. We got it for $80.
It has all the accessories except the JetDirect card - the extra paper tray, the duplexer unit - this puppy is a monster - seriously, it's about two and a half feet tall, two feet wide, and two and a half feet deep.
It's been sitting on my file cabinet ever since. See, without the JetDirect card, we can't hook it up to the network (JD cards ain't cheap), and it needs some kind of funky proprietary cable. And I remember the prohibitive expense of all of the consumable equipment the Amex one required (black ink cartridge - $97! Other colors - $132! Fuser - $265! Not to mention the $100 drum kit, and a $230 transfer kit.)
Lately, though, I've been needing a decent color printer for my portfolio and such. I don't know what became of the inkjet I used to have; I think Joe threw it away thinking it was broken (which is too bad - I still have ink for it). So I started looking on eBay for the necessary stuff to get this thing running. Toner - $10 a cartridge, color or black! Fuser kit - $30! That wacky cable - $17 (including shipping)!
I don't know yet whether I'll need toner, the drum, or the transfer kits immediately. I ordered the cable, and I have a bid in for the fuser (which the printer is telling me I need. But, even if I have to buy it all, I should be able to get her up and running for about $150. Especially since it was designed to be a commercial printer - the kits and toner will last a long time in a household. Of course, if I had to order from HP directly (at a total of more than a grand), it would be going out with the bulk trash next time.
It has all the accessories except the JetDirect card - the extra paper tray, the duplexer unit - this puppy is a monster - seriously, it's about two and a half feet tall, two feet wide, and two and a half feet deep.
It's been sitting on my file cabinet ever since. See, without the JetDirect card, we can't hook it up to the network (JD cards ain't cheap), and it needs some kind of funky proprietary cable. And I remember the prohibitive expense of all of the consumable equipment the Amex one required (black ink cartridge - $97! Other colors - $132! Fuser - $265! Not to mention the $100 drum kit, and a $230 transfer kit.)
Lately, though, I've been needing a decent color printer for my portfolio and such. I don't know what became of the inkjet I used to have; I think Joe threw it away thinking it was broken (which is too bad - I still have ink for it). So I started looking on eBay for the necessary stuff to get this thing running. Toner - $10 a cartridge, color or black! Fuser kit - $30! That wacky cable - $17 (including shipping)!
I don't know yet whether I'll need toner, the drum, or the transfer kits immediately. I ordered the cable, and I have a bid in for the fuser (which the printer is telling me I need. But, even if I have to buy it all, I should be able to get her up and running for about $150. Especially since it was designed to be a commercial printer - the kits and toner will last a long time in a household. Of course, if I had to order from HP directly (at a total of more than a grand), it would be going out with the bulk trash next time.