Re: DOS printers

[jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Norman Bauman wrote:

> There are a couple of stores in Compu-Mart that sell old equipment, and
> there are HP II printers advertised for $100, but I wonder if there's a
> cheap ink-jet he could buy at CompUSA for close to $100.

You can find just about any printer you want on Ebay, with various pros &
cons. I've bought 4 this way (not all for myself) over the past year. Three
of these were inkjet models that were still being sold during the last 1 - 3
years, and so happened to be leftover stock, still new in the box. Two of
those were being sold by retail stores that get rid of leftover inventory this
way, the other from a private reseller. In regard to the latter, the driver CD
and manual were missing (apparently the fault of BUY.COM, which is where he
bought it from), but he eventually replaced them. I believe that all of these
support DOS. Whether a manufacturer warranty from such an old/new item would
be supported is anyone's guess.

If you are buying a used laser printer -- such as an HP LJ-4, of which there
are a huge number available -- I would recommend that you skip the auction
route. These units are heavy, which ups the shipping considerably, and will
cost you from 2 - 4x the cost of the printers referred to above. There are
probably plenty of local businesses replacing older equipment, and you can pick
one up for quite a bit less than the prices you'll see on Ebay, without having
to drop another 50 bucks on shipping. Probably no tax either. This way, if
pickup rollers need replacing, or some other service is required, you'd still
be well ahead of the auction prices after adding in the cost of that. You
might even luck out and find a "low-mileage" printer from some executive's
office.

Jordan