PostScript Laser Printer for OS X?
 

I'm looking for a PostScript compatible laser printer that runs great with OSX. It doesn't have to be color, but it does have to be PostScript. I can find reviews of Lexmark E321 and Bother HL5050, but the reviews I've found have only been with Windows.

Thanks in advance.

Every HP LaserJet that I've encountred in the last 3 years does PostScript.

...but do they work good with OSX?

They work fine.. Old Apple printers support PS as well and work fine with OS X as well. The 16/600 is still a workhorse.
Personally, I don't care for Lexmark printers.

Good to know... thanx.

Weren't 16/600's SCSI only though?

I looked it up... the 16/600 is compatible with ethernet and parallel, as well as local talk.

Anyway... what do you think of the Laserwriter Pro 630. I have a chance to pick one up for cheap. I'm tempted.

Don't know about that one. Closest I've seen to that is a 12/640. It was an OK printer. Jammed a lot, didn't like a lot of chatty-cathy Appletalk and Windows file sharting on the network.

FYI- you can get great deals on ebay. i picked up an old localtalk LW360 for like $45...and an asante localtalk to ethernet bridge for even cheaper. its slow. but, its puts out quality, postscript prints at 600dpi for less than $100. and, it works fine with osx.

Thanks. I'll see what else I can find. I can always upgrade later if it's too slow. I'm assuming you can still buy toner carts for those things, probably about as much $ as the newer ones.

I dumped my 16/600 for a new hp LaserJet 1300 (USB) PostScript printer and I'm glad I did. It's great on OS X. I recommend it.

~Dennis

about $50. but, with any luck the one that comes with a used unit will have enough life left in it to tell if its worth reloading when it runs out. really just depends on how big a hurry you are in for the prints. the quality sure isnt an issue.

Brother HL5070N - Works like a champ with Mac (OS9/OSX) & Windows. Fast, inexpensive, can even get an expended warranty from Brother for about $70 (for a second year). Did I mention fast?

I've installed these in a number of business that do -lots- of printing and I've had no callbacks.

HP? Thry're living off their reputation; their new laser printers are poorly built unless you spend $1000+.

At the risk of telling a tall tale????
 

With the Advent of "Display Postcript" rebirth aka Quartz in OSX, do we really need to use acutal Postcript Laser printers anymore????

Laser Printers start at around $150 dollars. Usually with a USB1/USB2 interface and and on higher end ones, Ethernet. Every manufacturer makes printers starting at these price points, including the HP.

I always had good luck with HP. Although Brother seems to offer a lot of printer for the money (if you look over the specs of the $150 to $300 ones).

With prices starting at $150, not much more then a new Toner cartridge:) And as all these printers come with at least a one year warranty, you might want to consider a new one. I believe Staples and others also offer a Generous return policy if disastisifed.

Old vx. New
 

I just had a bad experience with a new PostScript laser printer. The Xerox 3450 will not print on company letterhead, although older HP laser printers work fine. The toner from the Xerox won't stick to the paper well, it smears. The letterhead is thick and has quite a bit of texture, and is rated at 70 pounds. The Xerox is only good for 40 pound paper. So in that case an old used printer is better than a new one.

Pound for Pound
 

Sorry for your Difficulty. The size and weight of paper that can be run through a printer is more a matter of its design then its age.

When a business buys a Laser Printer (even a person) two of the good questions to ask among **many** are what sizes of paper (how small and how large) and what weight paper can safely be run through the printer without jamming while at the same time producing good images.

70 Pound stock is virtually card stock. I think most decent laser printers should handle around 50 pound stock. Regular copier paper is 20 pound stock (if memory serves me correct). Most stationary is around 25 to 35 range (if memory serves me correct).

40 Pound seems a bit little for an office printer to be not able to handle. Perhpaps the manufacuter was being extra conservative. I bet you could have run up to about 50 pound stock through it safely. *Though generally I would go with the manufacuter specs**.

Well, I ended up picking up that Laserwriter Pro 630 for $100 (including the ethernet adapter). The page count is at 44,000 and it has a partial toner, so it should last a while. Long enough for me to decide what else to do, for that price I couldn't turn it down. These old Apple printers are really well made. Better than some of the $300 new equivalents I looked at. It's slow, but it's a workhorse. Thanks for all your help.

good printer... new problem...
 

This printer spits out beautiful output. True PostScript, 600dpi, and nice blacks. Anyway, now I have a different problem...

Here's the setup: 1 B&W G3 running OSX Server 10.1.4, 1 G4 eMac running 10.2.8, 1 Airport Base Station (for the 10.2.8 iBooks to connect), and the LaserWriter Pro 630 all plugged into a 4-port Cable/DSL router.

I can print to the LW630 from any computer on the network. I added a queue on each using AppleTalk. Therefore, I know the printer works and all can communicate. However, now I'm trying to get OSX Server to manage the queue.
Here's what I've done.
1. ON SERVER - Opened Server Admin, opened "configure print services", Check "start print service at startup", choose "LaserWriter Pro 630" as the default queue.
2. Open Print Monitor and highlight "LaserWriter Pro 630", and click edit. LPR is checked and priority is set to "normal". I restarted just to make sure. Print Serivce is running and the queue shows up under print monitor. According to the Admin Guide, this printer is now sucessfully shared.
3. ON CLIENT - Launch Print Center, click add printer. Choose "IP Printing" from drop down menu. Enter severs IP address, check "use default queue on server", and choose Apple LaserWriter Pro 630 as the printer description.
4. When I try to print to the Server, I get a time out and it refuses to print. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I can still print to the LW630 using Appletalk, but I'd like to let OSX Server manage the queue. I'm not sure what I'm forgetting.

Perhpaps I am asking a silly ?
 

Is not the 630 Apple Talk Only? Is Apple Talk on a 10.14 server so that it may Address the printer and serve it up for everyone else?

The URL below has all the Specs. They mention EtherTalk instead of Ethernet and I do not see at a quick glance that you can configure an IP Address.

http://developer.apple.com/documenta...ro_600_630.pdf

This is how I set up my printers in 10.2. I can 't remember if the set up is the same in 10.1.4.

1. Log onto server with admin account, open Print Center and select Add printer. Choose IP. Where it asks for the printer address put in the IP # of the printer. Uncheck the box marked "Use Default Queue". In the box next to that put in a Queue name. At the bottom of the window select the manufacturer and model of printer and click Add.

2. Now, open up Server Settings and open the Print Monitor. In the window that appears you should see the print queue you set up in the Print Center. Select the queue and then at the bottom of the window click "Edit", uncheck the AppleTalk and select IP (the server won't log AppleTalk print jobs). Click save.

3. Write down the Queue name. If it reads i.e., LJ4000 on 123.456.3.12, just write down the LJ4000 part.

4. Log out of the server and go to another computer that has the Server Admin Tools/ Programs on it. WorkGroup Manager, Server Settings... On this computer set up your printers like this: Open Print Center and select Add printer. Choose IP. Where it asks for the printer address put in the DNS name of your server (bogus.apple.com) or IP number. Uncheck the box marked "Use Default Queue". In the box next to that put in the Queue name from the server (LJ4000) the one you wrote down. At the bottom of the window select the manufacturer and model of printer and click Add.

Now you just have to add this printer to your Users and/or Group settings in WGM and set their quotas.

5. Go to your printer and turn off AppleTalk. That way your users don't see the AppleTalk name when they try to set up a printer, they only see your queue name.

Thanks for your help guys. However, it appears as though I did it right. The problem was the firewall. Duh, I don't know why I didn't try that earlier. I turned off the firewall software on the server and viola. Turned it back on and I get a timeout. I'm using Impasse on my 10.1.4 Server as a firewall.

Does anyone know which port is used for printer sharing so I can unlock it?

Or is there a better firewall software I should be using that will allow this?

Thanks again.