Incredible. (update 11-02)
Written: Apr 30 '01 (Updated Feb 06 '08)
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Pros: $499. Standard double-sided printing. Any operating system. FAST.
Cons: Are there any?
The Bottom Line: Who wouldn't want this?
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| drcns's Full Review: IBM Network 17 Laser Printer |
I have many printers at home and at work. Each has a laser toner cartridge (and maybe a separate fuser/drum) that lasts 3000-5000 pages; they cost $80-150 to replace. Those printers ran from $350-400 and print on one-side of the paper, very slowly, churning out a slow 8 pages per minute.
It would be nice to grab one of the IBM network printers for office and home use. The toner lasts 10,000 pages and costs the same (about $99). The printer prints on both sides of the paper, standard, so paper use is less. And it prints at 17 pages per minute, blowing away the typical home printer. But, the cost...
Well, I found some great bargains out there. Electrified.com, for one, has the N17 for $499, with cheap options such as the $99 extra 500-sheet paper tray.
So I got one. Then, about a month later, I got another.
I put the first one in the office and the second one at home. Why? The printer is better than my regular ones and is cheaper to own.
Well, consider this:
1. This is a $499 printer (retail is $1300) at discount.
2. It prints on BOTH SIDES OF THE PAPER standard. Paper costs have dropped.
3. The toner lasts 10,000 pages and the toner is the same price as for other printers ($99 or so), so toner costs have dropped. UPDATE: my toner is lasting 16,000 pages!
4. The printer prints 17 pages per minute, so waiting time has dropped.
5. The printer prints on just about anything (don't try tee-shirts or anything like that), including flawless handling of envelopes.
Consider my office setup:
Envelopes in the envelope tray.
Special forms in the first paper tray.
Heavy paper (fancy paper) in the 500-sheet second tray.
Regular paper in the 500-sheet third tray.
And the manual feed/auxiliary tray is empty.
I print a document in Word with some preset macros for my convenience (but you can also do this very quickly in Word by hand):
The document address becomes an envelope and the printer sucks the envelope in and addresses it without my telling the printer where the envelopes are. The printer then prints the document single-sided on good stationary for that envelope. Then the printer prints my file copy on regular paper, double-sided to save paper.
And it does that faster than any of the other printers could have printed one set of documents.
ISSUES:
1. JAMS: never
2. WARM-UP TIME: longer than expected, about 30 seconds
3. SPEED: timed at about 16-17 pages per minute
4. DOUBLE-SIDED SPEED: about 14-15 pages per minute
5. NOISE: fan sounds like a typical home computer fan when in "energy star" power-saving mode; when operating, it is noisier than the typical home laser printer.
UPDATE 11-02: This printer keeps on going. If you can find one somewhere, consider picking it up. I have two of them now and they both have several attached options. All are working properly. I have noticed that generic toner cartridges don't work quite as well.
UPDATE 1-08: Just thought I would point out that THEY ARE STILL RUNNING without any repairs and without any jams! I am absolutely astonished.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
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Epinions.com ID:
drcns
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Location: San Francisco CA
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 6 members
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