jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) (07/12/89)
I just read in today's MacWeek that the DeskJet was designed for an average daily page count of 20-25 pages, and a MAXIMUM of 50 pages per day!! Are they kidding? That's just 20 letters a day, or one half-hour sitcom script!!! Does anyone else think this is a bit low??? (!) -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeffrey A. Sullivan | Senior Systems Programmer jas@venera.isi.edu | Information Sciences Institute jas@isi.edu DELPHI: JSULLIVAN | University of Southern California
dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt) (07/12/89)
In article <8903@venera.isi.edu> jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes: > I just read in today's MacWeek that the DeskJet was designed for an > average daily page count of 20-25 pages, and a MAXIMUM of 50 pages per > day!! > > Are they kidding? That's just 20 letters a day, or one half-hour > sitcom script!!! > > Does anyone else think this is a bit low??? (!) Well, those figures seem to be generic to the DeskJet printer family. The product specification in the service manual considers "Typical printer usage" to be "25 pages/day (average), 50 pages/day (maximum)". It also specifies a mean-time-between-failures of 20,000 hours, and a mechanism life of 60,000 pages. I guess my wife and I are "typical" DeskJet users; we rarely go above 30 pages per day, and probably average less than 10 pages/day over the long haul. I think of the DeskJet and DeskJet Plus (and, now, the DeskWriter) as very effective _personal_ printers... good for one or two people or perhaps a small office with a relatively low output of verbiage. I probably wouldn't recommend them for larger offices (>> 2 people) or for anyone who needs to churn out large amounts of paper... they don't seem to be designed with that particular market in mind. For one thing, their mechanism lifetime isn't long enough (our 10-person office ran 60,000 pages through our LaserWriter in under 9 months). For another, the cost of ink cartridges is still relatively high; a cartridge costing $15 in quantity is good for on-the-rough-order-of 1000 average pages of draft-quality printing, or perhaps half that much in letter-quality mode. If you really have a need to output > 100 pages/day, then you may well be happier with a LaserJet (plus a third-party driver), or a LaserWriter or some other PostScript laser-printer. I like the DeskJet quite a bit, and from all I've heard the DeskWriter sounds like a real winner ->in the market for which it was designed<-. It's not a laser-printer, and is not intended for network access or high-volume printing. Within those constraints, it appears to fill a vacant niche in the Mac printer market quite nicely indeed. It is not, however, the be-all-and-end-all of Mac printers. -- Dave Platt FIDONET: Dave Platt on 1:204/444 VOICE: (415) 493-8805 UUCP: ...!{ames,sun,uunet}!coherent!dplatt DOMAIN: dplatt@coherent.com INTERNET: coherent!dplatt@ames.arpa, ...@uunet.uu.net USNAIL: Coherent Thought Inc. 3350 West Bayshore #205 Palo Alto CA 94303
seo@cs.utexas.edu (Jungyun Seo) (07/13/89)
In article <8903@venera.isi.edu> jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes: >I just read in today's MacWeek that the DeskJet was designed for an >average daily page count of 20-25 pages, and a MAXIMUM of 50 pages per >day!! > >Are they kidding? That's just 20 letters a day, or one half-hour >sitcom script!!! > >Does anyone else think this is a bit low??? (!) I have to totally agree with you. If it is true, then one have to spend FOUR DAYS to print his 200 page dissertation with a Deskwriter. By the way, is it strictly required to keep the limitation of the MAXIMUM of 50 pages/day for a Deskwriter? What will happen if more than, say, 100 pages are printed at once? Will it cause serious mechanical or electrical problems, or the Deskwriter will make dirty output, or what else? As a grad student who is planning to write dissertation on a Mac, it is very important question to be answered before buying a Deskwriter. I appreciate any comments on this matter. Jungyun -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1 Jungyun Seo UUCP: uunet!cs.utexas.edu!seo 1 1 (512) 471-9573 ARPA: seo@cs.utexas.edu 1 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
kevinh@hpvcfs1.HP.COM (Kevin Hudson) (07/14/89)
>By the way, is it strictly required to keep the limitation of the >MAXIMUM of 50 pages/day for a Deskwriter? >What will happen if more than, say, 100 pages are printed at once? >Will it cause serious mechanical or electrical problems, or the Deskwriter >will make dirty output, or what else? >Jungyun To start off, the "limitations" are basically numbers that represent two things: First, they are the numbers that HP uses to generate projected warranty and repair statistics. The only reliability concern with printing large daily amounts is that you will (statistically) have more repairs necessary per unit time than is indicated for those that use their printers within the described usage (gee, what a revelation). Second, the numbers are a guideline to help people decide if this is the right printer for them. For instance, larger and more frequent print jobs require that the printhead be replaced more often. If you anticipate printing 500-1000 pages a day, expect to replace the printhead daily. This may be unacceptable for say, a networked printer that is used by many people who have no idea when the printhead was last changed. Kevin Hudson HP Vancouver Division (206) 896-2534
davew@hp-ptp.HP.COM (Dave_Waller) (07/15/89)
kevinh@hpvcfs1.HP.COM (Kevin Hudson) writes: > >By the way, is it strictly required to keep the limitation of the > >MAXIMUM of 50 pages/day for a Deskwriter? > >What will happen if more than, say, 100 pages are printed at once? > >Will it cause serious mechanical or electrical problems, or the Deskwriter > >will make dirty output, or what else? > > >Jungyun > > To start off, the "limitations" are basically numbers that represent two > things: First, they are the numbers that HP uses to generate projected > warranty and repair statistics. The only reliability concern with printing > large daily amounts is that you will (statistically) have more repairs > necessary per unit time than is indicated for those that use their printers > within the described usage (gee, what a revelation). Second, the numbers > are a guideline to help people decide if this is the right printer for them. > For instance, larger and more frequent print jobs require that the printhead > be replaced more often. If you anticipate printing 500-1000 pages a day, > expect to replace the printhead daily. This may be unacceptable for say, a > networked printer that is used by many people who have no idea when the > printhead was last changed. > > Kevin Hudson > HP Vancouver Division > (206) 896-2534 > ---------- BTW, it us worthwhile to point out that the 50 ppd value is NOT based on the speed of the printer, but, as Kevin points out, consideration of average use in order to make reasonable estimates of warranty repair costs per annum, etc. If the printer were continously printing, it can print far more than 50 pages in one day. The Dwskwriter for that matter is also quite a bit faster than the DeskJet, due to the improved driver and data compression. So the guy with the PhD dissertation would be able to print out his 200 pages without waiting 3 days. Hey Vancouver (maybe Kevin), could you post the # of ppd for 1) DeskJet and 2) DeskWriter if either of these printer were confronted with continuous printing? Dave Waller Hewlett-Packard Co. Workstation Group Pacific Technology Park 1266 Kifer Rd. Sunnyvale, CA (408) 746-5324 [ucbvax!]hplabs!hpdstma!dave | dave@hpdstma.ptp.hp.com +-------------------------------------+---------------------------------------+ | Standard disclaimer: | "I refuse to put anything in quotes | | The opinions expressed above are | in this space" | | solely my own, and in no way reflect| | | those of my employer. | | +-------------------------------------+---------------------------------------+
rickk@hpvcfs1.HP.COM (Rick Klaus) (07/18/89)
If the DeskWriter/Jet were printing continuously we could print into the thousands of pages in a day. The DW averaged 1 ppm over a wide range of documents that we tested. We perform reliability tests that print about 500 pages in an 8-hour shift and even these aren't kept running continuously. Rick Klaus rickk@hpvcfs1
stevem@hpvcfs1.HP.COM (Steve Miller) (07/18/89)
If you want even more accurate data, read on. Our throughput tests covering about 40 pages of text, mixed text and graphics, and pure graphics resulted in the following speeds: 1 Meg Mac+: 0.98 pages per minute 2 Meg Mac SE: 1.08 pages per minute 5 Meg Mac II: 1.66 pages per minute Steven Miller stevem@hpvcfs1 Vancouver Division Hewlett Packard