How much RAM should I use in an HP LaserJet 4000 with JetDirect 610N?

[TazExprez]

I currently have an HP LaserJet 4000 with the JetDirect 610N network adapter. It currently has 4MB of RAM and it is upgradeable to 100MB. I wonder if I should upgrade it, and if so, should I max it out?

I looked for the RAM on eBay and some sellers sell 64MB sticks and they say these are compatible with the 4000. In the HP site, it seems that 32MB sticks are the largest it will accept. Will the printer accept a 64MB stick and allow you to just use 32MB of it, or will it let you use the full 64MB of RAM?

Another thing I noticed on eBay was a seller stating that you could actually max out the 4000 with 160MB of RAM, instead of 100MB. Will the printer accept the full 160MB of RAM and allow you to just use 100MB of it, or will it let you use the full 160MB?

Btw, I am thinking about getting the duplexing piece. I will get either the C4123A or the C8054A. Is there a difference between the two? The C4123A is mentioned in the manual, while the other isn't. I have seen several sites that state that the C8054 is compatible with the 4000, 4050, and the 4100.

I will mostly be printing text with row and column divisions and small logos. I will also need to print pictures and diagrams sometimes.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Ken90630]

If I were in your shoes, I'd pick up the phone tomorrow morning & give HP a call re most of your compatibility questions. Trusting someone on ebay can be risky business, even if they're just saying something out of ignorance rather than dishonesty. I don't know too many people who are particularly knowledgeable about printer RAM.

I will mostly be printing text with row and column divisions and small logos. I will also need to print pictures and diagrams sometimes.

4MB would actually prolly be okay for just the text & small logo stuff (unless they are very looooong, multi-page documents). With pictures & diagrams however, you'll prolly need more. I have an HP laser printer and it came with 16MB of RAM out of the box. I bought a stick of 64MB, direct-ordered from HP, to upgrade it right away. I think that with what you're describing, in terms of what you're going to be printing, 32MB would likely be more than enough. Think about it: How often do you send a print job to your printer that's bigger than 32MB? Unless you've got large Photoshop, PowerPoint, or graphic design files or something, prolly not real often.

32MB sounds like the ticket to me. And you can spend the money you saved (by not getting the 100MB) on pizza.

 

[TazExprez]

Thanks a lot for your help.

I will buy 32MB and see how it goes. I'll call HP about the duplexing question.

What happens if you run out of memory, btw? Does the printer just download and print the picture or document by parts, with a few small breaks between the downloads? I am a complete laser printer newb.

Thanks again.

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: TazExprez
Thanks a lot for your help.

I will buy 32MB and see how it goes. I'll call HP about the duplexing question.

What happens if you run out of memory, btw? Does the printer just download and print the picture or document by parts, with a few small breaks between the downloads? I am a complete laser printer newb.

Thanks again.

No prob. Glad to help.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I don't exactly know what happens if the print job requires more memory than the printer has (RAM capacity). It has never happened to me -- prolly 'cuz I put extra RAM in right after I got the machine :laugh: . I'd guess one of these things might happen:

1) You might get a message on your monitor saying "insufficient memory" or "insufficient printer resources" or something like that, and the printer wouldn't print the job;

2) Maybe it would print as much as it could and only that much, requiring you to 'reprint' the remainder of the job;

3) Maybe it would print as much as it could from its own RAM, then maybe pull the rest of the job from the computer's RAM (if it would even be stored there?) after that. I don't know if the computer's RAM would store whatever the printer's RAM couldn't.

I really have no idea. But I'm sure this has happened to someone, so maybe someone else will chime in with their experiences. Heck, ask the rep at HP when you're on the phone with them and see what he/she says. (And then do a post & let me know ).

BTW, you might also ask the HP rep about the price differences on the different sticks of RAM. I bought my printer about 2 1/2 years ago, but I seem to remember the difference between a 32MB stick and a 64MB stick was like $10 or something. (That was direct-order pricing from HP.) So I just got the 64MB for peace of mind since it was only a few bucks more.

 

[woland223]

Taz,

Well to answer your question

What happens if you run out of memory, btw? Does the printer just download and print the picture or document by parts, with a few small breaks between the downloads? I am a complete laser printer newb.

What I have seen, is that the printer will stall... take a very VERY long time to finish printing. Where I work we had an HP 4, and the Accountent would print some very long spread sheets, and it would take something like 1 hr to print them. He would get sooo upset we got him a new HP 4200 with 64meg of memory (partly becouse it is sooo expensive to upgrade printer memory, and we thought he needed a good fast printer)... now it prints his stuff winthing 1-5 min tops.



Hope that helps.


oh and I just thought of something, He was printing from his computer, through a print sever. I suspect its the same exact thing from a computer without going through a print server though.

 

[fire400]

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