was given a free printer- worth resurrecting???

resinboy

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2000
1,555
0
0
someone gave me an Epson Action Laser printer, model 1500. Needs toner, and I need a cable for it. This unit appears to be 6 or 7 years old at this point, but was working as of last week. I have a color Epson 875 ( the laser is b+w). I was considering using it strictly as a text printer for documents. Worth it, or is it old technology at this point ( I know nothing about lasers).

Resinboy
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,042
4,688
126
I had an Epson Action Laser 1100. It printed very clean and very crisp. However it won't work well anymore due to lack of memory. How much memory does the 1500 have? I find that laser printers need a minimum of 2 MB with todays versions of many programs (4 MB is much better if you can get it). If that only has 1 MB, it definately isn't worth the money.

You can now get decent lasers in the $200-$300 range (including toner). Thus if you need $100 for a new toner then you are wasting your money. If you can find a used toner for not much money, then it may be worth it.
 

resinboy

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2000
1,555
0
0
I have no clue how to check the ram: does it display in the window during power-up??
Also, I found a company that you send your empty toner cart to, and they service it, and send it back for $45.00 shipped :)
EDIT- yup, 1 mg ram.
Resinboy

EDIT 2- what kind of programs would I have problems with?? I mainly want to use it for an occasional simple Word document, and as a general "crap" printer for when I print out a paragraph or 2 from something I am reading, or something I need to save.

Resinboy
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,042
4,688
126
I was specifically talking about the Microsoft Office programs. They are so bloated that often the prints are over 1 MB in size. A laser printer must hold the entire page in memory in order to print - a inkjet only needs to have a few lines in memory. This is since the laser will print an entire page at a time. Very simple Word and Excel things will print well. However if you ever try to combine text, pictures, and maybe an Excel graph or two - it won't print. What happens is it will print half on one piece of paper, and half on the next piece of paper. I had lots of trouble with Excel graphs any type of Powerpoint. Also, the newer the version of Microsoft Office - the more bloated it is. So older versions usually work better.

Your use may work, as long as you keep it simple.
 

tenoc

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2002
1,270
0
0
I've had an Action Laser 1400 for five or six years and am quite happy with it, with
one caveat - the price of a new cartridge is 180CDN. :disgust: On the plus side, this
includes a new print drum, and I didn't need a replacement until after 2 or 3K sheets.
Since you have a source for inexpensive refills, I'd say that for the price of a cable and
a refill, for occasional use you're set for a few years. :)
 

resinboy

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2000
1,555
0
0
even better: I found a source for toner refill kits: $25.00 delivered to your door :)

Resinboy
 

resinboy

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2000
1,555
0
0
this is the place I went to :HERE
do a search for Epson 1400 or 1500.

They accepted PayPal, and I got a confirmation e-mail this morning with UPS tracking numbers.

Resinboy