On Mon, 6 Apr 2009 11:37:30 +0200 ropers <ropers@gmail.com> wrote:

quoted text
> 2009/4/6 Toni Mueller <openbsd-misc@oeko.net>:
> >
> > I don't know what exactly you want to do, but you might be
> > interested in reading some reports about the printing quality and
> > operating cost, too. Eg. a good ink jet printer should deliver
> > better quality printouts than a bad laser printer.
> 
> I do positively, affirmatively, definitely want a laser printer. ;)
> 
> Because:
> (a), I already have a (dead slow and old but portable) ink jet
> printer, (b), ink jet printers are more likely to go into the
> direction of weird binary blob printer drivers with neither built-in
> postscript, nor good ghostscript/driver support, and
> (c), an ink jet printer cannot do this:
> http://www.riccibitti.com/pcb/pcb.htm

For Do-It-Yourself PCB's, you *really* want postscript support. Color
support is not necessary, and you can easily get away with finding a
free, used, office laser printer. As odd as it might seem, some of the
old laser printers are actually "better" in the sense of they were
built to last and you can still get parts for most of them.

Network support is very nice to have, and makes your life a lot easier,
but isn't a show stopper since you can almost always use a small
"print-server" device. I've had *decades* of success with HP LaserJet I,
and LaserJet II-P printers, although I would not suggest the former for
PCB work due to resolution. Yes, I know they're ancient, but they work.

The other two laser printers I have here are only slightly more recent,
namely a Xerox N17 (mono, network, duplexing) and a Tektronix (xerox)
Phaser 750 (color, network duplexing). The latter is a beast and fairly
expensive to run, but it does a good job.

For D-I-Y PCB work, one of the features you might want to look for is
whether or not the printer has a "paper path" for card stock (I'm
not sure what it's called elsewhere in the world, but "card stock" is
basically *very* thick paper like cardboard).

-- 
J.C. Roberts