need new printer

Hi:

Our office is currently looking into purchasing a printer for our network. We have a hp1050c plotter for large format, but are looking at upgrading our small printer to plot out small sheets (max 11x17 possibly).

What are some recommendations on a small printer that will be able to print autocad drawings that will have the same linetype quality as the 1050c???

Thanks for your input

GalenW

 

It all depends on what speed and quality you are looking for. I recently installed a HP 2600 in a small land development office, and they are very pleased with it. Of course, there are only two users printing to it. An 11X17 drawing, using the PostScript driver, take just under a minute to plot. The PCL driver might be faster, but they wanted quality over speed. If you go with the 2600, load it up with memory. MSRP starts at $1000

We have been using an HP 2800 laser printer for the past three years, and it works great. I think HP's latest series is the 8150. Once again, load it up with memory. MSRP starts at $2000.

Both the 2600 and 8150 have two input trays (we use one for 8.5X11, the other 11X17), with the capability of adding additional trays and duplexing units.

The big question is your need for speed. How fast do you want to print, and at what quality. If one page per minute is fast enough, go with the 2600. If you need faster, the 8150 can print 16 ppm on 11X17. A secondary, but still important, question is your need for color. The 2600 is color, 8150 is B/W.

Something else to keep in mind is your monthly volumes.

If you find you need even more speed and capabilities than either of these machines can offer, consider the latest generation of color copier/printer/scanner/fax machines. This would be more of a total office solution, but we're about ready to purchase one and replace our HP 8100, HP 2500, and a Xerox copier with one machine. If my spreadsheet is correct, I can lease and operate one of these new machines cheaper than we can operate the three existing pieces of equipment.

 

Whatever product you choose check out the print margins. Some printers have extraordinarily large non-printable margins around the edge of the page.

 

We have the HP2600 in all our small-medium sized offices, and they have
proved troublesome. We have had reoccurring issues with paper pickup and
print quality. HP has replaced extreme problem units for us, but we are now
looking to have them all replaced with color laserjets. The 2600 also
requires a large margin on one end.

Oh, by the way, it does make a decent print (when it's working fine).

hth.
Dave

print autocad drawings that will have the same linetype quality as the
1050c???