What's a DeskJet 500K?
in [Printers]
|
Prev: Epson 3000?
Next: Using fan-fold tractor feed paper?
From: William R. Walsh on 2 Dec 2009 19:04 Hello all... Yes, you read that right. Yesterday I was driving down the road when I saw a DeskJet box out by the trash--and it clearly was not new. A quick look revealed the DeskJet to be in said box, so I grabbed it. The box itself claims the printer to be a DeskJet 500C while the label on the printer says it is a 500K. It does have the ability to accept a color cartridge and responds perfectly to the DeskJet 500/500C drivers. It accepts both serial and parallel I/O, as well as up to two font cartriges like a regular DJ500C would. HP acknowledges that the 500K model exists, but says nothing more about it. So I'm curious as to what the "K" means if anyone knows. Interestingly, whoever threw it out thought enough of it to include *every* last little piece, packaged properly in the box. The printer, books, software, cartridge storage box, little brush for cartridge contacts, power supply and a (homemade looking and electrically broken) printer cable were all there and stored in the right compartments. (The box itself has an repacking/unpacking legend on the flap.) After finding a new parallel cable, it works fine and doesn't have any problem picking up paper. I'd guess it wasn't used much. Makes me wonder if it got tossed because the cable didn't work? I also found it noteworthy that *everyone* selling the ink cartridges is trying to get around $40 (USD) each for the black and color cartridges. Fortunately, I had a recycled Staples black ink cartridge that seems to work fine. After all of these years and the vast improvement in capabilities, one would think that HP would practically give these older cartridges away. William
From: Jonathan L. Parker on 3 Dec 2009 01:40 William R. Walsh wrote: > > I also found it noteworthy that *everyone* selling the ink cartridges is > trying to get around $40 (USD) each for the black and color cartridges... >...After all of these years and the vast improvement in capabilities, one > would think that HP would practically give these older cartridges away. When one can buy a new HP printer at Walmart for less than the $40 this dinosaur gulps down at one feeding, what one would *really* think is that it's a miracle cartridges for it are still being sold, let alone being bought by anyone. I'd lay odds that whoever set the printer out at the curb for you did so after going through a similar cost/benefit analysis.
From: William R. Walsh on 3 Dec 2009 09:43 Hi! > When one can buy a new HP printer at Walmart for less than > the $40 this dinosaur gulps down at one feeding, what one > would *really* think is that it's a miracle cartridges for it are > still being sold, let alone being bought by anyone. Perhaps this is a dinosaur, perhaps the others I have are as well. However, they are very solid and well made dinosaurs at that--and they meet my needs perfectly. I'd be willing to keep it on the road for that reason alone, and out of the landfill. There can be no question that this and other similar printers have already outlived countless other $40 printers. I'm not going to *buy* a $40 printer so I could say HP might as well try to sell me the ink cartridge. (Although they aren't doing such a great job at that because I'm using reman cartridges which are a good deal cheaper and work fine by all indications.) Oh, and you can still buy brand new black ink for the HP ThinkJet, in case you were wondering. If I ever run out, maybe I will. (I've got what has to be a lifetime supply of ink that expired in Dec 1991 but still works perfectly. Operating cost has been virtually nil as the pinfeed paper comes to me by the *ream* these days.) These old DeskJet printers seem to run almost forever on a black ink cartridge. HP quotes ~790 pages (black) and 167 (color). Black is $37.99 and color is $38.99. By comparison, a $30 (!!) DeskJet D1660 that I looked up on the spur of the moment is said to print approximately 200 pages (black) and 150 (color), although the cartridges are priced lower. Randomly sampling reviews on the 'net suggests that this isn't so--yield falls far short of the published specs. (This probably also happens with the DJ500 and its ink. Yields will vary.) The price per page (warning: rough back of envelope calculations coming!) for the D1660 is 10 cents/page for black and 24 cents/page for the regular color cartridge. (There is an XL cartridge that I did not study, as well as a combo pack that is cheaper.) Now for the DJ500: Black print comes at a cost of $0.05 (rounded up) per page. Color comes at a cost of 23 cents per page. I don't print color with these and therefore do not bear the cost. Outside of my DJ560C, I don't even have to *buy* a color cartridge to let the printer work. The Staples black cartridge cost me around $24, so it works out to a whopping *three* cents per B&W page. > I'd lay odds that whoever set the printer out at the curb > for you did so after going through a similar cost/benefit > analysis. I don't know. If they did, it sure seems odd that they'd repack it so nicely instead of just tossing it. William (I'll take my dinosaur, but thanks for offering...)
From: Al on 3 Dec 2009 11:08 On Dec 2, 7:04 pm, "William R. Walsh" <newsgrou...(a)idontwantjunqueemail.walshcomptech.com> wrote: > Hello all... > > Yes, you read that right. Yesterday I was driving down the road when I saw a > DeskJet box out by the trash--and it clearly was not new. A quick look > revealed the DeskJet to be in said box, so I grabbed it. The box itself > claims the printer to be a DeskJet 500C while the label on the printer says > it is a 500K. > > It does have the ability to accept a color cartridge and responds perfectly > to the DeskJet 500/500C drivers. It accepts both serial and parallel I/O, as > well as up to two font cartriges like a regular DJ500C would. HP > acknowledges that the 500K model exists, but says nothing more about it. So > I'm curious as to what the "K" means if anyone knows. > > Interestingly, whoever threw it out thought enough of it to include *every* > last little piece, packaged properly in the box. The printer, books, > software, cartridge storage box, little brush for cartridge contacts, power > supply and a (homemade looking and electrically broken) printer cable were > all there and stored in the right compartments. (The box itself has an > repacking/unpacking legend on the flap.) > > After finding a new parallel cable, it works fine and doesn't have any > problem picking up paper. I'd guess it wasn't used much. Makes me wonder if > it got tossed because the cable didn't work? > > I also found it noteworthy that *everyone* selling the ink cartridges is > trying to get around $40 (USD) each for the black and color cartridges. > Fortunately, I had a recycled Staples black ink cartridge that seems to work > fine. After all of these years and the vast improvement in capabilities, one > would think that HP would practically give these older cartridges away. > > William For a preview of your print quality, try setting your screen setting to 4 or 8 bit color. Then decide whether to invest in ink. Since you have the black cart, it makes sense to go ahead and use it up as the black text should be very acceptable. Those old carts held lots of black ink. Get what you can out of it and move on. Manufacturers are never going to discount their carts. Refillers will be much cheaper and DIY refills are even better. Unless you can refill your own, use it up and then give it up.
From: William R. Walsh on 3 Dec 2009 11:39
Hi! > For a preview of your print quality, try setting your screen setting > to 4 or 8 bit color. Then decide whether to invest in ink. I am not using nor do I particularly care about the color printing functionality. Black text print quality and monochrome graphics are more than good enough. Use of draft fonts ought to further the print yield. > Get what you can out of it and move on. I'll keep it. (See my rough calculations in my reply to Jonathan L. Parker.) For what I want to do, it is perfect. $40 might be a bitter pill to swallow, but it's unlikely that I will have to do so. Even then, a very quick and dirty look at HP's current printers shows that any are likely to reach the output economy of this old DeskJet. "Never mind the quality, look at the /price/." I never have had much luck with refilling the HP black cartridges myself. I've sprayed ink all over my kitchen table, dealt with the never-ending-leaky-cartridge-of-doom problem and generally never had much luck. William |