Bantana-
I recall wanting one of the Alps printers many years ago, but never found
the model that was Macintosh SCSI compatible when I had the money.
I think it was a "kit", and cost like $100 more.
The one I'm thinking of buying off a guy may have it, but he wasn't sure.
I told him to count the pins on the Centronix connector.
SCSI should be 50 right? Vs parallel being 34 or 40?
I forget, but that's what I get in an eyeball count of some old
connectors.
At the time, there were comments in the newsgroups (or was it the Fido
groups?) that mentioned various problems with Alps printers. "Banding" is
one of the problems I recall. In other words, they may not be as great as
you are suggesting.
Yes, I do remember that. A review I read mentioned it.
I should check it again, can't remember what it said it DIDN'T band on.
It was either the photo paper, or if you used the primer coat, something
like that.
Apparently the inkjets of the time also did it to some extent.
Guess they've licked that problem in current models?
You mention dye-sub as being impervious to fading. That is relative.
Back when they were on the market, they were far better than any inkjet.
Today, they aren't. Several inkjets on today's market have better fade
resistance than dye sublimation. Some inkjets are water resistant after
drying, although probably not as resistant as dye sub.
Years ago, I actually tested some of the so-called "water resistant" inks.
I think they even called them waterproof with Lexmark, which is what I
tested. I got a sample b&w printout from a store with the ink (only black
was supposed to be resistant), then took it home. It smeared very easily.
In fact, I couldn't see any diff. between that and others. If I recall,
it smeared with just a damp finger too, and it'd had plenty of time to
dry.
Laser on the other hand seemed as good as you'd likely ever want.
But of course, nowhere near the beautiful color prints.
One positive feature of the Alps printer was not the dye sub, but the wax
ink process they also could do. By first laying down a layer of white,
they could print on nearly any material with attractive results. Alps
used a grocery bag as an example. (The wax process also could do the
foils.)
Ya, I remember see that there was a "white" cartridge. Puzzled me at
first, then found out it can print on totally black paper. Didn't know
they tried it on a grocery sack!
Today it might be hard to find Alps supplies. I haven't searched, but
their old web site (
http://www.alpsusa.com/) rejects attempts to connect.
Fred
That I have checked out
They're widely available from various web
merchants. 1st thing I checked out when I found they still come up for
sale now and then (although rather rarely).
Also, seems the price holds VERY well compared to the original price.
That leads me to believe they're still held with very high regard and in
demand, hence the good availability of the ribbons.
