Laserjet 4ML is toast :( Got any replacement advice??

[voxguy]

Lo and behold, my veteran workhorse HP 4ML is dead after 20 years of
service. It has been running fine on my equally ancient Mac Beige G3
since 1980-something (and on OS 8.6 no less).

So, with my ADB ported printer dead, what's a good replacement that
would run on OS8.6 drivers. Compatibility is the thing here. How can
I get a modern-day USB printer to run on this old Mac- I do have a PCI
slot USB add-on card on it so 'theoretically' a 'new model' ( circa
2000+ ; ) seems it should be able to work.

I've been liking an HP 1012 on an OS 9 Mac for a couple years (drivers
still available/work on the Legacy OS 9...i think they'd run w/ 8.6
but haven't tried it).

So anyway, suddenly seeking a reliable Laserjet replacement for small
office.. mostly documents but some need for high quality graphic/text
resolution for stuff like pre-press prep of postcards, fliers and the
like...
Monochrome is still fine.

What's decent or better than the old HP which was remarkably good and
still stands up to new generation print quality - ideally something
under
$200.

Kudos to HP on the 4ML .I doubt they make em like they used to,
quality-wise...but really need suggestions for an OS 8.6-capable
substitute that gives me good monochrome laser prints and decent
output everyday document printing... and any ideas on how to port it
into the old G3 via either adb printer port or usb(?)

Thanks !

Mike

 

[voxguy]

Thanks Alan, all good advice and thanks for the reminders of these
features.

Kinda thinking of moving into the new millenium with this particular
workstation
at long last after weighing what I "really" need to stay in 8.6 for.
Technically as
long as I can transfer various 8.6-era graphic app. creations into the
OSX world there's
no compelling reason to stay with the old system other than the
pleasant simplicity
of it all - I'm leaning toward in the laserjet 1012-1020 line as a
replacement. Meantime
good idea abt. the used models and i'm sure any of them would be good
candidates.

Thanks again

Mike

 

[Alain191]

What's decent or better than the old HP which was remarkably good and
still stands up to new generation print quality - ideally something
under
$200.

A second hand Apple laserwriter IIg ? Not so difficult to find I think.

Alain

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Might I suggest considering looking for a used 4ML which might have
lower mileage? Many of these machines have been turn in to depots or
sitting in basements because of their size or the lack of access to
toner cartridges. As you can well attest to, they had a very long
lifespan, and it may well be worthwhile to acquire yet another one,
perhaps even a refurbished one.

Art

 

[Fred McKenzie]

Kinda thinking of moving into the new millenium with this particular
workstation
at long last after weighing what I "really" need to stay in 8.6 for.
Technically as
long as I can transfer various 8.6-era graphic app. creations into the
OSX world there's
no compelling reason to stay with the old system other than the
pleasant simplicity
of it all - I'm leaning toward in the laserjet 1012-1020 line as a
replacement.

Mike-

Are the LJ 1012-1020 printers those under-$100 jobs? If so, they may
not have Macintosh drivers available. They also may have small (cheap)
toner cartridges that end up with a very high per-print cost. If price
is important, you can't beat one of the used "work horse" printers.

Consider that you might end up with a garage full of old Beige G3s and
HP 4MLs that you will scavenge parts from to keep your work station
operational! The question is not if, but when you should modernize.

Just what graphics formats are you using that are only compatible with
OS 8.6 applications? I've had a problem adapting MacDraw and ClarisDraw
documents to modern applications. For my needs, the best I've found is
Intaglia.

If your old graphics programs use a proprietary bit-mapped format, can
they Save As a more common format such as BMP, GIF or JPEG? If not,
perhaps you could copy and paste the images into programs that can save
that way.

Fred

 

[voxguy]

Thanks Arthur. Well, in a way that is what happened...

As it turned out this one reset itself after being powered off -- i
had a look at a service manual and learned about a fuse resetter
sequence... (just unplugging it) so...it
churns on as usual... Thanks for the advice -

Mik