Beyond that, what do I need in terms of other features such as paper
trays, memory, etc. What should I look for on ebay?
Total load is about 500 booklets every three months = 6000 sheets =
24,000 pages every three months or 8,000 pages per month average.
First, the 5Si and 8000 family (Canon WX engine) can do 11 x 17 but
only from trays 1 and 3, which hold only 100 sheets and 500 sheets
respectively. Tray 2 can handle only letter size. I would recommend
getting the optional 2000 sheet feeder which doubles as a roll-around
stand for the printer. The 2000 sheet feeder can also take 11 x 17,
giving you a total capacity of 2500 sheets, plus tray 1 (which is a
pain to use). With this setup the printer will start drawing from the
2000 sheet tray. When that tray goes empty the display will say "tray
4 empty." It will automatically shift to tray 3 and continue printing.
While it is printing you can open tray 4 and refill it. You can
alternate back and forth between the two trays so the printer can be
run all day long without ever stopping.
If you get one without the 2000 sheet tray you can add it later, but
beware because the original 5Si required a replacement formatter board
before you could use it with the 2000 sheet feeder. When I bought my
2000 sheet feeder it came with the replacement board. If you get a
2000 sheet feeder on eBay I bet it won't come with the board. There is
also a special data cable that connects the 2000 sheet feeder with the
printer, and that will probably also be missing. Buying them both
together means someone already installed the board or else they bought
it from HP with the correct board already installed.
Of course, you also need the duplexer. Most of these models were
purchased with a duplexer, so when you find them on eBay they usually
come with the duplexer.
You also want the PostScript option. On the 5Si this consists of a
SIMM with Adobe PostScript Level 2 on it. The SIMM takes one of the
four memory slots on the printer's mainboard. If the printer came with
the PostScript SIMM then the model is called the 5SiMx. On the 8000 HP
licensed a PostScript emulation from Xionix and it is included on all
models.
You probably also want the network card. On the 5Si it is a 10 Mbit
card, which is lots faster than the 40 MHz CPU in the printer can take
the data anyway. On the 8000 it is a 10/100 Mbit card. If it doesn't
have the network card then you need to keep the printer close enough
to the computer to run a parallel cable. All these printers have the
parallel port, but HP sold a few of them without the network card.
There is another consideration for your decision. Are you going to
print 500 copies of one sheet, then 500 copies of the next sheet, and
so on, and finally collate the stacks by hand? Or fold and then
collate by hand? Or do you want the printer to do the collating, and
then fold all 12 sheets at once?
If you're going to collate by hand, then the 5SiMx is plenty. However,
if you want to print 500 copies and have the printer print them
collated, then you need either the 5SiMx Mopier or the 8000. The
reason is that the 5Si and 5SiMx can print only one copy collated at a
time. Some applications (e.g., PageMaker, inter alia) can concatenate
500 print jobs into one massive spool file, but it is a pain. The
Mopier and later printers have "rip once, print many" capability. The
application needs to send the print job only once, along with a
counter. The printer images the file once for the first copy and
stores the image in RAM or hard disk for printing the rest of the
copies. This speeds up printing for the second and subsequent copies
as well as being more convenient.
As for memory, don't worry too much. If you get a 5SiMx it comes with
enough memory to handle most anything. You can add memory in 32 Mb
SIMMs and it is cheap. Again, look on eBay. My 5SiMx came with 12 Mb
and I added a 16 Mb SIMM. Even before I added the 16 Mb it never
bogged down or failed to print. Adding the 16 Mb really did
practically nothing -- no increase in speed, for example.
When shopping for any of these models, don't worry overly much about
the page count. These printers are workhorses that will run for
millions and millions of copies. All you need to do is install a
maintenance kit (about $150 on eBay) every 350-400,000 copies.
(Consider that your duplexed 11 x 17 is really four copies because the
maintenance kit schedule is based on 8 1/2 by 11.)
You should be able to get a 5SiMx with duplexer, network card and 2000
sheet feeder for about $500 on eBay. Watch out for shipping, though,
as these beasts are massive. The printer is about 45 kg, and the 2000
sheet feeder is another 17 kg. And when the seller ships it, make sure
he or she takes out the toner, duplexer and paper trays and packs them
separately. They can become damaged if left in the printer during
shipping. Personally, I'd try my best to buy one close enough that I
can pick it up.
I hope some of that helps.
