A sign of the times

[Chuck Guzis]

I've been using a couple of Panasonic laser printers for years; a KX-
P4455 (PS/PCL) and a KX-P4451 (PCL).  They're real beasts of 
machines; I'd guess that they weight somewhere around 60 lbs. each--
heavy enough to cause me to grunt when lifting them.

These are the kind of units that requires one to add toner to a 
compartment periodically. Drum and developer are separate cartridges.

The time came to replace the OPC drum in one of these--after pricing 
the remanufactured ones and checking the deals on eBay, it turned out 
not to be practical.  I found that I can get a factory refurb Brother 
5240 from Staples.com for $40 shipped.   When it runs out of toner, I 
can just buy another one at that price (1200 DPI, 23 PPM and most 
important--a parallel interface).

So what to do with the old monsters?  They use 68000 CPUs, with 
differing SIP and DIP memories.  Scrappers, I guess.  It's sad 
because both of these have pretty much been the only printer I've 
used since a Diablo Hitype II.  It wouldn't surprise me if each has 
more than 250,000 copies on it.

It's just a shame that such a nicely engineered piece of gear is now 
worth only its weight in scrap metal.

But nobody collects printers, not even vintage ones.

Cheers,
Chuck