Rip and Run Printer Hardware

[PoppaChuck]

I need to buy hardware to set up "rip and run" printers in two stations.
These will be networked and will need a sounding device for ISO credit.
What would you recomend or what is working for your department?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Chuck

[SHFire]

The type of printer & networking equipment will be largely a case of finding what works with your CAD system. Contact your CAD vendor for their requirements & recommendations.

The audible alarm can be accomplished with this: http://www.creativemicrotech.com/

[firebuff880]

You should propably look at a dot matrix printer. Maybe Epson..

But your CAD vendor may have many restrictions on the type of printer and how the interface / printer driver works, so I too would recommend you start with them..

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[LFD2203]

Can't speak to the noise making issue, but we use Lexmark E250dn laser printers. Rip and run sheet out before dispatcher can finish up. Also have used an HP laser printer, but not sure of the model number. The HPs did fine too. Not sure of what CAD will require, but at a neighboring dept using New World Aegis CAD they just got a fixed IP address for the printer and that pretty much was all it needed.

[N2DFire]

PoppaChuck -

Depending on what type of printer you end up with, some things to look at are:

- Warm up Time (how long from "sleep" till the print head is ready to print) - Would typically apply more to laser technology than old dot matrix or ink jet, but ink jets do have some "wake up" time associated also

- Page per Minute (PPM) print speed. I work in a computer / IT based industry Full Time one one of our biggest jokes when looking at printer specs is "When have you ever gotten into a printer race?" - In this instance it's not a joke anymore.

Between Warm Up Time & PPM speed - the last thing you need is to be standing there waiting for your print out.

Granted there are other "outside" factors in your system that will play a part in this too. Are printouts triggered automatically or does dispatch have to initiate them, are they sent early in the dispatch process (before or with tones) or later, etc

Additionally - don't get hung up on "Duty Cycle" numbers. These numbers are arbitrary limits derived by manufacturers that give a maximum number of prints (typically per month). Unfortunately they are not measured in a standard fashion thus do not translate well between brands, also they all carry the caveat that your typical usage should not come close to approaching these numbers anyway. (Do a quick google search on printer duty cycle and you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know without even opening any of the links).

In my office environment for our day to day quick print stuff - we're using HP Laserjet's (older 1200 series) and unless you're printing hundreds to thousands of run sheets a day then these budget level devices should work just fine.