How did the memory upgrade change things? Noticeable?
If I remember right (it’s been years since I did the memory upgrade), I primarily did it because back then I did a lot of scanning, and to get my scans looking right, I scanned the documents as large multi-page TIFF files. Printing them out again either took forever, or sometimes they didn’t print at all. The upgrade fixed that problem entirely; it seems like there’s nothing this printer can’t handle now. At a max speed of 8 pages per minute, it’s never been a real speed demon, but it’s good enough for my purposes.
Another HP laser user = 6MP, in daily use for 20 years, 90,000 copies, 4MB RAM (that was the max then) and a Postscript cart that takes up one RAM slot. Never had a page it couldn’t print; if it’s too much data, it somehow discards extra stuff on the fly and still prints at 600DPI, so the time-to-first-print can be long if the file is unnecessarily huge. I love it.
Another advantage of laser – toner is waterproof and doesn’t warp the paper like ink. A much more professional look where that matters.
For or five years ago, I did the math and found that buying a small color laser printer and treating the entire unit as a disposable item was cheaper than buying enough ink cartridges to print the same number of pages that the laser’s toner cartridges were rated at.
From a “stuff in the landfills” perspective, I found this offensive - it should not be economically advantageous to treat a $600 device weighing 45 pounds as a consumable item.
As it turned out, the printer (An HP Color LaserJet 2605DN) was not capable of lasting much longer than a set of toner cartridges due to a design flaw with its optics that caused reds to fade out, so ultimately, it was a disposable item as the repair cost was not cost-effective.
I’ve since gone back to inkjet, but with a “semi-pro” model that uses ink tanks, which make the cost of use more affordable as you’re not throwing away a cartridge with most of the cyan ink left because your corporate logo is red and yellow.
LJ4??? I had a LaserJet III that refused to die. Had it for over 15 years! I finally just gave it away to make room for a newer, sleeker, faster printer.