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Date:	Fri, 26 Apr 2002 10:18:29 PST7
From:	"J. R. Fox" <jr_fox@pacbell.net >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: Re: Xerox C-20

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Steve Carter wrote:

> >From time to time, this printer is also listed on pricewatch.com,
> sometimes for well under $100.

I did not know these were still turning up anywhere other than Ebay.

> The NC20 (network) version, with a small Digi 3410X printserver
> and 16MB of memory originally sold for $700. They seem to have
> disappeared, but the C20 (no printserver, 4MB) shows up now and then.
>
> It takes standard 72-pin EDO and I bought a 32MB stick for $8 at
> the TRW SwapMeet (Aviation and Marine, 7 am, THIS Saturday!)

> High profile simms will not fit, and I had to return my 64MB stick
> for this reason.

I take it you mean add'l. memory for the printer, not the Digi . . . .
Unlike you, I was unable to find any off-the-shelf memory for it,
cheap or otherwise, and I tried a couple of different sticks that someone
said would work, but did not fit. I finally called the cheapest mail-order
mem. source I knew of, who said that it was a proprietary type of mem.
made for printers, but that I could save a tidy sum by buying generic.
(The LexMark part # for this, with their own branding, in the maximum
capacity the printer will accept, sells for *several* times the cost of the
printer itself !!) So, I paid $159. plus shipping to max. out the mem.
Actually, I bought the mem. originally for my Optra 40, and then
transferred it to the C-20. Before then, I already knew this part # was
specified for both the Optra 40 & 45.

It may have been doubly a waste of money: the PCL driver is so much
faster that, so far, I mostly use it instead of the PS. But, I tell you what --
if you can pick up another of those $8. EDO sticks that definitely fit
(a 64M stick that fits would be even better), at the next TRW or
wherever, I'd greatly appreciate it. I plan to make a long-term loan of
the Optra 40 to a releative, and would like to make it available fully
equipped.

> I especially like
> the 11" wide carriage, as it allows me to print tabloid (11x17)
> (B size) engineering drawings (it will actually print oversize tabloid,
> something like 13x19).

It is BIG though. Just barely fits on the lower shelf of my printer cart.
(The Optra was taller though, which presented its own problem. Had to
let the vertical paper stack jut out over the back edge of the shelf.) I was
very surprised to see that the wide-carriage Epson 1160 is in fact much
more compact. The latter doesn't have the great front-panel controls,
though. But it does have an On / Off switch !

> If you want to use
> non-Xerox (i.e. Lexmark) cartridges, just pop out the little colored
> plastic keying pieces in the cartridge carrier (you can toss 'em, they
> only serve to make you use Xerox cartridges). Lexmark cartridges
> are everywhere.

That's important info, because the Xerox ones are much harder to find
in stock at most of the retail outlets. Probably a lot easier via mail order.

> Paper handling seems flawless. Photo reproduction is so-so.

Agreed. Serious photo work isn't really their forte -- for that you need
an Epson. But it's great for most everything else. I find the ink dries
quicker and is less prone to smear than was the case on the Optra 40.
The graphics seem a little sharper too, and I don't know why that would
be, since the printheads are in the cartridges . . . .

Still looking forward to hearing your ideas on how best to make use of
IRQs 5 & 7, after they've been regained via a switch to network printing.

Jordan

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