kmack,
I, too, have an Epson C82. It is a nice printer, if a little noisy. Gets the job done. A few notes:
(1) If you will look on the side of the box the printer came in, you will probably find the following -
Minimum System Requirements and Recommendations:
-G3 or G4 processor
-cables not included
Uh-oh . . .
As I recollect, the 8600 comes with a 200-300MHz 604* processor, the predecessor to the G3.
Unless you have upgraded your 8600, it might appear that you have a problem.
(2) I am running my Epson C82 on a Mac that is older and slower than yours with no problem. Runs much faster than my old Stylewriter 1200 on the old printer port. So much for printer manufacturers' requirements / recommendations. :-)
(3) I have the C82 running off a Belkin two-port add-on PCI USB 1.1 card, bought cheap from Gateway via a
DealMac Deal. Easy set-up - hey, this is a Mac! Runs good. Using a USB 2 cable.
A good two port Mac-compatible USB 1.1 card should cost you around $20 or less if you shop around.
Five-port Mac-compatible USB 2.0 cards are actually commonly going cheaper than two-port 1.1 cards. These should be Mac-compatible at 1.1 speeds - but you are taking a bigger chance.
DealMac USB PCI card search(4) Once you get the USB card in, you may also want to go shopping for an optical mouse. The second USB port on my USB card is used for a free (another Dealmac Rebate) optical scroll wheel three button Logitech "blue" mouse. Optical mice prefer the speed of USB over other forms of connectivity - they can put through a lot of data. Once you get an optical mouse, I suspect that you will never want to use a roller ball mouse again.
(4) If you are using MacOS 8.6, as I am, make sure to install the
Font Manager Update 1.0 and the
USB 1.4.1 update. If you are using MacOS 9.x.x, I understand that it handles USB 1.1 better than MacOS 8.6. If you are running MacOS X.x.x on your 8600 - God bless you. It may be a good idea then to look into
Desktop Cray . ;-)
(5) USB cables are a profit center for most computer centers, often running $10-29. You can usually pick 'em up a lot cheaper ($5.00?) online, plus a few bucks for shipping. I like
www.newegg.com for cables. Shipping is usuually 2-3 days from placing the order. You only need one USB 1.1 cable, but USB 2 cables are backward and forward compatible and are probably only a buck more - probably a better choice in the long run.
(6) Ink - Epson printers drink ink. That's the "gotcha."
Cheap refills are available via Ink4art and other sources for as little as $46/12 cartidges. The Techsurvivors "consensus" on Ink4art aftermarket inks is that they are really, really lousy or that they are just fine - i.e., there is no consensus. People with older printers using largely black ink seem to have had the best luck with the cheap aftermarket inks. People using newer printers for colour photographic work seem to have had the worst luck with the cheap aftermarket inks. Experiences certainly do vary. Buyer beware.
(7) Epsons are probably the most compatible ink-jet printers for Linux machines, whether you are running Linux on a Mac or on a PC. The Epson
C82 does run better on Linux off of a parallel cable than off of a USB cable. Also - some of the software is more limited on Linx than on Windows/Mac - e.g., I can see how full the ink tanks are on the Mac, but I have not figured out how to do so on the Linux machine.
(8) I have the C82 hooked up via USB to the Mac and parallel cable to the PC Linux box simultaneously - working to each computer's strengths. No switches or anything like that are needed. The C82 works fine printing from one machine or the other, no problem.
(9) The Epson printerheads can dry out when not in use. General recommendations are to turn the printer off daily - some say when not in use for greater than five hours.
Happy printing,
Epaminondas
[ 02-09-2003, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Epaminondas ]
