When most people think about laser printing the first thing to pop into their minds is a huge, expensive printer in a corporate setting. These behemoths are designed not for the single user, but to be printed on by an entire office of workers. A laser printer often serves over one hundred people easily, much more then any normal inkjet printer.
Well, I own a laser printer. I don't use it to serve hundreds of people, just to serve me. How much did this printer cost? It cost $5,999. No I'm not super rich, there is one thing I didn't mention: It cost $5,999 in 1985. I spent $100 dollars on it in 1999.
This printer is none other then an original Apple Laserwriter. This massive printer weighs 77lbs, and prints at a quick 8ppm @300dpi. Now something to remember is that the inkjet printers of today which claim to print at upwards of 8ppm are telling a little white lie. They can perhaps print this on double spaced text only pages, but if you're printing a picture, forget about it. Also the 300dpi of my Laserwriter is a very crisp 300dpi, it is laser produced, and thus comparable to 600dpi on my Epson 740 inkjet printer (Also a fine printer).
Now this Laserwriter is by no means perfect, it's fairly low resolution makes it less then ideal for printing graphics. And like almost all laser printers it can't do color. However, if you're low on cash and need a printer to reliably serve a office environment, this could be the type of printer you want.
Getting one of these old printers isn't that hard, just ask around the vintage Mac society, I'd look for links at Lowendmac.net first of all. There are also other types of slightly newer Laserwriters, such as the Laserwriter plus. These are slightly more expensive, but also have small improvements over the original.
Whether used as a hobbyist printer, a shared office printer, or merely an interesting conversation piece a Laserwriter is a good buy. Ask yourself: "Can I go wrong for less then $100?".
William Seidel
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