Phil Marlowe wrote in a message to Tom Walker:

 PM> Yep, some of those old dot matrix printers produced pretty good 
 PM> copy, especially the 24 PIN. Being a minimalist, I consider mine 
 PM> "good enough," 

Heck,  I can still see use for older 9-pin printers,  depending.

 PM> considering that the print-outs probably just end up getting 
 PM> tossed after awhile. And then, these machines hold up fairly well, 
 PM> with very little upkeep, a major concern here.

Biggest problem I have is that the ribbons tend to dry out if you don't do
that much printing.

 PM> Trouble is the tractor type paper is getting more and more 
 PM> expensive as less and less people use it. 

Is it?  I have a big old box,  and another box that's 2-part (ncr),  so
considering how seldom I use it any more I haven't looked at prices of that
stuff for a long time.

 PM> Which is why I'm now becoming interested in the lasers, which I 
 PM> understand uses standard xerox type paper.

Yeah,  the copier paper will work well in a laser.

 PM> I hesitate making the switch because now that I'm set up with dot 
 PM> matrix repair manuals, and have more or less have become familiar 
 PM> with the dot matrix mechanisms, I just wonder what hassles the 
 PM> lasers have in store.

 PM> Or maybe just I'm avoiding a new learning curve?

How much printing do you do,  though?  I have a laser here,  but that's
only because I was given one,  and it has its problems.  If you won't find
resistance to moisture to be an issue,  then inkjet printers seem to be
lots cheaper.  And if you are a business that deals with multi-part forms, 
then the dot-matrix is still the only way to go,  as laser and inkjet are
only good for one copy at a time.

Me,  I have a number of dot-matrix printers in storage,  one on hand here
that I haven't used in three or four years at least,  and the laser,  and
don't print more than half a dozen pages a month,  if that,  though my
grandkids tend to get a bit more use out of it.

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