the (un)real thoughts of realbt

“Sam” was a true friend for nearly 6 years. A mid-level Samsung QuikLaser 6050, he was, complete with all sorts of expansion options that you don’t find in today’s economical printers. A whopping 12 MB of RAM (upgraded from 4), a real, removable paper tray, and excellent toner life. So great, in fact, that I only just replaced the toner before Sam’s untimely death. I estimate that I printed at least 5000 pages on the original toner alone — it’s quite possible that it’s closer to 8000 or even 10000. It played well with Linux; a CUPS PPD was readily available and it worked perfectly.

And then one day, Sam refused to print. He would turn on, power up, and then give up. All lights would flash and nothing would happen. He wouldn’t even muster a test page.

Sam’s replacement, Sam Jr., is a Samsung ML-1610. One of the cheapest laser printers on the market today. A whopping 2 MB of RAM, a half-assed paper tray, and a toner life comparable to inkjet cartridges (well, not quite…). No CUPS PPD is available specifically for the 1610, however the 1510 driver works sufficiently well that it’s not a problem.

Here’s to Sam, and 6 good years of quality laser printing.