Very fast printer needed.

Any recommendations?

[jecasc]

I have a specific problem with my current laser printer. While it can print out a large number of documents pretty fast it has a long start up time. After the print job is submitted it takes 8 seconds until it starts printing from standby.

That is too long because I have a large number of single documents to be printed one after another. Shipping labels. I can not print them in bulk because each parcel has to be weighed and then labeled individually. So I need a printer that does either not immediatly return to standby - but only after a one or two mintues or returns faster from standby. When you have to print 100 labels the waiting time adds up - in this case to 800 seconds (>13 minutes).

Anyobdy know of a fast printer - fast in startup? Or anybody know the proper technical term of this specific requirement? All I find when looking for printer speed is pages/minute.

[Leosghost]

sounds like "buffering" ..you need one with more RAM onboard..

And how it connects via what kind of interface ( and thus , at what speeds the data moves to it and it talks back to the computer controlling it and feeding it the print job ) is also important..

[Hoople]

Zebra printers do what you want - expect to pay much more for the printer due to it's specialized nature.

It may just be turning off the 'green-ness' of the printer to get it to be an 'always-on' printer. How the print job is spooled and how the printer/printer driver is set can affect the speed too.

Adding memory or a hard drive to printers is how the big lasers get speed.

On your PC one setting to look for is 'print immediately/spool job to printer fully before commencing printing' or similar.

[Leosghost]

or a hard drive to printers is how the big lasers get speed

Very good point .., lunch distracted me !) and I forgot that one ..

[Hoople]

If memory/hard drive can't be added to the printer a file-print server could be placed between the PC and the printer to serve the same function for a consumer grade printer.

A file-print server gives better performance than PC to printer directly only for a consumer grade printers.

High end printers always do better direct as the file-print server becomes the next bottleneck. The only exception is if the spooled print job is larger than the printer's memory/hard drive.

[jecasc]

I do not think RAM or hard drive is the solution. The bootleneck is not the time it takes until the printer receives the print job but the time it takes to leave the standby mode. Charging the drum and heating the fuser unit and turning on the cooler.

I have done a little reasearch and it seems that 8 seconds from standby to print is already relatively fast.

Maybe I have to use another type of printer. I know that my parcel service also offers thermal printing labels. Does anybody have a thermal printer? Are they faster?

[inbound]

Although I don't have an answer - thermal printers are instant (just think of supermarket reciepts). There are probably solutions ot there specifically for your needs; heading over to the ecommerce forum might help.

There's also the way you fix the label to the parcel to consider, that could speed up or slow down the process too.

[Leosghost]

What do Amazon and the big dogs use ?

Just dug out an Amazon box and answered my own question ..put a lighter under the label ..

instant to grey black ..

Amazon use thermal ..

just like the supermarkets ..and how Inbound was thinking..

[Hoople]

It may just be turning off the 'green-ness' of the printer to get it to be an 'always-on' printer.

and the results were? Sometimes it's called 'energy saver' mode or similar.

[jecasc]

After a little more research I am convinced now that Thermal is the way to go. I haven't found any Laser Printers that can print instantly. Any recommendations for printers that can handle standard shipping labels? (not more than 100 labels/day). Zebra LP 2844 looks good on first glance.

[J_RaD]

I don't think its the RAM or spooling or anything.

Laser printers just take some time to warm up before they get ready to roll.... i think this is just a case of laser printer warm up time.

what is the model number of the laser you are using now?

watch out with thermal though because you've all seen those black receipts that get left out in the heat.... would suck for your label to turn black while in transit! Unless its like the UPS label printers, then that is the way to go

[jecasc]

watch out with thermal though because you've all seen those black receipts that get left out in the heat.

Yes - that's what I thought too and that's why it did not occur to me to use Thermal printers in the past for shipping labels. However it seems they are commonly used for this purpose so this seems not to be a problem.

[J_RaD]

yea i think the paper for the labels won't turn..... unlike flimsy paper receipts.