How bad is the banding on the Alps?

[kim...@juno.com]

I've narrowed my choice down to the HP 722C or the Alps MD-1000. From the
postings I've read most people with new Alps machines seem to be happy (as
long as they use the right paper), but I hear these machines can develop a
banding problem rather quickly. Is this banding something the untrained ete
can easily spot? Where does it fall on a scale from mildly annoying to can't
use anything it produces? Since, I'm only an amateur photographer I'm not
concerned about banding, dithering, etc. that requires a magnyfying glass to
pick up. I'd say that the Alps has the following pros & cons: PROS 1.
Inexpensive (particularly with $50 rebate) 2. Glossy prints on plain paper 3.
Indivual cartridge for each coler (only have to replace one at a time) 4. Dry
ink - waterproof, fade-resistant, etc.

CONS
1. Banding problem?
2. Customer service/tech support - I hear there is none.
3. The MD-1000 has been discontinued? Is that true?

HP722 PROS
1. Color layering technology gives very nice prints
2. Good customer service
3. Print head replaced everytime cartridge is changed (unlike my Canon)
4. Company has good reputation for making high quality printers

CONS
1. Costs more
2. Photo paper needed for best quality prints

Is there anything I forgot? I know a lot of people prefer Epsons but I
didn't care for the demo print from the 740. It had the same vertical white
lines that I find so annoying on my Canon prints and I don't want just a
photo printer since I will be using it for text also.

Thanks for any help,
Kim

you can email me at kim...@juno.com
3. Combined color cartridge

-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own

[Robert H]

Not only has the Alps-1000 been discontinued, but there are two newer
models since.

MD-1300
MD-5000

Check their web site.

Robert H

Remove the 'spamless' from my email address to reply

[eGuy]

Yes, banding is something everyone can see but depending on the severity may
or may not too bothersome. I have seen some output from an Alps and it
looked very good. Regarding your pros for the HP, I question the customer
support and reputation. I have an HP LaserJet 5L which didn't work right
from Day 1 and is now dead. HP never went back and fixed their terrible
drivers. On my HP DeskJet 855c, there is a little pin on one of the plastic
gear wheels and it broke off one week after the warranty expired.
Replacement/repair cost? $95!

kim...@juno.com wrote in message <73v58a$vll$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...

[Ralph Brown]

I have a 2300 which I originally bought for the dye sub photo mode. Due to
banding problems with it I now use it as a high quality text/graphics
printer. For images in thermal wax mode it is pretty terrible due to
banding, but for doing text and line art type graphics such as spot color in
a document it is excellent. The high quality text is very very good, and the
color and metallic ribbons are great for adding some color to text.

As an image printer, however, it isn't wonderful.

Ralph

[Dennis Fowler]

In article <9vY82.79$cb....@news-srv1.fmr.com>, "Ralph Brown"
<loca...@fmr.com> wrote:

I also bought the MD2300 about the same time as Ralph and we traded some
email about it back then.

My experience has been pretty good. Out of several hundred prints, only
a dozen or so have had objectionable banding, mostly in areas of light
pastels, such as a washed out sky in a landscape picture.

I have found a couple of quirks after running many test prints. The
first is never let the print driver do a rotation, i.e., you have a
landscape oriented picture that needs to be rotated 90 deg for printing.
I rotate it in Photoshop before sending it to the printer. The second
is grayscale tracking. The tracking is pretty good until you get to
around 75-80% lightness, where it first swings to pink tinge, then to
a yellowish tinge at 90%, and finally back to neutral above 95%. I am
convinced this is a driver problem and not something inherent in the
printer itself.

I've managed to create some transfer curves in Photoshop that give
acceptable grayscale images, and also pretty much eliminate the
banding in color prints, which is usually exhibited as a color
shift in light pastel areas. I believe this is due to the grayscale
tracking problem I noted above.

I don't have any firsthand experience with the newer MD1300 or the
latest MD5000. I've seen posts that Alps had some QC problems with
the dyesub ribbons and there are newer ones available that seem to
alleviate some of the banding problems mentioned. I haven't tried
any new ribbons as I bought 6 complete sets a year ago. Just put
the last of these in over the Thanksgiving weekend and will have
to order some more, hopefully the newer generation (part no's are
the same so you really don't know).

Most of the posts I've seen over the last year or so don't mention
the platform/driver version/application used. I have the feeling
there are substantial differences in driver characteristics between
the PC and Mac versions. I am using the V5.2 Macintosh version of the
printer driver and Adobe Photoshop 4.01, so my experience may not
reflect that of Windows users.

I have sold close to 50 8x10's at $8 to $20 apiece, mostly restored
family pictures of old photos (price varies according to how much
work I have to put into the restoration). While I do this as
a hobby/sideline, the price I charge doesn't nearly reflect what
my time is worth, but at least pays for the supplies and the printer
itself. Also have produced many prints from my own photos that have
been framed and displayed both at home and at work. Everyone without
exception believes they are photographic enlargements.

So, bottom line, I've been satisfied with the printer given it's
price. No comparison between it and any of the current inkjets for
photographic quality output. Also don't have to worry if it sits
idle for months at a time. The last series of 18 prints were made
nearly 4 months since I last used it, without any problems. It
doesn't have to go through any cleaning cycles like most inkjets,
and if a ribbon runs out during a print, you just pop a new one
in and hit continue.

Is this *the* printer for everyone? No. It has a unique niche for
those that need its capabilities and are willing to cope with the
problems. As Ralph mentioned, it does a fantastic job on plain
text printing, given the right stock, for those special needs that
inkjets (and most lasers) can't meet such as metallic inks and
white inks (MD1300 and newer).

My only complaints are the lack of a micro-perf 4x6 paper that
would yield true 4x6 prints, 8.5x14 paper that would allow full
8x12 prints of 35mm frames, and any kind of trade-in program for
users of older models to upgrade.

Sorry to be so long-winded.

Denny

[FArnold510]

Dennis I also have a MD 2300 Alps printer a MD 1300- Md 5000 printer. I have
had some banding in both the MD 2300 and the MD 1300 The Md 5000 Alps printer
is a differen level of design with the new variable dot 2400 DPI. I like the
new Vphoto paper to image on. I only got 5 sheets so i can't give a lot of
information untill i get more supplies. I have ordered the dye sub upgrade kit
and i will test when it comes in The Alps is a niche printer i would like to
see a better cooling system in future models a wider 11x 17 printer which i
think they will introduce in 1999. I have other concerns about color
management- update of drivers- technical support and related lack of certain
supplies in recently introduced MD 5000. I have found ONEList alps decals a
good infomative news group on the WWW i think serious users should ask for a
test on their own work befor making a buying decision.Frank Arnold
printers and periferials

[gnac...@mindspring.com]

Slightly off-topic, anyone have some numbers on the known/suspected
longevity of the prints? With and without lamination? The response I got
from Alps: “Our resin inks (standard Micro Dry inks) are fadeproof,
waterproof and smearproof. They are permanent.”

Thanks.

… Greg