OT: Logitech Harmony One

[Unquestionably Confused]

I appreciate it. Like estate sales, garage sales, etc. the hunt for old equipment and tools can be a fairy tale affair, i.e. you have to kiss a lot of frogs in order to find a prince.

[Don Y]

Good analogy (though I'd prefer a princESS!)

I enjoy places like (technology) auctions, recycling centers, etc. simply for the exposure to such a variety of "kit" that I typically wouldn't encounter day-to-day.

Some years ago, I stumbled on a Xerox Personal Reader "CPU unit" at an auction at local university. See second photo on page Elsewhere, in the same auction, I came across the scanner unit for that "system".

I'm *sure* I was the only person at the auction who understood what

*either* piece was -- and, how, together, they represented a complete product. As a result, I was able to purchase each item for the minimum $7 bid -- $14 for the set! [I worked for Kurzweil on the first version of The Reading Machine in mid 70's so it was a bit of nostalgia for me -- as well as an are of personal interest]

[Tony Hwang]

I got mine replacing 880 locally from a divorcing couple for 85.00. Still using it. There is a guy fixing it in NYC. Name is Quinn. He'll repair the unit or sell parts kit for DIY'er.

[Unquestionably Confused]

So would I but when was the last time you read a fairy tale where a princess had been "froggered"

Neat. I am an inveterate gadgeteer. It's amazing what you can find at sales and auctions. I picked up a HP LaserJet 5SI printer at a local government auction. If anyone doubts that government has too much money to spend, I'd urge them to visit a few of these auctions and see what they deem surplus or "we need better/newer".

This printer was fully loaded with the huge paper supplies feeder beneath the main unit (held like 3000 sheets in one bin), 64 meg of memory, duplexer, envelope feeder, NIC and a page count of 51,000. IIRC, the specs on this say that the daily count for this class is something like 5K pages. Anyway, I bid on it and took it back to my office for $65. The guy who services my stuff was there and he grabbed two of them for $100.

[Don Y]

One can hope... :>

I tend *not* to like "toys" -- but, end up with a lot of them as a consequence of my vocation and avocation. As I can keep things running for a long time, they tend to "hang around" a lot longer than they probably *should*...

I find it disturbing/depressing. All that stuff "discarded" simply because it was last year's model, the grant expired, someone wasn't smart enough to figure out how to repair it, etc.

The same can be said of schools, hospitals and most businesses. I know shops that go through and replace *every* (Windows) machine at 18 or 36 month intervals -- just as a matter of policy. The folks *using* the machines haven't become any smarter or faster (nor will the upgraded machines once the latest bloatware is installed!) yet someone decides to sweep out the old and bring in new...

I can't begin to tally all the crap^H^H^H fine stuff I've accumulated. For printers, I have:

- LaserJet 5p (mono, 600 dpi, 6ppm, LOW POWER)

- LaserJet 6p (essentially the same as the 5p)

- LaserJet 4m+ (mono, 600 dpi, 12 ppm, postscript, double-sided, dims lights)

- Phaser 560 (color laser, 1200dpi, 5/14ppm color/mono, dims lights)

- R1800 (color inkjet, 13" wide carriage, dog slow)

- Phaser 8200DP (color solid ink, 1200 dpi, 16ppm, double-sided)

- DesignJet 755CM (color inkjet, 36" carriage, 600dpi, SNAIL slow)

- PictureStation DPP-EX50 (color photographs -- postcard sized)

Most of these I got for a song (e.g., $5-$20) or free. Often, needing some minor repair. I'll only "inherit" a printer if it also comes with a fair bit of spare ink/toner. E.g., I have 4 NIB carts for the 4m+, boxes of ink for the solid ink Phaser, two sets of toner carts for the laser Phaser, etc.

[I had to *buy* a toner cartridge for the 5p recently and cringed at the cost! But, still 10 times cheaper than folks using inkjets!]

Most printers are "on the wire" -- the 5p and PictureStation are the only exceptions (tied to specific machines). As I've accumulated a fair bit of old RAM (SIMMs) over the years, its relatively easy to max out each unit's memory complement. The 8200DP even has an internal

*disk* drive (fonts, etc.).

The 5p and 6p see the most use -- mainly because we tend to just print a couple of pages at a time and the other printers take much longer than that just to turn *on*! (the 5p and 6p have really low power standby modes so we leave them on 24/7).

For "publications" and formal documents, I'll use the 8200DP as the prints are really high quality -- esp the photos and illustrations. But, the house smells like "burnt crayons" whenever I turn it on...

If I have to print a manual for something (many of the chips that I use in my designs have 500-1000pp manuals), I'll light up the 4m+ to cut down on the number of pages (double-sided) and total print time (1000pp at 5ppm takes *hours* to print and you have to restock the paper tray continuously)

The PictureStation is so small I can tuck it in a desk drawer. And, handy when SWMBO wants a (postcard-sized) photo of something that she photographed previously.

The R1900 will probably get retired in the next few months as I can better use the deskspace for something else. If I need something printed in that form factor (e.g., tabloid size), I can run up the street to Kinkos or Costco and have them print it for $2.