Posted by saphire_CA on 4/17/05 12:01am
Msg #32285

Earlier message on two tray printers..something to add

Thanks for the sites, advise ect.

I bought and have been reading what seems to be wealth of information on Notary Signing Agents that a woman wrote. and she suggests a Brother Intellifax 2800 ..says it costs less than 200.00 refill cart. only 22.00... gets almost 3,00 printed pages from 1 cartridge.

Any opinions on this?

Reply by saphire-CA on 4/17/05 12:14am
Msg #32286

Re: Earlier message two tray printers..something .. whoops

Sorry..I meant 3,000 pages

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 4/17/05 12:18am
Msg #32287

I just looked at a Brother Intellifax 2800 - and it appears to be a fax machine, not a printer.

Stay with HP They have the only true PCL drivers.
As a signing service, if edocs are involved I will only use signing agents who have the HP printers. I know that some of the Brother machines will work, but I don't take chances, my reputation is on the line, so I make sure I only assign someone with an HP printer, with the true PCL drivers.

Reply by Jen/CA on 4/17/05 1:35am
Msg #32295

I have a Brother MFC 8220 and it works great. In fact, at work we have a few different HP models and my Brother smokes two of them and is just as fast as the HP4200 (a $700 machine). I have never had a problem printing e-docs. Crisp, clear print. I have even been told by a few SS that they were surprised at how fast I could print out documents. The fax machine is really nice also. I would highly recommend this printer. It does it all, print, copy, scan & fax. Even has PC faxing.

Reply by LAG_Fl on 4/17/05 7:18am
Msg #32298

My Brother 8840-d says in the manual that it has an HP PCL6 driver in it.
It works great.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 4/17/05 7:25am
Msg #32300

According to the specs for the Brother 8840-d, it simulates the PCL 6

Reply by Margaret/Florida on 4/17/05 9:05am
Msg #32309

I have the same Brother and 2 other brother laser printers. I have been using the brothers for 3 years doing edocs and never had a problem. I never have had a signing agency call me and ask what kind of laser printer I have, only if I do edocs. I used to have HP's and they are the ones I had problems with

Reply by Ernest_CT on 4/17/05 9:43pm
Msg #32379

You know what they say: Those who can, do. ...

... Those who can't, simulate.

Reply by Anonymous on 4/17/05 11:57pm
Msg #32387

Does the Brother MFC 8220 cost between 4300-$400?

Reply by CaliNotary on 4/17/05 11:48am
Msg #32331

" I know that some of the Brother machines will work, but I don't take chances, my reputation is on the line, so I make sure I only assign someone with an HP printer, with the true PCL drivers."

I disagree. I would say that ALL of the Brother PCL printers will work as well as any HP for printing edocs. Some possibly better, if one of the posts in this thread is an indicator.

I have seen posts over and over in this forum from people with Brother printers who say they have NEVER had problems downloading edocs. I am one of them and I've had the 8220 for almost a year and have printed hundreds of sets of edocs from all sorts of different companies. Meanwhile, I have never seen a single post from somebody who couldn't print edocs because they only had emulated PCL drivers. I have however seen more than one post by somebody who hates HP printers because of their unreliability. I've never owned one so I can't comment on that.

If there were some guarantee that a person with an HP would 100% positively be able to print out edocs no matter what I could see it, but that's not the case. They could run out of toner and live 60 miles from the nearest Staples. The printer could die in the middle of the print job. The person printing the docs could make some sort of human error which screws up the printing. There could be a power outage.

I have a hard time imaging any title company dropping you or giving you a hard time because you hired a signing agent who only had <horrors!> emulated PCL. Out of all the things that could mess up your reputation in this industry, that is not a realistic one IMO.

Reply by Margaret/Florida on 4/17/05 3:11pm
Msg #32341

I totally agree. I have three laser printers, always have a backup toner ready, cases of paper on hand. 3 laptops and 1 desktop. I have all the printers installed on each computers, I have all the document viewers such as swiftview, doc magic, etc. and 3 kinkos within a short distance of most of my signings. The only reason I have used Kinkos is when the wireless internet is down for some reason. I must be doing something right because I work 6 days a week, sometimes from 8:00am to 11:00pm sometimes not getting to bed until 1:00pm and getting back up at 4:30 am to drive 2 hours away to a signing at 8:00am. My phone rings off the hook, I get calls for signings 4 counties away so I am not worried about 1 signing company not calling me because I no longer do signings for signing agencies, only title companies.

Reply by BrendaTx on 4/17/05 3:26pm
Msg #32342

Margaret's post reminds me-fill toner cartridge day n/m

Reply by Stephen_VA on 4/17/05 10:14pm
Msg #32383

Agreed. PCL support is mostly a red herring. Adobe PDF should be printed using..... wait for it..... wait for it...............


Postscript



At least if you follow Adobe's recommendation.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 4/18/05 8:23am
Msg #32401

Red Herring? Absolutely not! PCL is required to print some document packages. Not everything comes as PDF, some come as direct print. For those, you will need a PCL compliant printer.

As for Adobe's recommendation to use PostScript, you must remember that Adobe created and owns Postscript! So, PDF is geared towards printing with PostScript. However, having done testing of printers in a previous life, there is no speed difference between printing in PS or PCL. When a PDF file is printed from Adobe Reader or any application that supports PDF, it still must be interpreted by the printer driver, whether it be PS, PCL or any other printer driver.

Reply by Stephen_VA on 4/18/05 9:20am
Msg #32408

So, can you tell me which features of the PCL6 spec are required for printing text documents? Which look about the same at 300 resolution as they do at any higher? My gut says the PCL signifigance topped out for us at PCL4, which nearly any printer will print just fine so long as it at least emulates.

That *is* a challenge, but it is a friendly one.

Reply by PAW_Fl on 4/18/05 9:52am
Msg #32414

99 44/100% of the time, a PCL document we get will be PCL4 compliant. However, some companies and warehouses are using newer tools which are based on PCL5e criteria and therefore, even though the content of the document may be PCL4 compatible, the header will search for PCL5e or higher drivers.

There isn't a lot of reason to use any of the 5e specific features since our documents are just about all text. However, I am noticing more and more documents are being printed with the lenders logo on the top and if that graphic is prepared under the 5e specifications, it won't print properly under PCL4.

As for PCL6, there isn't anything new except that the language base has changed to more "C++" like. This opens up an whole new world as Hewlett-Packard moves forward with PCL as a "higher level" language for printers, much like the evolution of PostScript, except that HP printers do and will probably will continue to natively support the PCL language within the engine rather than relying solely on drivers.

Reply by BrendaTX on 4/18/05 9:52am
Msg #32415

Is the based on experience?


I able to do some edocs with an HP OfficeJet H85, but that's an ink printer with PCL 4 (I think). After you print on this, then you have to run through a copier.

If there's no PCL period, as with my Canon ImageClass D761 (which is a nice little small business copier/printer) you won't get any eDocs unless they are already in PDF form. Forget it on VMP, MRG, Swiftview, etc.

The point I guess I am making is if there is no PCL...no edocs as stated above. And, if you are buying a new printer, it's going to either come with PCL 5e or 6 or nothing, right?

Reply by Stephen_VA on 4/18/05 1:07pm
Msg #32464

Re: Is the based on experience?

Yes. Which was kind of my point. Though stated more stridently than necessary by calling it a red herring. The bottom line is:

Get PCL, with a preference to the latest available, forget all the other nuances of the issue, and move on.

If you look at the set of printers that are:

1. On the high side of Fast 18ppm or >
2. 250 sheet trays
3. Optional 2nd tray

Guess what you have about 3 printers on your list now, all of which are PCL6.....

I really should have used a different fish analogy and said that PCL is Sylvia's White Whale, since she, in my opinion, is focusing on it and the "Must be HP" thing too much.

Reply by BrendaTX on 4/18/05 1:21pm
Msg #32472

Re: Is the based on experience?

My Canon ImageClass 761 doesn't have PCL, does it?

It and my HP 3015 are the only two I have in my office at present. OfficeJet H85 has been replaced and moved to my mother's so she can use as copier/fax.

I am not promoting HP...as best I can tell...if you have a Canon ImageClass 761 (like mine) you still cannot print edocs that are not PDF. Am I wrong? If so, please tell me how to fix it and I will be ecstatic.

With my Canon, I cannot even print an airbill from www.lso.com (Lone Star Overnight) because you have to have a PCL printer for that. Yes my old HP OJ 85 would do it, yes my HP 3015 will do it, but my Canon IC 761-No. My little Samsung-No.

Reply by BrendaTX on 4/18/05 8:30am
Msg #32403

Stephen - don't want to argue here with someone who obviously possesses more knowledge than I on this, but if there are viewers which won't print if you don't have a PCL compliant printer. In fact, some view instructions say "Step 1 - Set your default printer to a PCL Compliant printer."

To me that implies that the writers of these viewers don't consider PCL compliance ancilliary.

Some viewers never even show the docs on your screen but go directly to the PCL Compliant printer. IF you don't have one, there's no printing. I have not tried setting Adobe Distiller as my default printer for this purpose, but plan to next time just for giggles...sad, but true.

Reply by Stephen_VA on 4/18/05 1:15pm
Msg #32470

You are absolutely correct. I was remiss in so stridently stating a huge exception to the PCL issue without paying homage to the fact that the PCL issue does at its heart have merit. Without PCL you won't be able to print certain things **AT ALL**. But saying "HP Only" is a overdone. Emulation should work just fine.

Reply by BrendaTX on 4/18/05 1:23pm
Msg #32474

Agreed. However, the merit of HP does not just originate with the SSs. It has flowed down from title companies. That's what THEY want to hear.

Reply by Margaret/Florida on 4/17/05 9:18am
Msg #32310

The Brother Intellifax is only a Fax machine. I have one printer that cost 649.00 and the legal tray was 129 extra. It is an all-in-one Fax/Flatbed scanner/copier/printer and is in my car. I can scan documents into my laptop and fax through e-fax on the road. You need to spend the money to get a dependable laster printer. Do your research online about printers before you make a purchase. Consumer reports 5/2005 issue has the 3 top laser printers as 2 Brothers and 1 HP and listed the Brothers the least expensive to operate. Do not listen to the employee in the stores. They do not know the products as well as they should. All my signings are edocs except for the title companies that I work for in their offices. Then the documents have already been printed before I arrive to either pick them up or go to a borrowers home from the title company. The only problem I have ever had downloading documents was because I had my Norton Internet Security blocking pop ups and I had to turn it off while I downloaded the docs and turn it back off afterward.

Reply by Joan-OH on 4/18/05 7:21am
Msg #32397

Keep in Mind

that a lot of the brother printers & fax machines have drums that have to occasionally be replaced. I have see prices for these @ $189 & up. I would imagine that would drive your cost of ownership up.

Joan-OH