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Excellent quality refurbished HP 4500's are available from Inkworks,
Inc. Their website is http://www.inkworksinc.com.
Their phone is 866-381-0541. They generally give a better price
on the phone than online. In August, '07, I paid $185 plus shipping
for a beautiful 4500. Currently they are advertising in a printer
repair trade journal (Locator Magazine) refurbished 4500's for $195.
Shipping is by truck, on a pallet. Which is a
good thing. The machine weighs 165 pounds, and I have seen more
than one 4500 destroyed by UPS. Their driver can't lift the box,
so he rolls it. Shipping by truck cost $85 from NC to FL. Call to
find out your cost.
If you buy a used 4500 or 4550 locally or on eBay
(beware of shipping methods and shipping costs), find out the predicted
life remaining on the drum, fuser and transfer kit. It's not much
of a bargain if you have to buy these units immediately. From the
printer's control panel, under the information menu, you can find
out remaining life of the transfer kit, the fuser and the drum.
It's expressed in percentages, like "Remaining life fuser = 88%."
Functionally, there is no difference between the
4500 and the 4550. They use the same cartridges, and operate the
same way. The literature says that the 4550 processes faster. I
don't believe that - they are both clunky. The "D" in a model 4500D
(or 4550D) means Duplex, it can print on both sides of the page.
This is not desirable with sublimation work. "N", as in 4500N, means
network-ready, has a network card in it (Or DID have a card when
it left the factory, many "N's" have had their network cards removed
before getting to the refurbisher). "T" as in 4500T, means it has,
or had, another paper cassette unit on the bottom. So you may see
something like a 4500 DNT, or almost any combination of those suffixes.
Generally in sublimation, these extras have no value.
The 4500 and 4550 use a somewhat unusual printer
cable. It's a "mini-centronics." You can probably get one from Inkworks,
with your printer or call me. I've got a dozen or so here, mostly
new in blister pack, for $15 each. No extra shipping charge when
ordered with a SubToner cartridge. We also have copies of the HP
4500/4550 Service Manual on CD, at no charge with any SubToner order,
and we can help with providing sources for any needed replacement
parts. Based on HP's history with other printers, there will be
parts available for the 4500 series for at least another decade.
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