Summary: I love this printer!! I print wedding invites out of my home and this printer has really helped my business! So what if it''s slower than an ink jet. Today''s ink jet printers, bleed, soak your paper, and can not print on black paper or dark paper, like the Alps can. Also I have yet to see an ink jet printer print in Metallic colors. Alps is way ahead of it''s time. Too bad you either have to buy used, or go to Japan for new. Come on Alps Make More! or sell the rights to a company that wants to make one very great printer! Too bad I didn''t know about this printer until too late, now it is very hard to find reasonable priced ink, and the supplies are going fast. I printed 300 invites the other day and only used 2 sets of cartridges, so you can print alot cheeper with an Alps as compared to other ink jet printers. Go Alps!!
Strengths: Waterproof, Metallic colors, Better than a laser printer for crisp clean text. Blows away any new ink jet printer!
Weaknesses: None
Similar Products Used: None can compare. I have 2 Epsons, and a NEC laser.
Summary: The Alps MD-1000, the low-end model of the Alps MD printing family, proves itself quite well and puts most inkjet and many laser printers to the test when it comes to quality. As a graphic artist, I love the ability to print using a CMYK+ (+ is for metallic, white and finish media available) format rather than the traditional RGB color of most laser and inkjet printers. The flexibility and possibilities you have with this printer are endless, from non-fading tee-shirt transfers and temporary tatoos, to model decales and glossy photos without glossy photo paper. Its resolution settings state 1200 x 600, but it is confusing as this printer doesn''t use inkjet technology but a thermal transfer technology for creating smooth transitional prints ideal for photographic and graphic material. As a text printer, it surpasses many laser printers for dark, clean text that doesn''t smear as the ink is dry, smear-proof, and fade-proof (ideal for vinyl and decal work).
Strengths: Excellent glossy photographic results wihtout the need for photo paper (although I recommend high-quality laser paper for clean results or Alps Photo Realistic paper - although hard to come by for excellent results). Ability to print in white (for colored stock) and metallics (silver, gold, metallic magenta and metallic cyan), and also an optional "photo finish" - a glossy coat applied when you set it to photos.
The ability to print out in a four color separation format with thermal transfer, resin-based "inks" - ideal for professional print media.
Weaknesses: Alps has discontinued their MicroDry printers (MD series) and supplies are in short supply. If you want it, buy it used, but make sure to buy supplies in bulk when you can find them - CompUSA still carries their supplies.
No OEM or downloadable drivers for Windows 2000 or Windows XP, must request them by mail on CD.
May occasionally see banding, which can be fixed with software and/or hardware tweaking, but not recommended for average computer user.
By most people''s standards, it is quite slow, due to multiple passes for each color and even more for overlays such as the gloss finish, white, and metallics. However, quality takes time. Compare to a true photo printer and it is a speed demon...
Similar Products Used: MD-5000 (The best Alps option - but still discontinued) with dye-sub - also holds up to 8 cartridges with improved finish features)
Summary: My husband and I was very leary of trying a new type of printer with laser like qualities. Our salesman sold us on it though and we have been very happy with it these past 3 years. I have learned today, to my great dismay, that Alps no longer makes printers of any kind. This is sad news for us because I don't know what other printer could make us this happy at a price we can afford.
Strengths: I love the no-smear printing. You can completely submerge a print without hurting the picture or print at all. Great for my kids school picture projects. No need to cut out magazine pictures with such good quality printing. I even use it to scan and print out family pictures. It is that good. Also no need to worry about ink drying up in the cartridges. The cartridges never dry up no matter how long between printings.
Weaknesses: Slow. Very slow. But worth it.
Similar Products Used: I have seen many printers work and have used one other. There is none comparable that I have seen first hand. Lasers I hear are comparable but are expensive.
Customer Service: I called them today with a print motor error messege I was recieving. Turns out it is the beginning of the end of my printer. This is when I learned the terrible news that Alps will no longer be making printers. The do not sell parts either. If my printer breaks, I need to replace it with a new (if they have any available) or used printer for $188.00 if I have no warrenty and free if I still am under warranty.
Summary: I would recommend the Alps to anyone desirous of a flexible, fade-n-smear proof (the waterproof ink is a plus!) printer. If you don't mind the wait for the prints they are worth it. There are also things the Alps can do that others can't...white ink printing, gold and silver ink printing. Also, unlike my new Epson 900 (which truly does have amazing print quality, but that's a separate review), the Alps has never given me any driver trouble and works with all my applications without a hitch. Easy setup and use. Comes with a T-Shirt making kit, too. :o)
Strengths: This has been my workhorse printer, accompanying my digital cameras as well as printing out digital artwork. Up until my most recent printer purchase (Epson 900; absolutely gorgeous prints) I have been very happy with the Alps. It is extremely easy to change the cartridges and, unlike other printer models such as the Epson, each color is separate...which means if you run out of one color you don't need to junk all the colors. This alone is a cost savings. The machine has also been very reliable; I have owned it for two years with only one problem (nasty banding, print heads were misaligned) which tech support was happy to help me with.
This printer does wonderful color matching; prints held up to my monitor are exactly the same as what I see on the screen (with obvious allowances for additve vs. subtractive color). There was no special setup required for this as there is with some other printers. I found this to be a huge plus; nothing is more disappointing than working carefully with color on screen and then have your printer decide that there needs to be more magenta (Epson Color Stylus II was always problematic for me in this way; although there are settings one can tweak, I prefer the intelligence of the Alps to tweaking an Epson).
Weaknesses: This is a very slow printer...not designed with instant gratification in mind. It takes me 14 minutes to print an 8x10 glossy photo realistic print via parallel port. There are also times when banding becomes very evident; usually changing the offending cartridge solves that problem. The cartridges tend to get squirrely as they get near the end of their lifespan. Still, overall, the color quality is gorgeous and, since it is not spraying ink, there are no microdots visible...just smooth, continuous tone.
Alps does okay on ordinary laser paper, but not as great as their ads say. The specialty name-brand photo realistic paper for this printer, if you want high quality prints, is also not readily available in stores. I have been unable to find it locally in any computer or office supply store. It is not difficult to find the paper online; however, avoid buying the paper directly from Alps (HIGH shipping no matter how little you buy). Look around.
Similar Products Used: Epson Color Stylus II and Epson 900 (neither of these are micro dry printers like the Alps, however).
Customer Service: Very helpful on the one occasion I had to use them.
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