Alps MD 5000

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5,
1 votes

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Fry''s Electronics

Model Reviewed:
MD-5000

Summary:
Good dye sub printer (with upgrade) with very high resolution but very poor continuous tone printing. I bought it when it was the best thing on the market. For a photographic printer, I''d look toward EPSON.

Strengths:
High resolution. Very slick looking mylar inks - supposedly they won''t fade and are extremely durable. Can produce some professional looking output on thick stock.

Weaknesses:
Since this is a ribbon printer and not an inkjet, there is very noticable banding. It also does poorly with continuous tone photographic images. So if you''re expecting a professional dye sub photo printer, this isn''t it. Only Alps inks and paper are available - not much industry support.

Similar Products Used:
None

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
2 Years

Model Reviewed:
MD5000

Summary:
I had a problem with the first printer but overall I am very satisfied with the printing results, especially Photo Prints.

Strengths:
Excellent Photo Quality Prints with Dye-Sub. When one Color runs out you don't have to change all Colors at once as with most Ink Jets.

Weaknesses:
Slow printing. Slow to start printing on High Definition Photo's.

Similar Products Used:
Can't remember. Too long ago. HP and Canon Photo printers I think.

Customer Service:
So-so. Mixed responses from Customer Service personel. One sucked (BIG TIME), another deserved a medal.

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
2 Years

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Fry's Electronics in Sac, CA

Model Reviewed:
Alps MD 5000

Summary:
I have been very disappointed with the performance of this very expensive to take a quote from another reviewer "paper weight." From the very beginning I have had problems with the cartiages and paper feeder. I used this printer for special photo printing only and must say I used it less than 10 times in the last less than 2 years and now it is not worth the price to fix. Customer service is horrible. The purchase was a stretch for me and it left me without a photo printer and the need to reinvest in???

Strengths:
When the printer worked, the photos were great.

Weaknesses:
Noisy, slow, and easily malfunctions. A waste of my money to purchase.

Similar Products Used:
No other experience with a micro dry printer and I think I will reserve that for my next life.

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
2 Years

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Price Paid:  $450.00

Model Reviewed:
MD - 5000

Summary:
I would NOT reccomend this product to anyone. While the photo print quality is excellent, the customer service is poor to disgusting.
The first 30 days that I had the computer it needed to be returned. It was replaced, but with a refurbished printer, NOT a new printer. Now the printhead has broken and I can only have it repaired at the manufacturer with a minimum cost of $250.00. This was not a heavily used printer, simply for holiday family photos.
The manufacturer has little to no customer service skills. I thoroughly regret not purchasing a different computer.

Strengths:
print quality

Weaknesses:
customer service
longevity

Similar Products Used:
HP, Canon...no problems with either of these EVER

Customer Service:
terrible

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
1 Year

Price Paid:  $550.00 from CompUSA

Model Reviewed:
Alps MD 5000

Summary:
I was very happy with the printed output, the unit performed very slow, but the printed media was the best I had seen, and the quality of print was my MAIN concern. I bought the USB cabling and software directly from the manufacturer, no problems with installation, no conflicts with other USB devices. I bought the dye sublimination kit directly from the manufacturer, and loved the results. I am however VERY disappointed with the fact the paper return mechanism failed and Alps will NOT repair this unit. Hind sight being 20/20 I should have purchased the other brand I was reviewing. I now have a very expensive paper weight and a box full of cartridges and various printing media I can not use.

Strengths:
Beautiful color, Cartirdge applied color is water proof (accidently put that to the test) fade proof, and does not smear.

Weaknesses:
Not cost effective to operate, but I got the quality I wanted.

Similar Products Used:
None

Customer Service:
Always polite, but it took several tries to solve any problems. A month after the year warranty expired, I needed service and an Alps tech told me they DO NOT repair these printers, they are discontinued. When I voiced disappointment they politely offered to send me a refurbished unit for $250.00 with a 90 day warranty. Ouch.