ALPS MD-5000 package for sale

ALPS MD-5000 printer package. Everything you need to print your own decals on a PC or Mac. The printer is slightly used but well maintained. I last used it in June and it worked fine then, I now run Linux so I cannot make a test print. Package is sold "as is" with no warranty. New ribbons and special photo papers can still be found on the web. Asking price $750 or best reasonable offer received before 11:59 PM 11/18/2008. Buyers willing to meet within a 1 hour drive of Laurel, MD to pickup the package are preferred. I will ship it insured and at cost anywhere in the lower 48 states but it will not be cheap to ship.

ALPS MD-5000 printer Parallel to USB cable Manuals Driver discs

14 new ribbons 9 partial ribbons

Ribbons: Cyan (new boxed) Magenta (new boxed) 2 Yellow (new boxed) 2 Black (new boxed) 4 Econo Black (new loose) White (new boxed) Metallic silver (new boxed) 2 Metallic gold (new boxed) Metallic cyan (partial boxed) Metallic magenta (partial boxed)

Ribbons in printer (all slightly used): Finish VP photo primer Cyan Magenta Yellow Black White

Note the ribbons sold singly are worth $100-$150 and the cable by itself sells for $149. The printer originally sold for $600.

That is a bit steep for as-is, no warranty printer with unknown wear on it. You might come closer to your asking price listing it on eBay.

There are 2 test prints you could run on the standalone printer. Running the test and posting results might increase your chances of selling that printer.

Here is the all important test which verifies that the print head is undamaged and it also shows the printer's usage:

Turn off the printer.

Disconnect the Power Cable. Disconnect the parallel (or SCSI) cable. That is the cable which connect the printer to your computer.

Make sure that the printer is set up for automatic paper feed and that it has at least

1 sheet of letter size paper loaded. This printout is one page long on all but the MD-5000. On MD-5000 printers it is seven pages long. But only the first page has the info we are looking for.

Install a regular black cartridge (label code 0) into the left cartridge holder (as you are facing the open printer door).

Plug in the Power Cable only. Wait for the lights to turn off.

Press and hold the "POWER" button, then press and hold the "READY/ INSERT" button.

Release the "POWER" button but keep holding the "READY/INSERT" button.

Keep holding the "READY/INSERT" button for at least 4 seconds. This is important. It is OK to hold it longer than 4 seconds but not less. Ignore any lights flashing.

After 4 seconds release the "READY/INSERT" button , then right away press and release it again.

In few seconds, the printer will start making noises and then it will print out the selftest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This printout contains bunch of info and calibration parameters.

Here are couple of most important ones.

On the top of the listing you will see a serial number. It should match the serial number on the printer's serial # label. If it doesn't, the printer's controller board has been swapped.

Also look for the "Number of bands". That gives you an idea how much the printer was used. A band is a single head pass (about 0.5") over a sheet of paper. So, full color printout could possibly use 4 times as many bands as a black/white one. Basically, each time the head prints a band of anything, bands number will increase. There is no simple formula to convert this number to a number of sheets printed, but it still gives you an idea of how much the printer was used.

Next we have the important head-test printout.

There will be 2 bands (about 0.5" again) of very thin, slightly skewed lines printed on paper. If any of those thin lines is broken up or missing segments then there is a problem with the head (unrepairable).

Some printers might also print a 0.5" solid black band. Again, that band should be solid black. If it is not, then the head is defective (unrepairable).

Peteski