MartinS said the following on 31/01/2007 18:26:
Not really, on either count. There is a catch though. They haven't been made for some years, and all support and supplies will stop in the USA in March. This threw the Americans into a panic, until they eventually realised that cartridges are still available from Europe, amongst other non-US countries, and will be for some time to come to support OKI printers. No-one knows how long this will be for though - it is likely to be at least several years. Because the cheap USA sources will dry up, we're all going to pay more - I used to buy from the USA because it was a lot cheaper, even with shipping, duties and taxes, than buying from Alps in Ireland shipping to England. I do have a healthy stock of cartridges though!
As far as printers themselves go, they crop up on eBay fairly regularly, but I haven't worked out if people are dumping them at low prices because they think they can't get supplies any more, or they're going for high prices because people want them as a backup. It's a bit hit and miss at the moment, and the choice seems to be a lot less than when I bought mine.
Designing artwork for use on Alps is a whole subject in it's own right...
...and the alpsdecal group is the one to go for on Yahoo - there's loads of info on there, but read the files section stuff before asking any questions otherwise you'll get your head bitten off :-)