Rewriting The Printer Rules

The Age

Monday May 11, 1992

Kyocera claims to have rewritten the economic and ecological rules with the release of a non-cartridge office printer which goes on sale in Australia on Monday.

The Japanese manufacturer says its Ecosys printer will end the decade-long dominance of cartridge-based laser printers.

At the heart of the new printer is an almost indestructible drum made of amorphous silicon combined with a compact light emitting diode scanning system. It also includes a long-life developer and fuser unit and new ceramic particle toner.

Mr Cliff Smith, managing director of Kyocera Electronics Australia, said that conventional laser printers needed a replacement cartridge, consisting of drum, toner and developer every 4000 pages. Between 60 and 75 cartridges were needed during the lifetime of the printer.

Mr Smith said the amorphous silicon drum never needed replacing, even when handling the roughest recycled paper.

``We believe we have put paid to the expensive and wasteful practice of constantly replacing entire printer cartridges," Mr Smith said at the local launching.

``This is the first non-impact printer in the world where the only consumable needed is toner." Selling for $4275, the price is comparable to that for 10-page-a-minute laser printers.

But Mr Smith said the cost of printing_1.8 cents per page_was half that of competing products.