68kMLA Classic Interface

This is a version of the 68kMLA forums for viewing on your favorite old mac. Visitors on modern platforms may prefer the main site.

Click here to select a new forum.

Personal LaserWriter NT/NTR: What to Watch For?

Posted by: Scott Baret on 2023-03-12 22:32:34

I'm considering buying a Personal LaserWriter NT or NTR for my computer lab. What, if any, issues should I be aware of that would plague these printers in 2023?

I know I can still source toner for these (HP 75A) so I'm not too concerned there, but what about things like boards, capacitors, power supplies, rollers, etc?

Posted by: Concorde1993 on 2023-03-13 00:17:34

OEM HP toners that are over 20 years old seem to be prone to smearing right out of the box. I've been experiencing that with the 95A cartridges used in the IINT.

My IINT is all original and is not plagued by electrical issues. Can't speak for the earlier Personal LWs (I've only owned the later 300 model - it was a decent printer but slow as molasses).

Posted by: danda on 2023-03-13 04:15:48

Either they can have PSU issues, or I've just been incredibly unlucky in that all three of my Personal LaserWriters now don't power up any more. I did have them sitting in a garage for a few years, so that could be why...

If you do end up needing any parts for your LaserWriter, let me know because I'm trying to get rid of them.

Posted by: croissantking on 2023-03-13 04:40:35

I have a soft spot for this printer, as I used to own a PLW NT that I upgraded to a NTR board with max RAM.

I had two issues, firstly was a failed scanner/mirror motor (sorry I don’t remember what it was properly called) but a spare was easy to obtain because most of the parts are common across HP LaserJets of the same vintage. Second issue was failed capacitors on one of the PCBs and I actually disposed of the printer after that as I didn’t have the skills back then to repair it, and I was a bit fed up with it as well.

The NT is a SLOW printer. The NTR upgrade is essential imho, it’s twice as fast at processing. The upgrade made it feel like a totally new machine.

Posted by: zuctronic on 2023-05-20 06:51:43

Either they can have PSU issues, or I've just been incredibly unlucky in that all three of my Personal LaserWriters now don't power up any more. I did have them sitting in a garage for a few years, so that could be why...

If you do end up needing any parts for your LaserWriter, let me know because I'm trying to get rid of them.

They do have PSU issues. Even a NOS replacement PSU had leaky caps.

See my write-up here:

Personal LaserWriter NT PSU Capacitors

Hi all, I thought somebody might find this helpful as I've seen a few "dead personal laserwriter" posts here. I have a couple Personal LaserWriter NT guys that are at different stages of dead. When I received them, neither one would power up. I found a new old stock replacement PSU on eBay that...

68kmla.org

I think there are other leaking caps throughout the printer, I'll update that thread as I make progress. Also the rubber rollers are getting old and will need some attention, I need to manually help the paper out of the printer or it will jam.

Good luck!

Posted by: s_pupp on 2023-05-20 07:08:15

My experience: Slow, unreliable, expensive to keep it going.

I bought one (ebay) for $64. It’s fuser was bad, and fixing the printer cost me $220. I bought it an NTR board - much faster (relatively speaking, since it was the speed of a stoned tortoise) - and used an LC475 as a localtalk bridge. After just a few years, its new fuser went bad. It jammed repeatedly right from day#1. I refused to spend more money on it. That was almost a quarter of a century ago.

I don’t miss it.

Posted by: NJRoadfan on 2023-05-20 10:29:42

Weak points of the Canon LX engine printers is the power supply. ERROR 50 was the common condition on the LaserJet IIP. These also suffer from the usual pickup roller issues.

If you really want a matching small laser for your Macs, try and find a Canon PX engine printer. Those being the Apple LaserWriter 4/600, the Personal LaserWriter 320, and the HP LaserJet 4ML and 4MP. The HP LaserJet 4L and 4P will not work with Macs out of the box as they lack LocalTalk and PostScript support.