The
Xerox P1202 is a
laser printer manufactured by
Xerox until approximately 1998. It has an 800
dpi resolution and prints in
monochrome. Readers should keep in mind that 800
dpi on a
laser looks significantly better than 2400
dpi and higher on most
inkjets. The P1202 prints at approximately 10
pages per minute (with an average of 5% coverage) and has a
toner cartridge good for 3000 pages. One can purchase
toner cartridges for 3000 and 6000 pages from
Xerox even though they have stopped selling the printer. Additional
paper trays are also available. The standard paper tray holds 350 sheets of
A4 paper. Paper can also be drawn in from a manual feed sluice which is very useful for printing envelopes.
The
drivers for the P1202, at least at this point, are rather problematic. The
Windows 9x drivers support
USB only with tinkering and the installation of a special patch. Under
Windows 2000 and
Windows XP, one must install the
USB drivers but run the printer in
parallel mode.
The output quality for the P1202 is quite good, especially for text. One problem, however, is that on images an odd waving pattern shows up. This makes the P1202 a very poor choice for printing graphics.
Considering the cost, over $1000 Canadian, the P1202 makes it clear why only seven other companies have lost more money than
Xerox since 1996.