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I still have my MX-80 programming manual, complete with a 3-part fold-out circuit diagram of the printer, and instructions for installing GRAFTRAX ROMs to add a graphics-printing option. This manual wasn't an option, it came with the printer.

My first Epson was the FX-80, which was attached to my Commdore PET 2001-8 (yes, the one with the chiclet keyboard) via an IEEE-488 to parallel interface box. Worked fine for about 3 years and then blew its internal power regulators up requiring a quite expensive repair. The FX-80 limped on for another couple of years before it got traded in for an HP DeskJet Plus - this was back in the days when HP printers were still good workhorses and not just crappy devices for marketing ink at gold bullion prices. Nowadays I wouldn't touch either Epson or HP printers having been stung by their more recent (i.e. anything post 2000) pieces of utter shite!

My FX-80 was replaced by a LaserJet 4L. That (and others I supplied to clients) just kept on going and going on cheap toner refills until the lack of parallel port PCs made them obsolete with probably years more oomph in them. Must have been 15 years.

Only problem is HP did too good so screwing replacement kit demand. Hence their move into a free inkjet printer with every cartridge. Perhaps they should change printer interfaces more often ;-)

until the lack of parallel port PCs made them obsolete

USB to parallel port adapters are still available as are network print servers, and for those early pre bi-directional port printers an Arduino can be taught to sit between a PC and one of those printers.

Perhaps they [HP] should change printer interfaces more often

For a while they used what I think were HD-36 connectors instead of the standard Centronics 36pin; they looked similar to the HD-50 SCSI connectors that replaced the C50 for narrow SCSI.

I know why it has to go, but for me is a pain in the butt. I've got a Seagate Goflex 2tb NAS. Guess what the admin interface runs...

Almost no chance of a patch for it either.

that's a kick in the nether regions... I better have a look at my NAS now that you mention it.

I too have the 3Tb version tucked behind my TV and serving the PI video.

Web interface is now dead to me...

Content is still usable but management is not.

Aparently the firmware can be flashed with something usable, but be warned, never herd reset it as then you can never create a new account to use it.....

Does that use HipServ as its OS?

And saved up for a 24 pin Panasonic, model is long forgotten. Was banned from using it at night as it woke everyone up.

[Too] Many years ago, our group had a dot matrix Epson which was used for multi-part stationery. It used to make a real racket so was kept in a cupboard with a piece cut out of the door to let the cables in.

When we moved office, there wasn't a cupboard available so I requested an acoustic hood for it.

The bean counters said "No! there's no need!" (esp as they were on another floor in a separate wing of the building). I argued but in vain.

My inner BOFH was awoken.

So I got hold of a box used for paper delivery (strong and conveniently sized), made a hole in the side and put it and the printer, in the middle of an open plan office (printer on top). The box + hole was just like a guitar's sounding box.

Cue a massive print of a job with loads of bar codes [especially noisy] on a fairly frequent basis on single part paper, thus requiring at least 4 times as many prints as really needed. My team, being forewarned, found reasons to be elsewhere.

Complaints arrived and it was pointed out that bar code labelling was a contractual obligation and that I had requested a hood but was turned down.

In less than a week, a hood magically appeared. To this day I don't know how it was funded (not from my project's budget) - could even have been a whip round from the others in the office for all I know.

Mine was a NEC P7, also 24 pin. Indestructible; the only downside was that the ink ribbon was exposed over the entire 15" width of the platen, so you had that length drying out when not using it. Its successor had a more sensible ribbon cartridge that sat on the printhead carriage.

It was quite noisy indeed, but it came with a piece of damping foam that fit underneath, and the same stuff covered most of the inside.

Although when I needed to print 30k barcode labels I kicked off the print job after a brief test, then left the house. Four times in total; the software only managed one column where the label stock was two wide, 15k labels per box.

Any love for some really odd tech like ZX Printer for those who like their paper silver (with optional cadmium if buying from China)?

Misty eyed nostalgia - the school ZX Spectrum (as in one school, one computer) had one of those printers. I think I even saw a printout once.

Wasn't that a thermal printer? The prints used to fade after a couple of months exposure to daylight as I recall. Much like a lot of till receipts nowadays, which is a pain if it's the receipt for a modern Epson printer and you're trying to get a refund when it inevitably breaks not long after you've bought it.

No, it was an electrostatic printer. It used a spark to burn dots onto horrible metallic paper. They gave off a horrible smell as they vapourised the thin metal layer of the paper.

There were some third-party printers for Sinclairs that did use thermal paper, which may be what you're thinking of.

Original anon - according to wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Printer - no, it was a spark system that burnt off bits.

I'm assuming the downvote is somebody who's got issues with comments against modern thermal printers but to be frank I've got plenty of blank bits of paper around that used to be receipts so I will heartily agree with that statement.

I worked in a district council mid '90s. The Finance director didn't trust magnetic tape backups so insisted everything was printed off and stored in a huge basement under the town hall. I took a barrow load across once and got a look at the stash piled floor to ceiling for about 25 metres.

Obviously nobody would be able to find anything, and it was a huge fire hazard, but also the print had all faded.

I suggested reusing the older blank 'backup' paper rather than buying new paper, but local council so I was admonished for cheek.

You're probably thinking of the [1]Alphacom 32 . And yes, I also remember that anything you printed was gone in about a month or so. Also anything you wrote on the paper in ballpoint pen changed colour after a few days.

Also have an upvote.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I1heVUSjdY

I find the best bet to connect up a parallel port only printer to a computer without any parallel port is to buy a HP jetdirect 300x. This then allows you to print to it via Ethernet over your network. You can pick them up for around £10 second hand from ebay.

You could get a USB to parallel lead which is what I got for my friend so he could continue to use his venerable HP Laserjet5p. 20+ years old and still going strong.

Seconded. I stil have some 170x and 300x knocking about somewhere. Used them with Brother HL-1260 and with LaserJet 4 before swappping to internal MIO.

Can't you just recompile it?

No mention of Okidata? Some of them still work.

In the 21st Century, everyone goes on about chipped printer cartridges and refilling schemes.

Who remembers re-inking your own printer ribbons back in the day? That was fun. If you like finger-painting.

Ah, those were the days!