We have used the Fargo Primera Pro for over a year now, primarily for
thermals and b/w dye sublimation prints. We paid a little over a thousand
dollars for it and have been extrmely happy with the level of support and
availability of expendibles. If you do not need a lot of color dye subs, it
would be fine. Its weak point is that it uses the computer's CPU to drive
the printing process rather than having its own built in CPU - in contrast
to the higher end units as the Codonics and Kodak printers costing $8-10K.
Consequently, the computer is tied up during the printing process. True,
you could spool the images and print them overnight, but I always (perhaps
overly) worry about paper jams, overheating of components and possible fire
hazards in unattended long run printing. Others do this without incident,
however. It appears to be well-built and the documentation is adequate. It
can be upgraded to Postscript ($500) but this does not appear to be
necessary in an imaging facility. It can not be networked - to my
knowledge. Contact me if you have more questions.

>I recently received information on a new dye sublimation/wax thermal
>transfer printer made by Fargo Electronics Inc (never heard of them
>before). The cost of the printer is less than $2000, about half of price of
>the Seiko printer we have been looking at. The cost/page is only a few
>pennies more and the quality appears to be just a little less than the
>Seiko printer.
>
>Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with either of these printers
>or have any other printers in mind for under $6000.

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John J. Bozzola, Ph.D., Director
Center for Electron Microscopy
Neckers Building, Room 146 - B Wing
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901-4402
U.S.A.
Phone: 618-453-3730
Fax:   618-453-2665
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.siu.edu/departments/shops/cem.html
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