Re: Epson Stylus 1520 - need some help



ttfg wrote:

I need some help from someone familiar with this printer, please.

I was holding this as collateral, and the borrower has disappeared. I was going
to put it on ebay, but don't want to do that until I know exactly what I have,
and whether it is complete. I hope someone who has experience with this printer
can answer a few questions for me.

Here are the issues:

1) There are blue colored pieces of tape placed to hold all the moving parts
(covers, carts, etc) in place, so it appears to be brand new. But the one thing
that confuses me is that there are also pieces of the same tape on the installed
cartridges, including a piece of styrofoam taped and wedged in there to hold
everything tight,  even though the "quick setup" guide suggests that the user
has to actually install the cartridges themselves. So, did someone install the
cartridges and place tape over them, or is the printer sometimes  packaged with
the cartridges already installed, but taped securely as described?


This may be a printer returned from the service depot after a repair. No, the printers arrive new without cartridges in them.


2) The power cord is attached, but there are no other cables. Did this printer
come with any other cables, like a parallel printer cable? The "quick setup"
guide doesn't show any other parts, but I want to make sure.


Not sure, under any circumstances, a parallel printer cable isn't worth much... About $5 or less).

3) Are there any other instruction books, or is the "quick setup" guide all you
get?


Usually, there is a complete instruction booklet which is many pages long, plus a disk with installation programs and drivers.

4) There is a sealed envelope/license agreement that contains (as far as I can
determine) some 3.5 diskettes and perhaps a CD-ROM. Is that all the software
that came with the printer? 


Probably.

5) There is a small booklet titled "Epson Plot! Printing Utility Installation
Guide" which refers to a CD-ROM installation disc. Is that the disc that is in
the sealed envelope I referred to in #4 above, or was there another one? I don't
want to open the envelope if I don't have to. :-)


Epson offered a number of different software packages for this and other printers over the years, so it's difficult to be sure. The packaging inserts should have listed all the items included, assuming those have not been lost.

6) What was the original selling price for this printer? Also, what year or
years was this model produced? I have been all over the Epson site, as well as a
lot of Google searching, but I can't find any reference to what it sold for, and
when it was being sold. There is no mfg date on the serial number plate. For
that matter, what would be a fair price to try to get on ebay or elsewhere?


The 1520 came out in about mid-1997. It is an old printer, and what it sold for originally is really irrelevant today. What it is worth now is determined by its working condition. If it has been sitting for years with cartridges installed, they are probably dried out, and you may need to get the heads unclogged. It is also possible the heads are bad, or there are other mechanical issues, without testing it, that would not be possible to know.

I do not think you can represent this printer as new. They did not come with cartridges installed. Therefore, it would be best to be able to test it to see if it is working correctly, so you can advertise it properly. That printer model was sold for quite a few years, since it was somewhat unique in terms of the carriage size. It was sort of sold as a color plotter, although it was totally capable of producing near photo quality images, up to 13.6" wide. It came with the ability, as an option, to run Adobe Postscript via software., and optional Ethernet and Localtalk connectivity. It is 4 color and capable iof 1440 dpi printing. In terms of value, assuming it is working correctly, it is best to match it to other same model printers on Ebay.

Art

Thanks for any help or guidance where I could find more information. 
.

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