Dot Matrix printers

[speedbird_481_papa]

Morning all!

Any fellow GHAs here still using dot matrix printers in their airports? It seems crazy that the airline industry are still using these printers as what got me thinking is I went to a museum with my mum and we saw one there and my mum said "I remember using these when I worked for Rolls Royce in the 70s", to which I replied "we still do!" My mum was shocked that in these days of LaserJet printers we still use them! So why do we still use them? Is it because they are fail-safe?

[MarianA]

Impact-type printers have one trait that laser and ink-jet printers lack: They are able to make true carbon copies instead of simply printing the same thing multiple times. In some applications this is required (mostly for legal reasons) because it is a definitive way of making sure the copies have identical content and no copy is missing.

[Saint Jack]

I used a dot-matrix printer for years, I sometimes believe that's what caused my deafness -:) For anyone who hasn't experienced these machines take it from me - they're bloody noisy! I'm surprised replacement ribbons are still available for them.

[jimjim1]

Still available.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Epson-DR000103-LX-350-Matrix-Printer/dp/B00AC3S18SPrice:£179.46 The highly reliable dot matrix printer

Compact design fits neatly onto desks
Serial and USB interfaces as standard
Easy integration for parallel, serial and USB interfaces
Ribbon yield of 4m characters

You can still get ribbons for Epson MX 80. I think I had one of these in about 1985. About £2.50.

2, 3, and 4 ply paper is available too.

Amazing.

[obgraham]

These old relics, usually very yellowed Okidata printers, seem to be a fixture at US gate check-in desks, where they clatter out barely legible lists which seem very important to everyone there.
So I guess they last forever.

Where is my Laserjet III when I need it?

[scr1]

We got some new ones last year when the cute system was upgraded