I first saw this technology back in the late 90s when it was made by Tektronix. It was at Fall Comdex and there were no other printers at that show that were even close in quality -- it was fantastic!!! I couldn't afford buying one then, but a year ago a friend gave me an 8570 that a business tenant was throwing out. While that printer had paper jams, I eventually found others and now have several working units. They are GREAT -- a "common" laser MIGHT look good, but when compared to a solid ink printout the laser doesn't look very good.
I researched the history of this technology and I now have a hypothesis about why they aren't being made. I noticed that the person that "invented" the technology in the 80s retired in early 2000s. He consulted for a few more years and then he DIED. I'm thinking that without this "visionary", the solid ink technology was lost. He worked on the "chemistry" of the solid ink and that is a very critical part of this printer -- it's not just making crayons. This printer is also very complex and requires high speed computer technology in order to function -- it could never have been created without fast processors, unlike some of the earlier printing technologies.
It is a shame -- it appears that this technology had a bright future -- I saw a video that showed it had a "crazy fast" speed over 100 pages a minute.
I simply want to keep my printers working, find others and attempt to find a "larger model" in the 92xx or 93xx class. I saw a 9303 once, but it was outside, in the rain inside a crate, so I didn't get it, but I am still looking.
I agree that they are WONDERFUL printers.
