HP 2100TN & HP 2100M Memory Questions

[Josh C.]

My company has these two printers. They have been running poorly
recently and it is believed to be because of the memory size. We have
large files we send to them, so, this is the most logical guess.
I know these printers have never been upgraded so my first question is
how do I figure out how much memory is installed? I haven't had much
luck in the print properties, maybe I'm just looking in the wrong
spot? Second, is the process of installing more memory difficult?
If I was to pop in, let's say, 32mb (16mb in each slot) more for each
printer, would my performance increase much? I want to get the maximum
memory out of the printer.

[Ben Myers]

Adding memory does not make a printer perform faster. The added memory provides
a holding place for large and complex page images and the PCL commands needed to
prepare the page image. If the printers are suffering from premature ejection
of pages, then adding more memory is like Viagra for them. By premature
ejection I mean a half-printed page image comes out of the printer, most often
followed by the second part of the page image on a following sheet. If this is
the symtom you are seeing, yes, add more memory... Ben Myers

On 22 Sep 2004 11:21:43 -0700, josh.capps@gmail.com (Josh C.) wrote:
My company has these two printers. They have been running poorlyrecently and it is believed to be because of the memory size. We havelarge files we send to them, so, this is the most logical guess.I know these printers have never been upgraded so my first question ishow do I figure out how much memory is installed? I haven't had muchluck in the print properties, maybe I'm just looking in the wrongspot? Second, is the process of installing more memory difficult?If I was to pop in, let's say, 32mb (16mb in each slot) more for eachprinter, would my performance increase much? I want to get the maximummemory out of the printer.

[Christian =?ISO-8859-1?Q?D=FCrrhauer?=]

On the seventh day, ben_myers_spam_me_not wrote...
Adding memory does not make a printer perform faster. The added memory provides a holding place for large and complex page images and the PCL commands needed to prepare the page image. If the printers are suffering from premature ejection of pages, then adding more memory is like Viagra for them. By premature ejection I mean a half-printed page image comes out of the printer, most often followed by the second part of the page image on a following sheet. If this is the symtom you are seeing, yes, add more memory... Ben Myers

I might add that another symptom is, when the printer just don't print
immediately but instead is pausing for some time while it is obviously
receiving data. But take care: There is a maximum performance that cannot
be exceeded. If the document is complex, the printer will need time to
process it, anyway. Adding memory will just push the performance to the
printer's limits, or as Ben pointed out, enable you to print.

--
mit freundlichen Grüßen/with kind regards
Christian Dürrhauer, Institute of Geography, FU Berlin

"My God! The thought of that evil man, loose in London--with
money, from God only knows what source--fomenting riot and
rebellion during a public emergency--and in control of an Engine-
driven press! It's nightmarish!" (Gibson-Sterling, "The
Difference Engine")