From what I've read the MD-5000 has an obvious problem with banding, but does it have the same problem when printing with the dye-sub upgrade? In addition to printing a lot of color prints I will be also printing a lot of black and white ones. How does the MD-5000 stack up in this arena and the fact that the inks don't fade very easily is also something that is important to me.

-- Thomas (TVick959@aol.com), May 23, 1999

Answers

I purchased an MD-5000 at the beginning of the year and have been completely satisfied with it's performance. Admittedly I don't print "a lot" of color pages with it, but I've probably printed about 200 since owning it. I actually didn't print any dye sublimation prints until recently, when I decided I wanted some "proof" quality photos (with a Kodak DC-265, I get great results most of the time). I haven't seen any problems with the dye sublimation printing (except the high cost of ink cartridges and paper), and for the most part, all other printing has been okay. There are cleaning sheets available (from Alps, I heard) if you are having a problem with prints, but if you are experiencing "banding", then I would contact Alps, especially if the unit is under warranty. If you haven't purchased one yet, then I would recommend buying a 4-year extended protection plan, if one is available. I suspect that banding might become a problem in the future as the printer gets worn, and the maintenance plan will allow you to bring it in for repair at no cost (or minimal cost). Overall, the print quality is fantastic, and beats the crummy ink- jet stuff any day. It's dry, won't wrinkle the paper, won't scratch off very easily, and won't fade, and the paper won't yellow either. In dye sublimation mode, I honestly cannot tell the difference between a real photo and the MD-5000 dye sublimation. It's exactly what I wanted, and since I use a laserjet for everyday printing, I don't have to replace the ink cartridges very often.

-- Derek Weller (wrestler@worldnet.att.net), May 24, 1999.

I own both MD1000 and MD5000. Printing is slow but the print quality is wonderful. Even 1440dpi inkjet is no comparison. Banding problem with dye sublimation happened with both printer and even worse with MD5000. However, I found the cartridge rotations problem is a bigger headache for me. The cartridges when printing get stuck easily somewhere in the printer while changing positions and a lot of them were ruined. As the printer age, I expect the problem get worse. Hope Alps can improve this mechanism in future.

-- Amy Lee (amy@euroamericantextile.com), May 24, 1999.

I HAVE AN ALPS 5000. I HAD AN EPSON WHICH I THOUGHT WAS GREAT TILL I USED THE ALPS. I GET GREAT PHOTOS ON LASER PAPER VP PHOTO SETTING ON VP PHOT FILM AND IN THE DYE SUB MODE IT IS GREAT. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VP PHOTO AND DYE SUB THE DYE SUB IS PHOTO THICKNESS AND DOES NOT SCRATCH. QUALITY FOR FRAMEING IS THE SAME. THE ONLY THING I CAN FIGURE WITH SOME GUYS GETTING BANDING IS THAT THEY MISS ALIGN THE PRINT HEAD WHEN UNWRAPING. I MEAN ALL I GETG NO MATTER WHAT I PRINT ON IS CONTINUOUS TONE PRINTS. IT IS SL0W AND COST BETWEEN $1.50 TO $3.00 A PRINT BUT AN 8 X 10 COST ABOUT $10 FROM A GOOD PHOTO SHOP. I NEED MASS PRODUCTION FOR MY REAL ESTATE BUSINESS AND I AN GOING TO BUY THE EPSON 900 COMMERCIAL. SINCE I BOUGHT THE ALPS EPSON HAS MADE STRIEDS BUT ALPS IS ARCHIVAL. SO I WILL HAVE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS. HOPE IT MADE A DECISSION FOR YOU GOOD LUCK.

-- PHIL LOMBARDI (PHILI1@IDT.NET), May 27, 1999.

One important factor to bear in mind regarding the dye sub mode is that storage of the dye subs is problematic. If you store in plastic, the prints WILL blur and smudge. This does not seem to be a problem with the micro-dry inks however.

-- Derek (renoderek@mindspring.com), July 25, 1999.