KursadA Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 More than 10 years since they were already declared obsolete, ALPS printers are still the only widely available technology to print custom decals using white and metallic colors. Many modelers, myself included, use ALPS printers to print custom decals for personal projects or for sale. Neither lasers nor conventional inkjet technology (excluding exotic inks and UV-cured inkjet printers for the packaging industry) can compete with the old ALPS solid ink technology when it comes to printing decals. The problem is, ALPS printers have been out of production for a long time, and the only ones available in the market are old printers sold on Ebay. I have often thought why a company just did not license or buy the ALPS technology; and keep making ink and new printers since there seems to be such a demand for this printer. It looks like a Chinese company named FocusDGT has either copied, or licensed the ALPS MD printer technology and they are making printers again. Their Focus MP6000" printer definitely looks like ALPS MD-series clone to me, and their ink cartridges look identical. http://www.focusdgt.com/productshow.asp?pid=460 If this is indeed a new production ALPS clone, it is pretty significant! This may mean that the ALPS decal printing technology is available to modelers once again, this time from a new source. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PetarB Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 WOW! Very exciting news. I could swing a purchase at work if I knew these were going to be supported. The reproduction quality looks excellent, possibly better than ALPS samples I have seen (but that might be due to the artwork setup). I don't know the native resolution of the ALPS so I can't compare it to this one. The driver support is less than satisfactory though - Windows 3.1, Win95, Win98, Macintosh??? Where's the Vista & 7 support. Is 'Macintosh' OSX compatible? Will be following this with great interest! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 ...Windows 3.1... Kursad, how much is the printer & the cartridges? I can't find the price. Also, did you get my PM about the Japanese Avengers? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Right they just copied the old one for sure Try to find a new generation PC with a parallel port on it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 Try to find a new generation PC with a parallel port on it PCI parallel port cards sell for prices starting at $5 on Ebay including shipping for Canada, a small price to be able to use a printer that can print custom decals using white. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Quailane Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 If those pictures are real, these are not copies, but the actual things. There is no way that the greatest copy China has made of any electronic gadget would be a printer that was discontinued a decade ago. Supposedly, these printers have been in continuous production in Asia, although in limited quantities. In the US, the used printers sell for around their original MSRP, so I really don't see how there is any market for this. Probably why ALPS stopped selling these printers so long ago. Considering these are the exact same printers as before, without drivers for any OS released within the last ten years and using a legacy connector such as a parallel port, there is no way that these are showing up at your local Best Buy or CompUSA. I think the only way of acquiring a new one would be to go over there and get one yourself and carry it back on the plane with you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 (edited) Of course these would *not* be available at Best Buy anytime soon. The most likely explanation is that the OEM manufacturer for ALPS continued to manufacture the same printers, or the same design was sold to somebody else. Clearly they are available in China, though: I contacted their sales office and they said they would ship to the US. I would have seriously considered it if I didn't already have an ALPS. I will definitely order some ink from them, though. The lack of modern drivers is certainly not an obstacle to a technically savvy, skilled computer user: I regularly use my ALPS MD-1000 using a USB-to-parallel adapter on a Mac Mini running OS X!(running a Windows XP virtual machine on Parallels). If I was OK with the clutter of having yet another computer in the house, an old Dell with a parallel port and Windows XP would cost me a maximum of maybe $80. Edited July 5, 2011 by KursadA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Quailane Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Really? Wow. How much were they selling it for? And what ALPS model number is it? I can't tell, but it looks like MD-1000 or MD-1300. It might be a whole ton cheaper to just buy a used one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PetarB Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Well, I would always prefer to buy a NEW one, rather than a USED one. Anyway, I have been in contact with them. Buying one is not for the poor. MP6000 Printer - $1095 USD Ink pack (must buy) - $600 USD Fedex to Australia - $279 USD TOTAL: $1,974 USD At this point I think I'll still outsource my ALPS decals. If they came down in price I might reconsider it, however I don't do enough decals to justify an outlay like this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KursadA Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 Whoa. They had not e-mailed me with the price list yet; so I had no idea. At these prices, I would stick with used ALPS printers and ink from Ebay. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegoodsgt Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Buying one is not for the poor. Yea, but with the thousands of dollars of revenue you'd generate making custom decals it would pay for itself in a few months! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
waylandcool Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I'd consider getting one but that price is just stupid. I can get a used one from Ebay shipped with ink for less than $400. And I can reactivate my old HP that has a parallel port on it. If that price comes down it would be something to look into. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
waylandcool Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 The driver support is less than satisfactory though - Windows 3.1, Win95, Win98, Macintosh??? Where's the Vista & 7 support. Is 'Macintosh' OSX compatible? That would be a carbon copy of the old ALPS driver. Building a new software driver shouldn't be that complicated. I think there is a Win XP driver floating around for the MD 5000 that should work with this new printer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
UKPonchoMan Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Guys - pull back on this one - it's been bandied around on some of the Alps forums for some time and it appears that the Chinese managed to get hold of a batch of the old Alps printers and rebadged them. Their website is way out of date and nobody so far has been willing to risk the money to find out... Also bear in mind that the MD5000 was discontinued about 10 years ago - the last model was the MD5500. "I think the simplest explanation may be that this is an older product offer that has just not been removed from the web site. Speculation... but it would not be unreasonable that ALPS did a China distribution/private-label deal with Focus Digital... just as they did with several companies in the US a few years ago. This would give an explanation for the archaic Windows versions on the PDF... and the fact that the ink cartridges are 'made in Japan". " So the consensus of opinion is that its something to stay waaay away from. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PetarB Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I think the prices alone will ensure that. Be nice to have a new one though... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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