what businesses still use dot matrix printers? and WHY?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - what businesses still use dot matrix printers? and WHY?

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:09:18 PM EDT

it doesn't make seem to make much sense that a major airline, for example, would still be using dot matrix printers and having to stock the special paper which goes along with it...

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:13:25 PM EDT

[#1]

Every ADI branch I've ever been in.

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:13:26 PM EDT

[#2]

I know that Avis/Budget Rental Car does.

The corporation apparently has a huge stockpile of the old tech that they refuse to give up as long as they can keep sending their sales locations replacement dot matrix printers when the old stuff wears out or breaks.

Its a bit funny to work the airport gig and sit there watching customers faces as the sales guy prints them their receipts on ancient dot matrix machines.

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:13:37 PM EDT

[#3]

Impact printers are still useful for printing out multi-part forms.

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Posted: 4/22/2013 6:13:44 PM EDT

[#4]

Any business that needs to use carbon forms... which is like damn near all of them. No way around it in a car dealership, as many of these carbon forms are required by the state and by the lenders that the dealership does business with.

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:15:30 PM EDT

[#5]

I just rented an Avis car last week ... dot matrix print-out of a triple carbonless copy. They gave me all three copies.

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:16:34 PM EDT

[#6]

I hate those things...

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:24:44 PM EDT

[#7]

Multi part forms are still useful.

But with modern business grade laserjet printers being as fast as they are, the days of the multi part form are numbered,

and thus, so are the days of the dot matrix printer.

CJ

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:25:46 PM EDT

[#8]

they have their uses

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:30:04 PM EDT

[#9]

In addition to the already mentioned "carbon-copy" forms, it seems that they also have other special uses with specialty paper.

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:46:59 PM EDT

[#10]

Off hand hotels. Call accounting for one. Used less and less since cell phones but still more than you think. Most have a serial interface (25 pin or some mad adapter to a 25 pin) That interface communicates to what ever there in house software they use for billing. From that they create folios, key card holders, receipts ect.

Most of those interfaces have a stand alone printer. These automatically print out the calls when there made or at a predetermined time. Like 4 AM. That log is then compared to the room bill to make sure it posted correctly. Telephone is still big revenue for some hotels at 6-7 bucks a minute.

Since cell phone no one has modernized this process. With about zero chance of someone doing it because there is no money in it. I know it could be done in software pretty cheap , especially if the hotel has VoIP phones.

However from what I have heard (I don't know how true this is) you have to be able to show them that direct print out at checkout if they question the phone call. I've been told its hotel policy. I've also been told its a matter of law.

Just like room service or Point Of Sale somewhere in the hotel. There you have a signature to match up usually. On a phone call you don't have that , thus the print out.

Come to think of it movie rentals usually do this too. In most cases the hotel contracts with a vendor like lodgenet. they have there own stand alone printer hooked up to their equipment.

I any case would you rater have one long continuous sheet or 8 o 9 pages to shuffle through and get misplaced.

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:51:22 PM EDT

[#11]

Many doctors offices still use them.

My dads office (MD) uses 4 of them and so so most of the other doctors in his building and at both the hospitals he works at I have seen them.

Don't know why other than ink is cheap and so is the paper as they use shit recycled 100 times paper. They pretty much just use them to print out really long lists of names and such so paper quality Is not an issue nor is high quality printing

ETA - pawn shops too.. Most still have the really old computers that the state made them buy to track pawns. Everything that is pawned is logged and the continuous paper feed makes it easy to just let the paper come out of one box, get printed, and right back into another box.. A have a few friends that own pawn shops and they all use the same stuff

Posted: 4/22/2013 6:53:57 PM EDT

[#12]

my company prints our field reports on 4 part forms using dot matrix. we do the work, write up what we find, customer signs and gets a copy, and then we have 3 extras
for filing with the invoice and then 2 extras (one goes with the paperwork for the next inspection).

the weights and measures industry uses them extensively with ticket printers for truck scales, tanks scales, etc. that way truck drivers and businesses each get their copies
for records.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:00:43 PM EDT

[#13]

CMM in our QA lab is connected to a dot-matrix.

Apparently we can connect it to a Windows computer... just haven't really had a need to yet.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:03:28 PM EDT

[#14]

Dry cleaners clothing tags are printed on dot matrix printers. If there is new technology for them, I haven't seen it yet and I have relatives in the business.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:04:55 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
it doesn't make seem to make much sense that a major airline, for example, would still be using dot matrix printers and having to stock the special paper which goes along with it...

$$$$$

It's super cheap. Ribbon is nothing, paper in bulk is practically nothing.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:05:00 PM EDT

[#16]

Until about a year ago, our dispatch system used dot matrix printers to print out run sheets. Often, the printer would go off 15-20 secs before the dispatch tones would go off.

The dot matrix printer noise could wake me up from a dead sleep, or make me jump in public.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:05:35 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Every ADI branch I've ever been in.

Alarmax too.
Some fire alarm systems.
I'm pretty sure you can still get a Napco Gem-Print too...

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:05:43 PM EDT

[#18]

Lots of corporate accounting offices still use the old "line printers" for printing monthly journals.

BTW: Dot matrix perforated side tabs are prolly responsible for 90% of the paper cuts suffered in the workplace.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:06:20 PM EDT

[#19]

Pawn shop I visit uses them.

Prints 2 copies.

1 for them.

1 for the sucker.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:08:02 PM EDT

[#20]

We were using them to record data from our older plastic injection molding machines since they are designed to print to a serial printer. I have since found printer emulator software that allows the machines to print to a pc.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:08:25 PM EDT

[#21]

I know that car dealerships and funeral homes have them.

For example, the state of Alabama requires funeral homes to keep pertinent information (name, ssn, dod, place buried etc) in fire safes for a number of years. In order to cut out a lot of the duplication of effort they just use a dot matrix to print it out.

Also the next time you purchase a car pay attention to the loan and sales paperwork that they feed through the printer.. it's all carbon copies (some for the state and you).

It seems kinda stupid in this day and age but I can understand why.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:11:08 PM EDT

[#22]

We have about 5 wide carriage printers on our AIX system. Still have a few Wyse 60 terminals too.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:11:35 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Impact printers are still useful for printing out multi-part forms.

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This. The place we get our emissions tested still uses them, and probably a 20 year old program. One copy for the state,one for me, and one for them.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:11:47 PM EDT

[#24]

O'Reilly Auto Parts

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Posted: 4/22/2013 7:11:49 PM EDT

[#25]

O'Reilly's Auto Parts does for receipts.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:22:35 PM EDT

[#26]

There are occasions where By Law, ink, and not toner must be used on certain forms. Like vehicle registration forms. Laser printer toner is basically powdered styrofoam particles mixed with carbon black. It isn't ink so they have to used Dot Matrix printers.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:28:13 PM EDT

[#27]

No one needs the 3 part carbon forms any more. Do you really need to see your signature to remember what you bought? Just change the process.

The systems they are using are old, but they still work. The cost of changing is expensive. The cost of using what they have is -0-.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:37:46 PM EDT

[#28]

The manufacturing company I worked for still used them on an old presetter they had, I don't think it could be set up to use anything else. That and it worked well in a very dirty environment with lots of oil and dust in the air.

Posted: 4/22/2013 7:40:57 PM EDT

[#29]

If your computer is just filling out a preprinted form they make sense especially if you need copies.

If you need a carbon copy of a signature then you pretty much have to use a multipart form anyway and a laser won't work with those.

They have their place for a reason even though they're very old school. (A pen is even older school but still has a place)

Even Windows 7 has some dot matrix drivers.

Posted: 4/23/2013 12:43:44 AM EDT

[#30]

dang the Okidata 320's are still 300 bucks.

Posted: 4/23/2013 6:03:19 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:
There are occasions where By Law, ink, and not toner must be used on certain forms. Like vehicle registration forms. Laser printer toner is basically powdered styrofoam particles mixed with carbon black. It isn't ink so they have to used Dot Matrix printers.

that makes sense

Posted: 4/23/2013 6:06:21 PM EDT

[#32]

Oreilly Auto Parts.

They must waste THOUSANDS of man hours the way they do it. They have ONE printer, located about as far away as possible from their POS, that they have to walk to and rip off the receipt. Sit there and tear off the edges, then separate them and hand you your copy.

It seems ridiculous to me, but maybe they have a good reason?

Posted: 4/23/2013 6:14:17 PM EDT

[#33]

Cintas and Unifirst still use them and I freaking hate them, we scan all of our expense invoices and those pieces of crap are so faint, you get a blank page. Makes research real interesting.

Posted: 4/23/2013 6:19:04 PM EDT

[#34]

Our tax collector office uses it. They have to load a little form in each time they print something.

Posted: 4/23/2013 6:20:24 PM EDT

[#35]

Every time I hear one printing it reminds me of my days as a kid and helping around at my grand pa's shop

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Posted: 4/23/2013 6:24:37 PM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
dang the Okidata 320's are still 300 bucks.

we've been an oki reseller for over twenty years. i think we still sell the 320s,

Posted: 4/23/2013 6:43:04 PM EDT

[#37]

LTL shipping companies...

Posted: 4/23/2013 6:58:31 PM EDT

[#38]

Military still uses them for EAMs. They start printing instantly where lasers have a few second warm-up time.

Posted: 4/23/2013 7:15:32 PM EDT

[#39]

Used for multi-page forms, and in some cases where print speed is a requirement.

Posted: 4/23/2013 7:17:06 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:
Impact printers are still useful for printing out multi-part forms.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

ding ding ding

Posted: 4/24/2013 5:44:17 AM EDT

[#41]

Quoted:
No one needs the 3 part carbon forms any more. Do you really need to see your signature to remember what you bought? Just change the process.

The systems they are using are old, but they still work. The cost of changing is expensive. The cost of using what they have is -0-.

No, you need a signature to legally prove what you bought.

If you have a laser printer and simply print out 3 duplicates, and sign 3 times, if there is a dispute you need to verify that all 3 documents say EXACTLY the same thing. It's not unknown for the unscrupulous to print out "duplicates" that are actually different. With multi part forms that's a lot harder to do, and if there's a dispute it's much easier to match things up.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - what businesses still use dot matrix printers? and WHY?

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