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CalComp is almost out of business-most of its divisions are sold or shut down. When I reviewed the 5536 several years ago, I found it to be a very nice plotter. It was fast, with good image quality. As I write, the 5536S is still available from Dayton Associates. The TechJet 5536S doesn't include an Ethernet card, and you can upgrade it to PostScript for a small fee. Fortunately, CalComp (and newer Summagraphics) inkjet plotters were originally manufactured by Selex, so you should be able to find printheads for a number of years. Dayton Associates also has a few TechJet 5500 printers and a few dozen DesignMate 3024M pen plotters in stock. The DesignMates are selling for $495-quite a steal.
ENCAD
CADJET 2
The CADJET 2 is probably the most venerable plotter made today-that is to say, it's been around a while. In testament to its basic good design, ENCAD continues to sell a significant number of them. The CADJET was the first low-cost plotter to include all the features of a high-cost plotter.
It comes with roll-feed, an automatic cutter, and support for color plotting (although the color head it uses is best suited for printing small areas of color rather than full color sheets). Overall, the CADJET is best for those who mostly work in black and white and need a durable and inexpensive plotter.
NovaJet PRO 600e
While not strictly a CAD plotter, the ENCAD NovaJet PRO 600e is worth a look from CAD users. It now includes internal HPGL/2 support (which is a practical requirement for CAD use) and supports paper widths of 42" and 60".
Both the line output quality and throughput on this plotter are good, but not up to the standards of the best CAD plotters. For those with oversize output needs, the NovaJet PRO 600e is probably the best choice.
HewlettPackard
DesignJet 450C
Once upon...