I have an MD-1000 and an MD-5000 which are both fully functional. The knowledge I gained from the ALPS and ALPSDECAL lists on YooHoo is invaluable for producing quality decals in the shortest amount of 'learning' time (and materials!). A lot of what has been posted here about the current Alps situation is 'fairly accurate'. Please take the time to browse the archieves of those two lists and become familiar with the actual situation. Tango Papa still stocks Alps ribbons and has high quality decal stock for sale at very fair prices. Also T-P has some priceless tips (a .pdf) on printing Alps decals.
[www.tangopapadecals.com]
Regards,
Dusty Burman