CompuServe Messages

Judi, I have both a Primera (with the dye sublimation option) and an HP500C. In the thermal wax mode the Primera does an excellent job of printing graphics, but print quality is, to me, unacceptable on photographic images in the thermal wax mode. In the dye sublimation mode, all of my printing has been done using a DOS machine because at the time I bought the dye sublimation option about a month ago, the driver for this mode for the Amiga was not available. Fargo will not sell the dye sublimation mode driver for the Amiga separately from the Photorealistic Upgrade kit, which means that the Amiga driver costs $250 from Fargo. (The Photorealistic Upgrade kit also includes a plastic cartridge, 10 sheets of the special paper required for dye sublimation printing, and a dye sublimation capable ribbon good for ten prints.) In dye sublimation mode the Primera produces prints that approach, but are not quite equal to, photographic prints –colors are rich, accurate, and resolution is better than the 203 dpi specification would suggest. With regard to your questions: (1) Yes, I believe you will have problems using the Primera with two short cables and a switch box. The Primera seems to be very sensitive to parallel cable length and switch boxes. I could not get the Primera to work at all using two short cables and a switch box. Removing the switch box and hooking the Primera directly to my Amiga immediately brought things to life. (2) The dye sublimation kit is now available for the Amiga from Fargo ($250) but you should be aware that on the Amiga, this driver only works with selected pieces of software which include DPaint IV, Brilliance, and Image FX. It will not work with AdPro. I believe that even with the above software the maximum number of colors output to the driver is 4096 but someone can jump in and correct me if I am wrong on this. (3) The Primera does not produce blank strips in either the thermal wax (normal) mode of printing or in the dye sublimation mode. Summary: The Primera is a very good printer for graphics in the thermal wax mode and gives remarkably good results in the dye sublimation mode on photo images. Premium (high gloss) paper is required for good results in the thermal wax mode. The Primera will produce good monochrome on the high gloss, premium paper, but in my opinion the HP500 is better for B&W printing. Tom