#HP 550C
22 messages in this thread
I need a printer driver for the HP 550 C Where can I get or buy one?
I want to be able to print from Final Write / Final Copy / ADPro Nick
Nick,
I think there's a free driver in the libraries over on HP forum. There
might also be a copy in the libraries on this forum.
I do know there is a very good (supposedly) commercial driver available,
but I can't recall the name.
– Barry Jarrett
careening around CIS on my Amiga!
Barry,
the "very good (supposedly) commercial driver" is named "Studio" and is
distributed by MacroSystem. A "light" version is now available directly
from… Hewlett Packard (hooray!!! finally a printer company which caters
for the poor Amiga community – apart from Canon, that is, which have been
doing this for a few months already, and I believe, they use Studio, too)
Studio is a 24bit driver which also includes a special Workbench driver.
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.061……….
Chris,
<<Studio>>
That's the one! The name just escaped me for the time being….
– Barry Jarrett
careening around CIS on my Amiga!
Christian,
I'm afraid Studio-Light is not distributed in the US yet. HP does has the
allowence to distribute that disk in the US and every US dealer who want's
to distribute it with HP printers can get a written allowence and
automatic update service from me so once new printers are released they
get an update (that makes sure they allways have drivers by the time a new
printer is actually sold).
To make the story short: nobody actualy asked for distribution of that
disk nor is HP US currently distributing that disk. Let's hope for the
future. It's currently pretty hard to convince US printer manufacturers to
support the Amiga (you have to understand it… specialy after the US
Amiga market collapsed), while most Germany/English subsidiaries do have
Amiga support now. From my experience HP, Canon and Star have the most
widely spreaded support.
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 60435 Frankfurt, Germany —
Wolf,
does Studio already feature the new functionality of the Windows (and
Apple?) drivers regarding colour printing (which colours to choose, how to
distribute them on the print medium for optimum results, …). I've just
read a short test of the new DJ 560C (in PC Windows 4/94) and this seems
to be but perfect for the job.
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.061……….
The development done by HP is confidential and they won't tell what
exactly they have done in their drivers. I didn't had much time spending
with that new stuff yet. But from my impression what they have done, I
strongly doubt we can do similar things on the Amiga.
The main problem is, on the Amiga the driver doesn't really know what he's
printing. On Windows, the driver can know when he's printing text, lines,
boxes, images and that's what this new HP routines seems to be based on.
So I'm afraid, on the Amiga we will need a different solution. I'm working
on something new since 8 months and that stuff will become available in
Studio V2. Let's see what the future brings…
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 60435 Frankfurt, Germany —
Wolf,
PMBI, your note about Star (and others) Amiga support caught my eye.
Do you know where I can get a good driver for my Star NX-2480, on my
A2000? I've downloaded a bunch, and am using one called Star24Plus.020
that I believe is available in a drivers file here (but I got it out on
Aminet, I think, I can't find the source in the directory I'm 'holding' on
HD right now). It's dated back in '91 and doesn't 'specifically' support
the NX-2480.
It works better than the C= 2.1 supplied EpsonQ driver but…
Thanks for any thoughts,
Robb
Star24Plus.020 is VERY old. I haven't released a .020 driver since a very
long time because all drivers from me automaticly switch to .020 code
nowadays. So you should try getting the "StarDisk". Wich includes a new
version of that driver (actually, it's a 100percent new driver and not
based on the old Star24Plus drivers). You should get that disk from Star
Micronics in most countries. I don't know if the US subsidiary actually
ships it yet. Ask… ask ask ask…
Regarding quality: you'll find that new driver disk will give you MUCH
better output compared to the old Star*Plus drivers.
Finaly, NX-2480 is totaly unkown to me as Star Europe named printer
differently… so I really don't know US distributed Star printers…
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 60435 Frankfurt, Germany —
Wolf,
Excellent! Thanks for the info. I guess that means that someone at Star
knows the Amiga exists and can supply the newer drivers. I'll give it a
shot (BTW, I think you wrote all these drivers, didn't you? You seem to
imply it, but…). So I'll just call them up and try using Amiga and
"StarDisk" and see what happens.
I get pretty good output from that old StarPlus driver, but I thought this
newer printer could do better! I hope I'll be able to weave my way through
Star and get the newer drivers. I'd love to see what this printer could do
given the right drivers.
Huh, that seems kinda strange they'd use different naming conventions in
Europe. I guess alot of companies do that, but why? Anyway, the NX-2480 is
just a 'fairly' recent four-color-ribbon-24-pin printer (which you
probably assumed) with a bunch of other fancy options. I'm sure the more
recent drivers will work better.
Thanks a bunch! I probably would not have bothered to call them otherwise.
I'll let you know how I fair 'over here'.
Robb
hmm… as far as my brain memory capacity goes… only Canon/Star does
name printers different in US<->Europe. Real worse is something else:
often printers are altered/modified depending on the country sold. For
instance, if you make a driver for a Panasonic KX 2023 you never know the
default setup of the printer. This printer is shiped in many setup's.
That's nice for users but can be a nightmare for me.
"ask ask ask": This ment they might have that disk. They can ask Star
Micronics Germany for that disk and simply ship it. Pretty easy for them
if they are really willing (yes, even Star New Zealand shiped that disk on
request). From talks G. Ludwig had because of his AmigaWorld review, it
seemed they may get convinced to start support. I would really welcome
this… on the other side demand is currently much to low to do real
similar to Europe (they showed a printer on CeBit connected to Amiga with
Deluxe Paint). So people must be convinced to ask… and they will get
support… there are enough Amiga users out there to convice companies to
start supporting Amiga. Just ask!
— Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, 60435 Frankfurt, Germany —
Wolf,
I guess if the printer has different defaults and options and such, it
makes some sense to name, basically, the same machine differently. What a
headache to write a driver for! Just have the driver set everthing the way
it wants it, every time, and let the owner wonder why his printer doesn't
use the 'right' defaults (or several other nightmare scenarios).
"ask ask ask": "I would, I would, I would": if I could ever get through to
someone. Off hours I get a machine telling me what thier hours and during
business hours all I get is a busy signal. I guess they must have too few
phones for the amount of calls they receive.
I did use the BBS and found the old drivers. Thanks for also pointing out
that perhaps they could talk to Star Micronics Germany. I'll use that,
too. If I ever get through.
Thanks again,
Robb
Barry,
Studio by Wolf Faust, is an excellent driver and program for the HP
DeskJet range. Versions exists for another printers as well.
Pete Jones, flying on AutoPilot from Brussels, Belgium
Thanks, Peter, that's the one I was thinking of!
– Barry Jarrett
careening around CIS on my Amiga!
A good commercial program is SuperDJC by Creative Systems. I ordered
one recently from Creative Computing in California. Cost $50
including shipping. I'm quite pleased with it. Most of the drivers
I tried before had problems with mixed colour/black printing.
Thanks Barry and Steven for DJ550C advice! Nick
Probably the best on the market right now is the Studio package from
Wolf Faust. I have both it and the superdjC, and studio gives you
FAR more control and options. Available from Macrosystems US and
other for about $65-70…and well worth the extra dollars IMHO.
Gary;
You mentioned that >>studio gives you FAR more control and options.<<
Could you elaborate?
I use my printer for both graphics and print. I am currently using
SuperDJC and I am curious what I would gain by going to the Studio you
mentioned.
Ken Iversen
Thanks, I downloaded the one in the HP forum, will check it out
(there's some serious disclaimers on it, so my hopes are not high).
Probably will go with the more expensive, more flexible one. After a
few dozen projects printed, one forgets about the $20 saved by going
with the lesser of two products. Anyway, thanks for the advice! Nick
Nick –
> I need a printer driver for the HP 550 C Where can I get or buy one?
Buy one. Preferably SuperDJC2 (typically $40 mailorder) or Studio Print
(typically $64 mailorder).
. . . . JimDoc, on AutoPilot
There is a very good PD driver here in the libraries. I think here in the
driver library?? If you want to really work your 550C though, you should
invest in one of the commercial programs. I use Super DJC from Creative
Focus, I understand Wolf Faust who frequents here often, also has a
"studio" driver in the same named package that is quite good. One of these
days, I'll have to spend for that package of drivers, but if your happy…
Good luck with your printer. Don't all the new low priced color printers
make you envious though?
Visiting AmigaUser from Yokosuka, Japan
Forrest
Yes, it's amazing what's happened to the price of printers. The
downward pricing of Laser printers has forced down the prices of ink
jet printers. Mostly, in my opinion, based on perceived value
relationships. That is, no matter how good a particular ink jet
printer is, the perceived value of that technology is less than laser
printing. The result, happy consumers that can buy an HP DeskJet for
around $300 (I paid a little over $500 when I first bought my
HPDJ500). So as laser prices drop, ink jet prices are obliged to
drop, independently of anything having to do with manufacturing cost
of ink jet technology. Nick