#HP Inkjets
13 messages in this thread
Im thinking of getting a new printer….basically I want to get an
inkjet and have been looking at a HP deskjet 500,but I got to thinking that
it would be a nice idea to go for colour while Im upgrading.Can anybody
tell me preferably from first hand experience if the HP Paintjet can
produce anything close to the output of the Deskjet on Black and White
output?.My main need is for good quality black and white for DTP/WP work (
but colour would be real nice!).
Thanks for help
Paul
Paul (-: Sunny 🙂 o o
via Whap! Plymouth,England *
Paul:
I've owned an HP DeskJet (original version), a PaintJet, and now a
DeskJet500. The PaintJet can do almost as nice B&W as a Deskjet, even
though the rez is 180DPI rather than 300DPI. If you don't mind a small loss
of resolution as a trade off for having colour, then go with the PaintJet.
One other consideration is that for the PaintJet to do it's best, you
should really use the HP PaintJet Paper that HP sells, even though it's
quite expensive, it really makes a BIG difference in the output. The
DeskJet doesn't have that restriction, and also feeds standard sheet paper
automatically, whereas the PaintJet uses fan-fold (Z fold as HP calls it)
paper, or manually fed sheets. If you're going to get seriously into DTP,
you will eventually want to get a laser printer, probably a Postscript one,
as the output from a laser is nicer than the output from a Deskjet, so you
might want to go with the Paintjet now to have colour & B&W capability, and
then if/when you start getting heavily into DTP then you can get your laser
later. I also own a Postscript laser, and if you're serious about DTP you
WILL want one too.
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
Mike, tell me more. Why is a postscript laser printer better than the
Deskjet 500 for DTP? I've just started working with professional page and
so far I've delighted with the newsletters I'm starting to create with the
Deskjet Plus. Would I be even more delighted with the postscript laser?
What postscript laser(s) are compatible with the Amiga. Will any HP
laserjet emulator fit the bill? One reason for my thinking of moving up to
the laser printer is that I'm figuring that I might save a step or two with
another project I have. I produce text copy that I send out to about 30
clients. Currently, I print it out through Pro Page via the Deskjet, and
then I copy it on the copying machine. I'm figuring a laser would be fast
enough that I could bypass the copying machine and just allow the laser to
do all the work. True? By the wayk, my copy machine is a real slow home use
model. (About 6 ppm). Thanks! Barry C.
Barry:
Postscript is a computer programming language that is used by some laser
printers as well as most high end imagesetters. It is either in ROM in the
printer, or in a ROM cartridge inserted into the printer ( a cartridge that
would plug into an HP LaserJet as an example). It's commonly called a Page
Description Language, as it's mostly used for printing to Lasers. The
difference between using a standard laser printer (or the DeskJet, or other
dot matrix printer) is that Postscript (PS) printers are really computers
dedicated to printing, and as such are intellegent devices, so they can do
most of the "thinking" while the Amiga is then free to do other things. One
of the major advantages are scalable fonts, that is you can have a font at
ANY size you want, you're not limited to what your printer has, or to using
Bitmapped fonts, or using CGfonts, and making the Amiga do all the work to
figure out how to print the page. HP LaserJets are bitmaped devices just
like the DeskJet, and the only difference between them is the physical
method of printing (DJ sprays ink on the page, LJ uses a laser/drum/toner
similiar to a plain paper copier). For DTP use in my opinion Postscript is
the way to fly, and yes if you get a PS laser, you can specify how many
copies to print, and the printer will print them out while you're doing
something else with the Amiga. One way to see what Postscript output looks
like to the printer is to save one of your files as Postscript, send it to
a disk file, and then read the file with MORE or any other ascii file
reader. This is the actual "program" that gets sent to a PS printer, and
then the printer runs the program that makes your page. I hope I havn't
confused you too much, but it's late, and I hope I didn't make this message
hard to understand.
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
Mike, thanks for the reply regarding postscript printers. It was all very
helpful.
Barry – if you want to do DTP, don't even *think* about PostScript
capability in the laser. Get an HP or HP compatible; very inexpensive – and
if you get the HP itself, you have a *workhorse* printer.
Then get PageStream 2.1; that's all you'll need. At that point, you can
make stunning DTP output – and, if you have postscript stuff, PageStream
will take care of it for you, I think – without the printer having to know.
Ben
Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S
Ben:
Any particular reason you don't think Postscript is a good thing for DTP?
Seems to me that on most every other platform (Mac, IBM, Next, etc) that
the STANDARD is Postscript, and that anyone getting seriously involved in
DTP will sooner or later come up against PS (perhaps in the form of a PS
IBM file that needs to be printed out) in some form or another, and if they
only have an HP compatible printer and PgS then they'd be stuck wouldn't
they? Now if the person said that DTP wasn't important, but nice Word
Processing output is, then I'd agree with you on HP compatibles. Good case
is a friend of mine who uses PgS all the time, and just got a Panasonic PS
printer that also emulates an HP. He tried to use PgS in HP mode, but found
that the PS mode was much more effiecient.
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
It's obtuse and it classes as a "flash in the pan" feature for an Amiga,
which can do the postscript stuff in system. Serious DTP requires an
accellerated, big memory system, which also does well with PS generation
and calculation.
It makes the printer more expensive in the software region, which is
something I'd rather not pay for. I prefer to pay for output quality, which
is strictly a function of the laser engine, once you have basic
dot-graphics capability.
Now, if printers were say, 1200 or 2400 DPI, and cost less (a lot less) I'd
be all for more features. In a recession, and with a zillion other cool
things competing for my $$$, I'd rather spend them on something that
doesn't duplicate what I can already do.
Ben
Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S
Here's a RUMOR I heard at our last users group meeting. HP paintjet prices
are dropping and HP will introduce a color 300dpi inkjet printer this fall
with color postscript capability for under $1000! Now there's a RUMOR for
you!
-Paul-
Paul,
On a recent Britsh Tv program they demonstrated a new piezo type ink
jet that can use fast drying, non fading, non smudging inks.They are
currently negotiating with major Japanese companies to produce a printer
using this technology but without having a moving printhead.It is hoped
they will be able to produce a full width print head that is capable of
full colour output.If it comes off it will really be one to look out for,
but as with most British technological ideas it will probably fall at the
first hurdle! FINANCE!.
Paul (-: Sunny 🙂 o o
via Whap! Plymouth,England *
Mike,
Thanks for the info concerning the Paintjet vs Deskjet500 vs
Postscript Laser (!)…whilst I do agree with you about the desire for
Laser (Postscript and standard) quality output,it is way over my
budget,well a postscript is anyway.I have been watching prices (UK) of low
end laser's very carefully in recent months to see if they are (a)
affordable and (b) HPII compatible (c) reasonable quality.A low end laser
is a realistic option, they are now in the region of 600 UK pounds (about
$900 US) with the DeskJet500 at 356 UK pounds ($570) ,I can pick up a
Paintjet for about the same as a low end laser.
Its very interesting what you say about the need for using HP paper
with the Paintjet…..I dont think I could live with that hassle and also
its lack of paper handling isnt exactly encouraging.
Thanks again for your reply and everybody else who has joined in
this topic….I think I will stick with B/W unless there are any other
colour inkjets that anyone can recommend?.
Paul (-: Sunny 🙂 o o
via Whap! Plymouth,England *
Paul:
One more option might be to get something like the HP LaserJet IIIP. That
gives you the scalable typefaces, and if you ever need real Postscript, you
can get one of those emulation cartridges. I think the cartridges run for
about 300-400 dollars.
Just thought I'd add a little more confusion to your decision.
Paul
Paul,
Thanks for the advice on the printers….a LaserJet IIIP sells for
around the $1100 mark here….much the same as a PaintJet.I think I will
have to stick to a DeskJet500 as I have just decided to quit trying to
struggle with an A500 and have ordered myself a B2000 so that has slightly
( who am trying to kid? I meant "SEVERELY) reduced the amount of spare beer
tokens left to purchase a printer.
Thank you for help
Paul
Paul (-: Sunny 🙂 o o
via Whap! Plymouth,England *