#HP Lasers Pagestream
20 messages in this thread
Just Curious about peoples recomendations for a HP laser printers for
pagestream Use.
I am looking at the 4L ($700, no postscript 1 meg of RAM, 300 DPI), the
4ML ($1100, Postscript, 2 meg RAM, 300DPI), the 4 ($1500, 4 megs of RAM no
postscript 600 DPI) 4M ($2000, 6 megs of RAM Postsctip 600 DPI).
My question is is postscript going to help that much with Pagestream?
Forrest
Forrest;
You could not pry my HP-4M out of my place with a crowbar! It produces
beautiful output and PgS seems quite content with the machine. It is
difficult for me to express just how much I recommend that printer.
It also appear to be typical HP, amazing quality and performance for the
money.
-bill
If you can afford and justify PostScript, we strongly, strongly recommend it.
If you can't afford or justify it, purchase a printer which you can upgrade to
PostScript later.
Michael @ Soft-Logik Publishing Corp.
Postscipt will not be much of a difference but if you do want postscipt
output without the price, buy the 4L and download Post17 a postscipt
interpreter or a few other programs in the libs.
/\/\ I C |-| /-\ E |_ /\/\ /-\ S T
Always on autopilot
The HP Laserjet 4L is only a 300 dpi printer. The LaserJet 4 and 4M are 600 dpi
printers. Remember that POST is a PostScript CLONE, and clones are almost
never %100 compatible.
And HP LaserJet 4M with PostScript is a GREAT printer. It will also be a lot
faster than the 4L and POST option.
Mark @ Soft-Logik Publishing
I use the HP4M with an A4000. It is fabulous! 600dpi makes a B I G
difference. It is also fast. Not really that cheap but very capable.
Works great with Pagestream and just about any other Amiga program
(except ADpro, but that's another story and not HP's fault). By
comparison 300dpi really looks like doodoo. I'm glad I got the
crowbar out and attacked my wallet to buy this one. Plenty of ram for
big bitmaps, fast parallel port, serial port and Appletalk port if
you've got a use for it.
I do NOT think 2meg is enough ram for a Postscript printer ie.
4ML.
I think the 4M is what Im gonna be after
You probably will not reget the decision (getting the 4M). I began
singing HP's praises all over again when I got the 4M. This is the
best printer that I have ever used (of the dozens of printers that I
have owned or used).
You will be happy with the 4M. Upgrading the non-postscript model would
cost more than the difference in price. The 300dpi models are now a
dime-a-dozen and simply a price war (not that a 300dpi postscript printer
isn't very nice to have). you will love showing off the things you have
done with the 4M.
Goin' AP
…..Mark Sterling
Mark, I have been looking around for a printer to print my thesis but have
been put off by suggestions that every printer (even of the same brand and
model) will print differently. One of the ones I was thinking of
borrowing/hiring/whatever was the HP4M. Could you tell me what printer
driver you use for PageStream and how long would it take for, say, a 5 meg
page of graphics ps file to print?
regards, Lu on AutoPilot downunder
Lu;
I use an HP-4M with PgS on an Amiga 3000. I am not all that sure how
large the PostScript file would be but I imagine that it would be large
since most of my source files are 100K+. I just checked one of the
smaller files (120K) by printing it to disk and it comes out as about
1.2Meg. I recall this file taking something less than 10 minutes to
print. In fact if memory is correct (don't trust it, I don't <g>) this
file prints in about 5 minutes.
I do have some that take around 30 minutes to print out but they really
are pretty large files.
As far as the 4M and PgS is concerned, I would be very hard pressed to
find anything that I do not like about the combination other than the
awkardness when dealing with undersized paper. It is sometimes difficult
to set up initially for paper that is not 8.5×11 but it is consistant once
you get it right.
I print a fair number of 8×10 certificates (directly on engraved
certificate stock) and have NO problems.
The HP-4M has done more to improve my productivity with PgS than anything
besides the accelerated machine. The combination is a real joy. Mistakes
are mine and not due to program or printer problems.
-bill
Bill,
Where do you draw the line between printing with PageStream or simply
using a word processor?
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
Paul;
Anymore I don't. I just keep a few PgS templates handy and have PageLiner
running all the time.
Since WordPerfect is no longer supported (or at least is not developing)
for the Amiga, I don't really use a word processor much.
Most of my "wordprocessing" is just one and two page stuff. Generally
anything larger would involve pagelayout anyway. PageStream itself is
pretty decent for documents of only a page or two and with HotLinks and
PageLiner the bigger stuff is easy to handle.
We don't have a dealer in this area that I want to do business with (and
the one that is here is a PC/Amiga dealer that carrys very little software
or hardware anyway). If our dealer in Cary, NC was still around I
probably would have tried out the wordprocessors available for the Amiga
and bought one by now. I am really rather sick and tired of buying
software that I end up hating and then don't use.
-bill
I never considered this route. Isn't the output from a text editor using
the DeskJet's internal fonts a bit sharper than PageStreams?
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
Paul;
Probably but I really don't know. I seldom use the DeskJet. I just use
if for an occassional color transparency or color page and in both cases
it is all PgS.
-bill
Lu,
Sorry this reply is so late. I use the Postscript driver in Pagestream
to print on my HP4M. I have gotten very consistent results with the 4M and
have heard only good things about its output from others. I don't think I
have printed any 5meg pages of graphics with Pagestream and this printer.
I have printed some large files such as a 350 page document which pretty
much printed as fast as the printer is rated (8ppm) with the 4M and an
A4000/040. Fairly complicated pages print amazingly (at least to me) fast
with this setup.
Only downside; puts a fair curl in the paper as it passes through the
printer. Cheap paper seems to curl more.
Yah, its a good bet.
Goin' AP
…..Mark Sterling
Mark;
I use Hammermill Laser Plus and Weyerhaeuser First Choice papers and have
noticed very little curl. Some copier paper really curl badly
(particularly if the ream has been open for awhile).
-bill
Bill,
concurred. I pretty much limit myself to Hammermill. I also buy it,
in bulk, from the local Staples (a discount office supply firm).
Brian
I buy a case at a time (if that is what you mean by bulk). That of course
is only 'piddling' as far as paper companies are concerned.
I am still almost astonished at how much difference a good paper makes in
the appearence of the final product.
I can't see any difference between Laser Plus and First Choice on the
printer output but, the Laser Plus makes a much better master for
copiers.
-bill
Thanks Bill. I'll look for those papers. I do use copier/laser paper for a
lot of non-critical things and it does curl. I have some sort of Classic
Laid paper that has my letterhead on it. It curls somewhat less. The paper
path is convoluted in the HP4 and the diameter of the rollers is small. No
doubt this contributes to the curling syndrome.
Goin' AP
…..Mark Sterling