#Which Laser Printer?
13 messages in this thread
Vic,
Just to add to what David has said…
The LaserJets have three ways of printing. You can send ASCII text and get
very nice Courier output (or whatever happens to be built into your printer
– don't know about the Oki). A font cartridge counts as a built-in (if you
have font carts).
Second way, downloadable (soft fonts). This is a collection of bitmaps to
describe face, size and style. You can DL several fonts and use escape chrs
to tell the LJ to look up different font data. This method has two modes.
If done when the printer is first turned on and they are made resident, you
get excellent throughput. In the other mode, the fonts are DL'd with each
print job. This amounts to significant overhead and reduces throughput.
Most PC apps will let you choose in this regard. If there are any Ami apps
that let you DL fonts to LJ's, I don't know what they are. I expect they
would include their own driver. If you're going to DL fonts, you'll want to
have at least 1.5MB in the LJ.
The third method is to let the computer generate the bitmap for everything;
i.e. you're not sending ASCII anymore. This amounts to a LOT of data and I
expect it's how most Amiga apps support LJ's. And consequently, I think
that HP's soft fonts would be unlikely to do anything for you.
FWIW, my preferred solution would be to get the LJ with a PostScript cart.
That way you've got the standard 35 PS fonts "built-in". Once again you'll
need to have at least 1.5MB. (I think most LJ's and compatible come with
512K.)
Excellence! will use the PS fonts but only allows particular sizes. A bad
shortcoming of E!, IMHO.
Yes, the LJ driver on the extras disk will work with the Series II's though
it has some quirks. Evidently, there's been a new release of that driver
(though one person told me it still has quirks). Using PostScript, the
quirks disappear and there IS a PS preferences driver.
Malcolm
The TI PS-17 (Postscript with 17 fonts) and PS-35 are very good and quite
inexpensive.. The PS-17 has been seen for around $1600!
Since a LJII is no longer available the TI with its postscript seems
to be a real good deal for Amigas (and Macer's too!)
–Alan
Alan,
I believe I've been told that the TI postscript printer is not quite
standard postscript. Have I been misinformed?
Betty
Betty,
These days most PS printers have the 35 fonts. There are only a few with
17. That may have been the point being made with regard to the TI.
Also there's a thread going in (I think) Adobe among some TI users who were
expecting PS fonts on carts. They keep asking TI about it and keep getting
the same brochure about non-PS fonts. They're wondering if the carts will
ever be available. If not they can still DL them.
The TI mem upgrades are expensive too. $495 a MB if I remember right. Way
too much. Someone's (not surprisingly) doing mem boards for TI at a MUCH
lower price.
Malcolm
As you may know, TI is located in Dallas, and quite a few of our club
members work there – or have worked there in the past. I've heard a bit
about that printer from some of them – but since it was beyond my budget,
I've not listened as closely as I should! Perhaps that is the problem –
the lack of fonts and the cost of memory would be upsetting.
Betty
Betty,
Soft Warehouse on the north side of Arlington (also Dallas and other
locations) has a working demo of the TI microLaser. Perhaps more
importantly, the Arlington location has a very knowledgeable sales rep on
location. I seem to remember his name being Roger. Ask for Roger if you
decide to have a look at it.
I prefer other printers, but the microLaser is a solid contender
overall, I think.
Happy Trails, —GeM
PS: If you do go to Soft Warehouse and begin comparing the microLaser to
the Panasonic laser next to it, be advised that the actual print sample of
the Panasonic is on the flip side of the print out above it. The print out
above the Panasonic was printed on the TI unit <g>.
Alan,
Well, when I have money and a job again, I'll look into the TI – but not
the 17. $1600, eh? Let's see, that'd be $14,000,000 Cdn. plus Grab Some
Tax. 🙂
The IIP is still around and I've seen it with the PacPage cart. It's
acceptable to me. See, I've gotta see the output. There are some 300dpi PS
lasers that just aren't worth owning. The IIP/cart/memory can be had here
for about $2500.
Malcolm
Malcom,
That PostScript Preferencs driver is not without its quirks too! But
MUCH better than having NO Preferences driver for our PostScript Printers!
Lloyd
Lloyd,
Yeah, I went looking in the LIBs for such files. One is a replacement for
printer.device and the other is a prefs driver. Have you used both?
Malcolm
Malcom,
Both were written by the same person, I believe. I use the Preferences
driver. I don't think the other one even worked for me (GURU). The Prefs
driver is the newest of the two, I believe. I would wish someone would come
up with an update for it, however. I don't think all the options available
to a Preferences driver are available to the PostScript driver version.
Lloyd
Lloyd,
Right on both counts. I took 'em apart and same guy and prefs driver is
newer.
(If you keep dropping an "l" from my name, I'll drop one from yours. Just
kidding! 🙂
Malcolm
Malcolm,
First I was going to protest – I didn't *think* I dropped your "l". But
now that I looked at it again, I see what I did. I "visualized" you name as
"MAL COME" (that's phonetic, not a wisecrack), and didn't even *think*
about that last "L". Sorry about that!
You'd be astonished by the variations (number and style) people come up
with for "LLOYD". Most people have trouble with the "DOUBLE L" at the
beginning, and usually do drop one "L". The "OY" combo ususally throws a
good number too. Oh well.
Lloyd
Lloyd,
Most people spell my name wrong most of the time. It's not uncommon in the
UK, uncommon in Canada and rare in US. I've known a few Lloyd's but I've
never known another Malcolm.
Malcolm