mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (11/28/83)
I'd like to thank all the people who responded with information about the differences between the VIC-20 and C-64. It seems the consensus is that there are enough advantages to the C64 to warrent getting it. While the major peripherals are compatible, the cartridges are not, nor is the memory map. There are also rumors that the 20 is on the way out. Also, the word was to get the real Commodore tape drive, as it's much smarter than a regular cassette tape recorder. Well, as events would have it, a printer is to be hooked up to the C64. I looked at the 1515 and was not impressed. It prints at only 30 chars/second, won't do dot addressing, and isn't bi-directional. The print quality isn't all that great, either - I wouldn't want to use it for output from a word processor. (Descender chars are raised.) In short, its only good characteristics are that it costs only $250 and prints on regular paper. I heard rumors that there is a 1516 nearly out, but it was recalled by the factory. My questions are: (1) is there anything special about the 1515 that makes it better than some dumb printer for the C64? I know it knows the C64 graphics character set, but that isn't real important. Is the interface between the two based on Commodore's nonstandard version of ASCII? (2) Does anyone know anything about the 1516? Extra features? Speed? Cost? When it will be out? (3) Has anyone connected any other kind of printer to a C64 or 20, and if so, what do you recommend and what's involved?
blk@sytek.UUCP (Brian L. Kahn) (12/03/83)
For myself, connection to the Commodore 'serial bus' is very important. Adapters range from $80 to $180, depending on features. This will add to the cost of another printer. I chose to use the 40 column thermal printer (Axiom - $100) because it was cheep, plugs into the serial bus, and does graphics in a reasonable fashion. Matrix is 8x8. By the way, the Commodore dot matrix (isn't that the 1525?) will do graphics, but the technique could not be more incompatible with the Commodore 64. Why they did this i cannot even guess.