laser-lovers@uw-beaver (02/10/85)
From: ihnp4!utzoo!henry@uw-beaver.arpa Brian Reid comments: > A couple of people asked in private mail for me to compare the Apple > LaserWriter with the HP LaserJet, given that they both use the same > marking engine and that they look very similar. I don't think the HP > LaserJet is even worth discussing as far as its page description > capabilities. It's like comparing rockets and bicycles--why bother. > Bicycles are cheaper than rockets; the HP LaserJet is cheaper than the > Apple LaserWriter. I suppose you could throw your bicycle through the > air and call it a missile; you can also engage in ultra-intense hackery > and get your HP LaserJet to do something that you can call typesetting, > but realistically the HP machine is just a clever variation on a > daisy-wheel printer. In front of me, I have a page of LaserJet output produced by the "Tplus" software from Textware International. It's the first page of the EQN User's Guide. Looks just great, typeset sample equations and all. To be quite honest, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it -- and until I did, I agreed with Brian. Now I don't. It is quite true that the LaserJet's typesetting abilities are limited. Most of the text on a page had better be from one of the ROM fonts (the Tplus stuff uses the B cartridge [10-pt Roman, Bold, Italic; 8-pt Roman; 14-pt Helvetica bold], although it adjusts the inter-letter spacing downward from HP's grossly loose values). Everything else has to be drawn in using the graphics mode, and the area that can be covered with this is severely limited. But you can do an awful lot within these limits -- much more than I thought. I've seen a copy of the entire EQN manual typeset with Tplus: a couple of minor font glitches, but otherwise it looked just fine. The LaserJet is never going to be a hot typesetting engine, unless HP gets off its behind and gives us downloadable fonts. But you can do a lot with it, if you're careful with fonts and don't go hog-wild on equations. Textware's software looks worth having, and is not overly expensive: $900-$1500, depending on details. (Disclaimer: I have no connection with Textware except that I'm about to be a customer.) FYI: Textware International PO Box 14 Harvard Square Cambridge, Mass. 02238 USA (617)UNI-TEXT Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry