rgenter@ENTERPRISE.BBN.COM (Rick Genter) (08/26/86)
I called CompuClub in Framingham, MA (617-879-5232) and asked about the 1027 printer. They were extremely helpful, and gave me the following information: *) The 1027 is not *really* a letter quiality printer. Its print mechanism is similar to that found in an adding machine (remember those? :-) and is suitable for 1 to 2 page documents, maximum. *) Atari has not made the 1027 in 7 months. Their current printers are the XMM801 and XMM804, neither of which is letter quality. The search continues. I'd like to ask the entire community: what do you use for letter quality output? Remember, I am looking for something to connect to my 850 interface, and it should be usable from AtariWriter+. I'm about to drop the word CHEAP from my qualifications, though a LaserWriter or LaserJet is out of the question :-). -------- Rick Genter BBN Laboratories Inc. (617) 497-3848 10 Moulton St. 6/512 rgenter@labs-b.bbn.COM (Internet new) Cambridge, MA 02238 rgenter@bbn-labs-b.ARPA (Internet old) linus!rgenter%BBN-LABS-B.ARPA (UUCP)
Lynn%PANDA@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA (Lynn Gold) (08/27/86)
We use an Atari 1027 for letter-quality output. Yes, it is PAINFULLY slow, but it's typewriter quality. If I were you, I'd look for an old Diablo or Anderson-Jacobsen daisy-wheel printer at a swap meet. You'll get a faster machine at about what they used to sell 1027's when they first came out. --Lynn -------
cbbrowne@watnot.UUCP (Christopher Browne) (09/03/86)
In article <8608262050.AA00294@ENTERPRISE.BBN.COM> rgenter@ENTERPRISE.BBN.COM (Rick Genter) writes: > *) Atari has not made the 1027 in 7 months. Their current printers > are the XMM801 and XMM804, neither of which is letter quality. > >The search continues. I'd like to ask the entire community: what do you use >for letter quality output? Remember, I am looking for something to connect >to my 850 interface, and it should be usable from AtariWriter+. I'm about to >drop the word CHEAP from my qualifications, though a LaserWriter or LaserJet >is out of the question :-). >-------- >Rick Genter BBN Laboratories Inc. >(617) 497-3848 10 Moulton St. 6/512 >rgenter@labs-b.bbn.COM (Internet new) Cambridge, MA 02238 >rgenter@bbn-labs-b.ARPA (Internet old) linus!rgenter%BBN-LABS-B.ARPA (UUCP) How about one of the near letter quality printers? Panasonic makes a series that seem quite popular around here. They are sold as the Panasonic 1010, 1111, and maybe other numbers (the higher the better), also under the brand name Roland. They are in the $400 price range (Canadian) which probably translates to about $300 US (I think). At any rate, they are in the same price range as the Geminis and Epsons and Mannesman Tally and ... They produce very nice looking print in the NLQ (near letter quality) mode, which actually looks better upon photocopying. The nicer editions include a modest buffer (2K I think). The ribbon costs about twice as much as an Epson ribbon, but seems to last a lot longer (hopefully twice as long). I have not heard of any problems relating to these printers, and I was very happy to see a deluxe (15" carriage, super-fast, with a very nice sheet feeder) edition at work. It's pricey - probably $600-700 US (we got it for $800 CDN - but we got a real deal) but it is superior to any Epson that I have used. It's faster than our FX-100, has more features, and prints much more legible print. I would take it as a second choice after a laser printer, if quality was the only concern. -- Christopher Browne University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics "To do is to be." -- Aristotle "To be is to do." -- Socrates "Do be do be do." -- Sinatra "Do be a do bee." -- Miss Sally of Romper Room fame. "Yabba dabba do." -- Fred Flintstone
jhs@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA (09/04/86)
Re: NLQ printers... Close readers of this Net will recall I have occasionally noted that Paul Swanson, proprietor of Nite Lite Systems (of Atari BBS fame), is a clever fellow and does nifty technical things. Well, it seems one little project he showed me recently was a custom driver for the Epson printers (and equivalents) which GREATLY increases the apparent resolution of the output, making it look almost as good as some of the 24-pin units. The price you pay (apart from whatever Paul would charge for the driver software) is an equally GREAT reduction in speed. But for some applications, this would be a very good tradeoff -- after all, true LQ printers are not noted for their great speed, either. Paul can be reached for comment at (617) 663-4463 or 663-4221 (BBS dialup port). -John Sangster jhs@mitre-bedford.arpa