[comp.sys.apple] IBM-PC TO IMAGEWRITER II

dgalekov@houligan.UUCP (Dale Galekovic) (09/09/89)

Does anyone know if a Apple Imagewriter II printer can be connected to a
IBM PC, and if so can the cable pinout be posted. I know the Imagewriter
I can be connected, but on the II they use an 8-pin mini din connector
and the interface maybe RS422. Thank you in advance


					Dale E. Galekovic
					Encore Computer Systems
					Ft. Lauderdale, FL

You can get my path from the header.......................

rewing@Apple.COM (Richard Ewing) (09/09/89)

In theory, you should be able to use an Imagewriter II with an IBM PC.
You'll need a din-8 -> DB-25 serial cable (ask an Apple dealer for an
Apple //e printer cable), which will connect directly to your favorite
COM port.  Then tell your IBM programs that they will be printing
to a C.Itoh ProWriter (or ProWriter II).  The Imagewriter is firmware
compatible with this printer since the days of the original Apple
Dot Matrix Printer (really a ProWriter).  Some newer IBM programs
even have Apple Imagewriter as an option, but you should be able
to print in ProWriter mode, since the ProWriter is a very popular printer
in several markets for all sorts of applications around the world.

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wnp@attctc.Dallas.TX.US (Wolf Paul) (09/10/89)

In article <34617@apple.Apple.COM> rewing@Apple.COM (Richard Ewing) writes:
 >In theory, you should be able to use an Imagewriter II with an IBM PC.
 >You'll need a din-8 -> DB-25 serial cable (ask an Apple dealer for an
 >Apple //e printer cable), which will connect directly to your favorite
 >COM port.

You will also need a gender changer at the DB-25 end, since the Apple //e
serial cards have a female connector, and the //e printer cable thus has
a male DB-25 rather than the female required for the IBM-PC.

 >Then tell your IBM programs that they will be printing
 >to a C.Itoh ProWriter (or ProWriter II).  The Imagewriter is firmware
 >compatible with this printer since the days of the original Apple
 >Dot Matrix Printer (really a ProWriter).

Only to a certain extent. The Imagewriter does not provide the Japanese 
characters provided by the NEC 8023/C.Itoh Prowriter, and the format for
downloading characters is not the same.

But in principle this printer should indeed work fine with the PC --
in my opinion it is a much better printer than any of the Epson-compatibles
out there, especially when it comes to graphics. There is no comparison 
between the output of, as an example, Printshop, on an Imagewriter, and
even a 24-pin Epson compatible.

Wolf Paul
(long an Apple // fan until Apple's pricing policies
 drove me into the arms of the PC-Clone makers)
-- 
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