shum-s@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Sik K. Shum) (12/21/88)
I consider buying a HP DeskJet printer for my pc and would appreciate any
comment about that printer. In particular, I want to know how it compares
with the more expensive HP LaserJet II in terms of quality and speed.
Also, do I need to get a memory expansion in order to print whole-page
graphics? Thanks in advance.
>>>SKS<<<RUSS@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Keith Russ) (12/21/88)
>I consider buying a HP DeskJet printer for my pc and would appreciate any >comment about that printer. In particular, I want to know how it compares >with the more expensive HP LaserJet II in terms of quality and speed. >Also, do I need to get a memory expansion in order to print whole-page >graphics? Thanks in advance. > >>>>SKS<<< I've worked a little with the DeskJet and the LaserJet II, and find that the DeskJet does a very nice job printing; in fact, I believe it does a slightly better job on some letters using the symbol set. It is quite a bit slower however, not quite as dark a print as the LaserJet (but great for an inkjet), requires a RAM catridge for any downloadable fonts you might wish to use, can't use the same downloaded fonts as the LaserJet, also can't use LaserJet font cartridges... It is capable of full-page, 300dpi graphics if the graphics are sent serially; offhand, I can't tell you which programs work that way. Graphics printing, however, is SLOW. I have seen somewhere a program that translates HP plotter code for the DeskJet, and some of the BBS are starting to acquire DeskJet fonts. I presume more software support will be forthcoming; for now, you have to depend on its control code similarity to the LaserJet series (I believe it uses the control codes of PCL III (and PCL may be wrong; it's been awhile) whereas the LaserJet II uses PCL IV). Also, since you're at OSU check out the CTE store in Lord Hall. They offer good prices on the cartridges (font and RAM), but the DeskJet price is the usual. If you get one, be sure to test various paper brands on it. The best paper to use will not bleed with the ink; we found that the xerographic paper we use is not suitable for the inkjet (no surprise there). But paper does make a heck of a difference. K. Russ Dept. of Chem. Eng. OSU
johnl@ima.ima.isc.com (John R. Levine) (12/21/88)
In article <29843@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> you write: >I consider buying a HP DeskJet printer for my pc and would appreciate any >comment about that printer. In particular, I want to know how it compares >with the more expensive HP LaserJet II in terms of quality and speed. >Also, do I need to get a memory expansion in order to print whole-page >graphics? Thanks in advance. I have a Deskjet sitting here right next to my PC. It's really great. The print quality is not quite as good as that of a Laserjet, due to the ink smearing a little bit, but (after reading an interesting article in the HP Journal on what they learned about "plain" paper while designing the Deskjet) I am experimenting with different kinds of paper; it seems that better paper gives you better results. It is undeniably slower than a Laserjet, as it moves the paper slower, and the print head physically whizzes back and forth across the paper. If you print your text in draft mode, which is still pretty nice, it feels a little faster than my old FX-85 printer. You can print a full page at 300 DPI with the base printer, although it will take a while. It's really a serial printer, and makes no attempt to buffer a full page. Although it can back the paper up, it is not a good idea to do so very much both because it's slow and because the paper won't be aligned exactly right, so your graphics program had best print the image from the top of the page to the bottom. After limited experimentation, I have found that nearly every program that prints Laserjet graphics does so from top to bottom, so they work OK on the Deskjet. I was also pleased to find that the thing prints 300 DPI with absolutely no window-shade effect. Like the Laserjet, it comes with a built-in Courier (typewriter) font. Unlike the original Laserjet, it has a full PC character set without needing any mysterious "Y" cartridge. You can get both ROM font cartridges with character sets similar to the Laserjet's and RAM cartridges into which you can download fonts using their font utilities. To get a complete set of Times fonts in ROM you have to buy three cartridges, and there's only two slots. I have the soft font kit which includes Times and Helvetica in sizes from 4 to 14 points and one RAM cartridge which is adequate for the document printing I do. With a second RAM cartridge, there'd be room for more fonts at once, but even with one I can produce really ugly pages with too many fonts. (I only download 96 char ASCII, if I wanted full character sets to print, e.g. foreign languages, I'd need a second cartridge). Note that the RAM cartridges are used only for storing fonts; they have no effect on graphics performance. Also, the cartridges are not the same as the ones for the Laserjet. Apparently the fonts are slightly redesigned for this printer. Downloading a set of fonts takes about the same time it takes to run down the hall first thing in the morning to get a cup of coffee, which is when I do it. In sum, I think this is a fantastic printer for $700. It's quiet, reasonably fast, and produces beautiful output. The supplies are also cheap -- it uses any old paper and the ink refills are $18 each. Also, until Jan 31 HP has an offer under which they'll pay you $100 for any old PC printer you send them if you buy a deskjet, and there's supposed to be a discount deal on the soft fonts starting next month. -- John R. Levine, Segue Software, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, +1 617 492 3869 { bbn | spdcc | decvax | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something You're never too old to have a happy childhood.
cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (12/22/88)
In article <29843@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>, shum-s@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Sik K. Shum) writes: > I consider buying a HP DeskJet printer for my pc and would appreciate any > comment about that printer. In particular, I want to know how it compares > with the more expensive HP LaserJet II in terms of quality and speed. At least on Xerographic paper, the print quality is enough inferior that I don't think of the DeskJet as a low-cost replacement for a laser printer, but rather, as a high-quality, low noise replacement for a 24-pin dot matrix printer. Especially when you start making photocopies (and photocopies of the photocopies), the blurriness associated with the ink jet approach becomes apparent. It's much slower than a LaserJet, but compares very favorably with a dot matrix printer. It's much quieter than a dot matrix printer, and even quieter than laser printer. It's ALMOST compatible with an HP LaserJet. Some of the hardware engineers here are using LaserJets for CAD drawings, and hoped that the DeskJet would provide a low cost alternative, but for reasons that are not immediately apparent, the LaserJet driver causes the drawing to cross a page boundary on a DeskJet, and put the last 5% of the drawing on a separate page. > Also, do I need to get a memory expansion in order to print whole-page > graphics? Thanks in advance. > > >>>SKS<<< The literature for the DeskJet makes a big deal of the fact that you can do full page graphics without expansion memory -- but only in the same sense that any dot matrix can do so -- there's no page buffer, so your software has to be smart enough to do all your graphics in the order they are going to be printed on the page. There is no landscape mode on the DeskJet, unlike the LaserJet. -- Clayton E. Cramer {pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!cramer (Note new path!)
ward@chinet.chi.il.us (Ward Christensen) (12/23/88)
LJ vs DJ: - quality: quite similar. DJ is more sensitive to the paper quality, because bad paper will cause the ink to "wick" down the fibers, making it look a bit like it "splashed". - quality: the DJ ink is water soluble. Smudges if you turn a page with a licked finger; an envelope in the rain is very bad. But how often does your paper get wet? - memory: the DJ has 16K standard. Does all graphics just fine with that. unlike lasers which have to keep the paper moving once it has started, the DJ can just print in "bands" and wait for more processing before continuing. - memory: there are font cartridges or memory cartridges FOR SOFT FONTS (not for graphics or print buffer - 16K is IT!). I bought soft fonts, but with my Pagemaker application, I need windows fonts also, so none of the "add-on" products I've seen so far for soft fonts help - thought the HP ones work "fine". BUT, the time to load the fonts, the cost of the soft fonts plus 2 x 128K RAM cartridges, and the fact I get only 13 of 16 fonts possible, make me sorry I didn't get the TmsRom & Helv (both "ASCII") cartridges. (ASCII means "128 char sets", vs non-ASCII which are 256 char sets, but don't have as many sizes per cartridge.) - speed: no contest. In draft mode, the DJ is not even 2 pages/min "quite" - but at 200 CPS draft (100 CPS LQ) it is faster than many matrix printers. Depends upon your needs.
carlson@gateway.mitre.org (Bruce Carlson) (12/24/88)
In article <1257@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu> RUSS@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Keith Russ) writes: >>I consider buying a HP DeskJet printer for my pc and would appreciate any >>comment about that printer. In particular, I want to know how it compares >>with the more expensive HP LaserJet II in terms of quality and speed. >>Also, do I need to get a memory expansion in order to print whole-page >>graphics? Thanks in advance. >> >>>>>SKS<<< > >I've worked a little with the DeskJet and the LaserJet II, and find that >the DeskJet does a very nice job printing; in fact, I believe it does a >slightly better job on some letters using the symbol set. It is quite a >bit slower however, not quite as dark a print as the LaserJet (but great >for an inkjet), requires a RAM catridge for any downloadable fonts >you might wish to use, can't use the same downloaded fonts as the LaserJet, >also can't use LaserJet font cartridges... It is capable of full-page, >300dpi graphics if the graphics are sent serially; offhand, I can't tell >you which programs work that way. Graphics printing, however, is SLOW. Several other points were addresse in the reply. >K. Russ >Dept. of Chem. Eng. >OSU Now for my comments: I have a Deskjet at home and I agree with the comments by K. Russ. On the subject of print drivers and 300 dpi graphics I have some additional info. These programs have 300 dpi drivers (no additional memory needed) for the deskjet and I have used the applications: Harvard Graphics 2.1, Windows 2.1, PFS First Publisher 2.0, TurboTax 89 Word 4.0 (HP provided the driver). HP provided about 15-20 additional drivers, but I don't remember which applications they were for. I have used these applications and substituted the Laserjet 300 dpi driver since they didn't have a Deskjet driver: Gem Draw+, Quattro. Most of the applications that have a specific Deskjet driver allow you to use downloadable fonts or font cartridges. I don't have either one, but I think I will probably buy the extra RAM cartridge and the software downloadable fonts. If you use good quality paper (smooth, "hard" finish) it is hard to distinguish Deskjet text from Laserjet text. Graphics are also nearly identical unless there are large black areas. The black areas tend to get overinked and the paper looks wavy (physically). HP also offers some emulation cartridges for the Deskjet. You can get an Epson cartridge and I think there may be others. Bruce Carlson Disclaimer: I have no connections to HP, except as a customer
carlson@gateway.mitre.org (Bruce Carlson) (12/27/88)
In article <732@optilink.UUCP> cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes: >in the same sense that any dot matrix can do so -- there's no page >buffer, so your software has to be smart enough to do all your graphics >in the order they are going to be printed on the page. There is no >landscape mode on the DeskJet, unlike the LaserJet. >{pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!cramer (Note new path!) >Clayton E. Cramer Microsoft Windows can print in landscape mode on the Deskjet, but it is quite slow. Since the Deskjet does not have a landscape mode it appears that Windows does everything in graphics mode. This is okay if you are printing graphics, but it is very slow to print text in graphics mode. The first time I tried it I thought Windows had locked up or the printer had died, but then just as I walked away it started to print. HP now offers a landscape cartridge for the Deskjet, but I've never seen or used one. Bruce Carlson