daw@houxs.ATT.COM (David Wolverton) (12/17/88)
Thanks to all who responded to my questions about choosing a printer for my brother's Amiga. I have attached all of the responses I received by today (12/16). To summarize the messages: (1) Any ol' dot-matrix (serial or parallel) will do, because lots of printer drivers are available (2) Better to use the parallel port, to leave the serial port free for a modem. (3) The Epson LQ-500 [24-pin] is recommended as a good deal. [List $499, mail order $320-350.] (4) Get AmigaOS 1.3 for the (improved) printer support. Have a Happy Holiday!! Dave ========================================================================= From arpa!postgres.Berkeley.EDU!dillon Mon Dec 12 21:48:32 PST 1988 Received: by postgres.Berkeley.EDU (5.57/1.26) id AA02869; Mon, 12 Dec 88 21:48:32 PST Date: Mon, 12 Dec 88 21:48:32 PST From: dillon@postgres.Berkeley.EDU (Matt Dillon) Message-Id: <8812130548.AA02869@postgres.Berkeley.EDU> To: daw@houxs.att.com Subject: Re: Need help choosing a printer [naive questions] Precedence: special-delivery >I need help choosing a Christmas present for an Amiga'n. >He has a 2000, but no printer. I personally know nothing about >the needs of an Amiga (being a Mac and UNIX user) which is why >I'm canvassing this population. > >So, if you can help, please send me mail. (If responses warrent, >I'll summarize to the net.) Please don't post because I don't >ordinarily read this group. > >1) What kind of printer port does the Amiga use? Parallel, serial, > other? You can use either the parallel port or the serial port. Of course, the one you use is the one you loose, and since the serial port is all a modem can use I use the parallel port for my printer (besides, the parallel port is faster). >2) Can a common dot-matrix printer (e.g. Epson, Oki) be used? Yup. >3) Are special device drivers needed for each different kind of printer? There are device drivers for most printers. You can usually get away using the device driver for a similar printer if the exact one doesn't exist, and people have posted drivers anything remaining. >4) Is a dot-matrix a reasonable choice for "hobbyist" use, or must a > more exotic technology be chosen? Yes. The next step up is a laser which is costly to buy and keep in shape. >5) Are Commodore-branded printers available and recommended? [based > on experiences w/ other manufacturers, I'd guess "no".] No! >6) What did I forget to ask? What printer would I recommend? I recently bought an Epson LQ-500. It is a dot matrix, 24 pin, letter quality printer. B&W, 300dpi horizontal 180dpi vertical (graphics dumps are fast). It cost me about $330. I really like it! you can select the font from the front panel (as well as by software, of course), it has an 8K built in buffer, downloadable fonts (haven't used those yet), reliable graphics, is quick, and perhaps the best feature of all is that it will position an 8.5x11 sheet of paper correctly automatically (i.e., you stick it in, hit a button, and it feeds it and positions it properly). >All help gratefully appreciated. > >Dave Wolverton >....!att!houxs!daw or daw@houxs.ATT.COM -Matt ========================================================================= From arpa!CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU!CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU!WSUVM1.BITNET!24847843 Mon Dec 12 17:27:30 PLT 1988 Received: from CUNYVM.BITNET by CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (IBM VM SMTP R1.1) with BSMTP id 3281; Mon, 12 Dec 88 20:40:58 EDT Received: from CUNYVM by CUNYVM.BITNET (Mailer R2.01) with BSMTP id 3435; Mon, 12 Dec 88 20:35:45 EDT Received: from WSUVM1.BITNET by CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (IBM VM SMTP R1.1) with BSMTP id 3176; Mon, 12 Dec 88 20:35:42 EDT Received: by WSUVM1 (Mailer X1.25) id 9633; Mon, 12 Dec 88 17:30:08 PLT Date: Mon, 12 Dec 88 17:27:30 PLT From: Shawn Clabough <24847843%WSUVM1.BITNET%CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> Subject: Printers To: daw@houxs.ATT.COM I have been using a Star NX1000 for quite some time now and am very happy with it. The Amiga 500 and 2000 use a standard RS232 parallel port, and therefore accept any IBM style printer. I'm currently a dealer in Star printers and we sell them for $189 if you're interested. Shawn Clabough Lombards Underground Computer Sales 24847843@WSUVM1.BITNET ========================================================================= From homxb!whuts!att!watmath!alberta!calgary!spycal!john Thu Dec 15 00:27:22 1988 Received: by att.ATT.COM (smail2.6 att-mt) id AA17216; 15 Dec 88 00:27:22 EST (Thu) Received: from alberta.uucp by watmath; Wed, 14 Dec 88 21:43:16 EST Received: by pembina.alberta.UUCP (5.52/3.14) id AA09135; Wed, 14 Dec 88 19:29:24 MST Date: Wed, 14 Dec 88 19:29:22 MST From: watmath!calgary!spycal!john Message-Id: <8812150229.AA09135@pembina.alberta.UUCP> Received: by calgarycpsc.UCalgary.CA (smail2.5) id AA29397; 14 Dec 88 18:32:12 MST (Wed) To: calgary!alberta!att!whuts!homxb!houxs!daw Subject: Re: Need help choosing a printer [naive questions] In-Reply-To: your article <1070@houxs.ATT.COM> I have a NEC P2200 Printer on my Ami500, and I'm very happy with it. The new workbench 1.3 has excellent support for it. Regards, --- +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | o | | John Presley, UNISYS Canada Inc, Calgary, Alberta john@spycal.UUCP | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ========================================================================= From arpa!polya.Stanford.EDU!ali Wed Dec 14 07:44:22 PDT 1988 Received: by polya.Stanford.EDU (5.59/25-eef) id AA27284; Wed, 14 Dec 88 07:44:22 PDT Date: Wed, 14 Dec 88 07:44:22 PDT From: Ali T. Ozer <ali@polya.Stanford.EDU> Message-Id: <8812141544.AA27284@polya.Stanford.EDU> To: daw@houxs.ATT.com Subject: Printer The Amiga can drive any kind of printer; parallel or serial. If your friend already has a modem on the serial port, than a parallel printer might be a better choice. I've heard good things about the Epson LQ500 or LQ850 series printers. They're dot matrix, but apparently almost as good as dot matrix printers can get. I believe they are under or around $350-$400. You can of course get a 9-pin dot matrix for probably under $200, but the print quality won't be as nice. Amiga has printer drivers for almost every printer available. Most drivers are provided with the Amiga OS, and others are usually available from PD sources, as freeware. But I do recommend your friend get the latest Amiga OS (1.3) as it has more and better printer drivers than the previous OS release (1.2). The prints will be nicer and faster. Ali Ozer, aozer@NeXT.com ========================================================================= From att!texbell!splut!sugar!peter Wed Dec 14 14:05:43 1988 Received: by att.ATT.COM (smail2.6 att-mt) id AA11953; 14 Dec 88 14:05:43 EST (Wed) Received: by texbell.UUCP (smail2.5) id AA07295; 14 Dec 88 14:00:45 EST (Wed) Received: by splut.UUCP (smail2.5) id AA11592; 14 Dec 88 10:57:40 CST (Wed) Received: by sugar.UU.NET (smail2.5) id AA14116; 14 Dec 88 08:01:21 CST (Wed) To: daw@houxs.ATT.COM Subject: Re: Need help choosing a printer [naive questions] In-reply-to: your article <1070@houxs.ATT.COM> News-Path: texbell!bellcore!rutgers!att!whuts!homxb!houxs!daw Message-Id: <8812140801.AA14116@sugar.UU.NET> Date: 14 Dec 88 08:01:21 CST (Wed) From: peter@sugar.UU.NET (Peter da Silva) > 1) What kind of printer port does the Amiga use? Parallel, serial, > other? Both. > 2) Can a common dot-matrix printer (e.g. Epson, Oki) be used? yes. > 3) Are special device drivers needed for each different kind of printer? Provided with the operating system are something like 50 driver files. > 4) Is a dot-matrix a reasonable choice for "hobbyist" use, or must a > more exotic technology be chosen? A good dot-matrix is OK. Color ink-jet printers are great if you have the bucks. > 5) Are Commodore-branded printers available and recommended? [based > on experiences w/ other manufacturers, I'd guess "no".] No. > 6) What did I forget to ask? "Would anyone else like a Christmas present" :-> --- Peter da Silva `-_-' peter@sugar.uu.net Have you hugged U your wolf today? Disclaimer: My typos are my own damn busines#!rne ========================================================================= From arpa!RELAY.CS.NET!tekig4.len.tek.com!billh Thu Dec 15 09:52:40 PST 1988 Received: from relay2.cs.net by RELAY.CS.NET id aa03086; 15 Dec 88 15:41 EST Received: from tektronix.tek.com by RELAY.CS.NET id aa19534; 15 Dec 88 15:32 EST Received: by tektronix.TEK.COM (5.51/6.24) id AA15520; Thu, 15 Dec 88 09:58:12 PST Received: by tekig4.LEN.TEK.COM (5.52/6.24) id AA21908; Thu, 15 Dec 88 09:52:40 PST Date: Thu, 15 Dec 88 09:52:40 PST From: William Hansen <billh%tekig4.len.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET> Message-Id: <8812151752.AA21908@tekig4.LEN.TEK.COM> To: daw%houxs.att.com@RELAY.CS.NET Subject: Re: Need help choosing a printer [naive questions] Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga In-Reply-To: <1070@houxs.ATT.COM> Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR. I like the Sekosha printers, the one I have is a nine pin dot-matrix, but it has great print quality, downloadable fonts, and 7 color printing. It can be had for under $500 (check computer shopper mag). Oh, it has BOTH serial and paralel ports. Bill Hansen