csuac@warwick.ac.uk (The Juggler) (03/08/91)
A while ago I posted an article enquiring about the HP Deskjet printer. Thanks
to everyone who replied and for those who are interested, this is a summary of
the range of deskjet printers offered by HP.
The original deskjet is still available in the UK for as low as 270+VAT.
The price is what first attracted my attention because, for a printer with
a print quality rivalling that of a laser printer and an automatic sheet
feeder built in, it seemed a great deal. The problems with this printer
seem to be mainly speed especially with graphics which I am told take an
eternity. Also it doesn't do italics which like the canon BJ10E seems a bit
odd; and finally no landscape mode. The deskjet+ was then introduced which
solved these problems. Graphics are significantly faster and the printer seems
like a really good deal. A lot of people on the net have had experience
with the DJ+ and are pleased with the performance. Comparitively recently the
latest addition to the range was introduced called the deskjet 500. As far as
I can tell,(in the UK at any rate) it is replacing the DJ+. The lowest price I
have found in the UK is 370+VAT. The printer has only slight improvements over
the old model. It has a better waterproof ink cartridge which means less
smudging and allows printing on overhead transparencies.These new
cartridges will work on all 3 models however. The DJ 500 has an inbuilt times
and times italic font which the DJ+ didn't have. There are no alterations
to the case though to select this font. It is marginally faster on
graphics, about 6% I am told. But that is it, as far as I'm aware no other
changes.
Personally after reading many articles I would be happy to get a
DJ+ if I could find one because in the UK there may be companies selling them
at a good price (Ie. not much more than the original). Assuming the DJ+ has
been phased out and I am too late then the DJ 500 still seems like a good deal
in spite of being 100 pounds more than the original.
As far as drivers are concerned there is no problem. Apparently the deskjet is
fully compatible with the HP Laserjet drivers which are available for most
pieces of software.
For Calamus use the Laserjet+ one the laserjet 2 one can be
used but it is slower as is the official deskjet one.
This gives 300 dpi resolution and prints in 3 mins or so.
As has been mentioned previously on the net, GDOS drivers are also available
A utility which can be found on atari.archive is DJ_RESET which enables
you to inform the computer that you have the deskjet installed since
ordinarily turning the printer on after the machine doesn't work.
There is an Epson catridge which as far as I can tell emulates the 9 pin
FX variety but oridinarily this is not worth purchasing since as I said before
drivers shouldn't be a problem and the output from the epson driver would
be very poor in comparison.
Right that's it. I hope this has been useful.
- Paul -rgoseweh@digi.lonestar.org (Roy Gosewehr) (03/09/91)
In article <{`D&_`-@warwick.ac.uk> csuac@warwick.ac.uk (The Juggler) writes: >A while ago I posted an article enquiring about the HP Deskjet printer. Thanks >to everyone who replied and for those who are interested, this is a summary of >the range of deskjet printers offered by HP. > >The original deskjet is still available in the UK for as low as 270+VAT. [stuff deleted] >seem to be mainly speed especially with graphics which I am told take an >eternity. Also it doesn't do italics which like the canon BJ10E seems a bit The original DeskJet does italics (and is accessible by printer switches as well as by software). I know, since I used to own one before upgrading to a DJ500. [more stuff deleted] >The deskjet+ was then introduced which >solved these problems. Graphics are significantly faster and the printer seems >like a really good deal. As far as I know (not first hand) there was no significant improvement in graphics speed for the DJ+ (at least there was none announced by HP). The improvements were "landscape" and additional fonts. [more sutff deleted] >Comparitively recently the >latest addition to the range was introduced called the deskjet 500. As far as >I can tell,(in the UK at any rate) it is replacing the DJ+. The lowest price I >have found in the UK is 370+VAT. The printer has only slight improvements over >the old model. It has a better waterproof ink cartridge which means less >smudging and allows printing on overhead transparencies.These new >cartridges will work on all 3 Cmodels however. The DJ 500 has an inbuilt times >and times italic font which the DJ+ didn't have. There are no alterations >to the case though to select this font. It is marginally faster on >graphics, about 6% I am told. But that is it, as far as I'm aware no other >changes. Incorrect. The DJ 500 had the graphics speed improved approximately 5x over previous models, as announced by HP (depending on the driver used). This has been verified (clocked by watch) by a friend of mine using Calamus output. As you mentioned, the new ink cartidges work on all three models. However, IMHO, the new ink is _not_ as "black" as the original ink. I have also noticed a (barely perceptible) degradation of the crispness of the printout. I am unable to ascertain if this is because of the new graphics handling or because of the characteristics of the new ink (I have not obtained an old ink cartridge to test this.) [rest of stuff deleted] Roy C. Gosewehr
rrd@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ray Depew) (03/11/91)
In comp.sys.atari.st, rgoseweh@digi.lonestar.org (Roy Gosewehr) writes: > ... I have also noticed a (barely perceptible) degradation > of the crispness of the printout. I am unable to ascertain if this is > because of the new graphics handling or because of the characteristics > of the new ink (I have not obtained an old ink cartridge to test this.) > Roy C. Gosewehr It could also be because you used a different paper the second time around. Although the DJ series are "plain paper" printers, results vary according to what kind of paper (brand name, weight, fiber content, finish, clay content, etc.) you are using. HP maintains a set of "standard test papers" that they use for new ink formulations and new printhead designs. I'm not in a position to tell you what the "standard test papers" are, but I do know that HP insiders always preferred Gilbert Bond, unless they could get some rare Japanese paper. Regards Ray Depew IC's by Bill and Dave rrd@hpfitst1.hp.com
rgoseweh@digi.lonestar.org (Roy Gosewehr) (03/13/91)
In article <7340096@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> rrd@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ray Depew) writes: > >It could also be because you used a different paper the second time around. >Although the DJ series are "plain paper" printers, results vary according to >what kind of paper (brand name, weight, fiber content, finish, clay content, >etc.) you are using. > >HP maintains a set of "standard test papers" that they use for new ink >formulations and new printhead designs. I'm not in a position to tell you what >the "standard test papers" are, but I do know that HP insiders always preferred >Gilbert Bond, unless they could get some rare Japanese paper. Hmmm. I didn't think about that - I probably _am_ using different paper. Thanks for the info. Also, it seems that my original post was partially "open mouth - insert foot". The original DeskJet did italics only with cartridges. I was alternating between no cartridge AND the FX80 emulation cartridge. The FX80 cart does have italics (obviously) and they are accessible from the keypad. I also seem to recall (shakey ground here) that the paper feed mechanism may have been improved in the DJ+, but it wasn't until the 500 that HP claimed up to 5x graphics printing improvement. I plead duress (from work) to explain my original post. :-) We _are_ allowed one per newsgroup per year aren't we? :-) :-) :-) Roy C. Gosewehr