01659@AECLCR.BITNET (Greg Csullog) (12/01/89)
One netter asked if anyone had UltraScript experience. One work group at my company is PC based but one Atari enthusiast convinced the group to buy a Mega an SLM804 and UltraScript. Now, the PC users direct their PostScript files to the ST and everyone is VERY happy with (i) the quality and (ii) the cost effectiveness of the system. We have a lot of STs on site and the SLM804 has wowed a number of people - hopefully we can get more on site. RE: Rich Covert, maybe it's YOU who has the problem and not Atari
covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) (12/05/89)
In article <8912020804.AA27404@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, 01659@AECLCR.BITNET (Greg Csullog) writes: > One netter asked if anyone had UltraScript experience. One work group at my > company is PC based but one Atari enthusiast convinced the group to buy a Mega > an SLM804 and UltraScript. Now, the PC users direct their PostScript files to > the ST and everyone is VERY happy with (i) the quality and (ii) the cost > effectiveness of the system. We have a lot of STs on site and the SLM804 has > wowed a number of people - hopefully we can get more on site. > Actually, with the new TOS 1.4, you should be even better off. TOS 1.4 can format, read, and write REAL IBM 3.5" and 5.25" floppies. So, transferring files to the Mega ST to be printed on the SLM804 should be a snap. Don't you wish that you could hook the Mega ST up to your IBM PC network (LAN) though?? That would really enhance your use of the Mega ST4/SLM804. > RE: Rich Covert, maybe it's YOU who has the problem and not Atari You are 100% correct, I do have a problem with the SLM804. That is, I used to have a problem with it. Now I don't :-). Well, first let me say that I sold my Atari SLM804 laser printer because of dissatification that I have had with it the last year. I don't want to rehash them here. Let me just say that the SLM804 is an EXCELLENT laser printer for ST only work. It is fast and is reasonable well supported by third party vendors (though not by Atari :-) ). the SLM804 does not work well with pc ditto (or even pc ditto II), prints at only 144 dpi with Spectre 128 (unless you buy UltraScript), and doesn't have LaserJet or Epson emulators. I bought my SLM804 in March 1988 for $995 from my local dealer. I would NOT have paid more for that printer. I am buying a Panasonic KX-P4450 laser printer for $1399 + $300 for the extra meg of RAM from a local store. For the extra $700 I get the following features: o Epson FX-286e emulator o Diablo 630 emul. o Panasonic 1092i emul. o IBM Proprinter emul. o HP Laser Jet Plus emul. o 11 ppm print speed o dual paper trays o 1.5 megs of memory in the printer (freeing up one meg of memory in the ST) o Downloadable fonts, 4 fonts internal o $35 toner carts every 5,000 pages o $90 developer every 13,000 pages o $189 laser drum every 20,000 pages o Optional envelope paper tray, other sizes also available Now, this printer is very well supported by Mac third party vendors.There are a number of commerical printer drivers for Mac and the LaserJetplus. There are plenty of printer drivers for the IBM and the Laserjet Plus. There are plenty of GDOS drivers for the ST and the LaserJet Plus. PageStream and Calamus support the LaserJetPlus. Plus, there are all of those ST programs which require an Epson printer. Now I will be able to use them with my laser printer. Heck, I could even use the Epson printer drivers for the Mac. I called IMAGEN and was told that UltraScript works fine with Laser Jet Plus printers. So, there again, I am not losing anythin by buying the Panasonic KXP4450 laser printer. And I don't need UltraScript to get 300 dpi printouts in the Mac/Spectre mode. I can use the LaserJet Plus drivers. All in all, the extra bucks that I am paying for the Panasonic laser printer are well worth it to me. And I am getting a FASTER printer (11 ppm vs 8ppm of the SLM804). So, if your local ST store doesn't sell the SLM804 for less than $1700, than you might want to consider the KXP4450. To summarize, the SLM804 is an excellent laser printer for a very narrow application (ST work). With the addition of UltraScript it is even better. But, for a few dollars more (in my case a new SLM804 would cost $1300) you can buy a more general purpose,faster, laser printer that will work with more applications on the ST and will work with David Small's Spectre and even with Bill Teal's pc ditto. Please look at other printers before buying the Atari SLM804. You might be pleasantly surprised at the laser printer market. -- Richard E. Covert (covertr@gtephx) (602) - 581-4652 | AG Communications Systems, Phoenix AZ | UUCP: {ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!zardoz!hrc | att}!gtephx!covertr
gl8f@bessel.acc.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) (12/05/89)
In article <473a552d.14a1f@force.UUCP> covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) writes: >All in all, the extra bucks that I am paying for the Panasonic laser printer >are well worth it to me. And I am getting a FASTER printer (11 ppm vs 8ppm of >the SLM804). You know, Richard, you don't listen. I posted an article explaining WHY the SLM804 is sometimes faster than other laser printers, even with faster print engines, in certain situations. Several people posted articles saying, yes, in real life, they have seen this. I can assure you that, running Ultrascript, the SLM804 will beat the pants of your Panasonic laser printer printing, for example, full page bitmaps. Why don't you benchmark it in various situations before you shoot your mouth off? Why can't you include a little disclaimer, "Well, there are situations where the SLM804 is a lot faster than the Panasonic." Yes, the Panasonic may be the best printer for you, but not necessarily for everyone else. They might be very surprised to plug it in and find that it doesn't print 11 pages per minute, every minute. Your attitude is entirely non-professional. I hope you grow out of your childish Atari-bashing phase. ------ Greg Lindahl
rehrauer@apollo.HP.COM (Steve Rehrauer) (12/05/89)
In article <473a552d.14a1f@force.UUCP> covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) writes: [ many good things about Ultrascript ] Possibly this question is of interest to others as well: I've been reading "Ultrascript" ad nauseum for awhile now, so I might as well satisfy my curiosity. On the ST, is it resident & acting like a printer driver; or do you have to invoke it, point to a Postscript file and say "print that"? (I gather the latest/greatest version will fit on a 1meg machine, yes? So I assume this isn't a resident app...) -- >>"Aaiiyeeee! Death from above!"<< | Steve Rehrauer, rehrauer@apollo.hp.com "Flee, lest we be trod upon!" | The Apollo System Division of H.P.
covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) (12/06/89)
In article <2389@hudson.acc.virginia.edu>, gl8f@bessel.acc.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) writes: > In article <473a552d.14a1f@force.UUCP> covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) writes: > > >All in all, the extra bucks that I am paying for the Panasonic laser printer > >are well worth it to me. And I am getting a FASTER printer (11 ppm vs 8ppm of > >the SLM804). > > You know, Richard, you don't listen. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Let's just get nasty here!! :-) OK Greg, in one of my last messages I *SAID* that for strictly ST work the SLM804 is faster than any other printer. That is because of the DMA port of course. I will give you that. OK? No more arguments? > > I posted an article explaining WHY the SLM804 is sometimes faster than > other laser printers, even with faster print engines, in certain > situations. Several people posted articles saying, yes, in real life, > they have seen this. > > I can assure you that, running Ultrascript, the SLM804 will beat the pants > of your Panasonic laser printer printing, for example, full page bitmaps. > > Why don't you benchmark it in various situations before you shoot your > mouth off? Why can't you include a little disclaimer, "Well, there are Nasty temper you have there Greg! :-) > situations where the SLM804 is a lot faster than the Panasonic." Yes, > the Panasonic may be the best printer for you, but not necessarily for > everyone else. They might be very surprised to plug it in and find > that it doesn't print 11 pages per minute, every minute. > > Your attitude is entirely non-professional. I hope you grow out of > your childish Atari-bashing phase. Real nasty mouth there!! :-) > Greg Lindahl Greg, I have said before that the MAJOR reason that I sold my SLM804 and bought a Panasonic KX-P4450 is that I wanted a laser printer that I could use with Spectre and pc dittoII at a full 300 dpi. The SLM804 can not print at 300 dpi with the Spectre now(disclaimer: Without UltraScript that it is), and can't even be used at at with pc ditto. Greg, I bought my Panasonic because, given that I wanted a laser printer that emaulates a Laser Jet, the Panasonic KX-P4450 is the fastest laser printer for under $2,000.00. It is faster than the Packard-Bell (which sells for about $1200 with 1 meg, a real bargain), the HP Laser Jet IIP (which sells for about $995 with 1/2 meg), the HP Laser Jet II (which sells for about $1700 with 1/2 meg) or the Epson or the Brother or the Canon. OK? I don't need to benchmark the SLM804 against these other laser printers, because they ALL will be slower than the SLM804 for ST work. I agree with that. But, the Panasonic KX-P4450 will be faster than the HP Laser Jet IIp,II, the Brother, the Canon, the Packard-Bell, or any other laser printer for under $2,000. I am *NOT* bashing Atari for the SLM804. It is a wonderful, though limited, printer. It just doesn't do what I wanted a laser printer to do. So, I am better off selling it than griping about its defiences. Agreed? A friend of mine, Ralph Mariano, sells the Panasonic KX-P4450 printer and has used one with his Mega ST4 for 6 months. Ralph finally got an Atari SLM804 and it does run faster than the KX-P4450 for ST work. So, I agree with that. But, alot of people are buying Spectres and pc dittos and pc dittoIIs and pc speed. And those folks will find the SLM804 lacking. I had my SLM804 for 20 months and never could fully utilize it under Spectre or pc ditto. I don't expect Atari to address this anytime soon. Did you know that *ALL* SLM804 emulators run in RAM that is overwritten by the MAC OS when running Spectre?? And by MSDOS when running pc ditto. So, even if Atari came out with a working Epson emulator for the SLM, it wouldn't run under Spectre or pc ditto without help from Dave Small or Bill Teal. And Atari has never even spoken about a Laser Jet emulator for the SLM. I wonder why? So, in order for me to use the SLM804 it would have needed an Epson emulator, and a Laser Jet emulator, but they would have had to be run in meory so that MAC and MSDOS could use them. Which is *NOT* very likely. I refuse to defend my position anymore. I am happy with my choice to sell the SLM804. I will NOT say bad things about it in the future. I will learn to live with my SLOW ( :-)) Panasonic KX-P4450 laser printer. You, of course, must decide how you want to use a laser printer. If it is for strictly ST work than by all means buy the SLM804. But if you want to use it for Mac or MSDOS work, than consider another printer. OK? Finally, did you know that there are PostScript clones out for both Mac and MSDOS. I was just at Egghead Software+ and saw an IBM PS clone from an outfit called LaserGo. It has PS plus 13 fonts. Also, there is Adobe Type Manager for the Mac, with the same PS clone and 13 fonts. Hey, guess what? Never supports the Atari laser printer. But both support the Panasonic KX-P4450. So, I don't have to use UltraScript to get PS for my Panasonic when using Mac or MSDOS programs. But the SLM804 eliminated this option from either MAC OR MSDOS. So, unless Atari releases a laser printer with a cpu, internal memory, and builtin printer emulators, I am not interested in Atari laser printers. And than the Atari lp had better be cheaper than a HP or a Panasonic to compete. -- Richard E. Covert (covertr@gtephx) (602) - 581-4652 | AG Communications Systems, Phoenix AZ | UUCP: {ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!zardoz!hrc | att}!gtephx!covertr