egv@aicchi.UUCP (08/27/87)
For those of you who might be interested, here are a few impressions regarding
the new QuickDraw based printer from General Computer.
(1) Its diminutive size makes it perfect for a single user. It comes with a
tilted tray which holds about 60 sheets or so. There is also a provision
for manually feeding sheets and envelopes for specific purposes.
(2) You might want to upgrade the physical memory of your machine to at least
2Meg. There are one or two programs which force the printer to leave the
interactive printing mode. You are notified that you will have to print
the page(s) later using their batch facility. Again not a big problem for
a single user, who does NOT have high volume.
(3) Fonts are quite nice. In my opinion as nice as those on the LW Plus. In
addition there is none of the overhead incurred from loading them into
RAM as on the LW Plus when using other than those embedded in ROM. You
can have as many as you have disk space for.
(4) Prints MacPaint type pictures better than the LW. Does a very good job
on MacDraw images as well. Have not as yet tried the output from a package
such as Illustrator. It is claimed that it will work with Illustrator but
will not do some of the fancier things such as "fountaining". Again this
is a printer for someone who wants the clarity of laser printed text but
also wants to retain graphic capability (albeit limited) for various
reasons.
(5) I have tried it with almost all of the packages I own, and it works pretty
much flawlessly. There is a list of known problems. But don't let this
fact put you off. Try it out. The price makes its limitations matter
a bit less.
(6) It currently ownly runs off a SCSI port, but there is a provision to have
it access the serial port. When this is done you will have to use a RAM
cartridge for which there is a slot. There are two SCSI ports on the printe
.
All in all I am very happy with the product. It provided an alternative to the
pricey LW's and still gives me the features I wanted most anyway. Ciao!
--
Eric Geoffrey Vann
Analysts International (Chicago Branch)
(312) 882-4673
..!ihnp4!aicchi!egvjas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) (08/05/89)
Has anyone has experience with this printer? I'm wondering a few things: -- How is the print quality compared to Apple's IISC and HP's Deskwriter? -- What is the best price you've seen around? -- What kind of duty cycle/MTBF is it rated at? -- Will it support outline fonts in system 7.0, or will it use its own technology still? -- How is it's current technology? -- How does it compare in general to the IIsc? (I can get that for~1200 through edu. disc.) -- What are the other choices in medium-duty high-quality output? -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeffrey A. Sullivan | Senior Systems Programmer jas@venera.isi.edu | Information Sciences Institute jas@isi.edu DELPHI: JSULLIVAN | University of Southern California
casseres@apple.com (David Casseres) (08/05/89)
In article <9164@venera.isi.edu> jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes: > Has anyone has experience with [the GCC PLP]? I'm wondering a few > things: > > -- How is the print quality compared to Apple's IISC and HP's > Deskwriter? Depends heavily on exactly what you mean by "print quality." It prints at the same dot density but produces a darker black. To some people this looks better, and to others it looks less "sharp." The outline fonts produce character shapes that are not quite as beautiful as what you get from the IISC when you use its preferred fonts (Times, Helvetica, Courier, Symbol). When System 7.0 comes out the IISC will also enjoy the benefits of outline fonts, and they will look slightly better than the GCC's because the outline font technology involved is more advanced. On the other hand, GCC might catch up with this. IMPORTANT NOTE: Speaking of catching up, my comments are based on the GCC PLP as of when it was introduced. > -- How does it compare in general to the IIsc? (I can get that > for~1200 through edu. disc.) It is a bit less compatible with the complete range of Mac applications, but not seriously so. Performance is extremely hard to compare because it depends, in both cases, on the document you're printing and the amount of memory in your system. But I will say that for printing bitmap material, e.g. HyperCard cards or any sort of bitmap graphics, the IISC is a lot faster; it is also faster on simple text documents, i.e. ones that use the preferred fonts in the "standard" sizes up to 24 pt. The Canon SX printing engine of the IISC and other Apple LaserWriters is more user-friendly than the one used by the PLP. I stopped evaluating the PLP after I inadvertently spilled toner inside the mechanism and found that it had to be returned to the dealer to be cleaned. This can't happen with the Canon engine. David Casseres Exclaimer: Hey!
isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Ken Hancock) (08/05/89)
In article <3376@internal.Apple.COM> casseres@apple.com (David Casseres) writes: >In article <9164@venera.isi.edu> jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes: >> Has anyone has experience with [the GCC PLP]? I'm wondering a few >> things: >> >Symbol). When System 7.0 comes out the IISC will also enjoy the benefits >of outline fonts, and they will look slightly better than the GCC's >because the outline font technology involved is more advanced. On the >other hand, GCC might catch up with this. All of GCC's printers will be fully compatible with System 7.0. So, you have a choice: Buy a IISC now and wait for 7.0 to get outline fonts, or buy a less-expensive PLP and get outline fonts both now and later... Ken Hancock GCC Technologies Disclaimer: These opinions are my own and do not necessarily (through propbably do) reflect those of GCC Technologies. --- Ken Hancock '90 | E-mail: (BITNET/UUCP/INTERNET) Computer Resource Center Consultant | isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu ------------------------------------+--------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER? I don't get paid enough to worry about disclaimers.