summers@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Macc) (10/28/87)
I am interested in connecting a Nec P6/P7 parallel printer and a MAC II. I have seen ads for a cable that connects from a MAC to parallel printers called the GRAPPLER. I am wondering if anyone is using this product and the quality of output that can be expected. Another option is PrintWorks (from SoftStyle). This has a Nec P6/P7 driver, but in addition I would have to buy a serial to parallel converter (~$80). Are people using the SoftStyle drivers? What quality of output can be expected? What is the print speed? (especially when printing graphics?) Thanks, Cheryl Summers summers@vms.macc.wisc.edu
steve@hpiacla.HP.COM (Steve Witten) (11/12/87)
I bought PrintWorks for my HP ThinkJet. After waiting FOUR MONTHS to get the
correct drivers, they didn't work worth a shit. Some of the numerous
problems:
1. Never did get it to work at 19.2 Kbaud.
2. More often than not, the only output I got was rows and rows of
'?' characters.
3. The print quality was terrible with fonts such as Times and
Helvetica.
4. 'Page Setup' kept screwing up the margins on my documents.
5. Page ejects were never in the right place.
...and on and on. I finally got so pissed off, that I returned PrintWorks to
my local software dealer and got my money back. I went back to using
SoftStyle's JetStart driver. It has less features than PrintWorks but at least
it works.
When I called SoftStyle to complain about it, I was told that I must be doing
something wrong and that all the stuff I was complaining about was tested and
worked fine. Not a terribly polite attitude at all...
Now, I don't know how PrintWorks will work with your printer -- I'm just
relaying my own experiences.
===============================================================================
Steve Witten
Industrial Applications Center {ucbvax, hplabs}!hpda!hpdsla!hpiacla!steve
Hewlett-Packard Co. steve@hpiacla.HP.COM
"Wot's...uh...the deal?"kraut@ut-ngp.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) (11/14/87)
In article <4860002@hpiacla.HP.COM>, steve@hpiacla.HP.COM (Steve Witten) writes: > I bought PrintWorks for my HP ThinkJet. After waiting FOUR MONTHS to get the > correct drivers, they didn't work worth a shit. Some of the numerous > problems: <deleted to save space, go back to read the original article> > When I called SoftStyle to complain about it, I was told that I must be doing > something wrong and that all the stuff I was complaining about was tested and > worked fine. Not a terribly polite attitude at all... Well, I know nothing about product, company, or people involved here, but something strikes me funny here: if SoftStyle is right and it works for them, then I don't see why their attitude should be called "impolite"? Not knowing anything more about how the actual conversation went and if any party was causing it to deteriorate into a shouting match, I'll assume that it stayed polite in tone and that just the outcome of the conversation was dissatisfying to Steve (i.e. they did not (or could not) figure out what the problem was that prevented Steve from getting the desired utility out of the program. Sounds to me the exact situation where the dealer should have been requested to figure the product out and make it work, and if he could not, one should (maybe impolitely) question him why he was selling products he did not know and could not support ....... Now, personally, I am not interested in the particular products in question here (PrintWorks and HP-Thinkjet) and could not care less about the answers to the questions raised, but if I was interested in finding the answer, I would post an article in which I'd describe my hardware and software configuration well, narrate the attempted installation of PrintWorks and how it failed to deliver what was promised in SoftStyle's advertising or manual .... ... and I think it is only reasonable that an attempt be made first to install such a product into a "vanilla" system (i.e. basic hardware and software only) before griping to the net about it .... well, Steve probably did all that, and SoftWorks probably simply could not afford to spend a lot of time to debug an obscure problem over the phone (perhaps they are a very small company, barely making it??!!), and the dealer tried his best and failed to come up with the answers .... ...sometimes things just simply don't work out in such cases ..... ((-: Cheers, (well find a reason for it) ---Werner "I'm glad I made it through another Friday, the 13th" -- kraut@ngp.utexas.edu