rs4u#@ANDREW.CMU.EDU (Richard Siegel) (11/20/86)
There exists software to drive a LaserJet with a Macintosh. It's called LaserStart, and it's sold by a company called SoftStyle, and you should be able to get it just about anywhere. The LaserJet will serve quite nicely to print out letter-quality printout, just as it does with your father's XT. However, the LaserJet simply doesn't have the horsepower (processor, memory, graphics language) to give the same beautiful output that a LaserWriter does. In fact, the LaserWriter is the <<only>> printer in its price class that offers that quality of WYSIWYG output. The LaserJet can only handle a little less than a half-page of bitmapped graphics, and fonts are supplied via cartridges; I'm not all that familiar with the details.... Basically, you can connect the LaserJet to the Macintosh, and it'll be fine for technical documents, just as it is with an XT. However, for really good stuff, nothing beats a Macintosh and a LaserWriter... I would recommend getting the Macintosh and an ImageWriter II, if nothing else. Or even just the Macintosh, and have a print service do the rest... Good luck! --Rich