rit@killdeer.Stanford.EDU (Jean-Francois Rit) (06/07/91)
I would like to buy an inexpensive printer that would work with a Macintosh and a Next. A HP Deskwriter (with quickdraw) looks good for the Mac, and a DeskJet with ghostscript fine for the Next. Are those actually different packages for the same basic printer? Are the differences so that the ghostscript Deskjet driver is unsuitable for a "Deskwriter" ? A related question is about the availability of good technical manuals for these printers. J-F Rit
chappell@witchcraft.sf.ca.us (Tom Chappell) (06/13/91)
My understanding is that the two printers have deep fundamental differences in the commands they expect - I called HP about it once, and they said that the DeskWriter and the PaintWriter XL were basically QuickDraw machines, and that the DeskJet and the PaintJet ** weren't **. Obviously, you could write a driver for anything, in fact a Macintosh driver IS available for the PaintJet from HP. There are third-party programs such as MacPrint (ComputerWare, EggHead) that include new drivers that allow the Mac to print to the DeskJet and other "PC" printers. I don't remember HP's reply when I asked them about a technical manual; my dim memory is that they weren't exactly helpful.
bcripe@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com. (Brian E. Cripe) (06/18/91)
It has been 3 years since I worked on HP printers, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. > I would like to buy an inexpensive printer that would work with a > Macintosh and a Next. A HP Deskwriter (with quickdraw) looks good for > the Mac, and a DeskJet with ghostscript fine for the Next. > > Are those actually different packages for the same basic printer? The DeskJet and the DeskWriter are very similar mechanically and somewhat similar electrically -- but the firmware is very different. DeskJet implements PCL III and the DeskWriter is tuned for highspeed graphics-only suitable for a QuickDraw environment. > Are the differences so that the ghostscript Deskjet driver is unsuitable > for a "Deskwriter" ? I suspect the ghostscript driver generates PCL which would completely confuse the DeskWriter. > A related question is about the availability of good technical manuals > for these printers. I don't know the answer to this. Brian Cripe