regan@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Kenneth Regan) (12/20/89)
The "Pacific Page" is a fairly new ROM cartridge for the HP LJII which interprets PostScript files at about the speed of the Apple LaserWriter Plus (slower than the NT or NTX). It lists for $695 ($200 off is typical), comes with the standard 35 LW+ typefaces, and can accept up to 4 soft fonts /in Bitstream's format/. Therein lies the possible rub(s): (1) I don't know how far the terms "Bitstream format", "Type III", and "(vanilla) Redbook PS fonts" are from being synonymous, and where the TeX fonts fit into the picture. (2) Do TeX dvi2ps implementations all rotate downloads as needed, or do they skirt the issue altogether by including the character information directly in the files? I'm actually most immediately interested in whether the PS fonts that come with my scientific text processor of choice (called T3--it's WYSIWYG and can now generate TeX files), which were created via METAFONT and the RedBook's guidelines, will work with the PacPage; the program's New Mexico creators haven't been able to test this yet. Kenneth W. Regan Assistant Professor Computer Science Dept. (Opinions not < SUNYaB) SUNY at Buffalo, 226 Bell Hall Tel.: (716) 636-3189, -3180 Buffalo, NY 14260 regan@cs.buffalo.edu
rfg@ics.uci.edu (Ron Guilmette) (12/21/89)
In article <15071@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> regan@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Kenneth Regan) writes: >The "Pacific Page" is a fairly new ROM cartridge for the HP LJII which >interprets PostScript files at about the speed of the Apple LaserWriter Plus >(slower than the NT or NTX). It lists for $695 ($200 off is typical), >comes with the standard 35 LW+ typefaces, and can accept up to 4 soft fonts >/in Bitstream's format/. Therein lies the possible rub(s): I was asking about the combination of TeX+dvi2ps+PacificPage+HP/LJ2p here awhile ago also. I was informed by several people that I *could* spend that extra $695, but that it is probably unnecessary. Rather, several people suggested that I should just get the dvi2lj that is available somewhere/somehow (probably via anonymous FTP from science.utah.edu). Since TeX comes with its own fonts, why buy more in a cartridge? I was also informed that the 1 or 2 megabyte memory upgrade that the Pacific Page flyer recommends is also (most probably) unnecessary. Some people told me that the standard 1/2 MB in the HP/LJ2p will generally be sufficient for most work where you only use a couple of fonts per page. Note however that while I have taken the advice of *not* buying the PacificPage or the extra memory, I also have yet to purchase the HP/LJ2p! I just haven't gotten 'round to it yet. Thus, I cannot say with complete certainty that TeX+dvi2lj+HP/LJ2p works. I have also not yet had the time to port TeX and dvi2lj to my current system (a recently introduced RISC workstation). I have taken note however of the fact that there have been occasional reports here of various glitches when using dvi2lj. I believe that some of these have been attributed to minor differences between the various models of the HP LaserJets. (Note: the IIp is the newest and most inexpensive one, and I don't believe that I've seen anybody say here whether or not they have gotten TeX+dvi2lj+HP/LJ2p working reliably.) Can anyone reading this posting comment on (a) the availability of (various versions of?) dvi2lj, and (b) the reliability of that particular driver and its current state (i.e. are there patches available that might be needed or useful), and (c) the operation (successful or otherwise) of the combination of TeX+dvi2lj+HP/LJ2p. I, for one, am particularly interested in the IIp specifically. // rfg
steved@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu (Steve Dempsey) (12/23/89)
In answer to the question posed in the subject line, yes PacificPage prints TeX/dvi files using dvi2ps. I did not test it extensively so the 4 font limit may still be suspect. But dvi2lj produces equally good output, is faster, and works with the standard 512K memory. In article <258FF596.1429@paris.ics.uci.edu>, rfg@ics.uci.edu (Ron Guilmette) writes: > In article <15071@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> regan@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Kenneth Regan) writes: > >The "Pacific Page" is a fairly new ROM cartridge for the HP LJII which > >interprets PostScript files at about the speed of the Apple LaserWriter Plus > >(slower than the NT or NTX). It lists for $695 ($200 off is typical), > >comes with the standard 35 LW+ typefaces, and can accept up to 4 soft fonts > >/in Bitstream's format/. Therein lies the possible rub(s): > > I was asking about the combination of TeX+dvi2ps+PacificPage+HP/LJ2p here > awhile ago also. > [stuff deleted] > > Can anyone reading this posting comment on (a) the availability of > (various versions of?) dvi2lj, and (b) the reliability of that particular > driver and its current state (i.e. are there patches available that might > be needed or useful), and (c) the operation (successful or otherwise) of > the combination of TeX+dvi2lj+HP/LJ2p. > > I, for one, am particularly interested in the IIp specifically. I have used the following hardware: LaserJet+ DeskJet+ w/256K memory upgrade LaserJetII w/ & w/o 2M memory upgrade LaserJetIIp w/ & w/o 2M memory upgrade LaserJetII w/PacificPage All of these have been connected to large hosts (VAX780) or workstations (VS2000). TeX+dvi2lj/dvidsk (Beebe & HP) works fine with all of them, even w/o memory upgrades (except DJ+). Even 8-10 fonts/page usually works OK because only the needed characters are downloaded rather than the entire font. More memory gives you more room for fonts and full-page raster graphics. We have not fully explored the multiple source capabilities of any of the dvi2lj filters (\special) and use only TeX, LaTeX, and [di]troff/pic/tbl/eqn. Some desperate users feed pages two or three times to overlay images, but most of the folks wanting fancy diagrams and WYSIWYG use Mac's. We don't yet have a very high demand for PS so I don't have much to compare with. PacificPage is OK for the occasional PS document and the output looks just like it came from a LaserWriter(no +). Seems to be about 80% as fast as the LW. I have yet to find a way to make it toggle between PS and PCL mode from an lpd output filter [anyone been successful with this?]. The thing takes 30-40 seconds to reset after each mode switch. This makes for utter chaos in the spooled environment. It would probably be OK on a single-user machine. BTW, the latest issue of _Byte_ has a fair review of PacificPage. The LJIIp seems to be 100% compatible with the LJII at 1/2 the speed. Transfer rates are identical; just the paper feed mechanism runs slower. Until we know how well it stands up to heavy [ab]use (avg. 400 pages/day), we'll continue to use LJII's in the labs. For the guys who want their own printer on a workstation and don't need PS, the IIp is a bargain. My recommendation would be a IIp for light duty printing of plain text and TeX/dvi output. But if you're going to do lots of PostScript, probably better to go for a real PS printer instead of LJII+memory+PacificPage. Steve Dempsey, Center for Computer Assisted Engineering Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 +1 303 491 0630 INET: steved@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu, dempsey@handel.CS.ColoState.Edu UUCP: boulder!ccncsu!longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu!steved, ...!ncar!handel!dempsey