manly@UMASS.BITNET (07/01/87)
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Hello everyone. Well, I have done some more research since my last message
asking about low cost high volume laser printers.
At this point the choices we are seriously considering are the Talaris 1500
and the Imagen 3320. In general, the Imagen looks like a win accross the
board, except that it is considerably more expensive than the Talaris.
(about $22K vs. $15K including TeX support and symbiont.) I would appreciate
hearing from anyone who is using either of these machines. In particular
I am interested in the following:
-- How is the TeX support? Is anyone using the internal fonts with TeX?
(Like LUCIDA with the Imagen or BITSTREAM WP with the Talaris.)
-- Does the symbiont count pages correctly most of the time? What about when
sending Tektronix data (most symbionts don't seem do deal well with this.)
-- Is anyone running either of these printers over a DMF-32 LP parallel port?
Is this a serious win in terms of speed or functionality (e.g. is it faster
and do you get offline messages on the console?)
For those who are wondering, we are no longer considering the QMS 1500 or the
HP 2000 because a) there are no symbionts available for them so there is no way
they can be counting pages correctly, and b) neither has any host font
management software available.
One other reason the Imagen looks very good for us is that the TeX driver and
symbiont software are by Kellerman and Smith, who also produce the LN03 driver
software, which means they will read both PK and GF files, and will have
similar and consistant command formats. But, (ouch!) the money!
BITNET: JWMANLY@AMHERST - John W. Manly
PHONE: (413)-542-2526 System Manager
Academic Computer Center
Amherst College
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