kamk@SGI.COM (Kam Kashani) (05/09/91)
In a previous posting, gdg2@PO.CWRU.EDU (Gary D. Grayson II) asks for opinions about the NEC Silentwriter 2 Model 90. I just bought one, so here is a brief review. For reference, the the November 13, 1990 edition of PC Magazine reviewed a slew of laser printers, including Apples, HPs, the Panasonics, the NEC 90 and 290, Okidatas, Fujitsu, and many others. I highly recommend this issue because it compares all the printers, describes their features and prices, and shows you sample output. Of particular interest are the grey scale output comparisons. PC Magazine awarded the NEC Model 90 an Editor's Choice. The NEC Silentwriter 2 Model 90 uses a Minolta 6 PPM engine. This makes it faster than most other personal laser printers, although it's slightly slower than the 8PPM machines. PC Magazine ranked it among the fastest PostScript printers for processing and printing graphics. The standard printer comes with 2Mbytes of RAM. Like many printers in its class, it has 35 Adobe PostScript fonts and two HP fonts resident on the printer. The NEC can switch on the fly between HP PCL and PostScript modes, or you can set it to remain in one mode or the other. The Minolta engine looks like it is based on the Canon SX design, and seems simple and straightforward. One potential drawback is that it does not appear to use the standard Cannon SX cartridge, so the cartridges are bound to be more expensive. However, Minolta claims about 8,000 pages per cartridge (at 5% black). This is more than the 3,500 pages from the standard Cannon cartridges. I don't know what percentage of black Cannon uses for their rating. Paper is drawn from the cassette in front of the machine where it travels print-side up past the drum, through the fuser roller, and is then curved up and deposited face-down into a receiving tray on top of the machine. It has a paper input tray with 250 sheet capacity, and accepts letter, legal, and odd-sized paper, as well envelopes. Since I bought the printer two days ago, I've run 150 pages on it with no jams. NEC lists acceptible paper weights as 16 to 41 lbs. To use heavy stock (greater than 24 lbs) and envelopes, NEC recommends the optional face-up tray. I concur with that recommendation. The face-up tray attaches to the back of the printer, and can switch the paper path between face-down and face-up. In face-up mode, the paper path is straight. The Model 90 has built-in serial (DB-25), parallel, and Apple Talk connectors. You configure the printer using a front panel with an LCD display. You can adjust everything from the printer language (PostScript, HP, or Binary Protocol) to the data port and speed from the front panel. The only mechanical adjustment on the printer is a dial that sets how heavy the print looks. Included with the printer are downloadable fonts for both DOS and Macintosh applications, a Setup Guide with large, easy-to-understand pictures and short words ;-), and a User's Guide that is well written, easy to use, and very complete. The User's Guide is so complete that it even offers advice about storing and using paper, and how chemical content, temperature and humidity affect print quality, and a glossary of terms that includes basic typesetting terminology. (Surprisingly, the term "baseline" was missing.) NEC also offers an optional Technical Manual for programming applications for use with the printer. Overall, excellent doc. The unit was easy to set up and get running. I have it connected via the parallel port to a 386 SX running SCO XENIX 2.3.2, and print either in line printer mode or using PostScript from troff. I will soon be trying it with Ventura Publisher under DOS. The print quality is excellent: crisp blacks, and no streaking or specks of toner dust. (Two of the Panasonic 4455i printers I saw demoed had problems with toner dust.) Time will tell how reliable the NEC is. I am saving all the boot-up test pages so that I can gauge how long cartridges last, and when and in what way the printer wears out. - Kam Kashani --------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: These comments are mine and do not reflect the views of Silicon Graphics, Inc. I did not buy this printer for Silicon Graphics, only for my own personal use. --------------------------------------------------------- -- ---- Kameran Kashani