ajw@watson.hf.intel.com (Alan Waldock) (04/03/91)
In article <1991Mar20.164937.20433@intelhf.hf.intel.com> I wrote: >I'm looking to buy a laser printer, and would like to be able >to hook it not only to my [Atari] 1040ST but also to an [IBM] AT-class machine. > >I need a postscript capability. > >My budget starts getting a bit tight around the $3000 mark. I promised I'd summarize. Three people took the time to respond - thanks to them all. Perhaps slightly on the downside, they between them discussed seven different printers, none of them overlapping. In the expectation that others are interested, I'm reprinting their replies more or less in full (edited only cosmetically). BTW, I opted eventually for the HP LaserJet III. Bill Sheppard -- bills@microware.com -- had three suggestions: ================================================================= 1) Panasonic (unsure of model number, but non-Postscript is under $1000, Postscript around $1800). This appears to be a great buy - 8 or 11ppm, most major emulations, good paper handling, excellent price, and I consider Panasonic to be a premier printer maker these days. 2) Texas Instuments Microlaser something-or-other. TI has always had good laser printers, and this one is very reasonably priced - should be under $2000 street price. Maybe a bit harder to find than the Panasonic. 3) (Suprisingly) IBM. They have both 5ppm and 10ppm models, pick whichever you prefer. To add Postscript is something like a $300 option, so the net street price on the slower model shouldn't be above $1800. You may want to research the page generation speed (how long it takes it to process a graphics page) versus #1 and #2...since Postscript is an add-on it may be slower. The paper handling and size are very good on this printer, and of course you needn't worry about support... mjv@brownvm.brown.edu (Marshall Vale) wrote: ============================================ Unfortunately, you didn't say what you are probably going to use it for (wp, dtp, graphics etc.) so I'll just give you so general thoughts. I personally have a Hp LaserJet III hooked up to a Mega4 and a MacII. I got the LJ3 mostly for its upgradeability and its resolution enhancement. It works well [in] that environment [...] only needing a few buttons pushed to switch between the two. The LJ3 costs about $1700 and with true Adobe PS costing another $600 (plus some more memory, say another $200). These prices are what you would probably pay from a dealer. Another printer to look at is the NEC SilentWriter2 L-90. This is a true PostScript printer with all the ports (serial,parallel,Appletalk). It runs on a 16Mhz 68000 so it is fairly fast. I can't remember if it includes HP-PCL emulation. You can find this for $1600 on the street. Only disadvantage is that it doesn't use a Canon engine so toner cartridges might be a bit harder to find (than Canons). The other printer to take a look at is the QMS PS-410. It has nice emulation switching capabilities (senses if it is HP or PS) and recognizes the [input port]. The 410 runs on a 16Mhz 68020 so it really screams when you are doing graphics. There have been some negative postings about this printer on the [comp.laser-printers] news group but they are mostly in large network environments. Supposedly, a new rom upgrade is soon to be available to cure many of its problems. This printer goes for about $2000. And last but not least, laird@think.com (Laird Popkin): ======================================================= I can recommend GCC Technologies' BLP II and BLP IIS. For $1999 list the BLP II is a 4 ppm printer, with 2 Mb RAM expandable to 4 Mb by plugging in off-the-shelf SIMMs. It also has a SCSI port for attaching a hard drive for font downloading and precomputing. The BLP IIS, for $2899, is an 8 ppm printer with the same features. Both printers are based on an LED engine, so instead of a laser beam with lenses and a rotating mirror they've got a row of LED's drawing staight onto the drum. Very nice, clean design, and the output quality is excellent. The only drawback is that the printers come standard with only a LocalTalk interface, so you would either need to add LocalTalk to your PC and ST (PromiseLAN, anyone?) or add the serial and parallel interface option to the printer ($100 or so). You can contact GCC Technologies at 800/422-7777. -- Alan Waldock, from but not on behalf of Intel Corporation ajw@watson.hf.intel.com ...uunet!intelhf!watson!ajw