cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (08/04/90)
I asked for comments about the TI microLaser PS a few weeks back. Here
is a summary of the comments I received, both email and posted.
Based on these comments, I intend to buy one.
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Soft Warehouse sells the TI microPS for $1995. The print out I saw looked fine.
I could not tell the difference between the TI and my NTX/II. I am considering
buying one for my consulting business. Where are you located? They Soft
Warehouse has quite a few stores all over the US. In DC call 703-749-4450.
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I'm responding to your query in comp.laser-printers about the TI
microLaser printer. As it happens, I bought the PS17 - it includes
the Times, Helvetica, Helvetica Narrow, and Courier typefaces
(the plain, italic, bold, and bold italic styles of each), as well
the Symbol font. (4*4 + 1 = 17, I guess.) The print quality is
quite good - I can't tell it apart from that produced by Apple's
LaserWriters, which are the only other laser printers I have any real
experience with.
Since I don't use the PostScript fonts very much - most of my output
is notes and preprints of mathematical papers prepared using TeX,
which uses custom raster fonts - the restricted selection on the PS17
doesn't really bother me. The one snag was that the 1.5 megabytes of
memory the printer comes with wasn't quite enough to process pages
generated by TeX which used a lot of different fonts. I hasten to add
that it took a *lot* of 300 dpi raster fonts used by single page to
accomplish this feat, nor have I managed to run out of memory on the
printer in any other way. In any case, I added another megabyte of
memory, which cured the problem. On the whole, I am *very* happy
with the machine.
You also asked about cheap sources for the printer. I shopped around
a lot and ended up buying mine through a store called CompuData in
San Francisco. It's on Folsom Street, near the Moscone Center, but
I don't remember the street number or the phone number off hand. If
you, like I could dig them up for you. At any rate, I bought a
microLaser PS17 with an AppleTalk card for a total of $1906.90,
including California sales tax.
I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, I'd be glad to
answer them if I can.
No, the AppleTalk card was for the printer - by itself, the microLaser
just has a Centronics style parallel port. To use the microLaser with a
Mac (and the LaserWriter driver) you need AppleTalk. The card cost about
$130 out of the $1900, but this was a *very* good price as it usually
retails for c. $250. The $1906.90 for the whole shebang did include
California sales tax.
CompuData, the store I brought the printer from, is at 685 Folsom St. in
San Francisco, but I forget the telephone number.
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I recently purchased a TI microLaser from CompuAdd. They had recently lowered
the prices of the TI line, and the PostScript version went for just under $2K.
I've found it very nice in terms of size, construction, price, and print
quality. Speed is quite acceptable as well. Though rated at 6 pages per
minute, I've clocked it closer to 7 for regular ps text (as generated by
Word for Windows). Also, it has an LCD front panel with loads of user
selectable features (size of print buffer, emulation mode, etc), a Help
key that prints out a couple of sheets showing user configurable options,
and absolutely NO damned cheap pieces of plastic hanging off of it to
break sometime along the way.
The printer uses a Sharp engine rather than the more familiar Cannon.
Thus, the toner cartridges, the developer cartridges, and the optical
drum are replaced individually as they are consumed. It is supposed to
contribute to more economical operation. Toner, anyway, can be bought from
CompuAdd for less than $50. The printer is good enough to let you know when
the useful life of each component is nearing its end.
You may want to take a look at the most recent BYTE. They had a look at
scores of laser printers.
Good luck!
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Thanks to all who responded.
--
Clayton E. Cramer {pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!cramer
"The mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a
favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace
of God." -- Thomas Jefferson