fayne@tellab5.TELLABS.COM (Jeffrey Fayne) (12/14/89)
I am interested in purchasing a HP LJ IIP to replace my aging dot-matrix
and daisy wheel printers, but have a few questions regarding the LJ II series.
1) Everything I've read about the IIP claims it's identical to the
II except for the page-per-minute output. In fact InfoWorld gave
the IIP a higher rating than the II due to the fact the IIP gives
you extra fonts (actually the same amount of fonts, but extra in
the fact that they are rotatable). Are these claims correct?
I plan on using the IIP at home so the ppm rating doesn't bother me.
Am I really getting a II albeit at a slower speed ?
2) Why didn't HP allow for Proprinter/Epson emulation in the II ? What
is necessary to allow my PC to do Epson compatible graphics (ie
graphics mode screen dumps)?
3) What does it take to do Postscript emulation. Can I use postscript
compatible programs and features on the LJ with this capability?
4) Are these 3rd party "multi-font" cartridges all they are cracked up
to be ? Any recommendations on which ones are the best?
5) Im starting to see public domain/shareware LJ fonts becoming
available. What does it take to download these soft-fonts to the
LJ.
6) How is the LJ memory upgradable? Memory board or just by adding
addition RAM chips ? Considering the above factors how much memory
should I consider having (considering I do graphics, would like to
one or two softfonts resident and would like to do Proprinter
emulation)?
I know many of these questions are based on generalities but any help
would be appreciated!
Jeff
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_____________________________________________________________________________
F-14 \ _ / | Jeffrey M. Fayne
Tomcat \ /^ ^\ / | Tellabs, Inc.
____________\_( . )_/____________ | Lisle, IL (708)-512-7726
--*/--|_| (___) |_|--\*-- | fayne@tellab5.UUCP
* O O * | Standard Disclaimer Applies
_____________________________________________________________________________chuck@Morgan.COM (Chuck Ocheret) (12/29/89)
To everyone who has a justifiable opinion on the subject, please e-mail directly to me what you feel is the best price/performance PostScript laser printer for a Unix network (w/ Transcript). I am slightly more concerned about performance than price. But I cannot afford a top of the line typesetter. I am currently only familiar with some QMS models (1500 and 2200). The 2200 is faster but has a paper tray which jams a lot and is less convenient than the 1500. I will summarize responses. Flames of specific models are welcome as well. Please hurry, Charles?A:Ocheret -- +------------------+ Chuck Ocheret, Sr. Staff Engineer +-----------------+ | chuck@Morgan.COM | Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. | (212) 703-4474 | | Duty now ... |19th Floor, 1251 Avenue of the Americas| for the future. | +------------------+ New York, N.Y. 10020 USA +-----------------+
geof@SMILEY.STANFORD.EDU (Geof Cooper) (12/29/89)
In article <8912262206.AA05615@crayola.cs.UMD.EDU> fayne@tellab5.TELLABS.COM (Jeffrey Fayne) writes: > Am I really getting a II albeit at a slower speed ? Yes. In fact, the IIP implements some interesting PCL commands that are not present in the older 'II. I played with one for a while, and it is great. > > 2) Why didn't HP allow for Proprinter/Epson emulation in the II ? What > is necessary to allow my PC to do Epson compatible graphics (ie > graphics mode screen dumps)? Need to translate to PCL (LJ language). There is a probably a shareware package to do this. More probably your existing application already knows about the LJ. > > 3) What does it take to do Postscript emulation. Can I use postscript > compatible programs and features on the LJ with this capability? There are three ways to do this on a II, two of which work on a IIP. The thing you CAN'T do is buy a PC plug-in card like the QMS JetScript to upgrade. There is no video interface to the IIP's marking engine. The alternatives left are: [1] Wait and buy the HP cartridge product when available. This will convert the machine (which must be loaded with memory, don't forget that cost) to be a PS printer, Adobe (TM). I'm sure it will work great, but the speed will not be great, since it uses the existing 8-10MHz 68000 that is in the IIP. The cost brings the total price of the printer up to overlap with the lowest cost postscript printers, too. [2] Use a software RIP. There are at least three products that run under DOS that process PS files and print them on the LaserJet: - QMS UltraScript PC - Freedom of the Press - GoScript Two of these start at about $200. QMS UltraScript PC has the added feature that it knows about the LaserJet IIP specifically, and sends compressed bitmaps to it instead of fully-expanded ones. This can improve speed quite a bit. I am biased to that one since I worked on it. It will take about 1.5 minutes per page to print, allowing 1 minutes for processing and .5 minutes for printing. The others will take about 3 minutes, since uncompressed bitmaps take about 2 min/page. Your mileage may vary, and the other guys will eventually figure out the IIP. This approach requires that you buy a memory upgrade for the LJ. - Geof
ries@VENICE.SEDD.TRW.COM (Marc Ries) (01/03/90)
In article <8912262206.AA05615@crayola.cs.UMD.EDU> fayne@tellab5.TELLABS.COM (Jeffrey Fayne) writes:
->I am interested in purchasing a HP LJ IIP to replace my aging dot-matrix
->and daisy wheel printers, but have a few questions regarding the LJ II series.
->
I was too. That's why I decided to purchase an HP IIP.
-> 1) Everything I've read about the IIP claims it's identical to the
-> II except for the page-per-minute output. In fact InfoWorld gave
-> the IIP a higher rating than the II due to the fact the IIP gives
-> you extra fonts (actually the same amount of fonts, but extra in
-> the fact that they are rotatable). Are these claims correct?
-> I plan on using the IIP at home so the ppm rating doesn't bother me.
-> Am I really getting a II albeit at a slower speed ?
Yes the fonts are rotatable. I have been using the IIP for about two
weeks (mostly w/AMI Professional under MS Windows/286). So far everthing
seems to be a-ok... the print quality is GREAT. Yes, it's slow (for
graphics, but so what, so my computer.) Get a laser print spooler like
Laser Torqz.
-> 2) Why didn't HP allow for Proprinter/Epson emulation in the II ? What
-> is necessary to allow my PC to do Epson compatible graphics (ie
-> graphics mode screen dumps)?
Probably because it would have raised the price (I paid $950w/toner) or
that HP wasn't into supporting "Epson" PCL. There is at least one PD/
shareware program that attempts (I haven't tried it) the epson to
hp conversion (called ibm2hp).
-> 3) What does it take to do Postscript emulation. Can I use postscript
-> compatible programs and features on the LJ with this capability?
Cheapest is with one of the PostScript interpreters like UltraScript,
Freedom of the Press, GoScript, etc. They do work. A PS "cartridge"
is also a possible choice.
-> 4) Are these 3rd party "multi-font" cartridges all they are cracked up
-> to be ? Any recommendations on which ones are the best?
That's one of the reasons I decided to go with HP vs. one of the many
"look-a-likes" because I wanted TO BE SURE the carts, etc., would work.
Some of the clones do not like all of the possible HP compatible carts.
Note that the IIP only has one cart slot.
-> 5) Im starting to see public domain/shareware LJ fonts becoming
-> available. What does it take to download these soft-fonts to the
-> LJ.
First. FTP 8-)
Then, you can code the download directly in PCL or via PD or $$$ programs
that will do it for you, or via an interface like Windows.
Some programs like SoftCraft's WYSIFonts can also create the "screen"
fonts (ie, for Windows) for the .spf printer fonts.
-> 6) How is the LJ memory upgradable? Memory board or just by adding
-> addition RAM chips ? Considering the above factors how much memory
-> should I consider having (considering I do graphics, would like to
-> one or two softfonts resident and would like to do Proprinter
-> emulation)?
With the base 512K, you can probably print with several 8 to 14+ point
softfonts w/o a problem. The larger the font, the more memory is <typically>
used. Most of the Postscript interpreters need a minimum of 1MB of
memory, while the Pacific Data PS Cart requires 2.5MB. Economically,
the 2MB add-on board seems to make the most sense. Street prices look to
be about $400+/- for a non-HP 2MB add-on board.
-> I know many of these questions are based on generalities but any help
-> would be appreciated!
No problem.
--
Marc Ries
ries@venice.sedd.trw.com (ARPA)
somewhere!trwind!venice!ries (UUCP)
#include <std.disclaimer>