corwin@polari.UUCP (10/12/89)
I have recently acquired an OLD HP laser printer, weighing about the same as a yugo. It came with no docs, I called HP and they informed me that it used to be attached to a HP3000 workstation, but they had no information that they could give me and no old docs to ship me. I would like to hook this pringer to my pc, can any one out there tell me about this printer? It is labled model 2683A and has a Ricoh egine in it. According to the serial number plate it was manufactured in 1985. Thanx in advance.
rjn@HPFCSO.HP.COM (Bob Niland) (10/15/89)
re: > I have recently acquired an OLD HP laser printer...
> It is labled model 2683A and has a Ricoh egine in it.
The 2683A was just the print engine. What controller is present?
If none,
then you have a Ricoh print engine with an essentially undocumented
video interface.
If a 26087A controller, (4x10x14-inch companion module)
then you have a 2687A product. The host interface is RS-232C, and the
command language is a primitive subset of HP's Printer Command Language.
If we consider the original LaserJet to be PCL-3, the 2687A is "PCL-0".
No graphics, no font download, very little page control. Font cartridges
were available at one time.
If a 26088A controller, (massive board set built into companion table)
then you have a 2688A product. The host interface is HP-IB, and the
command protocol and language is "DCS", only ever used on the 2688A and
2680A, and only ever fully supported on the HP3000 MPE operating system.
Having been root on a system which partially supported a 2688A, I should
caution you that the Ricoh print engine consumables (esp. the OCR belt) are
very expensive compared to LaserJet toner cartridges. Also, should the
laser fail, you have to buy a complete $3500 subassembly to replace it.
Regards, Hewlett-Packard
Bob Niland rjn%hpfcrjn@hplabs.HP.COM 3404 East Harmony Road
[hplabs|hpu...!hpfcse]!rjn Ft Collins CO 80525-9599