lantz@orc.olivetti.COM (04/14/88)
Several months ago I posted a request for information about high-speed
Postscript printers. I received some input about the following:
Diconix Dijit 1/PS: processor couldn't keep up with print engine;
could print double-sided; 68020-based version rumored
Dataproducts LZR-2665: lots of people have these; some favorable
remarks, but a fair number of complaints about speed (the
BEST reports said 12 ppm with simple pages, whereas MacWEEK
reported a 190% DEGRADATION compared to the LaserWriter Plus
on complicated graphics images... this for a print engine
rated at 26 ppm); several people had problems replacing the
toner
QMS PS2400: "really bad Xerox engine... it gave us constant trouble ...
Avoid if you can"
TI Omnilaser: write-black yields some print-quality problems, but not
overwhelming; prints Scribe "articles" (mostly Roman with some
bold or italic) at 15 ppm, TeX output somewhat slower, complex
graphics a lot slower (but faster than a Laserwriter)
DEC LPS-40: widely acclaimed; Scribe and TeX text output at 30-40 ppm;
complex graphics 2.5 times a LaserWriter; but rather painful
operating environment, networking wise
Based on this information, the TI OmniLaser looked like the best bet at the
time, with the LPS-40 for those to whom price and DECNET expertise are no
object.
However, we've been off fighting other fires and are just getting back to
this one. So I'd appreciate any additional input -- on the above or new
machines. Note that the principal use of this machine will be as a
"lineprinter" (i.e. simple, fixed-width font, for code, mail messages,
etc.), with "technical documents" coming in second, and truly complex
graphics (of the sort typically tested in the trade rags) rather rare.
Thanks in advance, Keith
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Keith A. Lantz Phone: (415) 496-6235
Olivetti Research Center Internet: lantz@orc.olivetti.com, or
2882 Sand Hill Road, Suite 210 lantz%orc.uucp@unix.sri.com
Menlo Park, CA 94025 UUCP: {acornrc,oliveb,sri-unix}!orc!lantz
ted@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA (04/18/88)
>TI Omnilaser: write-black yields some print-quality problems, but not > overwhelming; prints Scribe "articles" (mostly Roman with some > bold or italic) at 15 ppm, TeX output somewhat slower, complex > graphics a lot slower (but faster than a Laserwriter) >Based on this information, the TI OmniLaser looked like the best bet at the >time, with the LPS-40 for those to whom price and DECNET expertise are no >object. > >Keith A. Lantz Phone: (415) 496-6235 The TI Omni-loser eats through OPC belts like crazy. They say that they last for 25,000 pages. What they really mean is 25K revolutions. If you do something really radical like print different pages in one job :) you get 2-3 revs per page. Our OPC life is near 8000 pages. If you buy service for $1295, don't expect anything more than a fix if your printer craps out. They don't do preventative maintenance. The TI guy told me to "read the manual, it tells you how to take care of it". This was when my OPC belt crapped out after 2000 pages when I (carefully) picked up the printer and moved it. Thank goodness we only have one of these. Yes, I know its about the only printer in that price/performance range, but are the headaches worth it? Oh, about the PrintServer 40 installation, it took me an afternoon to install both the Support Host and the Client software. The installation was well documented. I had one minor glitch (a created account wasn't given quota), but it really didn't affect operations (just logging) and DEC support knew the answer right away. Affording the thing is the hard part. These are my opinions, I don't think my employer has any. Ted Ede -- ted@mitre-bedford.arpa -- The MITRE Corporation -- Burlington Road | -- Bedford MA, 01730 -- Mail Stop B015 -- (617) 271-2524 -- | | - this line intentionally left blank - | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
schmidt@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (Christopher Schmidt) (07/08/88)
In addition to the higher-speed Postscript printers you mentioned, namely the Diconix Dijit 1/PS, Dataproducts LZR-2665, QMS PS2400, TI Omnilaser, and DEC LPS-40, I would give serious consideration to the Imagen 3320/5320/6320/7320 product line. We have two Imagen 3320's, both on ethernet, speaking IP/TCP, with the PS upgrade for PostScript. The basic 3320 costs about $20,000 and prints Scribe, TeX, and lineprinter jobs at 20 ppm. The ethernet upgrade costs about $2500. The PS upgrade costs about $5000, I think. (You can probably get a better price by buying the upgrades pre-installed.) The PS interpreter is about 1-4 times as fast as our LaserWriter Plus, depending on the document type (typically 4-16 pages per minute). The print quality (Canon LBP-20) is nicer than a Canon CX, in my opinion, but people who like the bigger spot-size of the CX and SX won't like it as much. The LBP-20 can print on 11" * 17" paper as well as legal and letter. You can spend another $20,000 if you want really fancy paper handling capabilities like duplexing, multiple input and output bins, etc.. We use Columbia's CAP package on a Sun to spool jobs from macintoshes for the 3320's. (This should work for any non-Appletalk PS printer, but the ethernet connection probably gives higher throughput than serial-line connected printers.) A 68020 version of the controller is rumored. Imagen has a consistent history of making upgrades available, so I wouldn't let this rumor cause you to hold off a purchase. --Christopher