JAJZ801@CALSTATE.BITNET (JEFFREY SICHERMAN - CALSTATE LONG BEACH) (06/18/88)
Does anyone have any technical knowledge (or just opinions even) or experience to recommend or criticize Ram expansion boards for the HP Laserjet II from NON--Hewlett Packard origins. In particular, the other day I saw one (Jetware, or something like that, I think) that claimed compatibility and was upgradeable sequentially by adding ram expansion modules to the basic plug-in board (1 Meg). Is it true that to upgrade with HP boards you must replace the whole board with a new one, i.e. no chip adding/swapping or similar scheme ?? Jeff Sicherman JAJZ801@CALSTATE.BITNET
ba@pbhyg.PacBell.COM (Behzad Alavi) (06/30/88)
In article <8806281410.AA12571@brillig.umd.edu> JAJZ801@CALSTATE.BITNET (JEFFREY SICHERMAN - CALSTATE LONG BEACH) writes: > > Does anyone have any technical knowledge (or just opinions even) or >experience to recommend or criticize Ram expansion boards for the >HP Laserjet II from NON--Hewlett Packard origins. In particular, the >other day I saw one (Jetware, or something like that, I think) that >claimed compatibility and was upgradeable sequentially by adding >ram expansion modules to the basic plug-in board (1 Meg). Is it true >that to upgrade with HP boards you must replace the whole board with >a new one, i.e. no chip adding/swapping or similar scheme ?? HP JETWARE PACIFIC DATA PRODUCTS (JET MEMORY) (1-2-4 memory board) ________________ ____________________ ____________________________ $500 1 Meg $300 1 Meg $450 1meg (256k chips) $1000 2 Meg + $300 2 Meg $945 2 Meg (1meg chips) (discard old board) (add to old board) (discard old chips, add new chips to board $2000 4 Meg Not Available $1800 4Meg (1meg chips) add another 2 Meg The above chart should summarize it pretty much. You may want to note that in terms of "bang-for-the-buck", Jet Memory may be best. The reason being that in general you can do all the graphic applications with 2 Meg. In general, you'd need 4 Meg of memory, if you're downloading HUGE softfonts that take up a lot of memory. Asides from that 2 Meg is plenty good for all 300 x 300 graphics. Pac. Data Prod. manufactures the single board that can have any amount of memory on it (yo uset dip switches). In all cases you keep the same board. If you start with 1 Meg, and decide to upgrade to 2 Meg, then you discard the 256K Chips and keep the board. Upgrade from 2 to 4 Meg is done by only adding the chips, and resetting DIP switches. With HP Memory Boards, as you indicated, any upgrade would mean throwing away what you previously had! The board and the whole shebang :-( Prices that I have listed are not accurate, they are only for -- MY OWN -- comparison. Check with the manufacturere, or your dealer for exact prices. pacbell!pbhyg!ba Behzad Alavi, (415) 550-2528
jeg@ptsfa.PacBell.COM (John Girard) (07/04/88)
I personally purchased a Piiceon 1MB board for my personal LJ2 and it has been fine. It was only $320 last December. I got it from Crescent Com Inc. in San Jose (Ryder Ave). Since then I have seen ads for empty boards that can be incrementally populated. That sounds like the best way to go. I don't know anyone who has bought one of them. John Girard
bdale@hpcsd02.HP.COM (Bdale Garbee) (07/06/88)
>Is it true >that to upgrade with HP boards you must replace the whole board with >a new one, i.e. no chip adding/swapping or similar scheme ?? Yes. The boards use surface-mounted RAM. Higher reliability than sockets, lower production costs, etc. When I bought my series II, I didn't worry about it since there's most likely always going to be someone who'll give you fair return for a 1Meg board when you go 4Meg... Bdale, N3EUA disclaimer: I work for HP, but not the printer folks. I bought a laser II for personal use at home, and base my opinion solely on my experience as a customer...