news@sun.uucp (news) (08/06/87)
Follow-up information on the NEC LC-890
Although the engine of this printer has been used for more than
two years in Europe and seems to have been received very well,
the LC-890 with Postscript is slow to getting to market. It was
supposed to be available in June to distributors. NEC now states
that the product IS released but won't be generally available
until November. Local sources say some large chains have
purchased production supplies until then. For little companies -
like my own - that need to resell the printer this is bad
news.
What else is on the front? Well, the ITT Qume (10ppm) ScriptTEN
is due on in a 3Mbyte configuration in a few weeks (but I
told you that about the LC-890, right!) with a 2Mbyte (why???)
version due out in September. The ScriptTEN uses a Hitachi
print engine. Also the AST TurboPS with a list of only $3995
is due out September 1, 1987.
It really seems as if, right now - TODAY, there are just not any
decent Postscript printers for the mass consumer market. The
Apple Laserwriter is a tried and true printer - but that's one
of the attributes that make it unappealing. The cannon LBX engine
it uses is slow - as is its 68000 controller. Granted, the
new crop of low-priced consumer PS printers (AST, NEC, ITT) will
all use the 68000 they should still perform better with their
extended memories and faster print engines.
Looking to higher resolution devices we see several new and
exciting PS printers. Look to Varityper for their 600dpi
printer. In the neighborhood of $17000 - this printer uses
a 68020 and some 4 Mbytes of RAM (and a 20Mbyte HD) to provide
printing speeds from 2 to 5 times faster than the Laserwriter Plus -
even though the amount of data has doubled (this according
to company specs).
Printware, Inc. will soon release their 720IQ Postscript *clone*
printer with a resolution of 1200x600. This printer will be using
fonts made by BitStream (they make the EXCELLENT HP Laserjet+
Softfonts) of Boston with character widths conforming to Adobe
fonts. This $17000+ printer uses a proprietary print engine
whose background started with research by 3M several years ago.
A laser is the marking instrument (as opposed to a fixed array
of LEDs in the LC-890).
I'll send out more stuff to the net when it become available
to me. I'd really like to get the LC-890 in-house for our
own work and for resale and will let you know about availability
in a few weeks. I may be able to get one through the back-door.
David Geller
Electric Logic, Inc.
Washington, D.C.
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