[comp.lang.postscript] Color PS *Laser* Printers

adrianho@barkley.berkeley.edu (Adrian J Ho) (03/29/91)

Someone may have asked this before, but it's not in the FAQ and I
didn't need the info till now, so.....

Our lab is planning to purchase a color PS *laser* printer for various
plots and pixel images generated during the course of our CFD
research.  I've been tasked to explore all available products on the
market, but the workstation support people I've talked to don't seem
to know much about this area, and scanning the more recent trade rags
has unearthed quite a bit about ink-jet, thermal-wax and
dye-sublimation, but not a word about *available* laser printers.

Here's a list of requirements for the printer:

	1) >= 300dpi resolution
	2) >= 24-bit color resolution (ie. >= 8-bit each of R,G,B)
	3) Able to handle both transparencies and copy paper

Price is not much of an object, although < $100k would be nice.  Note
that the printer will mostly be used for thesis drafts and impromptu
presentations (the CFD work we do ends up using *lots* of colors).
Rapid in-house turnaround is a must, so taking it to the nearest image
shop is not an option.

I'd appreciate any product suggestions and price quotes.  Observations
from in-house evaluation/use are especially welcome.  Please email any
suggestions to adrianho@barkley.berkeley.edu, and I'll summarize to
the net after a suitable period.

Thanks very much.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adrian Ho, EECS (pronounced "eeks!") Dept.		Phone: (415) 642-5563
UC Berkeley					adrianho@barkley.berkeley.edu
Domain: sesame-street (telly,bigbird,snuffy,oscar,kermit,bert,grover,barkley)

U12570@uicvm.uic.edu (u12570@uicvm.uic.edu) (03/30/91)

In article <ADRIANHO.91Mar28135030@barkley.berkeley.edu>,
adrianho@barkley.berkeley.edu (Adrian J Ho) says:
> ...
>Here's a list of requirements for the printer:
>
>        1) >= 300dpi resolution
>        2) >= 24-bit color resolution (ie. >= 8-bit each of R,G,B)
>        3) Able to handle both transparencies and copy paper
>
>Price is not much of an object, although < $100k would be nice. ...

Take a look at the Colorocs Corporation's CP 4007.
It's a 300dpi, PostScript, 12 seconds per page, *color* laser printer.
It supports serial, parallel, Novell and AppleTalk interfaces.
The Colorocs CP 4007 lists for $30k. [Colorocs Corp. (404) 840-6500]

I can't recall if the printer has an Adobe PostScript controller or not.
The output I have seen, however, is very impressive.

A couple of other (more expensive) alternatives would be the Canon
Color copier with the PostScript front-end, or the Kodak ColorEdge
(industry probe) printer.

Hope this helps...


--- Ed Garay
    University of Illinois at Chicago, Computer Center
    Internet: u12570@uicvm.uic.edu     Bitnet: u12570@uicvm

boyter@bimbo.uucp (Maj Brian Boyter) (03/30/91)

adrianho@barkley.berkeley.edu (Adrian J Ho) writes:
>Here's a list of requirements for the printer:

>	1) >= 300dpi resolution
>	2) >= 24-bit color resolution (ie. >= 8-bit each of R,G,B)
>	3) Able to handle both transparencies and copy paper

>Price is not much of an object, although < $100k would be nice.  Note
>that the printer will mostly be used for thesis drafts and impromptu
>presentations (the CFD work we do ends up using *lots* of colors).

Adrian...
I have seen color prints which came from a color "laser" printer...
The quality was excellent, but the unit cost about $250K (I don't
remember the manufacturer....

Where I work, we are looking at buying a color printer...   Kodak makes
one that is 300 dpi, 8-bit continuous tone, for about $25K...
It is not postscript (I plan to marry it with NewsPrint, from Sun,
to make a pseudo-postscript printer)...   Also, it is not a "laser"
printer; it uses ribbons...   A color ribbon gives 8-bit color, a
black ribbon gives 8-bit grayscale...   I have seen a lot of output
from this printer and it is "photo-quality" (i.e. you really have to
look close to tell that it's not a photo)...

For the purpose you describe (rough draft/quick presentations) the
Kodak printer may fit the bill...

Hope this helps,
Brian


-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
   Maj. Brian A Boyter
   US Army Foreign Science & Technology Center
   Charlottesville, Va 22901                         __
   off: (804)980-7362                              (    )
   home:     973-9440                             {      }
                                                   (    )
   boyter@fstc-chville.army.mil                      ||
                                                     ||
   Just say glow......                       _______<  >_______