paul@cgh.UUCP (Paul Homchick) (01/07/90)
I am thinking of getting a NeXT cube, but the NeXT laser printer
doesn't look like a particularly good buy because it requires a cube
to be attached to it, and I have seen reports of serious CPU loading
while the bit-map is generated and then sent to the printer. Further,
the NeXT only has five of the thirty-five fonts that you usually see in
a postscript printer. So, I have decided to buy an 'ordinary'
postscript laser printer to go with it.
The candidates (selected primarily on a basis of cost) are the NEC
LC-890, the QMS 800, and the QMS 800 II (the QMS printers are currently
available from a surplus house). There is a NEC at the office, so I am
familiar with that, but the QMS printers are a mystery. Can someone
comment on the difference between the 800 and the 800II and provide any
caveats or praise?
Thanks!
--
Paul Homchick :UUCP {rutgers | uunet} !cbmvax!cgh!paul
Chimitt Gilman Homchick, Inc. :Internet cgh!paul@manta.pha.pa.us
259 Radnor-Chester Rd, Suite 140 :MCI PHOMCHICK
Radnor, PA 19087-5299 :GEnie HOMCHICKwoody@rpp386.cactus.org (Woodrow Baker) (01/07/90)
In article <1064@cgh.UUCP>, paul@cgh.UUCP (Paul Homchick) writes: > I am thinking of getting a NeXT cube, but the NeXT laser printer > doesn't look like a particularly good buy because it requires a cube > I have decided to buy an 'ordinary' > postscript laser printer to go with it. > > The candidates (selected primarily on a basis of cost) are the NEC > LC-890, the QMS 800, and the QMS 800 II (the QMS printers are currently > available from a surplus house). There is a NEC at the office, so I am > familiar with that, but the QMS printers are a mystery. Can someone > comment on the difference between the 800 and the 800II and provide any > caveats or praise? First, I'd like to know what surplus house and what price. As for the d diffrences, there are many. Since I sold and supported QMS printers for 2 years, here goes. The PS-800 and the PS-800II are postscript printers. the QMS 800 and QMS 800II are not. I won a statebid over that subtle distinction, so make sure of which it is. The PS-800 is a 12Mhz 68000 controller, and the 800 II is a 16 Mhz controller if my memory serves me. The 800 II is a dual bin unit, with all 35 fonts. The ps-800 has 13 fonts. the PS-800+ has 35 fonts. The PS-JET has 13 fonts and the PS-JET+ has 35 fonts. They all have 2 mb of memory. The ps-jet is the PS-800, with a diffrent decal. Neither of them has a paralell port. The 800 II has hp laserjet and hp hplotter graphics emulatoions. The are super printers. They are based on the CX engine, which isno longer made. It is a rugged reliable engine, and with care it's cartridges can be reloaded 8-12 times. The sx has an abrasive toner, so 3 reloads is about it for a cartridge. The major drawback for the CX engines, is the washed out gray that solid black comes out as. The SX fixed that problem. HOWEVER, reload toners have also fixed the problem on the CX engine. The technical reasons have to do with toner particle size, and the static electrical characteristics of the toner. With reload toners, you can get the same nice blacks as the SX, and much more economicaly. The NEC 890 is a LED printer. It is not a laser. It has some advantages, and some disadvantages. An advantage, is that if one LED goes out, you only lose a single pixel line down the page. If the laser goes, your page goes. It's disadvantage is that it is a white writer vs a blackwriter. The distinction is subtle, but important. Conceptually, when a white writer hits the drum, it "removes" toner, a black writer "deposits" toner. What it means in techinical terms, is the charges are handled diffrently on the drum and the toner. What it means practicaly, is that white writers have intense dark solid blacks, where black writers don't have such solid black, except for the sx and using reloaded CX carts. It also means that below 8 points, the white writer breaks up, and the black writer doesnot. IT also means that on a white writer, lines are thinner than 1/300 inch for a pixel, and tend to break up. In order to understand this, consider that a led or laser produces a circular spot, rather than a square spot. This means that you have to try to fit the circular dot into a square. There are 3 basic ways to do this. 1. make the dot be entirely enclosed by the square, such that the dot touches the INSIDE edges of the square, 2. make the SQUARE be completely enclosed by the dot, or 3. Compromise, and make the spot bulge outside of the squares sides, but stay in the corners. For both classes of machines choice 1 is clearely out of the question. If you will take a piece of graph paper, and draw a row of dots of type 1 on it, then drop down 1 row and repeat it, you will notice LARGE diamond shaped spots between the dots. On a white writer, these would be black, on a blackwriter these would be white. The blackwriter would have white lines in the black areas, the white writer would have black streaks all over the page. Black writers use choice 2. It is a fair compromize. The problem, however is the fact that there are still small diamonds causeing white lines through the black spots. This is what gives the CX engine it's washed out black. The SX engine cured that problem by changing the size of the toner, the electrical characteristics of the toner and by fuzzing the spot size a tad. The result, was that there is enough charge in the white diamonds, to cause the toner to adequately bridge them. The new reload toners for the CX are finer, and more energetic, and cover better. The problem with the black writers is exactly the opposite. Again take your graph paper and draw a row of style 3 dots. That is, dots that encompass the squares completely. Now SKIP a row (the black row), and do another row of dots. Looking at the black row, you will see that the large white dots "nibble" into the edges of the row, thus reducing the width of the line. With type under 8 points, and especialy with things like times-roman, where the tops of the o's and c's are real thin, you will find that the toner does not adhere, but breaks off, or never collects there. This you have broken letters, washedout grayscreens, and non-uniform single pixel lines. If you don't need fine detail, for example if you are generating silk screen masks, then it problably is not a problem. If however, you are doing any normal kinds of text work, it will be a serious problem. All richoh engines i.e. the TI, etc, the Hitiachi, the NEC and nearly all other non-canon engines are white writers. I don't realy know why. They all produce inferior print details to a black writer. I' would go for a blackwriter. The NEC is nice, but it is also a black writer. Under a magnifiyng glass it's printout is of pretty poor quality compared to the canon engines. Cheers Woody a > Thanks! > -- > Paul Homchick :UUCP {rutgers | uunet} !cbmvax!cgh!paul > Chimitt Gilman Homchick, Inc. :Internet cgh!paul@manta.pha.pa.us > 259 Radnor-Chester Rd, Suite 140 :MCI PHOMCHICK > Radnor, PA 19087-5299 :GEnie HOMCHICK
jgreely@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely) (01/08/90)
In article <1064@cgh.UUCP> paul@cgh.UUCP (Paul Homchick) writes: >I am thinking of getting a NeXT cube, but the NeXT laser printer >doesn't look like a particularly good buy because it requires a cube >to be attached to it, and I have seen reports of serious CPU loading >while the bit-map is generated and then sent to the printer. Not quite true. The printer doesn't cause load problems so much as it freezes the window system. You still can't do much during complex imaging, but running jobs won't slow down much. I'm told that upgrading to 12 meg of RAM pretty much solves this problem. >Further, the NeXT only has five of the thirty-five fonts that you >usually see in a postscript printer. So, I have decided to buy an >'ordinary' postscript laser printer to go with it. Adobe will sell you the "LaserWriter Plus" set for $395, which will give you the screen fonts as well as the outlines. Buying an ordinary PS printer won't allow you to preview documents that contain those fonts (and if there's one thing a NeXT is good for, it's a PostScript previewer). Also, is the better resolution of the NextLaser not a consideration for you? (aside to Woody: your summary of the QMS printers looked interesting, but I have a rule about not reading paragraphs longer than my screen) -- J Greely (jgreely@cis.ohio-state.edu; osu-cis!jgreely)
paul@cgh.UUCP (Paul Homchick) (01/09/90)
Thanks for the info... The QMS printers are available from:
International Materials Exchange
1340 Soldiers Field Road
Boston MA 02135
Phone: (617) 254-1700
Prices are: PS-800 $1,995, and PS-800II $2,595. IME reports
that these machines are direct from QMS as a model closeout.
As to the 400dpi resolution of the cube printer, my applications
will be mostly text, and it has been my experience that the
extra resolution is more important for images. Besides, the
NeXT printer seems expensive for what you get. It can ONLY
be used with a NeXT. Supplies are another potential problem.
Does anyone know what kind of cartridge the NeXT uses?
--
Paul Homchick :UUCP {rutgers | uunet} !cbmvax!cgh!paul
Chimitt Gilman Homchick, Inc. :Internet cgh!paul@manta.pha.pa.us
259 Radnor-Chester Rd, Suite 140 :MCI PHOMCHICK
Radnor, PA 19087-5299 :GEnie HOMCHICK