roberth@microsoft.UUCP (Robert Hess) (10/25/89)
Regarding the Pacific Page PostScript cartridge for HP LaserJet printers:
Since there have been a couple posting questing for information, and
I've been curious myself, the following article caught my eye, and I
thought the information within might be of general interest.
[The following is from PCWeek, October 23, 1989, pp.9]
_________________________________________________________________________
/ The Corprate Micro \
Different Plug-in Options for Different PostScript Users
by Jim Seymore
...
I mentioned a month ago that I'd been working with Pacific Data's new
$695 PacificPage plug-in PostScript emulator. And I promised a full
report.
...
The PostScript emulation is crisp and accurate; it comes from Phoenix,
which became famous for the first reliable IBM PC BIOS-emulation
chips, around which many of the best PC clones have been built.
The only serious shortcoming of the PacificPage catridge is that it's
s-l-o-w. In many tests I've run, it's about four times slower then an
Apple LaserWriter NT - the usual speed benchmark for PostScript
printers. In other tests it's been 50 times slower.
The difference? It depends on how complicated your pages are.
For simple business correspondence, using one of the built-in
Adobe-compatible fonts, the LaserJet/PacificPage combination is
usually three to six times slower than a LaserWriter.
But with complicated PageMaker output, count on 15 to 20 minutes for
that first page - [ouch! - RBH] and sometimes even longer.
...
Finally, HP will introduce its own PostScript cartridge soon, but it
works only with LaserJet IIDs and later models.
My suggestion: If your need for PostScript is real but infrequent,
give PacificPage a try.
...
\_______________________________________________________________________/
-Robert
__________________________________________________________________________
##### ####### | Robert B. Hess, Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA
###### ####### |-----------------------------------------------------
####### ####### | roberth@microsof.uu.net
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