LBAFRIN%clemson.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa (01/16/86)
Howdy, fellow netlandians. I need some quick feedback from the field on
the performance (speed- and print-quality-wise), *reliability*, and
expected maintenance costs for *heavy-duty* letter quality printers, the
kind you would have *no* qualms about using to handle the printing of
many thousands of letters *each week*. My off-the-cuff analysis says
that ink-jet technology is out (the print image isn't high enough quality),
but if somebody knows something I don't, I'd still like to hear about it.
Laser technology is still in the running, but I have to have print quality
equal to the finest daisy wheel printers. At the moment, daisy wheel
technology is at the head of my list. I need at least 80 cps out of a daisy
wheel, with a print head and (probably metal) wheel that can really "go the
distance" in terms of not breaking down or just being plain worn out. Tractor
feed is almost a must (note "almost" -- that's not "absolute"). (Are there
any laser printers yet that handle a tractor feed?)
The local ComputerLand has a 90cps daisy wheel made by a company called
Primage. With sheet feeder and tractor it's $2200. Based on the demo,
(i.e., looking at the construction, listening to it print, "gut feelings"),
I'm not sure it can handle the load. Does anyone know anything about this
model? (The salesman says we'd have to replace the print head for $20 after
every 10,000 letters, probably, not to mention the plastic print wheels.)
So if you've got personal experience (or know someone with personal
experience) with a *high-speed*, *heavy-duty*, letter-quality printer, now
is the time to step forward and plug it. (I'm willing to spend up to $5,000.)
I really need this info, and you'd have my undying gratitude for replying
(isn't that a great incentive?). Thanks in advance...
-- Larry Afrin
Dept. of Computer Science
Clemson University
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I disclaim everything anybody ever said about anything.edelheit@mitre.arpa (Jeff Edelheit) (01/16/86)
Larry - While none of the lasers I know of support a tractor, I would recommend any of the Canon engine based machines. If you really want typeset quality, then look into Imagen. Imagen provides a preprocessor to the laser engine. The bottom of the line uses the Canon engine, but if you need higher speeds, then you can move up to one of their Xerox engines. (We have an Imagen 8/300; the preprocessor + the Canon engine. It's really nice. It also supports either a serial, parallel or Ethernet interface.) I also understand that QMS has some nice lasers. With the kind of output you are talking about, I am not sure that any daisy type machine will either hold up or produce the amount of output your talking about. Also, the general rule "the higher the speed, the higher the noise" probably applies to the impact printers. The noisyest thing on the Canon is the clicking as it pulls the paper thru. Let me know what you find/decide. Regards, Jeff Edelheit (edelheit@mitre.arpa) Usual disclaimers apply.
rlk@chinet.UUCP (Richard L. Klappal) (01/18/86)
In article <1630@brl-tgr.ARPA> LBAFRIN%clemson.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa writes: >Howdy, fellow netlandians. I need some quick feedback from the field on >the performance (speed- and print-quality-wise), *reliability*, and >expected maintenance costs for *heavy-duty* letter quality printers, the >kind you would have *no* qualms about using to handle the printing of I have used both the C. Itoh Starwriter F10/40 and NEC 3500R printers for the past 2 years without any problems whatsover, so I can't say what the repair costs would be. (I think the 3500 series is obsolete now, with a 5500 and 7700 series current.) The first two digits are the rated char per second value, and they are reasonably accurate. The 128 char print thimbles are nice if your system needs/wants a full ASCII capability + word processing symbols (cent, degree, trademark, copyright, etc. symbols). The multilingual sequence thimbles contain both sets on the same thimble. The Starwrite is a Diable style (Diablo/Qume wheels, Diable Hytype ribbons) that is rated at 40 cps. I clocked mine at rates from 37 to 52 cps on what I considered to be "normal" text. The only maint. I have given either machine is to vaccuum the paper dust out of the bottom, and lube the print-head rail every couple-three months. Both printers get used 6 - 14 hours per day. -- --- UUCP: ..!ihnp4!chinet!uklpl!rlk || MCIMail: rklappal || Compuserve: 74106,1021 ---
dmimi@ecsvax.UUCP (01/20/86)
> In article <1630@brl-tgr.ARPA> LBAFRIN%clemson.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa writes: > >Howdy, fellow netlandians. I need some quick feedback from the field on > >the performance (speed- and print-quality-wise), *reliability*, and > >expected maintenance costs for *heavy-duty* letter quality printers, the > >kind you would have *no* qualms about using to handle the printing of > (The Starwriter and NEC Spinwriter series were used) > (I think the 3500 series is obsolete > now, with a 5500 and 7700 series current.) > The 7700 Spinwriter series replaced the 5500 series. I'm not sure what has happened to the 350 series. > The first two digits are the rated char per second value, and they are > reasonably accurate. The 128 char print thimbles are nice if your > system needs/wants a full ASCII capability + word processing symbols > (cent, degree, trademark, copyright, etc. symbols). The multilingual > sequence thimbles contain both sets on the same thimble. I've used a 7715 (NEC) for several years, although not as heavily. It has never required servicing, nor missed a beat. Nor has it beat up the thimbles except once when I put it in badly. > Both printers get used 6 - 14 hours per day.