PDunn@HI-MULTICS.ARPA (07/07/84)
Re: Olivetti ink-jet printer. I bought the ink-jet from the DAK catalog after reading three times the 30-day money back iron-clad guarantee of complete satisfation. It arrived and I have put it through its paces. Print quality is poor. Descenders are handled by placing the lower case high so the bottom of the descender does not extend below the line. The speed is about 42 cps measured by the printout of assembly source. The noise is low but still very noticable 30 feet away - sounds like birds chirping. The device exudes a strange odor which I think is ozone created by the electrical arcs created at each dot. Dot matrix is 7x7 except 7x5 for 18 cpi. Documentation is pretty good. Can be set for 11 or 12 inch lengths. Can handle 8 or 9 inch width with built in pin-feed. Pins can't be set any narrower. Will also friction feed. No provision for proportional spacing but it has a fair set of formatting commands including 10, 12 and 18 cpi. 1/6 and 1/8 vert spacing plus programmable tabs (v&h). Has 8 language graphics in addition to US ASCII (German, Spanish, Danish, French, Italian, Swedish-Finnish, Gr. Br. and Norwegian.) I haven't tried them. These are programmable or dip-switch. Can auto underline under control. Has double height and width. Has 1K buffer. Ink is in the form of carbon dust loaded into a glass cartridge. The column of carbon is spring loaded. When it's time to fire it zaps a high voltage arc which smutzes a blurry dot onto the paper. Has a vacuum system which keeps the dust under control. After going through one cartridge, the interior needed cleaning (wet rag). Has on/off line switch along with FF and LF buttons. Also has setup for roll-feed paper. Warranty is 90 days if shipped prepaid to one of three centers (CA, NJ, IL). Thereafter unit will be repaired by them for a flat $85.00. I also bought the PRinterface parallel card (Apple) and it works just fine. You can purchase graphics proms for additional $25. Has 5 year warranty. Bottom line: Printer will be going back to vendor for refund. Phil Dunn (PDunn@HI-MULTICS)