md@doc.ic.ac.uk (Mark Dawson) (06/03/91)
Can anyone clarify the network options for the Laserjet III si? I am considering buying one of these and would like to connect it to my SUN's using an ethernet rather than a serial line (which I doubt would keep up with the printer). However, it seems that the printer only knows about PC networks. I would appreciate some illumination of this problem. Has anyone direct experience of this? Please accept my apologies if this question has already been answered here; I am not a regular reader of this group. Mark
jpm@hprnd.rose.hp.com (John McHugh) (06/06/91)
Your data is correct. Currently the only networking interfaces available as accessories to the Laserjet IIIsi allow connection the Novell OS using SPX/IP protocol and 3COM 3open using 802.2 type II protocol. Your workstation would require an interface card on the LaserJet that could talk TCP/IP. There are some boxes made by third parties that connect to the network and then provide output spigots to RS-232 and Centronics which connect to the printer. These are typically over $1000 and are limited to the performance of the box and the Centronics interface but for complex graphics that may still be much faster than RS-232. The least expensive option would be to have a Centronics interface on your workstation but if that is not possible you may consider the third party tcp/ip boxes. Regards, John McHugh
U12570@uicvm.uic.edu (Ed Garay) (06/08/91)
In article <md.675968159@achilles>, md@doc.ic.ac.uk (Mark Dawson) says: >Can anyone clarify the network options for the Laserjet III si? > >I am considering buying one of these and would like to connect it >to my SUN's using an ethernet rather than a serial line (which I doubt >would keep up with the printer). However, it seems that the printer >only knows about PC networks. I would appreciate some illumination >of this problem. Has anyone direct experience of this? To the best of my knowledge, the current Ethernet board offerings from Hewlett Packard do not address TCP/IP connectivity; not even those new Ethernet boards recently announced. I have been told repeatedly that HP is indeed working on a direct TCP/IP connection for the LaserJet IIISi. Perhaps, it will be available by the end of the year. Who knows. Fortunately, there are, at least, two offerings from third-party companies: XYplex (from Forsboro, MA 1-800-338-5316) and Microplex (from Vancouver, Canada, 604-875-1461, eMail: fff@microplex.com (Fred Fierling)). Both products: the XYplex MX1400 and the Microplex NetPrint M200 sound good, but we don't have either of them yet. The XYplex MX1400 is a print server that lists for under $2K. It has a BNC Ethernet port, four printer ports (2 serial and 2 parallel), and one "management" port. It comes with some software that needs to be downloaded to their 18" x 24" x 2" box. The Microplex NetPrint M200 lists for $995, and will be going in beta test this month. I was told it should hit the market by the end of July. It has two Ethernet ports, one high speed parallel port capable of handling 50 kilobyte-per-second throughputs (:-), and two serial ports. They provide some software (host spooler) that is required to drive their 8" x 6" x 2" box. Their software currently runs on SCO Unix, Xenix and SunOS, and they are interested in porting it to VM (;-) Naturally, these two products are not specific to the HP LaserJet IIISi, or to the LaserJet family at all. You can pretty much connect any ASCII printers to these TCP/IP interface products. Hope this helps. --- Ed Garay University of Illinois at Chicago, Computer Center P.S. -- Btw, IMHO, the HP LaserJet IIISi has the best 300dpi laser print quality to date, and makes an excellent PCL/PostScript/Duplex/17ppm/fast distributed printer, all for under $5K (;-)
neil@uninet.cpd.com (Neil Gorsuch) (06/10/91)
In article <3670001@hprnd.rose.hp.com> jpm@hprnd.rose.hp.com (John McHugh) writes: >There are some boxes made by third parties that connect to the network and >then provide output spigots to RS-232 and Centronics which connect to the >printer. These are typically over $1000 and are limited to the performance >of the box and the Centronics interface but for complex graphics that may >still be much faster than RS-232. The least expensive option would be >to have a Centronics interface on your workstation but if that is not >possible you may consider the third party tcp/ip boxes. Our SCSI based Centronics parallel interface goes for $495 including software, the standard model does 30,000 characters per second, and it hooks up to lots of workstations. I'm sure sales@cpd.com would be happy to tell you more 8-). -- Neil Gorsuch INTERNET: neil@cpd.com UUCP: uunet!zardoz!neil MAIL: 1209 E. Warner, Santa Ana, CA, USA, 92705 PHONE: +1 714 546 1100 Uninet, a division of Custom Product Design, Inc. FAX: +1 714 546 3726 AKA: root, security-request, uuasc-request, postmaster, usenet, news
opsrjh@uccvma.ucop.edu (Richard Hintz) (06/12/91)
In article <91158.145157U12570@uicvm.uic.edu> U12570@uicvm.uic.edu (Ed Garay) writes: >I have been told repeatedly that HP is indeed working on a direct TCP/IP >connection for the LaserJet IIISi. Perhaps, it will be available by the >end of the year. Who knows. > >Fortunately, there are, at least, two offerings from third-party companies: Also, one could get a cheapo PL clone and run the free LPD from tacky.cs.olemiss.edu in pub/lpd. FTP Software also sells an LPD which can run on a clone. Richard Hintz opsrjh@uccvma.ucop.edu University of California