U39648@uicvm.uic.edu (Darius Vaskelis) (01/24/91)
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Microsoft, Adobe, or Hewlett Packard.
I'm just a user and the views are my own.
I just got the new DeskJet 500 Scalable Printer Drive for Microsoft Windows 3.0
and I thought I'd share my experiences.
First, the versions of software mentioned:
Microsoft Windows 3.00a
Adobe Type Manager for Windows 1.0
Hewlett Packard DeskJet Family Printer Driver A.03.10
Hewlett Packard DeskJet 500 Scalable Printer Driver 1.0
I had been happily using Windows+ATM with the regular DeskJet Family driver
for quite some time now. It makes terrific output on screen and the printer
although I've thought it could be faster.
After installing the scalable driver in this combination, I can say that
output starts coming out of the printer in about half the time of the regular
family driver! Although actual print speed seems uneffected or only slightly
so, there is a significant reduction of the time I click on "Ok" and the
printer comes to life.
ATM seems to work just fine with the new driver, however in some cases its
fonts "take over" the Scalable Driver fonts. The new driver comes with
Courier, Courier Bold, CG Times, CG Times Bold, Univers Medium, and Univers
Bold. It also seems to have a built-in Symbol font as part of the driver.
ATM "took over" Courier and Symbol, but the CG Times variants and Univers
variants worked.
As a note, the new driver does NOT provide automatic scalable screen fonts
on the fly like ATM/Facelift/SuperPrint/etc. You must create the fonts first
(painless) and then they are available as standard Windows screen fonts much
like SoftType.
Also, the new driver does NOT support any soft fonts, cartridge fonts, or
internal printer fonts. The only fonts it knows about are those I mentioned.
Fonts can be added from the HP MasterType Libary. (only)
All in all, I'm very pleased with the new driver. The "perfect" driver in
my mind would be the scalable driver with support for internal/soft/cartridge
fonts.
The documentation says the new driver works with the DeskJet PLUS and original
DeskJet, but recommends not using it on the original DeskJet.
- Darius
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Internet: u39648@uicvm.uic.edu | - Mr. Zarniwoopjls@hsv3.UUCP (James Seidman) (01/26/91)
In article <91023.230549U39648@uicvm.uic.edu> U39648@uicvm.uic.edu (Darius Vaskelis) writes: >I just got the new DeskJet 500 Scalable Printer Drive for Microsoft Windows 3.0 >and I thought I'd share my experiences. [Pretty good sounding comments deleted...] >The documentation says the new driver works with the DeskJet PLUS and original >DeskJet, but recommends not using it on the original DeskJet. Is this driver free? From a flyer I saw once, it sounded like the money you had to send in was just for S&H, not for the driver itself. If it's legal, could someone put it on cica.cica.indiana.edu? I'm sure lots of people would love to have it. -- Jim Seidman (Drax), the accidental engineer. "It doesn't have to work... they'll be paralyzed just from laughing at me." - Dr. Who, _Shada_ UUCP: ames!vsi1!hsv3!jls INTERNET: hsv3.UUCP!jls@apple.com
robertt@hp-vcd.HP.COM (Bob Taylor) (01/29/91)
The driver is "free" (free to DJ500 owners, $20 to DJ+ and DJ Classic owners for Shipping and Handling), but shouldn't be put on bulletin boards. We ship the driver with several outline fonts from Agfa Compugraphics. Although we are giving them away, we are paying royalties to Compugraphics based on the number that we distribute. We therefore must control the distribution for accounting reasons, although the driver is essentially free. bob taylor HP Vancouver
JDKINNE@MIAMIU.BITNET (John Kinne) (01/29/91)
I've installed the scalable fonts on my Windows 3.0 to drive a deskjet plus. I do not have any cartriges on the deskjet. The screen fonts are OKay. I don't always get italics or bold fonts on the screen when I should. W4W knows the format - it just isn't displayed correctly. Other times characters are displayed as bold or italic. This is more likely to happen if I have several different fonts (Univers & Courier & ...) than if I have just one. I did not think I would care if a document took a long time to print. Docs printed with scalable fonts do take a long time. They also require a lot of CPU time from my PS/2 55SX - much more than I anticapated. If I want to print a letter while I'm typing a second I have to switch back to the old driver & fonts. I just can't wait around. John Kinne Miami University