[comp.sys.mac.hardware] Has anyone seen the HP Laserjet III AppleTalk Option?

MARCELO@idunno.princeton.edu (MARCELO) (06/27/90)

In article <550@nrcvax.NRC.COM> neg@NRC.COM (Neal Goldsmith) writes:
> I've been waiting for almost three months to get the AppleTalk kit from 
HP.
> I had enough trouble getting the Postscript Cart due to it being in short
> supply, however, it would appear that the AT option isn't even shipping.
> 
> I'm currently making due using the Async LW Driver from APDA, but PM 
doesn't
> like it. I'm getting tired of send PS files to the printer async.
> 
> HP has been advertising this option for over three months! Does anyone 
know
> what is going on?


I talked to a couple of HP reps while down in Atlanta (Comdex), and they 
said that the LT adapter had just started shipping (June 1st). They also 
admitted that they were really BOd.


> 


     .. Marcelo ..

marcelo@pucc.princeton.edu
marcelo@idunno.princeton.edu

.. I didn't do it ..
.. It wasn't me ..
.. Nobody saw me do it ..
.. Nobody can prove a thing ..

omalley@mace.cc.purdue.edu (John O'Malley) (06/28/90)

>In article <550@nrcvax.NRC.COM> neg@NRC.COM (Neal Goldsmith) writes:
>> I've been waiting for almost three months to get the AppleTalk kit from HP.
>> I had enough trouble getting the Postscript Cart ...
>> 
>> HP has been advertising this option for over three months! Does anyone 
>> know what is going on?

A local HP salesman brought a PostScript cartridge and AppleTalk kit over
to a department on campus here for a test.  The LJ III was hooked up via
LocaTalk to a Mac IIcx running PageMaker 3.02.

We printed several PageMaker files, each varying in complexity, on both
the LaserJet and an Apple LaserWriter IINT.  Our most complex document had
text wrapped around graphics, PICTs, and encapsulated PostScript stuff.

The LaserJet took almost twice as long (almost 9 minutes) to print that
file (vs. the IINT's almost 5 minutes), and some of the graphical elements
were missing on the printout.  But under a magnifying glass and even to
the naked eye the LaserJet printout had far better resolution.  (The IINT
didn't miss printing anything, but large fonts weren't as sharp.)

The weak link in our test, which could be the reason it missed printing
some of the elements of our file, is that PageMaker 3.02 doesn't have an
APD file for the LaserJet III.  (I assume that PageMaker 4.0 will have
one.)  A dialog box showed up during printing that said it would print
the file, but using the LaserWriter IINT APD.

Since the department testing the printer mainly uses PageMaker, they
elected to buy a LaserWriter IINT now and look at the HP again a few months
from now ... when more complete printer drivers are available.

The HP LJ III, with all necessary options, would have been about $600
cheaper than the Apple IINT.

-John
---
John O'Malley               / Macintosh  / Purdue University / (317)
omalley@mace.cc.purdue.edu / Specialist / Computing Center  / 494-1787
(New & improved login name!  Formerly ajq@mace.cc.purdue.edu)

hgw@julia.math.ucla.edu (Harold Wong) (06/28/90)

In article <550@nrcvax.NRC.COM> neg@nrc.com (Neal Goldsmith) writes:
>I've been waiting for almost three months to get the AppleTalk kit from HP.
>I had enough trouble getting the Postscript Cart due to it being in short
>supply, however, it would appear that the AT option isn't even shipping.
>

Just hear it from a HP rep last night.  They expect to ship July 1.
Let's hope he's right.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harold Wong         (213) 825-9040 
UCLA-Mathnet; 3915F MSA; 405 Hilgard Ave.; Los Angeles, CA 90024-1555
ARPA: hgw@math.ucla.edu          BITNET: hgw%math.ucla.edu@INTERBIT

larry@sun.udel.edu (Larry Larraga) (06/29/90)

We got ours a week ago.  Works great!

-- 
Larry Larraga	University of Delaware Microcomputing Resource Center
Senior Analyst	040 Smith Hall, Newark, Delaware, 19716  (302) 451-8895
Internet:  	larry@sun.acs.udel.edu

neg@NRC.COM (Neal Goldsmith) (06/29/90)

In article <4987@mace.cc.purdue.edu> omalley@mace.cc.purdue.edu (John O'Malley) writes:
>>In article <550@nrcvax.NRC.COM> neg@NRC.COM (Neal Goldsmith) writes:
>>> I've been waiting for almost three months to get the AppleTalk kit from HP.
>>> I had enough trouble getting the Postscript Cart ...
>>> 
>>> HP has been advertising this option for over three months! Does anyone 
>>> know what is going on?

I ordered the option from E.R.A in Palo Alto (Thanks Chris). It seems that the
AT option is VERY back ordered.

>The LaserJet took almost twice as long (almost 9 minutes) to print that
>file (vs. the IINT's almost 5 minutes), and some of the graphical elements
>were missing on the printout.  But under a magnifying glass and even to
>the naked eye the LaserJet printout had far better resolution.  (The IINT
>didn't miss printing anything, but large fonts weren't as sharp.)
>
Sounds like the LJIII only had 1MB of extra memory (the minimum). Using the
serial link for the last 2500 pages I have NEVER had a mis-printed PM 3.02 
page. I hope that the AT driver doesn't break something. I can't imagine a 
problem.





-- 
  Neal E. Goldsmith                            Network Research Corp
  Internet: neg@nrc.com                        1620 Federal Ave #2
  America Online: NEG1                         Los Angeles, CA 90025
                                               (213)479-6436

chungs@sun.udel.edu (Sung Chung) (06/29/90)

In article <91@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU> hgw@math.ucla.edu (Harold Wong) writes:
>In article <550@nrcvax.NRC.COM> neg@nrc.com (Neal Goldsmith) writes:
>>I've been waiting for almost three months to get the AppleTalk kit from HP.
>>I had enough trouble getting the Postscript Cart due to it being in short
>>supply, however, it would appear that the AT option isn't even shipping.
>>
>
>Just hear it from a HP rep last night.  They expect to ship July 1.
>Let's hope he's right.

We got our Postscript Cartridge over a month ago, and just got the
AppleTalk Kit last week.  It comes with software that installs chooser
drivers for the Laserjet III.
Everything works except for Pagemaker, which lacks the APD for the III.
The graphics printed from the Series III is much darker and the text also
looks alot better.
Installing the Appletalk board is very simple, and the menu setup was
also very easy to do.

The whole setup seems to work very well though slower then our NTX.