lees@cps.msu.edu (John Lees) (06/20/91)
About a month ago I posted an article asking people for their experiences using the HP DeskJet 500 (or other models) with emTeX. I recieved enough positive replies that I went ahead and ordered one, which arrived yesterday. Several people asked that I post a summary of replies and experiences, so: I'm using "Hammermill Fore DP" laser printer paper, taking care to print on the indicated side of the sheet. In a side-by-side comparison with a laser printer (Canon engine), I can tell the difference, but if you just handed me a document printed on the DeskJet, I would not normally guess it was not printed on a laser printer. Printing speed on my system for mostly-text documents is about one and one-half pages per minute. This is fine with me, and the DeskJet is very, very quiet! The ink does seem to be fairly waterproof, up to the point where water would ruin the paper anyway. The printer did smear the big solid black alignment square the first time I printed it, but not the second time. I haven't printed any other dense graphics. For the price ($400 - $500 in the U.S.A. if you shop around), I am quite pleased with this printer for home use. I am left with one question: does the emTeX driver use extra RAM if it is installed? I will be installing extra RAM for use with soft fonts and WordPerfect. Just wondering if this will speed up printing TeX jobs as well. ---------- John Lees, CPS, Lyman Briggs School, Michigan State University 48825-1107 lees@cps.msu.edu, lees@msuegr.bitnet, uunet!frith!lees, CIS: 74106,1324