[comp.sys.mac.apps] SuperLaserSpool 2.02 and DeskWriter query

Q8N@psuvm.psu.edu (Scott D. Camp) (05/06/90)

I hope this request belongs here and not in comp.sys.mac.system. Since they
are carried away in the system group with discussing multitasking, I thought
I'd try here first. :-)

I recently purchased SuperLaserSpool to give me spooling capabilities with my
DeskWriter. I must say I really like getting control over the Mac back when I
print a job. Thank you SuperMac.

However, I do have a question about the speed at which jobs print. It seems
that it takes a lot longer to print a job with SuperLaserSpool installed, even
when the Mac is doing nothing else.

Let me give you an example. A Word 4.0 file, 10K, takes about 2 minutes and 23
seconds to print in best mode without SuperLaserSpool installed. [Mac SE,
20 meg hard disk with about 5 meg free, System 6.05, only a couple of inits,
Word 4.00b] With SuperLaserSpool installed, the same files takes about 3
minutes and 33 seconds to print. Note: I just let the Mac sit idle when I
printed this file via SuperLaserSpool.

[Note: I haven't done extensive testing. It just feels slow when I print,
especially when I'm late for class and need to print off a copy of a lecture.]

My question, is this normal behavior? I have tried very hard to follow the
SuperLaserSpool installation instructions, i.e., I dropped the init into the
System Folder, installed Laser Queue with Font/DA mover 3.8, made sure to
remove Backgrounder and Print Monitor, even increased the Print Buffer from
256K (recommended minimum for use with DeskWriter) to 384K.

Maybe I'm just expecting too much. If so, let me know gently. :-)  Even with
the delays (which would probably become substantial when I print 40 page
chapters of my dissertation), I am really hooked on SuperLaserSpool and would
recommend it to anyone. If I'm really in a hurry, I can always deinstall it
via Laser Queue. Otherwise, I can stack up those spool files and go have lunch.

Scott D. Camp   Q8N@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
The Pennsylvania State University
305 Oswald Tower
University Park, PA  16802
814-863-0121