[comp.sys.mac.wanted] Laserwriter Recommendation Wanted

weesh@grymoire.crd.ge.com (Darweesh) (09/24/90)

My friend and I are looking for an inexpensive laserwriter.
Apple and non-apple recommendations are welcome.  Also, if you have a used
Laserwriter SC or something, send me some mail.
Currently, we are looking at the Laserwriter SC (with an educational discount).
Our goal (even though it may be unattainable) is to find a laser
for $1000 or less.  Please let me know of any ideas you have.
Also, if you want to reply to me directly, send to the address below.
Replying to this mail will not work.

-Mike Darweesh
(and Dean Acito)
weesh@crd.ge.com

owen@raven.phys.washington.edu (Russell Owen) (09/26/90)

We just bought an HP LaserJet III. With the postscript cartridge and 
appletalk interface (both from HP) and 2Mb of RAM from Technology Works 
the whole thing was $1900 with academic discount. That's less than Apple's 
new postscript printer. And we could have had one of HP's II series 
printer for a few hundred less.

Goods:
- excellent design -- robust and adding the extra things I mentioned was 
very easy
- nice output (has resolution enhancement, which does seem to improve 
things some)
- good front panel (easy to configure things like disabling the startup 
page)

Bads:
- cannot accept a second paper tray (unlike some HP's II series printers)
- slow on complex pages but fine on normal stuff (the postscript cartridge 
uses a 68000)

MacWorld or MacUser (I think the former) rated postscript printers this 
month. Check it out.

Russell Owen
owen@raven.phys.washington.edu
Astronomy Dept. FM-20
University of Washington
Seattle, WA  98195

Cherry@Frodo.MGH.Harvard.EDU (J. Michael Cherry) (09/28/90)

GCC has a very inexpensive Postscript SCSI printer called the PLP  
(Personal Laser Printer). I saw it at MacWorld in Boston and it looked 
very good. The font technology is good, the toner is cheap and the list 
price is around $1400. 

I have no connection to GCC, but if I had some extra money for a cheap 
Postscript laserprinter that was not on Appletalk I'd buy the GCC printer.

Mike Cherry
cherry@frodo.mgh.harvard.edu
Department of Molecular Biology
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
617-726-5955

c3ar@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Walter C3arlip) (09/29/90)

In article <4282@husc6.harvard.edu> Cherry@Frodo.MGH.Harvard.EDU (J.
Michael Cherry) writes: 
>GCC has a very inexpensive Postscript SCSI printer called the PLP  
>(Personal Laser Printer). I saw it at MacWorld in Boston and it looked 
>very good. The font technology is good, the toner is cheap and the list 
>price is around $1400. 
>

Thought I'd better correct the slight inaccuracy here:  The PLP is a nice
laser printer, but it is *not* postscript.  The PLP is a quickdraw printer.
(I've seen it as inexpensive as $1200).

GCC *does* make a nice postscript printer as well, the BLP ("business laser
printer", I think), which is similar to the PLP with postscript added.
This printer costs more like $1999 (from a GCC dealer).  That makes it
competitive with the other new "personal" laser printers on the market,
like the Apple Personal Laserwriter, the QMS PS-410, the TI-Microlaser, the
HP Deskjet IIP, etc., all of which are roughly in the $2000 range.

These printers all differ somewhat in their capabilities: they have
different marking engines and speeds; different kinds of input trays, etc.,
etc., so there is quite a bit of choice.  Unfortunatly, though, I still
know of no postscript printer for less than about $1800.

--Walter


_____________________________________________________________________________
Walter Carlip 				**** c3ar@finite.chi.il.us ****
(the "3" is invisible)    **** c3ar%finite.chi.il.us@gargoyle.uchicago.edu ****
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