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From: jsa00564@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: HP Desk Jet - Opinions
Message-ID: <111700142@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 8 Sep 89 20:39:00 GMT
References: <2379@pooh.oakhill.UUCP>
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Nf-From: uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!jsa00564    Sep  8 15:39:00 1989


/* Written 12:39 pm  Sep  7, 1989 by jbudet@oakhill.UUCP in uxa.cso.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.ibm.pc */
/* ---------- "HP Desk Jet - Opinions" ---------- */
>A friend of mine is considering the purchase of an HP Desk Jet to
>connect to an AT compatible.  We have come up with the following
>questions/concerns with the printer that I was hoping could be answered
>here.  I am also interested in general comments and experiences people
>have had with the printer.

>1. We have seen stores selling the Desk Jet and also the Desk Jet +.
>What enhancements does the "+" give over the older model?  Is is worth
>buying the older machine for a cheaper price?

The Deskjet Plus has extra built in fonts, that requires a cartridge on
the Deskjet.  The extra fonts are 3 Courier Landscape fonts, and I think
one extra Landscape Courier...  Other differences between the DJ and DJ+
are paper handling speed (DJ+ is twice as fast), and total memory capacity
(DJ- 128K cartridge (can use two??), DJ+ - 128 or 256K carts (max 512K).
This printer memory is used only for downloaded fonts, not for imaging.
The printer will print a full page at 300dpi with no extra memory.

>2. Does the printer work via a parallel or serial port?

Both are standard.

>3. The primary uses for the printer will be word processing and
>graphics.  What "extras" will be needed to make the printer truely
>useful?

At least one 256K cart, the Times Roman proportional cart., Times Roman/
Helvetica soft fonts, and the Epson FX-80 emulation cart. ...  This is my
setup, and works well..  
>4. How w
>4. How  well does the printer work with popular programs such as Lotus 123,
>dBase IV, MS Word 5.0 and WordPerfect?  If a program does not directly
>support the printer what can you do?

I use MS Word 5.0 a lot, and the printer is well supported, soft fonts and
all.  I had to Merge two different .PRD's to get a "custom"  list of avail.
fonts, but it works out well.  BTW, Word does not supply the Deskjet Plus
PRD's.  I got them from Compuserve.. (MS supplemental printer disk #4)
  For 1-2-3, I just use the HP Laserjet printer driver, and graphs print
just fine...
  Don''t know about WP or dBase, but Windows does have a slight problem 
right now..  The current DJ+ driver (also on Compuserve) provides for most
of the cartridges, but does not deal with soft fonts (you have to download
them manually before entering Windows [drag!]).  They SHOULD fix this, and
I hope that the final driver will behave much like the HP Laserjet, giving
a list of all the possible fonts, etc...
  In general, if a program does not support the DJ or DJ+, I first try the
HP Laserjet driver.  This usually works.  If not, then I use the Epson
emulation cart., and that ALWAYS works.  Of course, the output quality
is the same as an Epson dot matrix...

>==============================================================================
>Jim Budet                                Usenet: oakhill!jbudet@cs.utexas.edu
>Motorola Microprocessor Products Group   Compuserve: 73177,171
>Austin, Texas                            Phone: (512) 891-3175
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Motorola does not necessarily share the opinions expressed in this message.


----------------------------------------
Jeff Autor
jsa00564@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
"Help me, I'm an Engineering student!"