Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!jarthur!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!boulder!seri!wind55!marshall From: marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc Subject: Re: Postscript for HP LaserJet II Message-ID: Date: 5 Nov 90 21:00:41 GMT References: <9011032216.AA871@f170.n771.z3.fidonet.gen.nz> Sender: news@seri.gov (news) Distribution: na Organization: Solar Energy Research Institute Lines: 52 Dale_Chun@f110.n771.z3.fidonet.gen.nz (Dale Chun) writes: >FSC-Control: UFGATE newsin 1.27 >From: dchun@alcor.usc.edu (Dale Chun) >We just got lucky enough to just get stuck with an HP Laserjet II with >4.5mb that is about 1-year old. It is in excellent condition and it >works just fine minus some little problems. We would like to add >postscript to this printer. Does anyone have any suggestions, comments >and/or other info? JetWare offered to sell us a postscript cartridge >for $350 and Abobe never returned our call. Pacific Data cannot be >located, so anyone have any suggestions on what to buy, avoid or >complain about? I just bought two of QMS's JetScripts from HP Direct. Their number is (800)538-8787. I paid $495 each for them. I thought I could save myself a ton of disk space (tens of MBs) by using Post$cript instead of downloadable soft fonts. They go in OK and are fairly easy to set up. I set it up so that if I select LPT1, it uses normal LJ II mode and if I use LPT2 it uses Post$cript mode. It consists of a card for the PC and one for the I/O option slot in the printer. The cards are connected by a cable. You leave the old printer cable in place too. It doesn't use up a font cartridge slot. It requires a device driver in CONFIG.SYS. I bought these for my two secretaries. They've been bitchin' about problems printing ever since then. I told one to just go back to the old way of doing things. The other complains that it takes a lot longer to print graphics (logos) with PS mode. She also complained that the PS version of Times spaces things differently than the HP soft font version of Times (TMSRMN). I also found out that if you eliminate the device driver from CONFIG.SYS, you can't print even in LJ II mode. The jury is still out. I think they may turn out to be useful if I can eliminate all those soft fonts from the hard disk. It would save in backup time and allow us to use smaller disks. But my secretaries are generally opposed to change. All aspects of the job must be improved or not change to go with new technology. If just one aspect of the job doesn't work as well or as fast, then they drag their feet. They're not my only users who suffer from this. If my users won't let me delete the old soft fonts, then I've wasted the taxpayers' money. :-( I'll give it six months before I decide if the JetScript is worth having. Let us know how things turn out. -- Marshall L. Buhl, Jr. EMAIL: marshall@seri.gov Senior Computer Missionary VOICE: (303)231-1014 Wind Research Branch 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393 Solar Energy Research Institute Solar - safe energy for a healthy future