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From: jack@Taffy.rice.edu (Jack W. Howarth)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Mac IISi vs. HP DeskWriter = Fried Mac??
Keywords: Mac II, DeskWriter, serial port
Message-ID: <1990Dec8.122250.22698@rice.edu>
Date: 8 Dec 90 12:22:50 GMT
References: <989@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM>
Sender: news@rice.edu (News)
Organization: Rice University
Lines: 45

In article <989@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM> frank@dvnspc1.Dev.Unisys.COM (Frank Piper) writes:
>I'm considering buying a IISi & DeskWriter, and heard scary things about
>the combination on AOL.  Apparently newer Mac IIs have a problem with
>resistance degradation (?) in their serial ports: over time resistance
>decreases.  The (AppleTalk-capable) DeskWriter sees this and goes into
>AppleTalk mode, which means it can't talk (directly) to the Mac any
>more.  HP & Apple have discussed the problem; a letter from HP was
>posted on AOL which said that Apple had agreed it was their problem.
>
	(stuff deleted)
>- A possible workaround might be to run the DeskWriter via AppleTalk
>from day one.  I understand this would involve two AppleTalk boxes and a
>cable between them; total cost ~$100.  Question is: would this run
>faster or slower than a straight serial port?
>- Unrelated question: the DeskWriter comes with a bunch of Compugraphic
>outline fonts, or so I hear.  How useful are those fonts?  Can you use
>them with Adobe Type Manager?
>- General question:  Are DeskWriter owners happy with their machines? 
>
>Please post responses; mail to me is flaky at best.
>
>TIA (Thanks In Advance)...
>Frank Piper
>(215)341-4644
>frank@dev.unisys.com 


Frank,
   You might be able to just use a serial cable without AppleTalk boxes on
both ends as long as you aren't using more than one AppleTalk device with 
the IIsi. I know that you can direct connect to a LW NT with AppleTalk
enabled just using an IWII cable. Best check it out yourself first though.
You might look around for a demo serial only DeskWriter although they are
probably gone by now.
    The fonts used by HP are not Type 1 and can't be rastered by ATM. As
ATM 2.0 screams on a SE/30 or better, I would just get that. Although the
300 dpi printing on the DeskWriter is rated only 1 page per minute, I find
that ATM 2.0 is so fast in generating 4 fold fonts that I get very close
to 2 ppm (which is the rated speed of the 150 dpi draft mode).
    The DeskWriter is a very good printer for text and coupled with the
new water insoluble ink a nice buy. I would consider a low end laserprinter
if you need gray scale graphics though. The inkjet just doesn't handle that
very well with kinda muddy looking results.
                   Cheers...
                         Jack