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From: neff@hp-vcd.HP.COM (Dave Neff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Apple Stylewriter
Message-ID: <1170024@hp-vcd.HP.COM>
Date: 25 Mar 91 17:38:56 GMT
References: <319.27E6B5E7@busker.fidonet.org>
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Vancouver, WA
Lines: 31

Regarding True Type and the new Mac printers:

When we played with the new StyleWriter and LaserWriter LS we also found
that output quality was better using ATM than True Type.  Obviously this
is not due to the fact the StyleWriter is a 360 DPI output device since
an outline found rasterizer shouldn't care.  It seemed like some characters
were treated as 72 DPI bitmaps rather than outlines by True Type -- this
is just a guess from looking at output.  Some characters were comparable
using True Type and ATM, but other characters (funny symbols for example)
just kind of looked like "blobs" with True Type.  In one case, both
ATM and True Type treated a rotated character as a bitmap where the
DeskWriter driver seemingly rotated the outline (it was a fancy arrow
character).

Anyway, both the StyleWriter and the LaserWriter works with ATM as well.
You don't have to use True Type -- you don't even have to pay for it since
it comes with the printer.  Now I wouldn't say True Type "sucks rocks",
but it does seem to have a few glitches still.

My main objections to the StyleWriter (besides its speed) is it always
prints bidirectionally, and vertical lines and solid area filles are "ragged"
due to the mis-alignment of the bidirectional print passes.  Also, it has
less of a printable region than the LaserWriters and HP DeskWriter.  A
test document had half of the bottom line "chopped off" on the StyleWriter
but the line was all there on the LaserWriter LS and the HP DeskWriter.

Dave Neff
neff@hpvcfs1.HP.COM

Disclaimer: I admit I am biased since I worked on the DeskWriter, but
I do endever to be accurate :-).  My opinions only of course.