Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbatt!cbosgd!gwe From: gwe@cbosgd.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Moronic printer drivers Message-ID: <3326@cbosgd.ATT.COM> Date: Mon, 2-Feb-87 16:27:30 EST Article-I.D.: cbosgd.3326 Posted: Mon Feb 2 16:27:30 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 3-Feb-87 04:11:57 EST References: <4175@videovax.Tek.COM> <1366@cadovax.UUCP> Reply-To: gwe@cbosgd.UUCP (Bill Thacker) Organization: AT&T Network Systems , Columbus, OH Lines: 81 Keywords: slow, slower, slowest The story of the film so far: First the sun was formed, and the earth cooled down, then the dinosaurs died, then people gripe about slow printing... In article <1366@cadovax.UUCP> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (PUT YOUR NAME HERE) writes: > >AHA! Other people HAVE been having problems. A friend and I have been >exploring some of the printer problems, and are thoroughly confused. We >have learned a few things, but am not sure where many of the problems lie. >They can either be in: > > 1) The printer driver for the particular printer > 2) The printer.device > 3) The application doing the printing > >Here are some of the things we've found: > > 1) The slowest APPLICATION is DeluxePrint. Here is where we get the > 30+ minuite print times when using the LQ-800 which has in the NLQ > mode, which provides 1440 dots horizontally. It takes a good 30 > seconds a line. The LQ-800 prints a page in around 10-12 minuites > worst case with most of the other programs (except PageSetter which > also tends to the 30+ print minutes per page). (Keith then includes the results of more research than I've seen in many Master's Theses... pat yourself on the back, Keith, 'cause you deserve it !) Having owned an Apple ][e system before my Amiga, I guess I was spoiled... I could dump any Hi-res screen with one command, and print it out with a 1 dot/pixel or 4 dots (2x2) per pixel. A double-size print would neatly fill half of a page. And the dump would take only about one minute (more on some programs, to allow the print head to cool between lines). I realize that Apple Hi-res has far fewer pixels to "translate", and has an entire card dedicated to nothing but driving the printer. But on the other hand, it didn't have a 68000 chip, or seperate graphics chip, or 512 K ram, or ... Net effect: when I want to create graphics for printing, I slide over and fire up the ol' ][e. Despite the wonderful resolution, 4096 colors, and ease of use of the Amiga. >Personally, I sure wish these packages would allow me to disable any >resampling at all, and take the hit in the aspect ratio and size. Shit, >I can size it with a Xerox if I need to, I just can't stand the idiotic >looking text when random horizontal and vertical lines are being replicated. Absolutely. >And, it sure is a pain to try to 'cancel' a print job, most of these programs >(except Dpaint II) don't provide a print cancel option. It would seem >reasonable to provide this within the printer.device or the OS somewhere >since obviously the Application writers aren't doing it. (Kill -9 anyone?) The escape key usually did this on the Apple. When you've made a mistake, it's MADDENING to have to wait 20 minutes for the stupid thing to stop. Brings up another point. Why don't these commercial packages grab some of that wonderful, copious RAM and use it as a printer buffer, so I can work on a second graphic while printing the first ? Maybe it isn't possible ? > >So ok, Commodore, you laid off your printer driver expert. So what are >you going to do NOW? What are the rest of us going to do NOW? > > >Keith Doyle Once again, thanks for a well-written and researched article. ------------------------------clip and save---------------------------------- Bill Thacker cbatt!cbosgd!cbdkc1!serial!wbt DISCLAIMER: Farg 'em if they can't take a joke ! If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back to you, track it down and kill it. -----------------------------valuable coupon---------------------------------