Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!uxc!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!a.cs.uiuc.edu!m.cs.uiuc.edu!emuroga
From: emuroga@m.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Mini-review: Grappler LQ
Message-ID: <8400023@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 8 Aug 88 02:16:00 GMT
Lines: 33
Nf-ID: #N:m.cs.uiuc.edu:8400023:000:1770
Nf-From: m.cs.uiuc.edu!emuroga    Aug  7 21:16:00 1988




   I recently hooked up a Grappler LQ to a MacII and Epson LQ800. The
Grappler comes with an Imagewriter LQ printer driver and a spooler which
does the translations. Also included are 3 fonts which approximate
courier, helvetica, and times. The Grappler LQ box has 4 dipswitches to
set for the printer that you hook up. There are about a dozen supported.
The manual states that the Grappler LQ will make the connected printer
emulate an Imagewriter LQ, and no more. Postscript is obviously not
supported. In all cases, the output was as good as the Imagewriter II, 
although I have never seen Imagewriter LQ output. One strange thing I 
noticed was that a lower case "r" was printed at the upper left corner 
of the first page. I will report if the problem is found. The near-letter 
quality of the Epson 24-pin printer is only found if you use one of the 
three supplied fonts. This is a problem with Microsoft Word, because the 
fonts don't appear in the font menu. There is a short note in the manual 
that states that some programs like Microsoft Word use their own printer 
drivers, and will not work properly with the supplied driver. (Output 
with Word looks no better, if not worse, than Imagewriter II output) The 
manual suggests changing the dipswitch on the Grappler LQ to a parallel 
printer rather than Imagewriter LQ for programs using their own printer 
driver. I have not tride this yet. It seems the Grappler LQ will let you
hook up a dot matrix printer to your mac, and if you use the supplied
fonts, can make use of the high resolution of 24-pin printers.


Eisuke Muroga
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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