Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!killer!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!pasteur!agate!ucbvax!decwrl!sun!john@jetson.UUCP From: john@jetson.UUCP (John Owens) Newsgroups: comp.text.desktop Subject: Re: DTP novice questions Message-ID: <62609@sun.uucp> Date: 3 Aug 88 16:07:24 GMT Sender: news@sun.uucp Distribution: comp Lines: 81 Approved: desktop-request%plaid@sun.com > I am in the process of buying a 286 based machine for a church. Sounds good! I hope you get a lot of use out of it. > Please suggest some software/hardware that I should get when I order the > usual 286 clone that would create an acceptable DTP system. Get a high-speed processor (12MHz); redrawing graphics can be CPU intensive. Definitely get a hard disk, though it doesn't need to be very big (20MB is plenty). Get as much memory as your software can use; if it can use EMS or protected mode memory, get a megabyte. (I'd recommend the Intel Above Board 286; it can be software configured for conventional, expanded (EMS), and extended (protected mode) memory in any combination at any address.) > Should I upgrade to color? If so, VGA or EGA? Nah - like you said, you're not doing color output, so color displays are an unnecessary expense. > Suggestions on graphics cards and monitors? > Is just a Herc mono clone and amber or white monitor > delivered with most clones good enough? Sure, just make sure that the display is CRISP and STABLE since you'll be staring at high-resolution graphics quite a bit. This is a function of the monitor, the video card, and the connecting cable(s). > Since the bulk of our DTP is actual word processing with some > graphics, is WordPerfect 5.0 truely the best all round word > processor for DTP? We just got WP 5.0, and I haven't used it yet, so I can't really say. I'd strongly suggest getting Aldus Pagemaker or Ventura Publisher (probably the first for bulletins and newsletters, the second for long documents), and using your word processor (or plain text editor) to prepare input for it. > Any other laser printer or ink jet that compares well with > HP's line? How much memory should I get? What cartriges > do I need? If you can possibly afford it, GET A POSTSCRIPT PRINTER! The NEC LC-890 is a good deal, since it comes with 4MB and all of the following font families, each in four styles (except the two Zapf fonts): Times, Helvetica, Courier, Avant-Garde, Bookman, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino, Helvetica Narrow, ZapfChancery-MediumItalic, and ZapfDingbats. The biggest practical advantages of PostScript over an HP printer are - All the fonts above are built into the printer ROM. No cartridges! - Fonts can be printed in any size (15.25 point - ok. 100 point - ok.) and at any rotation and x-y scaling (including mirror image, stretching, etc.). - Fonts can easily be rendered in outline, with any line thickness. - And, of course, PostScript is a complete programming and page description language, with lots more flexibility than anything like HP's output codes, which operate on essentially the same principle as terminal control codes. Oh, you might want to go ahead and look at some of the large, flat, desktop publishing monitors and graphics cards that can clearly display an entire page at a time, but they are likely to be expensive. We're doing Ventura Publisher here with Hercules monochrome, and it seems to be a little cramped, but workable. Good luck! -- John Owens john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US SMART HOUSE L.P. uunet!jetson!john (old uucp) +1 301 249 6000 john%jetson.uucp@uunet.uu.net (old internet) ---------------------------------------- Submissions to: desktop@plaid.sun.com Administrivia to: desktop-request@plaid.sun.com UUCP: {amdahl,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4}!sun!plaid!desktop{-request} Archives can be gotten from the archive-server. To get information on the archive-server, send mail to: archive-server@plaid.sun.com -or- sun!plaid!archive-server with a subject line of help