Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!vax5!pv9y
From: pv9y@vax5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: cheap good printers
Message-ID: <17924@vax5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU>
Date: 9 Feb 89 00:05:44 GMT
Sender: news@vax5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU
Reply-To: pv9y@vax5.ccs.cornell.edu (Adam Engst)
Organization: Cornell Computer Service, Ithaca NY
Lines: 67


For those who are looking for a good quality, cheap printer for the Mac, but
but aren't afraid to be a little odd, I would recommend the HP DeskJet.
Dave Platt tested it extensively a while ago and posted his findings.  I
have some further comments now that I own one.

Speed: Anywhere between 30 seconds/page and 6 minutes/page, depending on how
good quality you want.  It's up to you.  If you want to print in the highest
quality all the time, it will be a slow printer.

Drivers:  There are two major ones, the Printer Interface III from DataPak
and the Grappler LQ from Orange Micro.  I tested both.  The speed is almost
exactly the same, although there may be small individual differences.  The
DataPak driver works with the font cartridges, but those are expensive and
only have one (or occasionally two) sizes.  If you want to print twleve
point Times a lot, then buy the cartridge, otherwise it's a waste.  Also,
the DataPak does not work with ALL the cartridges, most notably not with the
cartridge that gives you 3 or 4 sizes.  The Grappler probably works with a
few more applications since it patches into the ImageWriter LQ driver, but
that has it's own problem (which was the main reason we didn't buy it).
Because it uses the same driver as the ImageWriter LQ, the ouput looks
strikingly like it was printed on an ImageWriter.  Yuck, that's what I'm
trying to avoid.  Two advantages to the Grappler: it comes with a cable
included, and it comes with some large font sizes included, neither of which
are included with the DataPak.  

Price: The DeskJet itself was $607 on educational discount at Cornell.  It's
only slightly more expensive at good discount places.
	The Grappler is a little under $100, with cable and extra fonts.
	That DataPak is $125, plus $20 for the cable.  (no discounts as far
as I know)

Fonts: Both drivers want to have 4X fonts installed for 300dpi printing.  So
if you want to print in 12 point, you must have 48 point installed.  It is
VERY hard to find large point sizes.  There are a few options.  Make them
yourself in ResEdit (probably virtually impossible).  Use the Times and
Helvetica that come with the ImageWriter LQ, if you can get your hands on
them.  Use the scaling features of Fontographer (should work but I haven't
tried it).  Use FontSizer, a $100 program from US Microlabs I think.
FontSizer is the best possibility, but it requires a PostScript laser to
download the fonts to and resize them, and it may be illegal to use fonts
created with FontSizer on a non-Postscript printer.  I personally think
their market lies in the LaserWriter SC crowd, who must be fuming because of
the difficulty of getting decent print out their laser.  The DeskJet
produces nicer output than the LaserWriter SC in many cases, by the way.  I
tested it too.  Don't try to use the PD program FontDoubler, it doesn't work
at all.

Compatibility:  Most programs are fine.  I'll list some I know don't work here,
but my list is at home.  MacDraft and Canvas 1.0 print boxes around text,
QuicKeys won't print templates, Quark Xpress 1.04 cuts off the last letter
in each line and bombs unpredictably, SuperPaint 1.1 bombed, even though
SuperPaint 1.0 prints fine. Excel is a bit weird (so what's new), and Word
is even weirder (equally as expected from the program from Hell).  HyperCard
and MacPaint both bomb, but it's a known fact that Bill Atkinson's programs
have strange ways of accessing the printer.  That's about it, I think.
There might be one or two more that don't work, but I don't think so.  Oh,
those compatibility problems are with the DataPak driver.  The output from
the Grappler was too ugly and ImageWriter-ish for me to even consider it
seriously.

Any other questions, please feel free to ask, though I may take a bit to
reply since I'm pretty busy now.

Adam
Adam C. Engst					pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
"You can never step into the same text twice."	pv9y@cornella.cit.cornell.edu