Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!primerd!hobbiton!barry From: barry@hobbiton.prime.com Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Seikosha SP 1000AP Printer Message-ID: <160700022@hobbiton> Date: 31 Mar 89 18:40:00 GMT Lines: 62 Nf-ID: #N:hobbiton:160700022:000:3399 Nf-From: hobbiton.prime.com!barry Mar 31 13:40:00 1989 There have been a number of postings recently inquiring about the Seikosha SP 1000 AP printer. I've tried replying directly to some queries, but have had some of my replies get returned - hence this posting. If you're looking for an inexpensive printer, you should definitely consider the Seikosha. My brother-in-law recently received a contract to produce a book based on his Political Science doctoral disseration and decided to buy a computer for use in writing it. In spite of my advice to buy an IBM PC clone with a hard drive, he bought a Mac Plus and WriteNow 2.0. He decided to buy a Seikosha SP 1000 AP printer because it was the least expensive alternative for getting printed information from his system. The list price for the Seikosha is supposedly $299, but I've seen it advertised for about $225 from several mail order houses, which is what my brother-in-law paid when he bought it from the local Boston distributor. You might find it advertised for less in a non-Macintosh publication. The Seikosha comes with a two year warranty, as opposed to 90 days with the ImageWriter II. There are a number of authorized repair sites in the Boston area; there are probably repair sites in most major areas. The Seikosha is much smaller, quieter, and slower than the ImageWriter II. A full, very complementary review of the Seikosha appeared in the Februrary 1988 issue of The Macazine (RIP), so I'll just summarize its features here. The Seikosha is a 9-pin printer that emulates the ImageWriter I. It uses a pull tractor, as opposed to the push tractor in the ImageWriter II, so paper handling should be better. If you generate output that has a lot of consecutive reverse line feeds, i.e. that pulls the paper back, the Seikosha looks like it might have a problem. However, if most of the printing advances the paper, as is usually the case, the Seikosha should jam much less often than the ImageWriter II. The Seikosha comes with a 1200 byte printer buffer. This can be increased by 8KB if you add a 6264-LP15 static RAM chip (list about $4). I tried a number of tests with the Seikosha on my SE at home using an ImageWriter II as the standard. The output generated by the Seikosha was virtually indistinguishable from that produced by the ImageWriter II. Vertical lines were absolutely straight on the Seikosha, because they were printed uni-directionally. The dot size used by the ImageWriter II appears to be slightly smaller than that used by the Seikosha, so lines drawn by the Seikosha appeared very slightly thicker, but that could be the effect of using a brand new ribbon on the Seikosha. The main difference was that it usually took about 3 times as long to generate a printed page with the Seikosha. If speed isn't important, the Seikosha will certainly do the job. Contact me if you need more information Barry Nothing in this posting reflects an official opinion of Prime Computer. I have no connection with Seikosha, I just happen to be related to a satisfied user. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Barry Wolman | barry@s66.prime.com Principal Technical Consultant | 492 Old Connecticut Path Prime Computer | Framingham, MA 01701 | 508/626-1700, ext. 4187 ------------------------------------------------------------------------