Info-Mac 1992 August/info-mac-1992.iso/Report/GCC Buble TI Laser Comp.txt

Internet Message Format | 1992-08-28 | 13KB

From: [e-mail] ( John Thoo )
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 09:19:20 PDT
Subject: Laser printer for personal use (report)


Hello, all!

Some days ago I posted a question asking whether people thought
I should buy the TI microLaser PS/17 or the GCC BLB Elite.

First of all, I would very much like to thank all of you who
responded to my query directly. (I would list the persons, but
I'm sure that I'd inadvertently miss someone; so, choosing the
``lesser of two evils,'' I've decided not to list any persons :-)

I'm attaching all the responses I received (sans the headers),
which could be archived in  /reports. However, one person said
``Feel free to ask any questions,'' and so I left his Internet
address appended to his response.

And for posting on the digest, here is a

SUMMARY
=======

Most of the respondents recommended the TI because they've had
good experience with it.

The GCC received one positively *negative* recommendation:
``I'm also looking for a Laser Printer and I wouldn't go near the GCC.
t doesn't seem very reliable to me. Who knows if its drivers will
function in the future?''

However, it should be noted that the reason most of the respondents did not
recommend the GCC is that they've not had much opportunity to use it and,
thus, have no opinion on it.

One respondent was quite persistent in recommending the new Apple
LaserWriter NTR. I would like to thank him very much for his persistence,
because I think I might just abandon both the TI and the GCC, and go with
the NTR after all.  :-)
=======================

Again, thanks to all who took the time to answer my query.

Cheers!
--John
<[e-mail]>


---------------------moderators, cut here for report---------------------------


I purchased my MicroLaser about a month ago and I would recommend it.

The print quality is very high.  It is at least at good as any other
laser output I have seen.

Small footprint--big plus in my book.  It has the smallest available.

Ease of set up: trivial.  Push a few buttons the first time you start
then you never worry about it again.  Aren't macs great!  Even adding
memory is easy:  unscrew 2 knobs, slide out board, slip in SIMMs, slide
in, rescrew knobs.

The only drawbacks are that envelops are tricky without the optional
envelop holder.  I haven't been able to print envelops but I haven't
tried any commercial products...  Oh, the other drawback is that
the machine needs extra memory to work properly.  I added 2 extra meg
($55/meg from the Chip Merchant see MacWeek) and only the *most*
complicated SuperPaint PICTs run out of memory.  I will probably add the
final meg someday (bringing it to 4.5 Meg).

Another nice feature: the paper tray holds 250 sheets of paper.  I don't
think this is true of all printers.

I ordered mine from MacCenter for $1265 + s/h and have no complaints.

Feel free to ask further questions.

Kirke    [e-mail]
=======

Your question is one that has been going through my head, but had not
caused me to act because it will be a few months before the dollars can
meet with the ideas.

Attached is an earlier posting on the TI which may help in your
evaluation.  If you arrive at any conclusions as a result of your
posting, please pass them on if you can.

------------------------------ attachment ------------------------------


From: [e-mail] (Andy Peterman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: TI Microlaser experiences ?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 21 May 91 05:25:47 GMT
References: <[e-mail]>
Organization: The Treehouse
Lines: 62

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Maurice Sharp) writes:
>
>    I am debating about buying either a TI-Microlaser (probably the
>17, possibly the 35) or the Apple Personal Laswerwriter LS. Since I
>get student rates, the TI is actually more expensive, but it does have
>postscript.
>
>    My questions about the TI are as follows. First, does it do
>background printing ? How is the speed, it says 6ppm, but does it
>really put out that fast (the LS beats an old Laser Plus by a large
>amount) ? Does it work with the new TrueType font technology ? How
>realiable is it ? Are 3rd party ink cartridges available ? Is the 35
>that much better than the 17 (i.e worth around $1000 more) ? How
>reliable is it ?
>
>    If you had to make a similar choice, what would you choose ? (The
>TI will cost about $5-700 more than the LS, less than Freedom of The
>Press). It would be run from a IIci 80/8.

I got a microlaser PS-17 about two months ago and have since done a
close comparison between it and the Personal LaserWriter NT, which I
believe has the same engine as the LS.

First of all, having Postscript is a BIG advantage.  It allows putting the
printer onto LocalTalk and allows background printing (the TI works just
like any Apple Postscript printer).  The TI is definitely faster than
the LaserWriter, both in processing speed and printing speed.  When
printing duplicate pages, I was getting one page per 9.5 seconds!  Other
comparisons showed it to be faster in processing complicated graphics,
although with the LS it would be different since it doesn't use
Postscript.

I've been using TrueType since I've had the printer with no problems.
As far as reliability, I haven't had any problems and it's fairly easy
to set up and work on (somewhat better than the LaserWriters, I
believe).  Toner refills are currently only made by TI, but are widely
available for about $80.

I was able to notice a slight difference in the print quality, however.
The print on the TI is a bit fuzzy (when looking real close) while the
LaserWriter is somewhat sharper.  This might have had something to do
with the paper (I'm using cheap copier papaer from the Price Club).
Also the TI is MUCH noiser that the LaserWriter - one of the reasons I
was thinking of changing over.  However, the faster speed and smaller
footprint convinced me to keep it.

If you plan on using the extra fonts of the PS-35, I'd go for it.  It's
possible to upgrade later, but it's much more expensive that way.  I've
been downloading the fonts I need, although the available memory only
allows a few fonts at a time (for about $85, you can get a 1 meg upgrade
that will allow MANY more fonts and faster operation).  You can use any
of the normal laser printing tools from Apple or others since the printer
uses standard Postscript and looks just like a LaserWriter to the Mac.

I ordered mine from MacCenter (800-950-3726) in Texas - they currently
have the best prices at $1299 for the 17 and $1599 for the 35.  If you
do order it, don't forget you need to supply the LocalTalk cabling.
=======

I have used both the printers you mention and I can't say much bad about either
one. We have a TI at home and my wife has a GCC in her office.

On the TI we have put about 5000 pages over the year since we purchased it.
There has been no maintenance since we purchased it, except to change the toner
cartridge once. It did arrive with a bad AppleTalk board, but that was quickly
replaced by TI and there has been no problem with the new one.

I've also used the TI off of a clone with the parallel port. It's nice to have
the option to do this when you have to. The TI does not automatically arbitrate
ports, but it's easy to choose them from the front panel.

The printing on the TI is not spectacularly fast, but acceptably slow. I use it
with Textures (a TeX for the Mac) that needs an enormous number of PS fonts.
(Textures has all the CM fonts in type 1 format). There are 4.5 megs in the TI
and it zips along at about 5 pages per minute.

As for the BLP...it performs similarly to the TI. My wife has not had to change
the toner in hers yet because she only got it last Fall. I don't notice much
difference in speed, although I haven't used it as much. One advantage of the
BLP is that Tandy used to use the same engine in their printers so that
consumables should be available at the Radio Shack on the nearest corner.
=======

I have the TI microlaser at home, using it with an IBM usually but with
a mac occasionally. (when I take the work machine home).  It works VERY
well. The only problem is that I haven't found a software reset from
the HP emulation to the PS emulation - you have to take it offline,
push 3-4 buttons, and bring it back online. YOu can't write a macro to
make it do so.  Print quality fine. I've had it since fall, and haven't
run out of any toner or anything yet so I can't say about replacement
parts. I HAVE heard that you should order extra memory while you're at
buying it, and I did so. I think it now has 2.5 meg. but I'm not certain.
=======

The TI requires special SIMMs.  Fortunately the prices have come down
alot since the TI came out a year or so ago.  Don't pay more than
$60/meg.
=======

>I'm glad you mentioned this; I use OzTeX, myself.
>Question: Are 4.5 MB really necessary to print TeX comfortably? I would
>have to account for the cost of the memory upgrade.

Textures needs more memory than OzTeX because it uses all PS fonts while OzTeX
uses standard pk fonts. OzTeX is actually shipping bitmaps to the printer a
chunk at a time and doesn't make the fonts resident. With Textures, the printer
itself is making the bitmaps using the PS versions of the fonts, so the fonts
must be in the printer's memory. Of course the fonts could be squirted over one
at a time, as needed, but this would slow the process down quite a bit.

OzTeX 1.4 will print fine to a 1.5 megabyte printer, although the more memory
you have, the faster printing will go. Memory for the TI printers is running
under $50 per megabyte right now, so putting an extra meg or so in really isn't
that big a deal.
=======

I'm also looking for a Laser Printer and I wouldn't go near the GCC.
t doesn't seem very reliable to me. Who knows if its drivers will
function in the future? I'm looking at the QMS, TI, and NEC printers,
and I think they're all very, very nice. Price is my main issue among
these three. Gee, if you got a new NTR you could upgrade some day to
Apple's PhotoGrade technology. There are my thoughts...
=======

You know, you should really think about the Apple NTR printer. It's priced
educationally at under $1500. Read these specifications:

(1) PostScript Level 2 and HPGL 4+ emulation

(3) 3 megabytes of RAM standard

(3) 16 MHz RISC processor

(4) Serial, parallel and Appletalk ports which can all be connected
simultaneously

(5) Guaranteed to work with the Mac hassle free
=======

As far as the Apple printers go, we have two of them here in the department as
well as an HP2. The oldest one, an original Apple LaserWriter has over 100,000
pages on it and has only been professionally serviced once--a cleaning at about
80,000 on the odometer. The other one is an NT and has never been serviced in
about 50,000 pages. The HP on the other hand is on intimate terms with the
repairman.

This is not untypical. I know several departments on this campus and businesses
in town with the same record. Apple has an extremely good track record with
their printers; printers, not computers, have been the cash cow for Apple
over the last four or five years. (The Powerbook is changing that very
quickly.)

As for the difference between the NT and NTR...

The NT has a standard CISC processor and Level 1 PostScript (unless they've
updated the ROM). The NTR has Level 2 PostScript and a speedy RISC processor.
Right now you wouldn't notice much difference, but L2 PS will become more and
more desirable as Adobe's new multiple master font sets become available. All
four vectors in the MM are supported by L2 and I think only two at a time are
supported by L1. Other than the processors, the printers are pretty much the
same. Look in the most recent issue of MacUser for a review of the NTR.

We're getting an NTR for use in the department here as a network printer
because it looks like such a good deal. We envision it as a supplementary
printer for people to print research papers with PS based TeX and MathWriter.

On the other hand, if all you want to do is print OzTeX, there's not much
difference since OzTeX doesn't use PS fonts. Even though the printer driver in
Oz is essentially dvips, so it only prints to a PS printer without add-ons, Oz
really isn't a PS program. It just ships bitmaps down the line in a form
designed for PS.

If you get a PS printer of your own and you are serious about TeX, you'll want
to get Textures--a true PS based TeX. Textures doesn't use pk fonts; it uses
PostScript versions of the cm fonts. The advantage to this is that you can
print at any magnification without jaggies. Using Adobe Type Manager, you can
preview on the screen at any magnification without jaggies. Textures can
automatically use any PS font found in your system folder, not just the few
built into your printer like OzTeX. Textures TeX's as you type--usually only a
character or two behind on the cx in my office--it seems like it's ahead of me
on the fx I have at home. When Textures finds an error, it puts the insertion
point at the beginning of the line where it thinks the error is right in your
editor. I'm so used to this, I really miss it when I'm using something like Oz
or emTeX.
=======
end of report
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