Review of Star Micronics NX-1000 MultiFont Printer
                    Copyright 1988 by David W. Batterson

     Star Micronics has been manufacturing good quality, reasonably-priced dot
matrix printers for several years.  One of their newest models is the NX-1000
MultiFont.
     Following is a breakdown of the specs before moving on to the hands-on
appraisal.
     Printing speed is 120 characters per second (cps) in draft pica, and 30
cps in Near Letter Quality (NLQ) pica mode.  You can select bidirectional or
unidirectional for draft printing.  NLQ and graphics printing are performed
unidirectional only.
     The 9-pin print head has an estimated life of 200 million dots.  The
ribbon type is a fabric ribbon cartridge with a lifespan of about one million
draft characters.
     Interface is parallel, 7 or 8 bit.  The NX-1000 has a 4k-byte data buffer.
 The printer emulates the Epson LX-800 and IBM ProPrinter II.  Character sets
are diverse; you get standard, IBM, download and international characters.  The
12-pin DIP switches are located underneath the printer's cover, and are easy to
access.
     The nicely-designed control panel features four membrane switches, with 10
LED indicators.  Special features include forward and reverse micro-feed (for
lining up paper exactly where you want it), and paper parking (which lets you
load single sheets without removing tractor paper.)
     NLQ type styles are Courier, Sans Serif and Orator; Orator has selectable
lower case or small capitals.  There are italics for all three also.  Print
pitches include pica (10 cpi), elite (12 cpi), condensed pica (17 cpi),
condensed elite (20 cpi), plus proportional spacing for all of these.
     The printer has a compact footprint of 11.3 by 15.1 inches, and is only
4.3 inches high.  It weighs in at a nice 10.3 pounds, so it's no problem
moving it around.  An automatic sheet feeder is optional.
     I previously owned a Star SG-10, which gave fine service. The NX-1000
is a better printer, and sells for less! (List price is $289--nobody pays list
prices--but some mail order companies sell it for around $179; that's a great
price for this printer.)
     The setup goes very smoothly, with an excellent manual. Unlike many more
expensive printers, this one offers the handy paper parking.  This is a nice
feature, especially if you use preprinted letterheads.
     Compatibility with your software is no problem either, since it emulates
Epson and IBM printers.  [NOTE: some printers--like the Citizen Tribute
124--only emulate an Epson by use of software or an optional plug-in card.]  I
experienced no glitches with any of my software.
     You can easily override your software's commands that change type style. 
For instance, your word processor might automatically select pica NLQ printing
as the default choice.  By holding down the NLQ TYPE STYLE and/or PRINT PITCH
switches upon powering up, you may then use these switches, for example, to
select draft elite printing, and they won't be overridden.
     How's the overall printing quality?  Don't expect the better quality of a
24-pin printer.  However, I found it perfectly acceptable for most uses.  For
correspondence, I prefer a little darker printing, so I usually set my word
processing software for bold printing.  On the NX-1000, it came out fine.
     The NX-1000 is a low-end printer, comparable to Epson's Apex printer. 
You'll find it more than adequate for basic printing needs.  There is another
model, the NX-1000 Rainbow Series, which is the "lowest-priced color-impact
print on the market," according to Star Micronics.  It prints in black plus
six colors.
                                    ###
David Batterson writes computer reviews, articles, software manuals, and
lots of e-mail messages!  Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON.