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Amiga Collections: MegaDisc
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MegaDisc 24 (1991-10)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 1 of 2)[WB].zip
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MegaDisc 24 (1991-10)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 1 of 2)[WB].adf
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REVIEWS
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Bubble_Jet
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Bubble_Jet
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Text File
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1991-09-26
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4KB
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80 lines
Canon BJ10e
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By
Randall Crook
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A few weeks ago I was fortunate to be able to purchase one of the new
Canon BJ10e printers. At a cost of $695 dollars it is not cheap
compared to a 9 bin or some 24 pin dot matrix printers but it is worth
the extra money.
The BJ in BJ10e stands for Bubble Jet, something new in printer
technology. The principle is simple - the head consists of 64 nozzles
each of which has a very small heater. As the heater is switched on the
ink vaporizes forming a bubble that expands forcing a drop of ink out of
the nozzle and on to the paper. As the bubble shrinks the ink is drawn
in to the nozzle from the ink cartridge.
The big plus about this printer is the quality, depending on the
software used, you can get laser quality printing. The resolution is
360 dot per inch, which is better than some of the lower priced laser
printers. Its standard fonts are courier and prestige, and it has all
standard features of a dot matrix printer except italics. This does not
cause a problem as the software used can usually fix this.
It does not have a tractor feed but you can buy a automatic cut sheet
feeder which will allow you to feed A4 sheets through. One big plus
with this is you can use standard A4 photocopy paper (appox. price $10
for 500 sheets where fanfold paper is around $35 for 900 sheets.).
One other downer is the cost of the ink cartridge. The head of the
printer is built in to the ink cartridge which allows you to change the
head at the same time as the cartridge. This stop the trouble of
replacing expensive worn heads (usually about 40% of the printers
cost). The down side of this is the cartridges cost $50. The price
will be sure to drop in the future.
The cartridge is rated at 700000 characters in quality mode, but this
usage can be cut down by using the economy mode. The economy mode uses
only half the ink and thus makes the cartridge last longer. Compared to
a ribbon which is rated at 2 million characters in draft mode this may
not look so crash hot. But when you compare the quality and life the
dot matrix printer losses density of print much quicker than the BJ10e.
Speed wise compared to dot matrix printers in draft mode leaves a lot
to be desired, a mere 83 cps (economy mode). But it does go faster than
most 9 pin and some 24 pin printers in quality mode (same as economy 83
cps).
Another plus is the lack of noise. Compared to a dot matrix printer
the noise levels are very low, about 40 to 45 db where a dot matrix
noise levels can be anywhere up to 60 or 70 db. You will agree that
when you are up late at night and you want to print a letter out after 4
hours of getting just right, the noise of a dot matrix printer is not
want you need.
One problem with the printer at this present time is the lack of an
Amiga printer driver. Fortunately a friend of my has written one which I
am testing. Hopfully by the time this article has been published a
commercial driver will be available.
In conclusion if it is quality you are after the BJ10e is the way to
go. The cost of an equivalent laser printer is about $2500. The BJ10e
is only $695 and the cut sheet feeder costs $95, so as you can see the
cost benefit is tempting.
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