¢HARDWARE WAREHOUSE¢¢ Welcome to Hardware Warehouse, the new column devoted to Atari 8-bit hardware! First up, we have a printer review by Futura subscriber, Alan Hitchen...¢¢¢ADDING A PRINTER¢by Alan Hitchen¢¢ Having upgraded to a disk system, the next logical progression was to add a printer, but which one? The ability to handle text and graphics meant a dot matrix unit. A good quality output excluded the Atari 1029 (apologies to all 1029 users). The XMM801 would be nice, if you could find one, so that left only third party printers in the running.¢¢ Models by Panasonic and Citizen had receive good reviews in the past, and the Citizen 120D+ in my local Tandy looked very good. It was priced at 155 pounds which gave me a benchmark to aim at. I then looked in some current magazines to see what was on offer in mail order. In PC Format I found what I was looking for. Silica Systems had the 120D+ available for just 135 pounds and this included a starter pack of paper, labels, envelopes, cable and disk (for PC/Amiga) plus free delivery. So after raiding my piggy bank I sent off my cheque. The printer arrived the day after they received it as promised.¢¢ After unpacking it and flipping through the comprehensive manual the first task was to install the parallel interface (serial is an option). This proved to be unexpectedly difficult until I gently bent the socket straight as it was slightly out of line. Once in it need not be disturbed. As mentioned earlier a standard cable is supplied, but for a Classic Atari an interface is needed. The MicroPrint interface is available from Micro Discount and Gralin International for 31.95 plus 1.50 postage. The casing of this unit lacks the standard lugs for the security clips, which had to be removed to allow it to fit. The ribbon cartridge was next to be installed and this also proved to be fiddly to fit correctly.¢¢ To ensure all is well there are two built in test routines. One prints the entire Epson or IBM character set. the other identifies the control program, the current dipswitch settings and prints a line of H's to check alignment. The computer does not need to be connected to carry these out. With the tests successfully completed the printer was ready to go.¢¢ If you intend to use only programs written for an Epson compatible then you need do nothing further. The standard settings are for the Epson FX/LX with a UK character set, ie the hash symbol is replaced by a pound sign. However the setup may be altered by the dipswitches mounted on the interface. The manual states that the interface must be withdrawn for the settings to be changed, but there is a sliding cover in the printer well which allows access to the switches. These switches can select one of two Epson or two IBM modes with a selection of options within these configurations.¢¢ Apart from the power switch at the left side, there are switches for On Line, Line Feed and Form Feed on the front panel together with Power, Paper Out and Ready lights. Using the panel switches one of two type faces may be chosen, as can NLQ text. Also available is a print style mode with a choice of NLQ, Italic, Emphasised, Compressed, Double or Quadruple height and width text. It is also possible to select Auto Sheet Feed (the feeder is an option), 6 inch" or 11 2/3 inch form lengths. A tractor feeder is supplied for continuous paper which may be fed from above, or below if using a printer stand (also an option).¢¢ For the more adventurous who wish to write their own programs the main bulk of the manual is given over to detailing all the features of the printer, illustrated by example programs in Microsoft Basic. Tips for adapting the programs to other Basic types including Atari Basic are given.¢¢ So what can the printer do? The short answer is just about anything you will ever need. Pica, Elite or high speed Elite at 144 cps. Expanded or Compressed, even Expanded and Compressed. Double or Quadruple in width or height, or width and height. Near letter quality of course, plus proportional printing and spacing. Full justification, left right and centre, together with full control of page formatting. Emphasised, Doublestrike or both together. Italics, underlined or overscored, subscript or superscript, or even white on black. The tear out quick reference guide will help you keep track of the options available. Graphics are no problem! Use the set provided or design your own graphics (or type face) and print them out at up to 240*216 dpi. This printer does the lot!¢¢ Made in Britain with a two year guarantee, this unit is built to last. The ribbon has a life of two million characters. The print head will last for 100 million characters and can be easily replaced.¢¢ In conclusion I have no hesitation in recommending this printer to you. However those of you with deeper pockets might like to consider the 24 pin and colour models from Citizen which no doubt would be of an equally high quality.¢
