On Thursday, November 21, 2002, at 09:36 AM, Nick Dunmur wrote:
Hi Nick.on 21/11/2002 00:52, Andy Warwick at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Hi AndyWould like to avoid Epson if I can, as I already have a 1520 that -- without decent OS X drivers -- is like an expensive paperweight
Have you tried out the drivers at <http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/> ?
I believe there are a comprehensive range of third party drivers for OS X.
Perhaps paperweight was a little extreme :)
I have indeed tried the GIMP drivers. Spent a good afternoon setting them up. It prints out of OS X, and 10.2.2 has fixed a couple of minor issues, like print jobs not disappearing after finishing. They are okay, but I couldn't recommend them as a permanent solution.
Currently the GIMP drivers and the 1520 take about 25-35 minutes for an A4 at best quality settings. And the colour is nowhere near as 'proof quality' as it was in OS 9 with Epson drivers. They are close, but seem to be more grainy, and darker than before.
The major problem seems to be hardware though, as it keeps misfeeding paper; every 3rd of 4th sheet, it skips when printing, so that I end up with a blank strip about an inch wide in the middle of the page, and then it feeds a second sheet to print the offset inch. Rather than advancing the paper by a fraction of an inch to print the next row, it spasms, feeds an inch, then whinges the paper is an inch short. I've also had no ink low warnings before the cartridges give out, and random non-printing of the cyan and black on certain prints. Realistically, it's done sterling service, is showing its age, and needs to be put out to pasture.
As I've said, it's taken two days of baby-sitting the damn thing to coax 7 not-that-great A4 prints out of it. And those 7 prints have cost me about 16 sheets of paper, with tests, mis-prints, etc.
I've reached the end of my tether with it, and will replace it short term with an A4 'consumer' printer (as that is what I print most often, and printing web pages isn't colour critical), then buy a better A3+ printer in 3-6 months as needs dictate, and once driver issues under OS X have settled down.
If I need a high quality A3 in the meantime, I'll talk nice to Karl at Unit 5 :)
All that said, if anyone want's more info on setting up a 1520 with the GIMP print drivers though, do let me know.
--
Andy Warwick
Creed New Media Design, Nottingham, UK
[t] +44 (0)115 8476867
[w] <http://www.creed.co.uk/src/prodig/index.htm>
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