Re: [ql-users] What printers do people use with their QL??

[Roy wood]

All this talk of printers for the QL has been quite interesting and I 
would have joined in earlier except that Demon's mail server has been 
playing up and some of the messages have been severely delayed.

If anyone wants a laser printer that will work with most QL programs 
they should look into the EPSON EPL 6100. This has the ESC/P2 driver 
built in which will work with ProWesS and is backwardly compatible with 
other EPSON drivers. It is of course only B&W but it should sell at 
around 200 pounds. Beware of the EPL 6100L which is a cheaper version 
with no ESC/P2 driver.

You could also try the Kyocera FS1010 which has an EPSON emulation built 
in but some of the characters are a bit odd. I am sure that a suitable 
translation could be done if some one wanted to do it. (One example is 
the pound sign comes out as two hearts and a hash symbol from quill. 
Quite how one symbol turns into three I have no idea.)

This problem with printing will only get worse because, as mainstream 
computers become more and more powerful and sophisticated the need to 
build drivers and emulations into printers will decrease and the 
manufacturers will save a few pennies by not bothering to put them in. 
At the moment there are still some printers available with them in 
because some businesses still use DOS based programs but their use is 
decreasing rapidly.

Our problem is not one of connection but of sheer programming because 
all of our programs are designed to print directly with their own 
drivers and that is not how modern printers have developed. Just making 
a connection will not solve much. Marcel, Jochen and I discussed this 
QPC2 Printer programme at length while we were together in the US but 
this will be of no use to anyone not using QPC2. A similar solution has 
to be worked out for other hardware platforms and that will not be an 
easy task.

By the way Tony - of course a dot matrix is more reliable than an inkjet 
or laser printer. This is the same reason that a bicycle does not suffer 
from a cracked cylinder head or some such thing. It is just not as 
sophisticated and does not have so many moving parts. On the whole, 
though, the output is pretty bad in comparison to even the cheapest 
inkjet. You can still by new dot matrix EPSON printers with the 
emulations intact but they are often more expensive than laser printers 
because the manufactures can only sell you a ribbon as a consumable and 
there is not a great need for these because they last so long. On a 
laser they can sell you drums, fusers, toners and, in HPs case even the 
tractor pads wear out and need replacing! Masses more profit there! 
Cynical, me?
--
Roy Wood
Q Branch. 20 Locks Hill, Portslade, Sussex.
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 386030    fax: +44 (0) 1273 430501
web : www.qbranch.demon.co.uk