[H-GEN] Postscript Printers

[Jason Henry Parker]

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On Sun, May 27, 2001 at 05:19:13PM +1000, Frank Brand wrote:
> John Duncan wrote:
> >                   It seems like less gymnastics would be needed for BSD
> >style printing if I get a postscript printer.
> >Could anyone give a good report on any low-end postscript printer? I am
> >only using LaTeX and groff so nothing fancy is needed.
> Well if you have a supported printer and use something like ghostscript I
> don't think it is going to make a great deal of difference.

John, if you're only using LaTeX and groff, they can both produce
excellent postscript output on their own (indeed, this is the preferred
method of printing both formats)[1].

> Low end PostScript printer...is there any such thing?

Plugged In recently bought an entry-level HP laser for about $700;
it has a `warm-up' time of about 30 seconds and prints one page per 13
seconds thereafter.  Very quick.

Of course, it's not as fast when it has to rasterize some image, but a
bit more RAM will do the trick, I think.

> The cheapest I know is a PS version of the HP1100 or some of the inkjet
> printers but they are still pretty expensive. Better to get a low mileage,
> second hand HP 4M or Lexmark PS or Brother (10h PS) for example. Should pick
> one up under $300.

You can do that, but print quality will suffer.  Of course it is all a
balancing act.

Oh, now as regards printing software:  In my opinion, BSD lpd is a piece
of crap; I always junk it as fast as possible and install LPRng instead.
It's slightly more hassle to configure[2], but it's awfully convenient
and much better written.

jason

[1] : To the point that there are conversion routines for roff to
      DVI format, which is what TeX produces.  dvips will do the rest.

[2] : Standing offer:  buy a PostScript printer and I'll get it working
      with LPRng at a meeting if you email me in advance so I know to
      make time for it.
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