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#1
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New printers on old computers?
Are all the printers newer than, say, 1995 dependent on the speed of the
computer for their output speed? My 100MHz Pentium machine at home does what we need it to do, but we could use a printer with more dependable paper-handling functions. Our HP Laserjet 5L has to be hand-fed. At one point, I bought a Xerox color printer, but it was as slow as a slug on the 100MHz computer. It works at an acceptable speed on my 2GB computer (formerly my 400MHz computer) at work. |
#2
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You'd be better off if you didn't need color. Look for a plain vanilla
laserprinter (hp 1300) say, that has a parallel port interface. These are not Winprinters (printers which use the CPU of the computer to do a part of the printing job) You'd save money with the HP 1012, but that has only USB, which you don't have. Link to full specs: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en...22-238323.html Notice, in particular, that the printer is compatible with DOS--this is the spec you should look for in other printer lines. "Laura Cooper" wrote in message ... Are all the printers newer than, say, 1995 dependent on the speed of the computer for their output speed? My 100MHz Pentium machine at home does what we need it to do, but we could use a printer with more dependable paper-handling functions. Our HP Laserjet 5L has to be hand-fed. At one point, I bought a Xerox color printer, but it was as slow as a slug on the 100MHz computer. It works at an acceptable speed on my 2GB computer (formerly my 400MHz computer) at work. |
#3
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"Laura Cooper" wrote in message ... Are all the printers newer than, say, 1995 dependent on the speed of the computer for their output speed? It depends mostly on what you're intending to print, based on the format (PCL, postscript, raw text, emulations, GDI, etc.). An original 4.77 mhz IBM PC can keep a fast laser printer going at full speed via parallel port with text output. The latest greatest 3+GHz machine might slow to a crawl when outputting a hi-res color graphic. The speed of the cpu and interface matter too (both on the PC and the printer itself), but only relative to the size and complexity of the output format. Because printers often support more than one format, it's helpful to know the specific characteristics of the formats in case you can choose or configure your printer driver to pick the best one for the intended purpose. A better generalization might be that large and/or complex graphic formats are more dependent on the speed of the cpu and interface than simple ones. |
#4
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"Laura Cooper" wrote in message ... Are all the printers newer than, say, 1995 dependent on the speed of the computer for their output speed? My 100MHz Pentium machine at home does what we need it to do, but we could use a printer with more dependable paper-handling functions. Our HP Laserjet 5L has to be hand-fed. If your able to take things apart, go to www.fixyourownprinter.com and order their repair kit for the multi-page feeding problem. The rubber in the seperator pad they supply is stickier than the original and fixes the problem for a long time. I've repaired many printers using their kit which comes with full instruction on how to do the job, takes only an hour. -- Cheers, don't bother me with insigniciciant nonsence such as spelling, I don't care if it spelt properly At one point, I bought a Xerox color printer, but it was as slow as a slug on the 100MHz computer. It works at an acceptable speed on my 2GB computer (formerly my 400MHz computer) at work. |
#5
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There is a fix kit available for your HP LJ 5L's Multifeed problem. If you are
not very handy, you coudl order a fix it from he http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/kkg0.html It comes with an instructional video which is worth the price if you have never done printer repair before. If you don't need instruction and want to tackle the problem without instruction, try LaserPros International at: 888-558-5277, ext 122. You coudl order the Separation Pad and Sub pads for less than $10 plus S&H. D. Laura Cooper wrote: Are all the printers newer than, say, 1995 dependent on the speed of the computer for their output speed? My 100MHz Pentium machine at home does what we need it to do, but we could use a printer with more dependable paper-handling functions. Our HP Laserjet 5L has to be hand-fed. At one point, I bought a Xerox color printer, but it was as slow as a slug on the 100MHz computer. It works at an acceptable speed on my 2GB computer (formerly my 400MHz computer) at work. |
#6
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....[snip]....
Notice, in particular, that the printer is compatible with DOS--this is the spec you should look for in other printer lines. ....[snip].... Besides reading the box, one good sign of DOS compability is "uses a parallel port" or "parallel-port cable needed"! I recently purchased an HP DeskJet 3820 for my DOS machine (will hook it to Windows someday through an automatic switch when I get two more cables) and have been quite happy with it. The DOS software supplied on the accompanying CD-ROM is fairly limited: Do you want to print: Portrait or landscape? Really nice, so, or econo-fast (those aren't their actual words!) Regular or condensed printing? Lines per page Characters per line (and maybe another choice or three) but, since it is PCL (Printer Control Language) driven, (at least some; haven't tried nearly all of them yet!) other commands work; although you have to figure out a way to send them (.BAT files, ECHO command, BASIC, self-written software, etc.) the most-difficult part of all methods is remembering how to produce an ESCAPE character! The HP PCL "Technical Reference Manual" on CD-ROM cost less than $10, but is VERY difficult to buy from HP (although it is featured on one of their websites) and requires a more up-to-date PDF reader than ACRODOS; however, I can read it on my Windows machine. Compared to the old/odd dot-matrix printers I've been using since time immemorial, I really like the DeskJet and heartily recommend it. I bought the printer in mid October, 2003 and don't print all that much, but (knock on wood) the original cartridges haven't run out yet! --Myron. -- Five boxes preserve our freedoms: soap, ballot, witness, jury, and cartridge PhD EE (retired). "Barbershop" tenor. CDL(PTXS). W0PBV. (785) 539-4448 NRA Life Member and Certified Instructor (Home Firearm Safety, Rifle, Pistol) |
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