Stylus Pro questions (vs HP 855/870)
Ken Peterson
In article <320FF1...@grsi.com>, Douglas Tarico <dta...@grsi.com> wrote:
> - When the Epson is connected in serial mode (not AppleTalk) can it
> communicate faster than 57.6k? If not, then I think that is a big limitation
> since I understand that that speed can really slow a printer down.
When the Mac is capable of it, it operates in 250+ kbps burst mode,
meaning that the serial connection isn't really a bottleneck. When
printing 720dpi color with a wide page image, it's the printer, and on
comples FreeHand documents (for example) it can easily be the Mac
processing the spool file. I'm debating the AppleTalk card, myself, for
wiring and selection convenience. I have a Mac 8100/120 clone.
> - What kinds of real print speeds does it provide on a Mac? I know color is
> slow, and that's ok, but what about text?
A full business letter, with graphic letterhead, pops out in 360dpi
Monochrome mode in about 20 sec. On HP Bright White Inkjet Paper (C1824A),
the printing is beautiful and sharp, and the bidirectional printing is
perfectly aligned, giving me little incentive to use one-direction or
interleaved printing for text. With added color, it slows down a little
where it has to print color. Printing ordinary letters at 720dpi slows
things down a whole lot and makes very little difference.
> - Is text output on plain paper good? Is 720 dpi notably better than 360? I
> saw a 360dpi sample and was not really impressed.
Unlike HP pigmented black ink, Epson black is a dye, completely miscible
with the three colors *unlike* the HP. Four-color printing is much freer
of black-vs-color artifacts than the HP, but black printing is much
fussier about the paper: plain bond sucks! The HP stuff mentioned above is
God's gift to Epson owners! On coated papers, all colors print
spectacularly sharply, asp. at 720dpi. And there's NO ink misting
(comet-tales on each dot) as there is on most HP printing.
> - I've read about HP's inks being almost water proof, but I've seen no such
> statement about Epson. Does the Epson ink smear/smudge more easliy?
The Epson inks are somewhat water *resistant* and seem dry the second they
emerge from the printer. But water will smudge the ink, esp. if rubbed.
Oh, well . . .
I have gone back to stores after buying the Stylus Pro and compared stuff
I've printed with the best demos I can squeak from all models of HP and
Canon, even with paper I bring with me. I have NO regrets at all! None!
Ken Peterson
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Peterson TechSystems, Portland, OR <k...@SpiritOne.com>
"Any nitwit can understand computers. Many do"