Epson EPL-7000 laser printer

Epson's EPL-7000 laser printer replaces the discontinued model EPL-6000

(previously reviewed in PC REVIEWS). I liked the EPL-6000, and this new

model is even better.

The Motorola 68000 microprocessor now runs at 12MHz, instead of 10MHz.

A larger paper cassette holds 250 sheets, instead of the EPL-6000's 150. You

can later upgrade to true Adobe PostScript with a Weitek RISC (Reduced

Instruction Set Computing) processor by replacing the controller.

There's now a cheaper way to add memory. You can add 1.5MB to the

existing .5MB by popping in inexpensive memory chips.

The printer engine is the Minolta SP101. Print speed remains at six pages

per minute. The printer's warm-up time is approximately 60 seconds.

The review unit came with the optional 2MB memory expansion board. You

have to buy it (or the optional .5MB board) to add memory beyond 2MB. Total

memory capacity for the EPL-7000 is 6MB, more than you should ever need.

Keep in mind that you MUST first add 1.5MB to the controller board before

you can use either memory board. I had to zip down to a dealer and buy 12

256Kx4 80ns DRAMS, which cost me $84. Then I installed the memory board, for a

grand total of 4MB printer memory.

The EPL-7000 comes with the 65-in-One font. This cartridge is equivalent

to the HP ProCollection font cartridge. It provides Helvetica, Times Roman,

Prestige Elite, Courier, Letter Gothic and Line Printer fonts, ranging in size

from a tiny 3.6 point up to 14 point.

Popular word processors, such as WordPerfect, Microsoft Word and

Professional Write support this cartridge. Look for the HP ProCollection in

your program's list of font cartridges in the setup section.

The printer has a wide selection of symbol sets. Besides the usual IBM-US

and Roman-8, you can choose Legal, Roman Extension and international sets

(French, German, Spanish, etc.).

In addition to HP emulation, the EPL-7000 emulates the Epson LQ-2500 and

FX series dot matrix printers. I don't think you'll use these very often.

The EPL-7000's smart paper sensor now adjusts the temperature and amount

of toner. With the EPL-6000, you had to make this adjustment with the printer

control panel.

During my testing, I printed on copier paper, laser paper, envelopes,

labels and transparencies. I printed a wide assortment of text and graphics

documents, using Artline 2.0, Express Publisher 2.0, PFS:First Publisher 3.0,

Professional Write 2.2, Publish It! 1.2, The New Print Shop, Calendar Creator

Plus 4.0 and others. The printed output was superb.

The SelecType printer controls have been expanded too. (Don't look for

DIP switches, since there aren't any.) SelecType commands let you choose font,

paper size, paper cassette, portrait/landscape, offsets, memory sharing and

more. The Channel configuration lets two PCs use the printer at once.

No product is perfect; I did discover one minor omission. Many laser

printers have a door in back that you open for face-up delivery. This is

recommended for labels, transparencies and heavy paper stock.

The EPL-7000 has no such door. Instead you must purchase and install the

optional face-up output tray. Maybe the "EPL-8000" will change this.

Suggested retail price of the EPL-7000 is about $1,400, with street price

much less than $1000. This is an excellent value. Check with your Epson

dealer for option prices.

For more information, contact Epson America, Inc., 20770 Madrona Ave.,

P. O. Box 2842, Torrance, CA 90509-2842; 213-782-0770, FAX: 213-782-5220.

David Batterson sees the day coming when all computer users can afford

laser printers. Send your comments via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON.

Canon BJ-10ex Bubble Jet Printer

It's a bit troubling lately doing PC REVIEWS, since I end up giving "5

stars" to so many new products. Some readers think this is product puffery,

but in reality it reflects something else.

Over the past 6 years that I've been writing about computers, the overall

quality of PCs, peripherals and software has increased tremendously. Marginal

products that might have made it previously now die a quick death in the

marketplace.

Having said that, this explains why the Canon BJ-10ex (an update of the

BJ-10e) gets a top recommendation. If you try one out at your local computer

store, you just may get rid of dot-matrix printing forever.

Let's look at the specs first, for those who aren't familiar with the

BJ-10ex. Without the optional paper feeder, it weighs 4.6 pounds so is easily

luggable along with a notebook PC. The printer comes in white or gray.

It measures 12 1/4" wide x 8 1/2" long x 1 7/8" high. The printed output

is up to 360 dpi (better than the standard 300 dpi with laser printers).

Printing in HQ (high quality) mode, the speed is 83 characters per second (cps)

at 10 cpi, 100 cps at 12 cpi, and 142 cps at 17 cpi.

The printer will accept plain paper in letter, legal, B5 and A4 sizes. It

works with size 10 envelopes, and will print transparencies. Note: you must

use 3M "CG3480" transparency film instead of transparency film used in laser

printers. Laser paper stock, however, works better than plain bond paper.

The BJ-10ex prints text in bidirectional mode, and graphics in

unidirectional mode. It's difficult to believe, but the print head contains 64

individual bubble jet nozzles to print text characters and images.

The only ink color available is black, and the cartridge has an estimated

life of 700,000 characters. I don't know how that translates into pages, but

it is obviously a lot.

Since the BJ-10ex is new, you won't find it listed in most printer lists

with your software setup program. Not to worry, though, as you simply look for

the Canon BJ-130e. The printer also emulates the IBM Proprinter X24E and Epson

LQ-510, so you'll have no problem with any of your software.

Switching from one printer emulation to another is painless. DIP switches

are located in front under the top cover. There are printed instructions for

switch settings there, so you won't have to hunt for the manual. To emulate

the Epson LQ series, you just turn DIP switch 11 on.

Other DIP switches control functions such as automatic line feed, page

length, character sets, buffer size/download memory size, graphics image

density, and auto sheet feeder mode. Some new users often ignore DIP switch

settings, and wonder later why things don't go right. Note: always read this

section in printer manuals.

If you own a dot matrix printer, you probably don't like the noise very

much, especially while printing graphics. The BJ-10ex prints quietly. Its

noise level is only 45 decibels (dBA). With increased attention being paid to

hearing loss these days [I have tinnitus myself], this printer is welcome

relief from usual printer loudness.

Although the BJ-10ex provides laser quality output, keep in mind that the

process doesn't "cook" toner on a page like laser printers and copies. The ink

does dry instantly. If you wet your finger and rub it on the page, though,

you'll get some smearing. But this happens with dot matrix printers also.

The BJ-10ex is not compatible with HP Laser Jets and compatibles. If you

buy one, you might want to get a PostScript language interpreter program too

(such as Freedom Of Press). This will allow you to get PostScript output with

the BJ-10ex, at a fraction of PostScript printer prices.

If you plan to use the BJ-10ex for normal printing use (instead of

occasional use while traveling), I advise getting the optional auto sheet

feeder. Otherwise you have to insert a sheet of paper every time manually.

You place the BJ-10ex on end to attach the sheet feeder. Turn DIP switch

10 on, and you're in business. The bin holds about 30 sheets, depending on

paper thickness.

There is an optional niCad battery pack, but my review unit did not come

with it. It weighs .6 pounds, and lasts about 30 sheets per charge (at 1500

characters per sheet).

The BJ-10ex has a suggested price of $499. The paper feeder is $90, and

BJ cartridges are $25. With discounted pricing, the BJ-10ex is a good buy.

For more information, contact Canon U.S.A., Inc., One Canon Plaza, Lake

Success, NY 11042; 516-488-6700.

The reviewer rarely uses dot matrix printers now. Contact him via MCI

Mail: 273-7218.

Texas Instruments microLaser PS35

The laser printer market has heated up like crazy, and price-cutting will

get more fierce by the end of 1991. This is great for consumers, but tough on

printer manufacturers who may find slimmer profits down the line.

While HP and NEC dominate laser printer sales, Texas Instruments is

pushing hard to increase their share of the pie. I'm not reviewing the newest

laser printer from TI, but this one is still a dandy.

About the first thing you notice about the TI microLaser printer is the

wonderfully compact size, or "footprint" as computer writers like to say. It's

only 13.4" high by 14.2" deep, and 10.9" high; it takes up less space than many

dot matrix printers, and weighs under 35 pounds too.

If space is at a premium at your home or office (like at mine), you'll

appreciate this feature a lot. I reviewed an NEC laser printer previously that

was about twice as large and heavy as the microLaser, with lesser quality.

Although the microLaser is available as a basic HP LaserJet II-compatible

printer with .5 MB memory, this review unit came with the optional 35 Adobe

PostScript fonts, and 2 megs of additional memory (2.5 MB total). Maximum

memory option is 4.5 MB.

The unit also came with the optional AppleTalk board, allowing connection

to any Macintosh. The board provides the Mac printer port, plus RS232 and

RS422 serial ports. I don't have a Mac, so didn't test that option.

Installing add-on boards is easier than with some other laser printers.

Instead of turning the printer upside down, you slide out the main controller

board in back of the microLaser, and "piggyback" the new upgrade boards.

The microLaser comes with a 250-sheet paper drawer, adequate for single

users. Recommended for networked office use is the additional 250-sheet

drawer, which fits underneath the microLaser to retain the small footprint.

I don't know how many people use laser printers for envelope printing,

but there's an optional automatic envelope feeder if you need it. The manual

feed slot is in front, to use envelopes, transparencies,

letterheads, labels and heavy paper stock (up to 34 lb. weight).

The microLaser accepts the usual paper sizes (letter, legal, executive,

invoice, A4 and B5). Acceptable envelopes are business (4 1/8" x 9 1/2"),

monarch, C5 and DL. The output bin holds up to 250 face-down sheets. For

face-up collecting (recommended for heavier paper stocks), you open the back to

access the 30-sheet output tray.

Print speed is about six pages per minute (same as the Epson

EPL-7000), after the first sheet (which takes around 16 seconds). Warm-up

time is less than 60 seconds--an acceptable period.

If you require them, optional credit card-sized emulations and font

cartridges are available; these plug easily into two slots on the left side.

Besides Diablo and Epson FX microCartridges [why would anyone want those?], you

can get additional true Adobe fonts [that makes sense].

The microLaser uses the modular approach for its consumables (OPC,

developer and toner cartridge). TI estimates their lifetime at 50,000 prints

for the OPC, 25K for the developer, and 3K for toner.

The control panel is nicely designed, with LCD, soft-touch switches and

four indicator lights. You can easily select any of four personal printer

configurations. There's also context-sensitive help in the form of printouts,

which is a thoughtful touch.

After a thorough testing with such programs as GEM Artline, Publish It!,

Finesse, PFS:First Publisher, Professional Write and Print Shop, the

microLaser performed admirably.

Suggested list price for the basic microLaser PS35 is $2,499. Add-on

memory and AppleTalk boards are optional. For more information, contact Texas

Instruments Inc., P. O. Box 202230, Austin, TX 78720-2230; 800-527-3500.

David Batterson is a tech and business writer in San Rafael, CA. Send

any comments via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON.

Epson LQ-860 - Letter-Quality 24-pin Color Printer

As graphics programs grow more popular by the minute, more users are

wanting color output to match the fine color graphics they create. The color

printer has traditionally been a very expensive item.

A PostScript color printer (like the QMS ColorScript 100) is fine if your

budget is open-ended. This thermal transfer printer uses a wax-based ink to

print graphics in 300x300 dpi. At $8-10,000, most of us can only afford to use

one at a service bureau.

That means a color inkjet, such as the HP PaintJet. The output caliber

is first-rate, but again we are talking fairly expensive ($1-4,000).

So in order to get color printing without asking for an increase in your

VISA credit line, the solution is the color dot matrix printer.

Epson has come out with a praiseworthy one called the LQ-860. It is

much better than slow 9-pin models, and the output quality is commendable.

Let's review the LQ-860 specs. For one, you can print graphics in 360x360

dpi resolution.

The text printing speed is 98 cps with LQ elite, or 82 cps with LQ pica.

There's a SuperDraft mode of 300 cps, while normal draft elite is 295 cps and

draft pica, 246 cps.

Graphics-printing speed varies, depending on the color and complexity of

your graphics. Obviously, printing pure reds, yellows and blues is the fastest

since there's only one pass. (Good for printing "Dick Tracy" colors!)

The LQ-860's resident fonts are Roman and Sans Serif in elite, pica and

proportional styles. You get the usual international character sets, a legal

character set, extended characters and user-defined characters. Pitch choices

include 10, 12, 15, 17 or 20 cpi.

Besides the push feed tractor, there's friction feed and automatic single

sheet loading. A pull tractor is optional. You can load single sheets without

removing your continuous form paper.

One has the choice of using the short-form tear off mode to stop wasting

paper. You advance the printed sheet, tear it off, and the paper returns to

print position. The LQ-860 can accomplish this automatically with a DIP switch

setting, or you can do it from the handy control panel.

Speaking of DIP switches, these are placed exactly where they should be.

Flip down the control panel cover, and voila! Besides short tear-off mode, you

can select character sets, print direction (uni- or bi-directional), cut sheet

feeder mode, page length, auto line feed, and more.

As for the control panel, it's well-designed and easy to use. There's

micro-adjustment, which allows fine modifications of the loading and short

tear-off positions. The LOAD/EJECT button allows smooth paper loading and

ejecting. Holding this button down upon powering up enables/disables the input

buffer.

I tested the LQ-860 with The New Print Shop, printing some banners and

calendars. Those came out nicely. Then I tested some PC Paintbrush IV Plus

supplied graphics files. The colors matched the screens approximately.

Keep in mind that the color-printing process used in dot matrix printers

has its limitations. You just aren't going to get spectacular and true colors

with complex graphics.

Why? Well, for the same reason that a top-quality dot matrix printer

simply cannot match a laser printer or typesetter. Secondly, the colors are

created by a ribbon containing red, yellow, blue and black strips.

To create green for instance, the printer does two passes, one in yellow

and one in blue. Other colors are done similarly. This is fine for major

colors, but the overall color capabilities are limited as a result.

I also tested the color capability using Twist & Shout, printing some text

files sideways in color. These also looked attractive, and could be useful for

spreadsheets to emphasize certain sections.

I next printed some sample graphics that came with GEM Artline, a

sophisticated draw program. GEM Artline doesn't support the LQ-860, but I was

able to print the color PostScript drawings to disk. Then I used Freedom of

Press, a PostScript interpreter, to print the drawings on the LQ-860. These

came out quite well.

The LQ-860 comes with a black nylon ribbon and a color ribbon. I found

that the color ribbon wore out rather fast, and the colors tend to get smeary

after awhile, due to the multiple passes. So you'll have to stock up on fresh

color ribbons for best results.

An optional black film ribbon is also available. I wasn't able to test

this but I imagine the print quality is better, as it is with a typewriter.

For many uses, the LQ-860 will do just fine. For extremely high quality

color output, you'll probably want to use the LQ-860 for draft use only.

The M.S.R.P. is $949, but look for deep discounting. There are several

optional accessories, most of which you won't really need.

For more information, contact Epson America, Inc., 20770 Madrona Ave.,

P. O. Box 2842, Torrance, CA 90509-2842; 213-782-0770, FAX: 213-782-5220.

David Batterson reviews PC hardware, software and peripherals. Contact

him via MCI Mail: 273-7218.

Citizen PN48 Notebook Printer

Product miniaturization continues at a fast pace for PCs, printers,

cellular phones, CD players, pagers, bicycles and many other products. One of

the best of this new crop is the Citizen PN48 Notebook Printer.

Although Seikosha offers a notebook-size printer, its dot-matrix

technology makes it a poor choice for serious PC users. The PN48 offers both

compact size and laser quality printing; that's the combination you want.

Let's look at the vital statistics. The PN48 weighs in at 2.5 pounds,

including battery. It measures 11.7" x 3.5" x 2", and fits in a briefcase or

attache case handily.

It features laser-quality, 360 dpi resolution using Thermal Fusion

technology. Don't confuse this with usual thermal printers, as the PN48 uses

plain paper.

It's great for DTP/graphics uses as well as for word processing, e-mail,

spreadsheets and other printing purposes. It emulates Epson LQ-500/850 (and

other LQ) printers and IBM X24, as well as the Citizen GSX, so there's no

problem configuring it with your various software programs.

The rechargeable NiCad battery lasts for approximately 20-25 pages of

double-spaced text per charge. Extensive graphics printing will result in less

pages between charges.

It has two power-saving features. One is the sleep mode, where it snoozes

if it doesn't receive data from your PC in about a minute. You wake it up by

simply sending more data or pressing the ON LINE button.

The auto power-off feature waits a few minutes (variable from 3 to 10

minutes) before turning the power off. To reactivate the PN48, you turn the

power switch off and back on.

The parallel cable for the PN48 is a special design, 30 inches long,

lightweight and with a smaller connector than usual. The flat Ni-Cad battery

installs in a convenient compartment in front.

The control panel with LED display is easy to use, and has sufficient

messages to keep you informed. It displays paper out, low battery, sleep mode,

configuration mode and similar functions.

Using the PN48 I found one drawback. In my testing I discovered the

multi-strike cartridge did not print a dark enough copy for final use. This

was true even after I turned the darkness control all the way up, and used high

quality paper meant for laser printers.

I ended up using the multi-strike for draft printouts only, and switched

to the single-strike cartridge for the final output. The single-strike

cartridges don't last for a long time, so it's best to conserve them this way.

You get two letter-quality typefaces, Roman and Courier. These can be

printed in 10, 12, 15, 17 and 20 characters per inch. You can print outline

and shadow effects too.

You use the rear-fed or bottom-fed methods to load paper. It's a bit

easier using the rear-fed way, but the paper will curl.

For the bottom-fed method, you turn the printer up so it rests on its

back. This method eliminates any paper curl, and is recommended for heavy

paper, transparencies and label stock.

The printer will accept paper from 14 to 28 pound weight. However, it's

not recommended to use higher than 20 lb. paper if rear-fed.

I discovered a small error in the manual on page 56-57. To print the

configuration report, the manual says to press LF/FF while you turn on the

printer. Actually you press MENU to do this. You press LF/FF to print the

sliding character test pattern, instead of MENU as the manual indicates.

The PN48 Standard System comes with AC adapter/charger, printer cable,

user manual, hypertext manual on disk and a multi-strike cartridge. The review

unit I evaluated was the PN48 Professional System. This also includes a

single-strike cartridge, rechargeable NiCad battery and soft carrying case.

The basic printer lists for $469 and the Pro for $549. Street prices will

be considerably less. Additional cartridges list for $4.99. There's a car

cigarette lighter adapter available and a deluxe padded carrying case, at about

$60 each if you want them.

The PN48 is quite a marvel, and very useful for the PC user on the go.

For more information, contact Citizen America Corp., 2450 Broadway, Suite 600,

Santa Monica, CA 90411-4003; 213-453-0614, FAX: 213-453-2814.

David Batterson reviews new PC products on a continuous basis. Send any

comments via MCI Mail: 273-7218.

Epson LQ-570 Dot Matrix Printer

Someone once accused me of always giving rave reviews of new hardware and

software. Obviously they haven't read some of my reviews where I gave the

product a "not recommended" tagline.

In looking over my reviews recently, I have noticed that most of them are

indeed favorable. It isn't that I've changed my reviewing policies but rather

that PC products are actually better than ever.

Marginal hardware and software products simply do not last long in today's

volatile computer market. It's tough enough for companies with high-quality

offerings to be profitable. So the "junk" products we used to see are now gone

for the most part.

The customer has become wiser, and companies must now produce great

products, or they'll go out of business. It's that simple.

So on to the review of Epson's new LQ dot matrix printer, the LQ-570.

The LQ-570 is the latest in the popular 500 series, and replaces the LQ-510.

It's a sister printer to the new LQ-870 and LQ-1170.

These 3 new printers have one major difference over earlier ones. They

support a new printer control language called Epson ESC/P 2. The ESC/P 2

language allows scalable fonts from 8 to 32 points and an enhanced graphics

mode for 360x360 dpi output.

ESC/P 2 also incorporates new compression algorithms to speed up data

transfers from PC to printer. The new language provides expanded foreign

language support, and page formatting via software commands too.

Three major software publishers (WordPerfect, Microsoft and WordStar

International) have written new drivers, for WordPerfect 5.1, Windows 3.0,

Microsoft Word 5.5 and WordStar 6.0. The drivers are provided on disk with the

printers. More software vendors are expected to update their drivers also.

Let's look under the hood and see what the LQ-570 has to offer in the

horsepower department. In high speed draft mode, the LQ-570 prints at 225

characters per second (cps) at 10 characters-per-inch (cpi). At 12 and 15 cpi,

the draft speed is even faster: 252 cps and 315 cps, respectively.

In normal letter quality mode at 10 cpi, the printer purrs along at a

respectable 70 cps. The resident fonts include Roman, Roman Proportional, Sans

Serif, Sans Serif Proportional, Courier, Prestige, Script, Script C, Orator,

Orator-S and OCR-B. That's something for everybody.

The LQ-570 also supports double-wide, double-high, condensed, double-

strike, superscript, subscript, emphasized, underline, score, outline, shadow,

italic, strike-through and double underline styles. Whew!

You can choose among four paper paths: rear, front, top or bottom. There

a convertible push-pull tractor for continuous paper and forms. Single sheets

can be loaded from either the top or front (by opening the front cover).

The review unit came with the optional standard capacity cut sheet feeder.

This holds up to 50 sheets of standard paper, and works quite efficiently. You

can still load single sheets if you wish.

Although the printer comes with a standard nylon ribbon, you can buy film

ribbons that provide higher quality printouts, like you get with electronic

typewriters and daisy wheel printers. This avoids any smearing too, and I

recommend getting the film ribbons ($8 list).

I still haven't mentioned all the features of the LQ-570. Needless to

say, Epson has another winner on its hands.

The suggested list price is $499; I've seen it advertised for $299. For

more information, contact Epson America, Inc., 20770 Madrona Avenue, Torrance,

CA 90509-2842; 213-782-0770, FAX: 213-782-5220.

David Batterson reviews PCs, software and peripherals. Contact him via

MCI Mail: 273-7218.

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