If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Finding a fast matrix printer in graphics mode
The problem is this. Our customers want to print multi-part preprinted
stationery, so a matrix printer is the only solution. But we want to print under Windows and not to a text-only printer, so that our software can support multiple printer types without all that tedious mucking around with escape sequences etc like the bad old pre-windows days. This therefore requires that the printer be fast in graphics mode, not just text mode. And I mean fast, because these customers want to print several hundred sheets in a run and they are in a hurry. However, technology appears to have regressed. 15 years ago I had the perfect solution to this problem. The C-Itoh 5200 (I think it was) was blindingly fast in both text and graphics modes. (I used it to print industrial labels in graphics mode at very high quality, before Windows came on the scene). Thinking that Citizen (whom C-Itoh are now, I believe) might have preserved this engineering excellence, I tried a Citizen Swift 330+ 24 pin printer but although in draft mode text-only it is extremely fast (420cps at 15dpi draft), its graphics performance is only on a par with the much slower Panasonic KX-P2023 (in fact, I'd say slightly poorer) and this is simply not fast enough for our customers. I need to find a 24 pin matrix printer that is fast in graphics mode. The simple benchmark is to print 24 lines each of ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ from Wordpad in Courier 10 regular and it needs to do this in 11 seconds or less at 180 X 180 dpi resolution (the Panasonic can do this in 32 seconds in bidirectional graphics mode at 180 X 180 resolution and 22 seconds at 120 X 180). (in text-only mode the Citizen can do this in only a few seconds, btw) There is no way you can predict a printer's graphics performance from its raw text speed. I found this out 15 years ago and now I am finding it out all over again. Because the printer vendors tend to be reticent about graphics printing speed, this information is generally not available. Can anyone suggest a printer model that might be suitable?. Much obliged. PS: Printer vendors;my company has several thousand customers and therefore there is potential for quite a few sales, if you can meet the requirements. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Upgrade Report [Superfast Graphics - 01/11/2005] | Ablang | General | 0 | January 15th 05 03:47 AM |
pc problems after g card upgrade + sp2 | ben reed | Homebuilt PC's | 9 | November 30th 04 01:04 AM |
my new mobo o/c's great | rockerrock | Overclocking AMD Processors | 9 | June 30th 04 08:17 PM |
Solution: printing directly to a networked printer | JP | Printers | 0 | February 15th 04 11:44 PM |
New Intel P4 fast graphics pipe motherboards due out when? | [email protected] | Nvidia Videocards | 1 | January 12th 04 03:44 AM |