🚀 go-pugleaf

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
On Thu, 4 Jan 1996, Ed Aasvik wrote:

> > The FX870's are 9-pin and are fast with particularly easy-to-use button
> > panels on the front.  Students can easily figure out which buttons to push
> > for paper feed, etc.  Configuration is done with button combinations
> > rather than dip switches.  Unfortunately, the button panels seem somewhat
> > fragile, and we've had to replace the electronics on several (most broke
> > within the warranty period).
>
> We also have FX-870's, and in my opinion they are fragile and cranky.
> Students change the configurations while trying to figure out how to
> advance paper (dip switches were better), the printers jam frequently
> (heavier paper helps), the paper-sensor switches are unreliable, and
> Epson has been unresponsive technically.  The FX-850's were better.
> True, they are fairly cheap (you get what you pay for?), but I have ten-
> year-old IBM's that work perfectly.

I'll jump on the FX-870-bashing-bandwagon.  I find the buttons and
lights to be cryptic at best.  Students just start punching buttons
until they get the desired behavior (generally a form feed or tearoff
so they can get their paper loose).  We find printers in data-dump
mode, with screwed-up setup parameters, etc., all the time.  A
particularly nasty "feature" is the ability to turn off the buffer,
which can cause pserver.exe to lock up in certain situations.
The FX-850s are far more bullet-proof as far as the buttons go (though
I still don't like them).

Yes, our 10 year-old IBM ProPrinters are the standard by which the
others are judged.

-Mark
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Mark McCallister               CIRCA Operations           markm@grove.ufl.edu
University of Florida              392-2428                    Go Gators!
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