🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <346@nth.UUCP> kelvin@nth.UUCP (Kelvin Thompson) writes:
>A couple of weeks ago I posted a request for information about
>the Laserwriter IISC, Apple's low-cost laser printer.  Most of
>the replies I got were fairly negative about the printer, mostly
>because of the demands it places on its host Mac.  I got the
>impression that unless you absolutely cannot find a way to
>afford Apple's higher-end printers, you should avoid the IISC.

Well, I don't think it's *that* bad.  Many people who have bought the
IISC seem to be happy with it.

>} From: cs.utexas.edu!emx.utexas.edu!rchan (Ricardo Chan)
>} 
>} We had a IIsc for a while and we ended up upgrading the printer to a IInt
>} because the quality isn't satisfactory and graphics are very limited when
>} using MacDraft.

I don't know what the problem is with MacDraft, a program that has never
worked well for me with *any* printer.  With MacDraw or MacDraw II the IISC
prints very nice graphics.

>} From: cs.utexas.edu!coherent.com!dplatt (Dave Platt)
>} 
>} (4) You really do need a hard disk, and enough free memory to construct
>}     an in-memory image of the page in question.

The second statement is erroneous; the page is not imaged in RAM all at
once, but one object at a time.  Even if an object is too big for avail-
able RAM, it will be broken down into slices.

>} The main problem that I find with the SCII is in using
>} Latex, because of the well known font problem.

Gee, what's Latex?  I would like to know what it is and what the "well known"
font problem is.

>On the plus side, it looks like the IISC isn't too bad as far as speed:

>} From: David Casseres <cs.utexas.edu!apple.com!casseres>
>} 
>} On the other hand, if you have
>} lots of RAM, like 5 MByte, you can print in the foreground if you like,
>} and OUTPERFORM a LaserWriter Plus on most documents and even outperform
>} an NT on quite a few documents.

Let me amplify that a bit.  I am used to using a LaserWriter IISC, but
as a result of a recent office move I don't have it set up yet.  Instead
I'm using a LaserWriter IINTX on a spooler (print server).  It is just
across the hall from my cubicle, but I HATE IT!!!  I know my system is
tied up exactly the same amount of time (well, mostly -- read on), but
having to go across the hall makes printing seem slow.  Then there are the
times when I have to wait for someone else's job to finish before mine starts.
And then there's a peculiar effect, which is that some applications, when they
know they're printing to a PostScript printer, start generating PostScript
internally, and this slows down printing at the *application* end.  This
affects the time the system is tied up, even when using background printing.

>} From: cs.utexas.edu!emx.utexas.edu!rchan (Ricardo Chan)
>} 
>} Speed is not a problem.   It works pretty fast.  About as fast as the IInt.
>} but the quality leaves a lot out.

I have to comment on this because to many people, "quality" means the clean-
ness of the image.  I claim that the IISC offers the same quality, in this
sense, as the PostScript LaserWriters, as long as you stay within its
envelope.  This envelope is:

	Use only the Times, Helvetica, Courier, and Symbol fonts provided
	(or other fonts that have the large sizes) and only the "standard"
	sizes, 9, 10, 12, 14 18, and 24 points.

	Avoid a few applications that are only intended for PostScript
	printing.  There are not many of these, and the newest versions
	of them are starting to print very nicely indeed on the IISC.

	A hard disk is needed to make the IISC really practical.

	2 MBytes or more of RAM are highly desirable but NOT essential.

A footnote to all this:  In my very personal opinion, the IISC is best
understood if you forget that it bears the name "LaserWriter."  Think
of it as a fast, high-resolution Macintosh printer that uses a laser
marking engine and is upgradeable to a PostScript LaserWriter.  Think of
the Apple line of printers as being made up of three families: the
ImageWriters, the IISC, and the PostScript LaserWriters.

David Casseres