Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    Re .0:                                                
    
>   Please give me your recommendations on a printer that is capable of
>   good letter-quality and graphics printing.  I am considering both color
>   and black only.  As with most purchases, I am looking for an economical
>   one (under $400.00)
    
    You're in luck!  The price of 24-pin printers has dropped substantially
    in recent months.  So have prices on ink jet & laser printers (though
    they're still beyond your $400 budget).
    
    I bought (last year's) Panasonic KX-P1124 for $269 several weeks ago. 
    I've seen its cost/feature-reduced replacement, the KX-P1123, for as
    little as $199, but more commonly for $229.  It's feature-enhanced
    successor, the KX-P1123i, is running about $299.
    
    These models don't do color, but they all produce Letter Quality output. 
    On the Amiga, select "Epson-Q" in the printer preferences.  Maximum
    print density is 360x360, which is excellent (and doesn't require
    multiple passes).
    
    Amiga word processors have varying success using the built-in LQ fonts. 
    I use ProWrite 3.0, which I can tell to print in "NLQ" mode and to be
    smart about character spacing (it's not proportional spacing because
    ProWrite doesn't know how wide each of the KX-P1124's characters are)
    to provide something close to true centering of text and more-evenly
    spaced words when you want right-justification.
                                             

    Jolene,
    
    I have had the Panasonic KP-1124 for 2.5 years now.  It is highly 
    reliable and has excellent print quality.  I recommend it!
    
    Ken
    

	I'm also interested in getting a printer, but due to tight money, I'm 
    having to wait.  None the less, I'm looking.  I saw a Citizens 140 at 
    what seemed to be a fair price and it has a color option.  Anybody know 
    anything about this machine?

    
    I don't track current prices but I'm also happy with my NEC P5200, it's
    been superceeded by a P6200? with even more features and is in the same
    ballpark price range as the other 24 pin machines.  These are nice
    printers.
    
    My P5200 is a color printer and my only comment is - Color options
    often cost around $100 and ribbons are expensive.  If you're not
    certain you want color you can save a lot of money, and you can add
    it at any time.  Also, dot matrix color is not nearly asas ink jet!
    
    The "Computer Shopper" is an excellent place to price shop for
    printers.
    
    Good ck
    Frank
    
    

    .. Frank, do you have a telephone number for Computer Shopper?
    
    The Citizens GSX-140 is available from Wang Express Plus, 
    (800) 835-9264.  I have been told that it does 360 dpi.  This is a drop
    ship from Citizen directly, and I am currently getting a copy of the
    two year warranty.  Wang Express has a 60 day warranty also that I will
    be getting.  This may be my best color option, but still looking for
    input . . . 
    
    Thank you everyone, so far for your direction.  Others reading this,
    please also reply . . .
    
    Jolene

    
    Jolene,
    
    I have No number for the computer shopper.  It's not a mail order house,
    it's a news stand publication that costs about $3.00 and is about
    1" thick.  It's a catalogue of computer related products, predominantly
    PC and MAC suff but things like printers, monitors, disks, etc are pretty
    much generic.  Only one caution, before you shell out for a printer
    on the Amiga, make sure it is supported by one of the Amiga print
    drivers.  Either check your Amiga documentation or ask in this
    conference.
    
    Frank
    
    
    

re:.3
>I saw a Citizens 140 ... Anybody know anything about this machine?

I've been using one for a couple months. Mine has the color option, which
is essentially a 4-band color ribbon and a little motor/gear train to move
it. The option sets up in a couple minutes, with no tools.

The print quality is good, very near LQ. There are three internal fonts 
available, and "draft", which is very readable. The internal fonts are Roman
and Times, I think, and a sans-serif font which is very clear.

One nice feature is the small display that helps in "programming" the printer
independant of the computer. You can create up to 4 "macros", which specify
printer characteristics (font, page size, color, etc.), and then load these
to change the characteristics. It uses a menu to walk through the options.

Another nice feature is the "park/load", which makes paper loading and lineup
very easy, and very accurately sets up top-of-page automatically. The printer
uses push-tractor or pull-tractor, and automatically rolls the paper up for
tear off, then backs it up for the next top-of-form. Less wasteful than most,
and convenient. It can accept single-sheet, I haven't tried it yet, and has
accessories to load stacks.

Color printing from DPaint was good, resolution good. Don't buy it until you
see if it's good enough for your purposes. 

I've seen it in stores, with the color option, for around $370 or so.

    I own a GSX-140 w/ color option. The print quality is very good. Color
    printing is very slow at the higher dpi settings. 
    
    One thing I didn't like is that the printer provides a 1" margin at top
    of form for you that you can't get rid of (you can reduce it to about
    1/2") when printing documents. This can cause problems in printing some
    preformatted files (without <FF>s) that assume 66 lines per page.
    
    The printer driver that I on my system is the supplied EPSONQ driver.
    There are some PD drivers that claim to support the 360X360 dpi mode
    but they always gurued on me. 
    
    Basically, I like the printer, I just wish it was faster in color
    printing mode.
    
    John