Conference 7.286::atarist

206.0. "LQ-500 Printer Evaluation" by TEA::PETERS (Don Peters, CTS1-2/H6, 287-3742) Tue Aug 23 1988 23:20

                            LQ-500 Evaluation

For the past two years I've owned an Epson FX-85 printer, and used it
extensively in support of a small non-profit organization. In spite of
heavy use, it never failed me once.

However, with my daughter going off to college, I gave her the printer,
and decided to buy another.  My choice was the Epson LQ-500, because:

  1) my Epson FX-85 was so reliable

  2) I wanted a 24 pin printer for fast output, and letter quality
     output
     
  3) its relatively cost ($319) made it attractive
  
  4) many wholesalers carried it
  
  5) it seemed to have many features I wanted
  
On the down side, I didn't know anyone who owned one and could give me their
experiences with it.  But after buying it and checking it out, I would
highly recommend it.

There are some points worth noting, however:

  1) The manual says you can not print labels! I needed that feature. A
     call to the Epson Tech support line brought out that this was a
     misprint, and it can indeed print labels. I confirmed this by
     printing out several pages of labels without any problem. They
     simply said to not leave labels sit in the printer for an extended
     time, don't back them up, and don't use Avard labels.
     
  2) The manual said you can't print envelopes. Again, you can,
     according to the Tech support people.
     
  3) The manual said you can't print double-high text when you use pin
     feed paper, only with cut-sheet paper. The tech support people were
     unaware of this restriction. I tried it with pin-feed paper and had
     no problem.
     
Here are some other reasons I like the printer:

  1) It is quieter than my FX-85 printer.
  
  2) The FX-85 offered one NLQ font - the LQ-500 offers two LQ fonts.
  
  3) The LQ-500 has a font slot, so you can get extra font capability,
     such as cursive, or OCR.
  
  4) The forms tractor was extra on the FX-85 ($30 ?). It is included on
     the LQ-500.
     
  5) The LQ-500 can print on single sheets - the FX-85 can't.
     
  6) When you change character pitch or go to italics, the LQ-500 can
     still print in LQ mode. The FX-85 cannot do this in NLQ mode - it
     has to switch to draft mode.
     
  7) While the NLQ mode of the FX-85 looked nice, the LQ characters of
     the LQ-500 look excellent.
     
  8) The LQ-500 offers shadow and outline print styles, making it really
     easy to emphasize text.
     
As you can guess, I think the LQ-500 is a super value, and will probably
handle my printing needs for some time to come. Oh, the ribbon cost is
comparible to the FX-80/85 ribbon cost. This print cost is often
neglected in printer comparisons. For example, the HP Deskjet printer
print cost per sheet is relatively high due to the need to replace the
print head/ink cartridge fairly often. (I looked at the Deskjet, but
found it unsuitable for my needs, since its cost is almost twice as much
as the LQ-500, and it can't do pin-feed stock, such as mailing labels or
postcards.)

So if you're in the market for a new printer, check out the LQ-500.

    What are the printing speeds?
    
    Does its ``Epson compatability'' (I admit to not knowing what this
    entails these days) allow it to be used (relatively) seamlessly
    with Atari software?
    
    Steph

>    Does its ``Epson compatability'' (I admit to not knowing what this
>    entails these days) allow it to be used (relatively) seamlessly
>    with Atari software?


NO!

Epson compatible is not Epson compatible.

The builtin printerdriver is FX85 compatible. No problem with textprinting, 
but graphic is different.
The older FX85 has a vertical resolution of 1/244", the LQ 1/180". The two 
printers so use different escape sequences. You cannot do a screendump
(alt help) with the LQ. Unfortunatly the LQ does not emulate the FX mode.

There are a lot of printing utilites that replace the Atari alt-help routine.

But it's a nice printer, I like it

---markus---

    	Wow!  What a Deal!  I thought $430 for my Toshiba 24-pin was
    a steal two years ago, but $319 for this capablility is great!
    re. -.1  Don't you mean 1/144" for vertical resolution?  Mr.
    Lomicka has written a 24-pin driver for the Toshiba that I am
    using for screen dumps.  It probably could be modified to do
    the LQ-500.
    	The DeskJet will do labels on a sheet - the kind made for
    copy machines.  Does anyone know of a program that will take a file
    of addresses and arrange them to fit on such labels?
    
    More Resolution.  More!  More!  MORE!    - Chris

    Re .1:
    
    From the Technical Specifications part of the manual, the printing
    speeds are:
    
       Pitch     Quality      Characters/second/line
         10       draft           150
         10       Letter Qual      50
         12       draft           180
         12       Letter Qual      60
    

    Well, well.
    
    A friend of mine with a 1040 got a lq500 and needs the drivers for
    the screen dump and Stwriter.
    
    Anyone know where I can get a copy of these driversfor him??