recent printers: HP LaserJet 1300

[Caballero Carlo.Caballero@xxxxxxxx]

I bought a new HP LaserJet 1300 today, and I thought it might be helpful
to report to this List that it does indeed serve as a printer for XyWrite
4 under DOS, despite the fact that this possibility is nowhere mentioned
by Hewlett Packard. I'm relishing this functionality because the blurbs
on the box and the guides from HP demand at least Windows 95 (among other
things) and the ancient machine I used today doesn't have Windows on it in
any form. So DOS, which of course does not exist anywhere in any form,
can still do it. And HP PCL 5e or 6 (the native languages for this
printer) remain compatible with XyWrite. I haven't even opened the CD-ROM
that came with the printer yet. You can just use XyWrite, "TY," a cable,
and you're off.

My thanks go out to Michael Norman, who sent me the driver HP4-plus.prn as
well lj4.bin. I haven't had much time to experiement, but even my
previous printer driver, HPLJ-2.prn (for the old HP LJ series II) works
with the new printer (identical results as with HP4-plus). I've only
experimented very briefly so far. The printer file can always bear a
little tweaking.

The LJ 1300 is of even more recent vintage than the printer Michael Norman
has; his HP2200d is (surprise) longer available from HP. Also good to
know: the LJ 1300 comes with a parallel converter in the box. (I recall
recent messages about USB problems, but I believe the discussion involved
ink jet printers, not laser printers.)

As Robert Holmgren mentioned in an archived message from 2002, with a new
printer like this one, XyWrite's printer drivers will only print 600 dpi,
not the printer's capacity of 1200 dpi. There are other ways in which
Xy-DOS won't use the new printer's full functionality. But to have a
basic printer that DOES work under DOS (as well as Windows and Linux) and
can also be hooked up to a Mac (OS 8.6, 9 or X) is about the best one
could hope for in the current market.

Cheers,
Carlo Caballero
> On Sat, 9 Aug 2003, Michael Norman wrote:
>
> > At 8/8/2003 10:45 PM -0600, Caballero wrote:
> >
> > >...I wouldn't mind hearing about recent experiences with
> > >XyWrite and HP printers.
> >
> > I'm using an HP2200d(uplex) with XyDos 4.018 and have no problems. Printer
> > files needed a bit of tweaking, but all amendments, offered by Robert
> > Holmgren, can be found in a series of posts on XySearch. If you want my
> > printer files, give a yell off-list. Took Patricia's advice and got Rosch's
> > PRINTER BIBLE. Excellent background, though not necessary to get up and
> > running.
> >
> > Michael Norman
> >