Re: Brother laser (semi-O.T. ?)

["Raphael Tennenbaum" raphael@xxxxxxxx]

yeah, I started taking a stab at Paul Smedley's cups, but it's a pretty complicated
setup. I was disappointed that I couldn't print directly to this 530, but since I very
seldom use it from OS/2 (still 4.5, believe it or not), it wasn't too much of a
sacrifice.

by the way, I haven't been following the discussion too closely, but I have not been
hearing encouraging things about DOS session support under the (when will it ever
be) forthcoming ECS. I'll have to check Google Groups, but my very vague
recollection is that native DOS emulation is getting rocky -- wouldn't swear by it,
but it's worth checking out -- someone the other day was doing a dry run of
Dosbox, I think to see how well it will work as a replacement. for me, losing native
DOS under ECS could be a dealbreaker.

-rafe

On Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:55:19 -0700 (PDT), J R FOX wrote:

>
>
>--- On Tue, 3/17/09, Raphael Tennenbaum  wrote:
>
>> I can't remember if you're still using OS/2,
>> Jordan, but -- sad to say, the Canon
>> printer is no longer reachable with native OS/2 drivers
>> (though it's possible the
>> CUPS port works) -- the printer works very nicely under
>> Ubuntu, though I haven't
>> tried scanning under Ubuntu (under SUSE, Canon hardware was
>> a great pita.)
>>
>> -rafe
>
>
>Thanks, Rafe. Yes, I still use OS/2 (eCS) -- primarily, but far from
>exclusively. There are just too many Win apps I need to run. Once
>I have a more up-to-date system to work with -- one having increased CPU
power, more RAM, and a lot more storage space -- I do plan to give the
VirtualBox/2 emulator a good tryout. The development on that may have stalled
(haven't heard anything recently), but that could be another alternative, allowing
use of the Win printing apparatus while running eCS.
>
>I know the Canons are serious contenders for photo printing, even as I continue
using older Epsons for that. If I did get a Canon, I would not want to be shut out
from using it under any OS. Coincidentally, I just downloaded Smedley's latest port
of CUPS the other day. From what I've heard, that may be an unavoidable part of
eCS users' future, for various reasons. The only thing I require of these 'Nix ports is
that they not be too arcane or a major pain to deploy and use. A number of them
seem to fall into that category, though. It's why I paid for an RSJ license, instead
of jumping through various hoops to get (the free) CDRecord/2 up and running.
The former I could start using right away, and I have used it quite successfully for
the last several years.
>
>The Canon MFCs being recommended to me here all seem to be much *older*
models, no longer on the market. Models being sold now, like the D-480, have the
more compact form factor that's better for a cramped office space, but its paper
tray feels so flimsy ! It's hard to imagine it won't come apart in fairly short order.
(And the list price on it is $400.! Within reason, the price is not that much of a
consideration. I'm not going to pay for this -- the business will -- but that doesn't
mean I'm willing to waste their money on disposable junk. I'd go a couple hundred
more in order to get something really good that fit the requirements.)
>
>I'm thinking the better Brother models have a more solid build to them, a longer
warranty, a legal-size flatbed on some of them, and even still a parallel port
interface included on a couple of the older models still being sold. If it does PCL6
(and PCL was a language of the classic HPs), it at least suggests that one printing
option with it for Xy _could possibly be_ one of the HP-LJ printer files. Most of the
Brother multifunction lasers are huge, though. The Canon I mentioned is stacked
more in the vertical dimension, which poses less of a problem.
>
>
> Jordan
>