[X4U] Looking For A Good Black-and-white Laser Printer

[revDAVE]

HP (Hewlett-Packard) LaserJet 1012 Laser Printer

 I was also looking at this H.P., however I was not happy to find out that
this review were said it can't be shared with Macs if it is hosted on a
Windows machine.

-  can anyone tell me more about this format: PCL-only printer
-  does anyone know workaround if it is hosted on a PC?
-  if it is hosted on the Mac - can Windows  Share it and use it?



- - - - -
From: Technical Specifications - LaserJet 1012 Laser Printer (HP
(Hewlett-Packard)-Q2461A) - PriceGrabber.com
Location: 
http://www.pricegrabber.com/rating_getprodrev.php/masterid=1234461/id_type=m
asterid
- - - - -

Reviewed by: bzgnyc from NY on Oct 18, 2004
Rating: 

Experience: 5 Days

Strengths: Fast, efficient, and good print quality

Weaknesses: Can't be shared with Macs

Summary: I bought one of these for home use and I liked it. Its small,
quiet, and efficient (some might find the simple paper tray cheap but I
found it cute or clever). It was fast and the print quality was good. It was
about as much as I could expect for $200.

 I wished I could have kept it. It is a PCL-only printer (which I knew) and
MacOS X systems only print over the network to PostScript printers (which I
didn't know). Its works fine as a local printer for both Windows and MacOS X
systems. However, HP's PCL drivers for the Mac don't allow for printing to
printers hosted on Windows machines. My examination of HP's PCL drivers
suggests they designed the drivers to only work with USB-connected printers
(and possibly JetDirect connected printers) even though it would have been
easier to relax that constraint.

 There are these CUPS and GIMP+print drivers for MacOS X that work with PCL
printers such as this one, but I found the print quality, performance, and
reliability of these drivers to be unacceptable for anything with graphics
(though all text was okay). Not only were these drivers slower, the print
quality was not as good and occasionally the printer would just print "PCL
unsupported personallity" instead of the document. Turning the printer off
and on again was the only way I found to fix that problem.

 However, if the print speed, quality, and paper handling are sufficient for
you (perfect for home), this is a fine printer for Windows users (sharing
appears supported among Windows systems). It will also be fine for Mac users
who plan to connect it directly (i.e. you never plan to share this printer
with another Mac).


--
Thanks - RevDave
CoolCat at hostalive.com
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