From: it1@ra.msstate.edu (Tim Tsai)
Subject: Re: Any experiences with NEC Silentwriter 2 Model 95 printer?
Organization: Mississippi State University
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 07:36:38 GMT

games@max.u.washington.edu writes:
>In article <1338@nlbull.bull.nl>, jos@bull.nl (Jos Vos) writes:
>> NEC has released their Silentwriter 2 model 95 PostScript level 2
>> laserprinter (which is sold in some countries as type S62P,
>> being nearly the same, except for some small details).
>> 
>> Do you have any good or bad experiences with this printer?

[...]
>However, mechanically it is superior in that the unit has the paper tray
>in the bottom, so that you don't hit the thing like in the model 90.
>This means that for people who either change to legal often, or have to
>put in multiple copies of forms often, this is a disadvantage.  For
>less often it looks like the single sheet feeder is better as well.
>You can flip a switch on the back, and have the paper feed out there
>now to fall into a bin in back, presumable for large documents, where it
>didn't really stack that well.

  I've had the model 95 for about a month and a half now, and I agree
that it is very nicely constructed.  The switch on the back is for heavy
stock paper and envelopes that you probably don't want running through
all the rollers.  Using the manual feed and the paper output at the back,
there is a straight path from feed to output.

>In terms of emulation, it now supports the HP LJ III as opposed to the brain
>dead II.  I asked if it would remember downloaded fonts permanently, and
>the sales guy didn't know.

  I did not see this in the manual, so I doubt it.

>The menu is a little better, and actually
>what makes it that way is that it is longer.  There are more options
>in various places.  He could not explain the one that said something
>like "8 wire RS232" as opposed to "RS232", I can only assume that it
>runs some of the traditional signals a little differently.

  The manual said 8 wire RS232 is for LocalTalk and RS-422.  The
emulation switching is nice.  I use the parallel port for
printing and the RS-232 port to play with postscript.  The RS232
is limited to 19,200 bauds BTW, so I wouldn't use that as the
primary interface.

>I have NO performance data whatsoever, but in terms of appearances,
>and physical things, it is a nice machine, and for us, it will do
>better than the old 2 model 90's.

  I ran the PPST benchmark and the total index was 2.6 (Apple
Laserwriter II NTX is a 2.9)  However I think the NTX somehow
has quite a bit better throughput.

  Now my complaints.  The printer does not automatically switch
between HP III and Postscript.  It comes with Lasertool's
software for the PC (and something else for the Mac) that will
determine the type of the document and switch the printer into
the appropriate mode.  The software is nice, but not what I
expected.  I'd have prefer more transparent support (the
software doesn't work well with Lantastic, for example).  No
matter.  I plan to get the Technical reference manual and write
my own printer daemon when I switch to OS/2.

  I have some reservations about the Sharp Edge Technology.  It
doesn't work very well for certain sized postscript fonts, but
produces very nice line graphics.  This is probably subjective,
but I like the appearance of the postscript fonts on an NTX and
QMS printer better.  HP fonts don't seem to suffer from this
(and currently I have the printer in HP III mode).

  Anyway, I have liked the printer enough to keep it.  It's
primarily a personal printer, so I don't need impeccable output
(although most of the time the output is gorgeous, especially
graphics).  IMHO it is one of the best deals around given the
printer's capabilities.

Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript