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need a new printer

Started by marcbryant, 2008.08.03, 18:58:34

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marcbryant

My old Epson C80 printer went out and I need to get a new printer.  What current printers work with OS/2 and where can I get the drivers or which old drivers will work.  Thanks


Pete

Quote from: marcbryant on 2008.08.03, 18:58:34
My old Epson C80 printer went out and I need to get a new printer.  What current printers work with OS/2 and where can I get the drivers or which old drivers will work.  Thanks


Hi marcbryant

You can either investigate getting a current printer to work with ye olde OS/2 drivers or get a postscript capable printer and add the "driver" - a PPD file to the OS/2 pscript driver.

A 3rd option is to look into setting up CUPS on OS/2 - got it working with my Canon PIXMA iP4000 inkjet printer - but check the CUPS supported printers list *before* purchasing a printer. You can find CUPS for OS/2 here http://svn.netlabs.org/ecups/wiki 

Worth a read through the Wiki to pick up a few tips, the "How To" may be of use

There is also a "replacement" for the OS/2 pscript driver package that has a lot of the CUPS PPD files precompiled in it saving the hassle of adding a PPD file to the pscript.drv file yourself (as described in the How To)  http://download.smedley.info/gutenprt-5.2.0-beta3-os2.zip


Regards

Pete


RobertM

Quote from: Pete on 2008.08.04, 03:06:02
Hi marcbryant

You can either investigate getting a current printer to work with ye olde OS/2 drivers...

Hi marcbryant,

To expand on Pete's first suggestion, you can do this by downloading the latest drivers, "act" as if you are installing a printer, select the new driver to install, and see the list of available printers it will allow... or look in the readme for each (if it comes with one) to find the list.

As Pete said though, (for newer printers) a postscript printer, or one supported by CUPS is your best bet. Ensure you verify that your printer is not just supported, but that if there are any caveats to that support, they are ones you do not care about (ie: "Epson NewfangledPrint 2000: does not yet print properly if super-glossy card stock selected... use regular glossy card stock mode instead").


For a laser, the Lexmark c500 series (where supporting either (a) native postscript, or (b) an OS/2 driver) are nice color lasers, can do duplexing (check model) and come with network support (some with OS/2 network support and drivers in the box). Most HP postscript lasers (color or BW) seem to work well, and many HP PCL5/6 printers seem to work with various older-model HP PCL drivers.


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ModZilla

#4
 " http://www.vintage-computer.com/ibm_pc.shtml ?"
FYI try getting an old fallback system and put it on a network; like an olde dot matrix with a 5150 on eBay,
IBM sold some kewl pcs and networking stuff in the early to mid 80's-terminal emulation programs too and you did not have to use drivers, just type "PRINT"!  Oh, well if you need photos you could use OS2 Warp Connect 3
with most any serial printer using a straight through 25 pin or even a direct straight through CAT5 cable...some thoughts, I have an older HP USB you can have, it needs a b*w cart and is easy to use, with ECs.l
\\about the ink jets in general- like so many PC printers that are modestly priced models
until you factor in the tank usage, and I quote:

::"...An inkjet printer is not so much a printer as it is an ink vending machine..."

MZ
someday os2 will be ruled by the young and famous-at least in the open-source world!

Pete

Hi ModZilla

You may want to checkout the Kodak EasyShare printer range which *claims* "Vivid prints for up to 50% less than other inkjet systems"  http://printers.kodak.co.uk/

Sounds like they could be less of "an ink vending machine..."  :-)

Regards


Pete

Terry

Quote from: Pete on 2008.08.04, 17:01:33
You may want to checkout the Kodak EasyShare printer

The "secret" for Kodak Printers is that they use pigments.

Also, if can you locate an HP-compatible printer that uses the HP74 (black) and HP75 (color) print cartridges there is the extra potential:  HP74XL and HP75XL come with three times the ink.

ModZilla

Will do...Many thanks!

MZ
someday os2 will be ruled by the young and famous-at least in the open-source world!

marcbryant

Thanks for the info.  Figuired it would be a hassle.  Was hoping someone had current model for an easy solution.  I have an old Panasonic dot matrix printer that has drivers for it, really the only printing I do is my income taxes and I do them in XP under Vitural PC.

ModZilla

Lexmark USB should work ok, after running a driver detect program and updating the drivers...the tanks are cheap and there are alot of cross platforms for the no 28 tank in case the printer dies before the tanks empty, some will run w/o the color tank present at all, unlike HPs.
Which virtual pc do you run? (ms 04 or 08) I run a virtual PC on a MAC so I can use older Win9x apps for Networking on ISA/Vesa Machines...

Although many online pros like KimKomando, say to" stay away from Lexmark", I have no commercials, so I use them almost exclusively to $AVE$, Canon are supported too I think...

MZ

someday os2 will be ruled by the young and famous-at least in the open-source world!

marcbryant

I run the Connectix Virtual PC version 5.2.  Got it before MS bought the company.  Thanks for the info on the Lexmark.  I found a C80 on E-Bay and bought it so I think I'm ok for now.