Re: StyleWriter II

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

James Stafford <jamess@funtv.com> wrote:

>Supertimer wrote:
>> 
>> andyb78@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>> 
>> >The StyleWriter II won't work with the IIgs under any circumstances,
>> >right?
>> 
>> There is nothing physically preventing the SWII from working
>> with the IIGS...it is just that Apple has classified the SWII's
>> programming information so people can't write such a driver
>> without paying big $$$ to Apple.
>
>This is basicly false. The StyleWriter II is only a Canon printer, so
>all one would have to is get the info from Canon.

It has a Canon BubbleJet print engine, but it has Apple
electronics.  The way the printer communicates with the
computer is NOTHING like the way a BubbleJet com-
municates with a computer.  If it were so, you'd be able
to use the Epson LQ drivers from Harmonie with the
Stylewriter II and you can't (the LQ drivers work wonders
with a Canon BubbleJet).  You might be able to replace
the circuit board inside a StyleWriter II with the equivalent
Canon circuit board, though.

First thing you notice is that Apple StyleWriter series
are optimized for serial.  Canon BubbleJets are parallel
printers.  If you use a BubbleJet through a serial to
parallel converter on a Mac or GS, you'll discover that
it is slower than the equivalent StyleWriter.  Apple has
proprietary compression technology behind the
StyleWriters.  That's why the original StyleWriter (on
the GS) prints much faster than, for example, a DeskJet
printer with a parallel card (using the GS).  The
StyleWriter II's compression is supposedly even better.