Re: World-wide 8-bit computer sales (all-time)?

[salfter@salfter.dyndns.org (Scott Alfter)]

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In article <3efe6507.32386248@news.netnitco.net>,
vairxpert <vairxpert@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Agreed, I don't know of any DMP's that were worth a shit at that time.
>I remember saving for an eternity and buying a Radio Shack DMP-110 for
>my Model III.  Special two strike hammer system with multi font....NLQ
>my ass, the print out was downright horrible.  I threw away $400 on
>that thing.  Daisy wheel was the only way to go at that time.

The Apple Imagewriter was fairly decent, as far as 9-pin printers went.  It
didn't have a built-in NLQ mode like many others of the time, but software
for the Apple II (and, I suspect, the standard Imagewriter driver for the
Macintosh) delivered print quality as good or better by basically running
the printer in graphics mode at 144x144 or 160x144 dpi.  Text output on an
Imagewriter from AppleWorks 3.0 with SuperFonts was pretty good, and you
could use any of the hundreds of bitmapped fonts that were available for the
IIGS (which were, in turn, largely borrowed from the Mac).

>Towards the late 80's manufacturers got it right.  I purchased a Star
>NX1000 II for around $200 mail order.  Fast, beautiful letter quality
>print and the ribbons last forever.  That printer is 2' away from me
>and hooked up this computer.  Still works as good as the day it
>arrived nearly 15 years ago.  For about a year I replaced it with a
>new Xerox ink jet.   Replacement cartridges cost more than the printer
>(which included the ink) and the print head lasted about 1 year.  Imo
>ink jets are the biggest consumer scam.  Practically give the printer
>away but rape the customer when it comes time to replace the ink,
>which lasts about a week.

The first inkjets weren't as obvious a ripoff.  A $30 cartridge for a $500
printer isn't so bad.  A $30 cartridge for a $50 printer is more
questionable.

I've had thoughts of hauling one of my dot-matrix printers in to work, for
sh*ts and grins if for nothing else.  Continuous feeding would be kinda nice
for browsing source-code printouts...

  _/_   Scott Alfter
 / v \  salfter@salfter.dyndns.org
(IIGS(  http://alfter.us            Top-posting!
 \_^_/  pkill -9 /bin/laden         >What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

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