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Retro-Printer

Started by ComSoft6128, 07:36, 18 November 18

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ComSoft6128

This is an interesting project/product:

http://www.retroprinter.com

But if it could be made to work with the CPC would it be text only?
What about output from Stop Press, Advanced Art Studio or MicroDesign?

Any ideas/thoughts on this?

Cheers,

Peter

LambdaMikel

Certainly very interesting!
I came accross this as well when I was looking for a printer for my CPC.
The only concern I have is that it is a quite involved setup; the RPi needs time to boot etc.
I hope it is easy to install and adminster. Nothing beats the simplicity of an old matrix dot printer (power on, and ready to print).
If somebody is getting one, please report how (in)convenient this solution is! For now, I am happy with my new old stock "Centronics GLP 500" (aka Brother M1009, aka Schneider NLQ 401). But I confess that it is tempting to have a state of the art print quality with the CPC. But then, somehow the old dot matrix (even the scratching sound and slowness of it all!) adds to the retro experience and authenticity. Same as with an old CTM or GT monitor rather than a modern TFT.

RWAP

Quote from: ComSoft6128 on 07:36, 18 November 18
This is an interesting project/product:

http://www.retroprinter.com

But if it could be made to work with the CPC would it be text only?
What about output from Stop Press, Advanced Art Studio or MicroDesign?

Any ideas/thoughts on this?

Cheers,

Peter

Well spotted - this will be available to purchase in January.

The Retro-Printer will indeed handle all ESC/P2 codes, so will be able to handle text and graphics.  We can also work with others to develop new convertors if anything specific is required.  I guess Art Studio etc normally print to an Epson ESC/P (or ESC/P2) printer, or even a HP PCL printer, so in that case, yes the graphics will be supported.

RWAP

Quote from: LambdaMikel on 18:09, 18 November 18
Certainly very interesting!
I came accross this as well when I was looking for a printer for my CPC.
The only concern I have is that it is a quite involved setup; the RPi needs time to boot etc.
I hope it is easy to install and adminster. Nothing beats the simplicity of an old matrix dot printer (power on, and ready to print).
If somebody is getting one, please report how (in)convenient this solution is! For now, I am happy with my new old stock "Centronics GLP 500" (aka Brother M1009, aka Schneider NLQ 401). But I confess that it is tempting to have a state of the art print quality with the CPC. But then, somehow the old dot matrix (even the scratching sound and slowness of it all!) adds to the retro experience and authenticity. Same as with an old CTM or GT monitor rather than a modern TFT.
Yes, unfortunately, the RPi does take a while to boot - not much we can do about that.  Mind you it probably compares to the start up time of an Epson inkjet printer which always seemed to take an age...

Installation and administration of the Retro-Printer module is fairly simple and should only need doing the once - more details appear on the manual attached to our pre-order listing : https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/retro-_printer-module-%28capture-and-convert-centronics-port-data%29--_-pre-_order-32773

ComSoft6128


LambdaMikel

Quote from: RWAP on 13:48, 08 December 18
Yes, unfortunately, the RPi does take a while to boot - not much we can do about that.  Mind you it probably compares to the start up time of an Epson inkjet printer which always seemed to take an age...

Installation and administration of the Retro-Printer module is fairly simple and should only need doing the once - more details appear on the manual attached to our pre-order listing : https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/retro-_printer-module-%28capture-and-convert-centronics-port-data%29--_-pre-_order-32773



It is a great project for sure. Price point might be problematic in this community (as I learned through my own projects here...), but I wish you best of success with it!!


Would you accept a trade swap with LambdaSpeak 1.95 or 1.99?


https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/lambdaspeak-speech-synthesizer--_--all-cpc-models-32431

RWAP

Quote from: LambdaMikel on 18:53, 08 December 18



It is a great project for sure. Price point might be problematic in this community (as I learned through my own projects here...), but I wish you best of success with it!!


Would you accept a trade swap with LambdaSpeak 1.95 or 1.99?


https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/lambdaspeak-speech-synthesizer--_--all-cpc-models-32431
Tee hee - I know that some people will always moan about price points.  There are of course various factors which come into price setting - and unfortunately, so many retro computer projects are (in my opinion) under-priced which results in the developer soon losing heart in developing the product further or making more than the initial batch. 

In my case, it took some real soul searching, but bearing in mind that this project (and Brexit) will probably result in me having to register for VAT for the first time, the pricing has to take into account the 20% that will be payable to HMRC, plus the cost of using an accountant.  I also need actual cash in the business to help fund more keyboard membrane production runs (and expand the keyboard membrane range I currently offer).

Those who don't want to pay can either hope to find one on the second hand market, or buy an old dot-matrix printer and hope that they can still get the parts and ribbons!

Sorry  - I am not interested in trade swaps as my personal retro computer interests remain firmly in the Sinclair QL :)

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