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Printers Used With Your Atari 8-bit: Then & Now


MrFish

Printers Used With Your Atari 8-bit: Then & Now  

128 members have voted

  1. 1. Printer(s) used back in the day?

    • Atari 820
      4
    • Atari 822
      3
    • Atari 825
      3
    • Atari 1020
      20
    • Atari 1025
      15
    • Atari 1027
      21
    • Atari 1029
      12
    • Atari XMM801
      5
    • Atari XDM121
      3
    • Brother
      2
    • Canon
      3
    • C.Itoh
      3
    • Citizen
      4
    • Epson
      21
    • Hewlett Packard
      3
    • IBM
      0
    • NEC
      2
    • Okidata
      11
    • Panasonic
      23
    • Seiko
      2
    • Star Micronics
      39
    • Toshiba
      0
    • Xerox
      0
    • Other
      23
    • [None]
      9
  2. 2. Printer type(s) used back in the day?

    • Dot Matrix
      107
    • Daisy Wheel
      16
    • Thermal
      13
    • Plotter
      22
    • Laser
      4
    • Inkjet
      6
    • Emulated (APE, Etc.)
      2
    • Other
      9
    • [None]
      8
  3. 3. Printer interface(s) used back in the day?

    • Atari SIO
      79
    • 9-Pin Serial
      5
    • Parallel
      78
    • [None]
      11
  4. 4. Printer(s) used now?

    • Atari 820
      2
    • Atari 822
      2
    • Atari 825
      4
    • Atari 1020
      7
    • Atari 1025
      6
    • Atari 1027
      3
    • Atari 1029
      7
    • Atari XMM801
      6
    • Atari XDM121
      4
    • Brother
      9
    • Canon
      7
    • C.Itoh
      0
    • Citizen
      2
    • Epson
      16
    • Hewlett Packard
      16
    • IBM
      1
    • NEC
      0
    • Okidata
      5
    • Panasonic
      5
    • Seiko
      0
    • Star Micronics
      10
    • Toshiba
      0
    • Xerox
      0
    • Other
      17
    • [None]
      55
  5. 5. Printer type(s) used now?

    • Dot Matrix
      37
    • Daisy Wheel
      7
    • Thermal
      7
    • Plotter
      8
    • Laser
      19
    • Inkjet
      21
    • Emulated (APE, Etc.)
      19
    • Other
      4
    • [None]
      49
  6. 6. Printer interface(s) used now?

    • Atari SIO
      41
    • 9-Pin Serial
      3
    • Parallel
      28
    • [None]
      72

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Started with an Atari 1025.

Upgraded to a Star NX-1000 to get the ability to print in nicer quality (print the lower part of 'y' and 'g' below the line, for example), and print customized graphics. Both of which, the 1025 could not do. That Star printer was the best, and I kept it for a long time...even through the PC era. Lasted me through college and then some.

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I had a 9-pin dot matrix Seikosha something or other hooked up through an ICD Printer Connection. Used it for everything, it even had a passable (for its day) NLQ mode. Loud and slow. I still have the inch-and-a-half thick disassembled source code for Miner 2049er that I printed with it. Took hours and drove my family nuts!

 

The Printer Connection was a neat device - just a cable with a Centronics adapter built into the plug and an SIO plug on the other end - that must have been somewhat rare. I haven't seen one in years.

 

I also had a 1020 that was a joy to watch. Played with that quite a bit. I have another, but it has split gears. One of these weekends, I'll get off my lazy butt and install the replacements I bought two years ago.

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I had the ol' reliable C.Itoh 1550 for years. That was the workhorse printer for my early Atari years. Life was even better when I added a Panasonic KXP-1091.

 

Later on I managed to acquire a Panasonic KXP-1124. Oh, what amazing feats were dreamt possible when technology allowed TWENTY FOUR PINS ON ONE PRINT HEAD!!!

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"Back in the day" for me extends all the way to right now. After putting my 8-bit system together in the late 80's early 90's I became fossilized, and only in the last few years started getting newer gear. The Panasonic 1080i I bought mail order in the late 80's is still my only printer. I use it on those rare occasions when I need to print something, thanks to ebay where I found a ribbon cartridge and had the foresight in the 90's to get the extra large box of laser edged tractor feed paper. My first adapter was Xetec's Graphix AT serial to parallel interface but retired it after getting a Black Box. I had lots of fun, and used up a lot of ink creating NLQ fonts using Daisy Dot III. The biggest problem in those days were line feeds. The printer has a DIP switch to add line feeds, the interfaces have DIP switches, and most word processors have a line feed option. I wasted a lot of ink and paper printing whole pages on one line, or double and quadruple spacing because I couldn't remember what settings I was using.

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Currently I have three (sometimes 4) printers hooked up. A 9-Pin Fortis (Epson compatible), 121, and an 820. I have used the 820 to death since the late 80s, just love it. I wrote letters on it to my bud in prison. Not sure he appreciated the receipt-type paper, but who cares? I started with the 1027, affordable LQ. But, like all of them, the wheel shredded on me. I miss that printer. I also have a few more printers in reserve. Again, like the previous comments, they became so cheap, how could one resist?

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I used a Star Micronics Gemini 10X. First connected with an 850 and then later with an ATR8000. I also had a 1020 plotter that got used rarely. Today the 10X is connected with a MicroPrint Parallel Printer interface. I also have a 1020 and a 1027 boxed up.

 

Bill

 

Where do you get tractor-feed paper for it? I would like a retro printer but paper supplies seem hard to find.

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Next to my 800, my first printer, an MX-80, was the most expensive part of my system -- even slightly more expensive than my first 810 drive. When HP came out with their first ink jet (with the Epson FX emulator cartridge), I jumped on board. So much faster than my old MX-80; better print quality; and so quiet! Then when Steve Tucker added the APE printer features, I left stand-alone printers forever. And his virtual MX-80 is just great for program listings! Our 35+ year old Ataris just keep getting better and better! Wonder how much money I've spent on computer hardware & software over the years? I guess I'd rather not know!

 

-Larry

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Hm, printers I really use...

 

My first printer was a "Präsident 6320", an export-model of the former GDR.

 

post-18285-0-01714500-1424238008_thumb.jpg

 

He comes along with changeable ports, e.g. a commodore, V.24 or centronics-interface. He works fine for years with a (still in use) compy-shop-centronics-interface.

 

When I gave him away (he was a little bit slow), he was replaced by an used OKI ML 590; this one is still in use. The OKI (a 24pin) is great for text (fast & good looking fonts), but graphics are stretched.

 

post-18285-0-83389600-1424240943_thumb.gif

 

For graphic (eg. Print Shop) I use actual a Star LC10.

 

post-18285-0-64094600-1424241521_thumb.jpg

 

For a short time I also used a HP 500 with Epson FX80-emulation-card.

 

If I want to transfer a listing to pc I use sio2pc and sio2osx.

 

Sleepy

Edited by Sleepy
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Up until the mid nineties, had a nice Panasonic dot-matrix and a PR Connection with my 130XE. Used primarily for Speedscript and the Atari Program Text Editor.

 

Also had an XF551, XM301, magazines, books and tons of original disk software.

 

Why, oh why, did I ever get rid of my old Atari stuff back then?! :(

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I found some pics from the last "bigger" job printed with my XL: the invitation cards to my 42nd birthday.

Done, of course, with Print Shop and Print Shop Companion.

 

post-18285-0-56968500-1424324368_thumb.jpg

post-18285-0-35653800-1424324402_thumb.jpg

post-18285-0-94697300-1424324380_thumb.jpg

 

I was happy to get some original eighties "TELEX"-paper from FlorianD, a friendly abbuc-member.

 

Sleepy

Edited by Sleepy
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I found some pics from the last "bigger" job printed with my XL: the invitation cards to my 42nd birthday.

Done, of course, with Print Shop and Print Shop Companion.

 

attachicon.gifsetup.jpg

attachicon.gifout.jpg

attachicon.gifin.jpg

 

I was happy to get some original eighties "TELEX"-paper from FlorianD, a friendly abbuc-member.

 

Sleepy

 

Love the custom connectors hooked up behind your 800XL. Are those multiple SIOs or DB9s?

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I had a 1020 Plotter back in the day, which was rather fun to use, but I really wanted to be able to print out pictures, although there was a program in Atari User that was supposedly able to print out such things, but I never got it to work. Ultimately, I used it for text and so forth, but it seems that printing in small font sizes shortened the lifespan of the plotter and it eventually got damaged and wore out. I remember my mother, ever since, complaining about "damaging printers" every time I printed in small font sizes.

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Love the custom connectors hooked up behind your 800XL. Are those multiple SIOs or DB9s?

Yes, it´s simmilar to CSS Quintopus, but in want of new sio-connectors for homebrew-hardware it was fitted with 15pole SUB-D-connectors. Connectors are puffered and it has a build-in serieal sio2pc-Interface.

 

post-18285-0-57895100-1424680018_thumb.jpg

 

To connect original ATARI-Hardware, there was a replacement-kit for original SIO-connectors.

post-18285-0-08197600-1424680964_thumb.jpg

 

Sleepy

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Yes, it´s simmilar to CSS Quintopus, but in want of new sio-connectors for homebrew-hardware it was fitted with 15pole SUB-D-connectors. Connectors are puffered and it has a build-in serieal sio2pc-Interface.

 

attachicon.gifimgCA.jpg

 

To connect original ATARI-Hardware, there was a replacement-kit for original SIO-connectors.

attachicon.gifimage013.jpg

 

Sleepy

 

Very cool stuff. I'd love to see it in an XL looking case! :)

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