Upgrade to DMP 100 Printer ROM

[jhd]

This question is somewhat moot since I no longer have a DMP 100 printer, but I have vague memories of seeing advertisements for a replacement ROM. Did such a product exist?

 

The print quality from the DMP 100 was VERY poor; it was not usable for much more than program listings and informal correspondence, so I can see a market for something to improve the quality of the output.

[linville]

AIUI, the DMP-100 was the same as the Line Printer VII with a ROM upgrade to support CoCo graphics or something. Perhaps that is what you are remembering?

[jhd]

It looks like the DMP 100 was one of a related family of printers.

 

 

 

The VIC-1525 was manufactured by a third party (Seikosha). Non-Commodore printers using this hardware were the nearly identical "Gorilla Banana", "Tandy DMP-100" and "Radio Shack LPVII". The VIC-1525 differed from these by the colour of its moulded plastic, the addition of a Commodore serial bus port, device number switch, and custom PETSCII ROM.

 

http://sleepingelephant.com/denial/wiki/index.php?title=VIC-1525_Graphic_Printer

 

While, presumably, the ROM was slightly different with each model, it does not appear that the print quality was improved any.

Edited April 4, 2016 by jhd

[Turbo-Torch]

Was there possibly an upgrade to IBM compatibility? I would have really liked a ROM replacement for my DMP-110, especially after moving from my Model III to a 1000EX. I even opened it up hoping to find some hidden dip switches. That printer was (is-still own it) one of a kind and never really supported by Radio Shack. Even the ribbon cartridges were only for that model and not shared with any others. I made one expensive mistake buying that printer. Oh, the print quality sucked too!

In the late 80s I bought a Star NX1000 II. 20 years later, Windows XP still supported it and my local Staples still stocked new ribbons. It really does letter quality and was my main printer until I went to laser a few years ago.

[ceratophyllum]

I think I remember having a Tandy DMP-1XX printer and reading about ROM upgrades. I used this printer on a TI99/4A connecting it with an Axiom ParallAX.

 

I think I also used it later with a Tandy 1000. But yeah, the print wasn't that great looking even by dot matrix standards. It was better than no printer, I guess.