From the nimble fingers of Douglas Stemen (stemenda@...)
(10/7/2000 11:52 AM) came...

> I have customers that use dot matrix printers with my FB software because
> they need multiple copy forms. Unfortunately their old Imagewriters (both
> localtalk and serial) are wearing out and they don't know where to buy
> replacement printers.
> 
> Any recommendations on who makes FB & Mac compatible impact printers and
> where they can be purchased?
> 
> I don't want to use PowerPrint because I understand it is verrrrry slow.
> These printers are used in applications where speed is very important.

There was, at one point, something called a "Grappler" which was essentially
a serial-to-parallel convertor that allowed Centronic-type printers to plug
into the Mac serial port. They handled graphics, too (which is really what
went down the wire most of the time). They might be around to this very day.
There are certainly lots of extremely ugly Centronic compatible printers
around (new, too!), and, unless you're sending bitmaps (dotmaps? - pretty
characters), they are hard to beat for speed.

If you're not using fancy fonts, you could even do something as unMacish as
print without a printer driver, which would probably be a bad idea. Billy G
would have loved it in the old days.

-- 
Ted Spencer; ted@...
--
What if The Earth, for its own survival, finds it must rid itself of us?
(Bruce Cockburn)