segasaturn Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 What's the best printer for the Atari 8bit. Nothing special. I just print functionality. Something that still works in 2015 and reliable. I got a 800 if that means anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACML Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 For just straight text, no graphics, get a XDM121 daisy wheel printer. If you want graphics, get a cheap Centronics interface and get an Epson MX-80 or equivalent. Some newer ones (equivalent) don't require fan fold paper. Businesses still use dot matrix for sales receipts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Surely you will want to use printshop to make your own greeting cards. Interface and an Epson or compatible dot matrix is bliss. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segasaturn Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) What's everyones thoughts on the Atari 825, 1027, or 1020? Edited May 16, 2015 by segasaturn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) I owned a 1020. It was alright as far as it was for a little plotter. As for generating documents of text.... not so good. The other choices you bring up would be much better for making printed documents. However, I remember back in the day, when I researched what printer I would want to buy and use, I decided the best options for me would something like an Epson dot matrix or the cheaper priced but yet very comparible Star printers. I ended up with a Star Micronics NL-10, and then later at some point I also bought I think a NX-10. I remember having near letter quality which looked pretty reasonable for a dotmatrix, and still had the ability to do graphics. Something a letter quality daisy wheel could not do. Also daisy wheels cauldn't do different sized text fonts, other than what was on the wheel. Of course, wheel printer output looked just like a typewriter output, which was considered the standard at that time. As printers cought on more (especially laser printers), their ability to have special text started to become the new standard, and at some point, a typed page was considered somewhat substandard and inferior. But anyway I'm rambling. Edited May 16, 2015 by fujidude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 1027s are unusable these days. I used one for many years. Then the print belt broke up into tiny pieces. These happen to all of the 1027s. Brad a Best got rid of all his 1027s because replacement belts are not available, anywhere. So, avoid them. You'll see a BUNCH of them on eBay, avoid them, they are not useable. Any Epson-compatible (9-pin, 18-pin, 24-pin) dox matrix printer with an interface (available everywhere on Ebay, Best, B&C) will work. I have both a dot matrix and the Atari XDM121 (letter quality) printer hooked up. The 820 printer (hard to find) is excellent for printing program listing, but not much else. A good dot Matrix printer has the overall usability for your Atari. I agree, you need to be able to use PrintShop. I still use it for making birthday banners and some cards. The Atari 801s are direct connect to the 8-bits. The 804 is the same printer (faster) but parallel interface. Meaning you can use it with your 8-bit with the interface. I have an 801, wish I had opted for the 804 because it is faster. These two printers are still available new from Best and B&C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) What's the best printer for the Atari 8bit. Nothing special. I just print functionality. Something that still works in 2015 and reliable. I got a 800 if that means anything. Buy APE and use your PC printer. I don't know how well it will do graphics, but it does text OK, I've tried that. I say 'buy' but I'm not sure the free one won't do it.... AND, I think I did it using emulator Altirra, I guess. In which case APE wasn't involved. I just know I've used my PC printer from Atari, real or emulated. Edited May 16, 2015 by russg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 I am particularly fond of the Canon BJ-200 which should work with the 8-bits as it understands ESC/P (Epson LQ), has a very small footprint as it is "vertically" oriented and is very quiet. I don't think it's exactly "period" for the Ataris. Needs a parallel interface. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segasaturn Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 Actually I'm curious about that Atari 1020.....it seems ibterestung. I looked and best electronics sells pens for it. What do you guys think about it? Does it use special paper? Where can you buy the paper for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 It does use special paper. I don't remember the dimmensions of the rolls, but apparently there are other devices out there (or were) that also use the same kind of paper rolls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 The 1020 Plotter (not really a printer) is a neat toy. It does four color printouts. It can do different sizes of text print as well as graphics (with the 1020 software, in the public domain). It is really expensive to feed it the pens. Pens tend to dry out quickly from non-use. I have many spares, keep them frozen to preserve their life. You must remove the pens if you are not using the printer, put them in their tubes, then freeze them. Otherwise, they will dry out. Very quirky printer to say the least. They are cheap, so why not. Best does sell the pens and paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Oh, I forgot....the 1020s have a particular problem...the nylon gears (2 each) tend to be cracked, preventing them from printing. Of course Best E. sells the replacement gears (not easy to change) for about $15 a set. Yeah, feed the beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 The ALPs mechanism in the 1020 was also used in the Commodore 1520, Tandy CGP-115, TI HX-1000 and other brand printer/plotters. There is a UK website that mentions being able to supply replacement metal gears for the 1520, I don't know if he actually has any though: http://www.sd2iec.co.uk/id3.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I used the Star NX-1000 color printer. It is Epson JX-80 compatible, and does a beautiful job. It has NLQ fonts built-in, and it works well with DaisyDot3. I wrote (back in the day) a program to print pictures in color on this printer, but, unfortunately, lost the source code in a crash. There are also some nice inkjets and lasers that work well with the Atari, just make sure they are Epson compatible, and also make sure you have a proper interface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Lange Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I still use a Star Micronics Gemini 10x. It uses standard cheap type-writer ribbons and fan fold paper, both available at Amazon. Th e interface for it is available from Brad at Best Electronics. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz73 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 I am also looking for an Atari compatible printer, but I want something pin-fed, for fan fold paper. Is the XMM-801 my only option without going third party? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 I am also looking for an Atari compatible printer, but I want something pin-fed, for fan fold paper. Is the XMM-801 my only option without going third party? Atari 1025 is tractor feed and well built. My sense is that most people back in the day went with third party printers. If you want to keep it all Atari though 1025 is a good printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 My sense is that most people back in the day went with third party printers. You simply got better printers when buying non-Atari stuff. Atari sold 7-pin printers while you could get a 9-pin Epson with true descenders (that could be upgraded to serifed NLQ-fonts with a ROM change). When the cheaper parallel adapters appeared, there was little reason to buy an Atari printer (except maybe for the 1020). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam242 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Atari 1025 is tractor feed and well built. My sense is that most people back in the day went with third party printers. If you want to keep it all Atari though 1025 is a good printer. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 1025 text-only, no graphics capability? Odd for a dot matrix unit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 I have two 1025's and they work just fine, but are really slow. The 1025 only prints in one direction. After each line it does a full carriage return and then starts to print again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 1025 text-only, no graphics capability? Odd for a dot matrix unit... I am not sure. I use my 1025 with my 800XL once in a while but don't recall if it does graphics. I usually use an interface and a Panasonic. Besides being faster and better resolution, I can use it with my other old machines like my ST. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 (edited) the 1025 is text only, and slow. The upside is that it has an SIO connector, and the machine is built like a tank. Edit: I forgot to mention noisy. Edited May 20, 2015 by Kyle22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Atari 1025 is tractor feed and well built. My sense is that most people back in the day went with third party printers. If you want to keep it all Atari though 1025 is a good printer. I used the 1025 all through college. A tank, really. It does not, however, have lowercase descenders on the characters (g, y). It is tractor-feed only, though, so there's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 The 1025 was a repackaged Okidata Microline 84, btw. -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polybius Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) I owned a 1020. It was alright as far as it was for a little plotter. As for generating documents of text.... not so good. The other choices you bring up would be much better for making printed documents. However, I remember back in the day, when I researched what printer I would want to buy and use, I decided the best options for me would something like an Epson dot matrix or the cheaper priced but yet very comparible Star printers. I ended up with a Star Micronics NL-10, and then later at some point I also bought I think a NX-10. I remember having near letter quality which looked pretty reasonable for a dotmatrix, and still had the ability to do graphics. Something a letter quality daisy wheel could not do. Also daisy wheels cauldn't do different sized text fonts, other than what was on the wheel. Of course, wheel printer output looked just like a typewriter output, which was considered the standard at that time. As printers cought on more (especially laser printers), their ability to have special text started to become the new standard, and at some point, a typed page was considered somewhat substandard and inferior. but anyway, im rambling. That reminds me, I got a Star Micronics daisy wheel printer still sealed in its original packaging, I got with a Packard Bell computer that was also all still in the original packaging from 1989. (One of Those NRI teaching things that never got assembled) I also got a brand new Atari 1027 letter quality printer in its original box, never used (still has the little oil bottle even!) got the latter with an Atari 600 xl computer (in box!) And a Commodore 64c system with monitor. Edited May 21, 2015 by Polybius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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