Evening, fellas. Just a suggestion, as we head into the weekend, on how you might wanna splash a grand on some retro resources if you're feeling flush and giddy to go a bundle on Feebay: 1) Offer this guy £500 for his Oric-1 - I mean, why wouldn't you?! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oric-1-48k-Computer/184446183414?hash=item2af1d967f6:g:Qg8AAOSwiRNfXkR~ 2) Still feeling "fresh"? £275 will get you a 130XE plus an XC11 so what you waiting for?? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Atari-13...143738889512?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10 3) You aint done yet, you lightweight - let's offload the rest of the dosh on a 1029 at the glorious 'giveaway' price of': £249. I just don't believe the hype, I mean suggestion that folks say that this year retro micro prices have gone through the roof. I'm not buying that...?! These are bloody BARGAINS(!!!) so get yer wads out, you tight sods.
Yep, I found similar "deals" when I was looking for a C64 for my birthday...so I just bought Atari upgrades and software instead. If this is as good as it gets from now on, then I'm satisfied with my collection as-is. Just wait for that 1-in-a-million bargain or nothing. I really, really would like a 1029 too, especially since they were never released in the states; it would go well with my 1200XL that was never released over there! Maybe I'll get a 1025 one day, if I can find a working one for cheap, or an 825 for my 800, which is more likely the one I'd buy first since I do already have an excellent 24-pin dot matrix. So it's not an Atari printer...It's been modded and Atari branded by me! I just need to add some brushed metal trim with name and number. I think I'll designate it the 1026 or 1028 since it's better than a 9-pin 1025, and 1027 and 1029 are already taken. If anyone is wondering, it's a Panasonic KX-P2023 (I'd label it a 1023 if it wasn't better than the 1025) and originally look like the picture below. I painted it because the case become yellow turning bronze after being in storage for about 15 years.
Aye, Get yer coin out, Matt - that 1029 has got your name on it and I'm thinking the guy might even do you a "cut price" postage rate too... I would estimate an additional £500 at his prices (considering the weight of the damn thing!) You may recall I had a 1029 up for grabs on the old Atari Sector about 12 months ago - FJC got it for £10!!! I think I charged him an additional £5-7 for postage. To send it to the U.S. I would probably have to multiply that by a factor of 10 but if you want me to keep an eye out for a 1029 this end then just say, mate. Your 'modded' / 'home-rebadged' Panasonic designated 1026/1028 looks sweet and reminds me of an old Star LC24-10 I used to have with my Amiga back in the 90s. Is it a 24 pin head, Matt? I used to really like the old dot matrixes and they were the workhorses of our printed outputs for a good decade or so, weren't they, as I could never afford a laser (who could?). Then in came the ink jets and they seemed to bridge the price/quality gap and the old DMs seemed to die off, bit by bit. Anyone else got a fave old dot matrix printer they want to remember and wax lyrical over?! ABOVE: Bought for about £190, it gave me sterling service from approx 91-98 and then I sold it 2nd hand to an Italian student gal (yes, she used to invite me back for cappucinos sometimes and look at her printer driver!) for £15.
Just found a "better value" 1029 for all you dot matrix junkies out there - and this one won't break the bank (so long as you're a merchant banker)... ABOVE: A snip at £9,999 NOT! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Atari-1029-parts/143743397224?hash=item2177c62d68:g:pKkAAOSw6a5fZHFD
Yes, @Andy Barr it's a 24-pin (I did mention it in the post, lost in the middle of the paragraph), that's why I said I need to designate it higher than 1025. With 1027's and 1029's in existence, that leaves me with 26/28. Though with the 1029, is that a 9-pin DM like the 1025? Does it deserve to be numbered higher than the 1027 LQ? Maybe it should have been designated the 1024 or 1026 instead? If it weren't for the 1029 that would have been the designation for my printer, since Atari printers are all in the 20's. Though I do have my eprom burner designated as a 1027 device, because I had the badge from my 1027 printer that had the fatal dry-rot head and unfix-able, and since the eprom burner is made for 2700 series eproms I felt the 1027 designation fit perfectly for it. So I sort of screwed up the whole 20's for printers designation there already...but then I need to make a better case for it than a cardboard box, which is already showing some wear and is a bit too much "home-brew" looking for me. I think I may find another Commodore modem case like the one I used to house my Syscheck 2. I'd thought about using the 1030 modem case for other things over the years, like an SIO hub and briefly thought of using it for the eprom burner, but I've decided to save it and install the Fuji-net device in it, keeping it a modem of sorts. I may be in the market for a 1029, I'd like one, but I think there might be a bunch of other stuff I'd rather get first, but if you find a real bargain on one, let me know! I wouldn't be willing to pay more than $50 for one, and hopefully even less since I have to consider shipping costs too.
I just researched the 1029 and see it is actually a 7-pin printer, so I think Atari should have designated it somewhere between the 1020 and 1025...but, whatever. I'm no expert on printers and how many pins they use, only that more pins generally means a better printer; I know my Panasonic 24-pin is a far cry from the 825/1025 printers. But maybe the 1029 is still, overall, a better printer than the 1025? I does say it's programmable, so maybe it can do more for that reason? What do you guys think or know? Which is the better printer? The 1025 or 1029?
I've only ever owned the Atari 1029, and i'll be honest and say I used to do many printouts at work on somewhat better DM printers, although I don't remember what ones we had. later on had the use of laser printers and a colour dye sublimation printer ( a very expensive device to feed) this was prior to colour laser printers The 1029 didn't see to much use and I dont recall its 'leaving' I found this offering on fee pay .. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Amstrad-...794165?hash=item2acfbb7075:g:2p8AAOSwlGxfGqGw £10,000 or $12,738 US Mind you thats about one each for us ...
You can see how the 1029 was really a rebadged Japanese printed (Seikosha?) but as you point out, Matt, you could redefine character sets and fonts with it. IIRC, quite a few printer utils took advantage of this and gave the 80s Atari DTP user some whizzy tools as it were. I've had two over the years but I'm afraid they never got any use so went on to pastures new. The dot matrix Atari model I had (which I could use with either my 800XL or ST), was the SMM804: This did get plenty of hammer from my machines but unfortunately its print head disintegrated so I was put off by any further Atari badged printers and opted for a replacement in the Star LC24-10. Getting back to the 1029, here are a few comments (on that model and others) from "back in the day"...they're not all that complimentary(!) but they give you an overall picture of what it can and can't do (unless you get hold of some software utils)...
As regards 1025 vs 1029 - anyone here actually ever used both and is able to provide a comparison? Clearly, we're going right back here and there won't be too many folks this side of the pond with a 1025 and virtually none Stateside with a 1029, but for what it's worth, here are some cold hard specs: Atari 1029 (based on the Seikosha GP500) Print method: Matrix print (unihammer-system) Dot matrix: 6x7-Dots Character height: 2,82 mm Row length: Max. 80 Columns Row distance: 6 Z/inch in char mode, 9 Z/inch in graphics mode (1 inch = 2.54 cm) Print speed: 50 chars/sec. Print method: Unidirectional print Paper transport: Tractor Ink-ribbon type: 2-parts cassette with exchangeable ink reservoir Paper width: 4.5 to 8 inch Copies/carbon copies: Original + 2 carbon copies Graphics: Dot matrix, 7 vertical dots/column Weight: Approx. 4.8 kg Atari 1025 (based on the Okidata ML80) - 40 cps (80-column 10 cpi mode) - 5 cpi expanded (40 col), 10 cpi (80 col), 16.7 cpi condensed (132-col) - 5x7 character dot matrix - buffer: 132 chrs at 16.7 cpi, 80 chrs at 10 cpi - paper: roll,fanfold,single sheets. optional:roll paper holder, tractor feed Both seem pretty primitive to me and so I'd reckon you'd always be better sticking with your Panasonic, Matt, as the 1029 is, IMHO, purely for 'curiosity and collectors'.
I did have an old dot matrix printer and I cannot remember what it was connected to, possibly the Atmos instead of my old MCP-40 or my old ST. It sounded like a machine gun and the faff on with all the dip switches meant it never got much use. Sadly I never owned either of the Atari printers so couldn’t say what they were like but dot matrix printers were pretty noisy in my experience so I would imagine the same would apply here.
Yes, after reading through the articles you posted, I do think I'll stick with my Pansonic 24-pin, it has all kinds of built-in font features, a near letter quality print-out mode and also a "quite" mode that makes it much quieter at the expense of some speed in printing. It's also EPSON compatible and so is completely usable for most Atari print software without programming or whatever, it can do screen dumps and graphics and all that jazz. Clearly much superior to any Atari printer. Though I may still look for an 825 printer for my 800, just for printing out program listings and .txt manuals, etc. and use my Pansonic for "serious" DTP work with XLent Software's Printware series of DTP (far more advanced than Printshop but also can use all Printshop graphics). Apparently the 1029 isn't superior to the 1025, at least in actual print quality, so I guess the higher numbered Atari printers doesn't necessarily translate to better quality. So, since my Panasonic is designated with the number 2023, I'll probably create a name badge for it as the 1023 since that is an unused number in Atari's 102x line. I have thought about calling it an Atari 2023 or 1223 (matching the 1200XL instead of the original 1000 series of the never released Atari 1000 computer) since it's far more advanced than any printer Atari released, but I've settled on a combination 1023 so the numbering matches all my other XL peripherals.
As we are talking about printers, and I guess that goes hand in hand with 'printing' does anyone use 'Respeqt' or similar to print from there Atari to the host PC printer. I keep meaning to try it sometime, but I usually end up with working on a PC and therefore printing from that before anything gets to the Atari.. just sparked some interest as I'd like to use the Atari to code with and won't keep having to convert from each form of 'ASCII' back and forth, as always seems some thing thats not spaced correctly etc. Hey that means my Atari would connect to my printer wirelessly hehe..
I have used APE software to print to my PC's printer* from the Atari, before I got my Panasonic out, but the Panasonic's NLQ print and graphic capabilities are good enough for me for my 8-bit desktop publishing. I am trying to get away from any reliance on a SIO2PC and a PC. With SD/CF card drives on both of my Atari's now, I don't need APE/SIO2PC anymore unless I do want to use it for printing or modem. With Fujinet I'll be able to lose APE/SIO2PC for R: handler stuff. I just need to get an old color Laser or deskjet printer from the 90's that still has a Centronics connection and then I can use it with my Atari for full-color printing. Then I can completely lose the umbilical cord to the Windows PC. I like to print out four-color graphics with my 1020 plotter, which I have re-filled pens with, with different color inks beside the original RGB and black, using color calligraphy ink, and swap pens out for 12 different color pens I have. But if I want to print graphics with more than four colors at a time, I still use APE and send the graphics to my EPSON inkjet, until I get that old color printer with a Centronics port. *An EPSON by the way, I went back to them after having nothing but trouble with the last two cheap HP printers I bought; I love the EPSON.
I'll have to try it out, I don't use APE but having checked AspecQt's manual I found this... so no graphics are printed.. but I hope it copes correctly with ATASCII " Printer output AspeQt emulates a generic text-only Atari printer. It only emulates the first printer device, that is “P1:” You can view, save or print the emulated printer output using the “File/View printer text output”. Support for ASCII and ATASCII is provided. "
Well strange you should say that, when it came to the good old days of Dot Matrix printer I can definatly agree, however I've found over time that when ever you buy a 'cheap' printer, it will always play up. I've tried Epson, Cannon and HP ink jets .. don't like any of the cheaper ones... However spending a bit more money and I've a HP unit more like what would be used in a small office alongside a B/W Laser printer ... well this has been a boon, it sits on the LAN via WiFi (It has it's own asigned address not DHCP) and with what ever computer I use it just works. Of course Famous last words... I only use genuine HP cartridges and a set is expensive however they last ages, even with Pam bashing out pretty coloured prints for all It's not one of the newer models now, as I've had it 4-5 years.. So about 5000 pages printed 34 times its double fed and 1 jam .... Black cartridge (£38) about 2000 pages and colours about 1600 (£27 each for three) (or all £95) Of course it'll now start playing up.
The Epson I bought is an inexpensive model, it was about $100, while the HP's were under $50, so I did decide to move up a bit in quality after the cheap HP experiences, so maybe I am being unfair suggesting all HP printers are crap, but one lasted 2 months and the second one I was never able to get to work right from the start. I expect even their cheapest printers to work right to start with and longer than that, I didn't even get to use the ink up it came with, so in protest I went back to Epson. My Epson also is WiFi with it's own assigned address too, and I can print to it from 3 different PC's and 4 different smart phones in our house. The phones also supply it and our PC's with Wi-Fi from their hot spots and when the family uses up the high-speed data limit on one hot-spot phone, we use the next and go through all 4.
I like the inventive use of a bunch of phones for data/ WiFi, used to use this all the time when out and about working in the field, but rarely used at home, did use it when we went away a few weeks back, rather than pay to use the hotels WiFi, amazing what speeds you can download at from a mobile. A fair number of years back I was involved with a demonstration showing its speed off, at a convention in London, I think it was Mobile World and takes place in different countries each year. They demonstrated I think it was 16 HD films streamed from a mobile device all at the same time. Oh and some of the kit was Huawei !! and not 5G only 4G.
