Hp Printers and DOS

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Scott

What's the latest model HP deskjet printer I can use that will
still print reliably from a DOS (inventory/invoice) program?

Thanks!
Scott
 
[This followup was posted to comp.periphs.printers and a copy was sent
to the cited author.]

What's the latest model HP deskjet printer I can use that will
still print reliably from a DOS (inventory/invoice) program?
Click to expand...

I think most current models support PCL natively. The only true GUI
ones were the 820 and 7xx series, as far as I remember. (I sort-of think
some bottom-end 600's (612?) that used the half-full cartridges may also
be GUI, or only supported basic text and not full PCL.)

If you are printing in a DOS shell under Windows, and your printer is
USB, you can still print to it by sharing the printer, and then tying a
port to your own share (I don't think this works with Win9x or ME):
NET USE LPT1: \\yourcomputer\yourprinter

You could create a small .BAT file with the above line and put it in
your startup folder so it's created every time if it's not remembered
over a reboot.
 
Scott,
What's the latest model HP deskjet printer I can use that will
still print reliably from a DOS (inventory/invoice) program?
Click to expand...

it mainly depends by which control codes (AKA escape sequences) your DOS
application is embedding in the print jobs.

You have surely to avoid all the GDI (AKA Windows-only) printers, then, if
your DOS application is sending HP PCL commands to the printer port you have
to choose a printer which is HP PCL compatible. If it's embedding Epson
escape codes you have to buy an Epson compatible printer and so on.

Alternatively, you may want to have a look at Printfil, which allows
character based applications (including DOS) printing to any Windows printer
(including GDI and Virtual printers, such as PDF writers and fax softwares)

You can find more info and a free trial to download at
http://www.printfil.com

Kind regards,
Davide Guolo
--------------------------------------------------------------
Printfil - Windows Printing System for Applications
http://www.printfil.com
Odbc4All - Connection to ODBC Data Sources for any Application
http://www.guolo.com/odbc4all
--------------------------------------------------------------
 
Scott said:
What's the latest model HP DeskJet printer I can use that will
still print reliably from a DOS (inventory/invoice) program?
Click to expand...

I would expect a DeskJet 6122 or DeskJet 5650 could meet your needs. If you
could print a test page to a file and email it to me I could try printing it
and scan and return the results to you.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
(retired from HP after 29 years)
 
Bob Headrick said:
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
(retired from HP after 29 years)
Click to expand...

That's interesting when did that happen? Did they give you a retirement
golden printer cartridge?!
 
Bob said:
I would expect a DeskJet 6122 or DeskJet 5650 could meet your needs. If you
could print a test page to a file and email it to me I could try printing it
and scan and return the results to you.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
(retired from HP after 29 years)
Click to expand...

Bob,

I wish I could. The DOS program has only two printing options: Laser and
Dot Matrix. (yep, it's that old). I've always printed successfully win
Win 95 or 98 to an HP 722C deskjet. I'm wondering if the HP 932C would
also work. I've checked their specs, and it seems like it should.

Thanks!
Scott
 
Bob said:
I would expect a DeskJet 6122 or DeskJet 5650 could meet your needs. If you
could print a test page to a file and email it to me I could try printing it
and scan and return the results to you.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
(retired from HP after 29 years)
Click to expand...


Bob,

I wish I could. The DOS program has only two printing options: Laser and
Dot Matrix. (yep, it's that old). I've always printed successfully win
Win 95 or 98 to an HP 722C deskjet. I'm wondering if the HP 932C would
also work. I've checked their specs, and it seems like it should.

Thanks!
Scott
 
I wish I could. The DOS program has only two printing options: Laser and
Dot Matrix. (yep, it's that old). I've always printed successfully win
Win 95 or 98 to an HP 722C deskjet. I'm wondering if the HP 932C would
also work. I've checked their specs, and it seems like it should.
Click to expand...

As long as the margins are not closer than 0.5" from the bottom and no
downloadable fonts or other "special" LaserJet (PCL) commands are used the
DeskJet 932 should be OK. If you could print to a 722 from a DOS window inside
Win 98 with the accounting program then it should work fine.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
Bob said:
As long as the margins are not closer than 0.5" from the bottom and no
downloadable fonts or other "special" LaserJet (PCL) commands are used the
DeskJet 932 should be OK. If you could print to a 722 from a DOS window inside
Win 98 with the accounting program then it should work fine.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
Click to expand...


Bob,

Yes, I can print from a DOS windows inside Win95 and Win98 to my 722C printer.
It's good to ehar that the 932C should work just as well.

Thanks!
Scott
 
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