| ★ HARDWARE ★ IMPRIMANTE - AMSTRAD DMP 2000 ★ |
| DMP 2000 A LA LOUPE (CPC Magazine) | IMPRIMANTE - AMSTRAD DMP 2000 (Popular Computing Weekly) | L'IMPRIMANTE DMP 2000 REMPLACE LA DMP 1 (Microstrad) | L'IMPRIMANTE AMSTRAD DMP 2000 | AMSTRAD DMP 2000 (ZXComputing) |
Amstrad has done it again! So good is its new dot-matrix printer that 1 am very likely to run out of superlatives before the end of the review. Let me say right now that if you do not yet own a printer, then this is most definitely the one for you. If you do then this is very likely better than the one you presently own. At less than £160 (or only £136 through the Users Club) this is without doubt one of the best value for money dot-matrix printers available today offering an unusually wide range of type styles. The price includes the interface cable to the Centronics port on the back of the computer, so it's only a matter of plugging in and away you go (apart from a plug). Cosmetically the printer is coloured in what now is recognised as Amstrad dark grey, neatly matching the other hardware from the same stable. The most visually unusual aspect of the printer is the pair of folding legs that the machine stands on, thus allowing storage of fan-folded paper underneath. This tidies up the work station no end. Apart from the printer itself, you get a comprehensive handbook and on the underside of the polystyrene packing, so well secreted away that mine was first thrown into the dustbin, the all important printer ribbon. All you need to know about plumbing-in the printer is adequately explained in chapter one of the accompanying handbook. However, do beware the instructions on Page 7 with regard to fitting the cable into the port on the back of the computer. The plug has to be presented to the port with the ribbon cable emerging from the top of the plug, and not from the bottom as shown in the book. Defaulting to Pica typeface at switch-on, this being perfectly suitable for draft work or program listings, other type styles are Elite, Proportional, Condensed and Near Letter Quality. The following functions can be applied to these main typefaces. Subscript. Superscript, Double-strike, Italics and Bold. Additionally both Underline and Double-width modes may be applied. Consequently a great variety of fonts are readily available. Examples of all the various Escape codes and sequences are given in the manual, and all are written in either sensible English or Locomotive Basic. As an added bonus to anyone out there with a computer other than an Amstrad, all the commands are given in Microsoft Basic, BBC Basic and Commodore Basic. Five modes are offered for graphic printing. The example in the figure was produced using the bit-image mode. This review only scratches the surface of what is possible with this superb piece of hardware. David Holmes , Popular Computing Weekly Issue 1985-11-28 |
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