| ★ HARDWARE ★ IMPRIMANTE - AMSTRAD DMP-1 ★ |
AMSTRAD DMP-1 (Amstrad Computer User) | DMP-1 (Personal Computing Today) | PRINTING MONEY (Amstrad Computer User) |
Based on the Seikosha GP500, the DMP-1 is a reasonably fast dot matrix printer. However in order to favour the price, it lacks top quality and features, and is noisy. The image is produced by a 5 x 7 matrix of needles which plot out the characters. This scale means that there are no descenders, so the p's, q's and g's are not ideally formed.
Given that it is the official Amstrad printer I was disappointed to find that it was not capable of printing the entire character set. Commodore produce a version of the DMP-1, called the MPS801 and this is capable of producing the entire Commodore 64 character set (which isn't too exciting, nevertheless). The ribbon is of the non-messy cartridge type. It uses a small endless loop of fabric which is kept inked by a felt-pad device. This works well when the ribbon is new but soon fades to a mediocre level and then takes a while to drop off until it is bad enough to need replacing. It can prove very difficult to buy a ribbon locally, so a stock is a worthwhile investment. However at only £199.95 including the printer connecting lead, there is not much scope for complaint. The DMP-1 is OK for listings and will produce an adequate screen dump, but it is not up to near letter quality use. The tractor feed ensures accurate paper alignment, and is stronger than most - but the DMP-1 has stiff competition these days. ACU |
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