Even with the fabulous press reception given to the Macintosh upon its release (see my previous article), it did not sell well. There were a number of reasons for that.
Tag Archives: LaserWriter
Low End Mac contributor Tom Hormby posted an article on OSnews examining Apple’s Worst Business Decisions. Hormby’s histories are some of the most popular pieces we’ve ever published, but I’m have to question some of his analysis.
The LaserWriter 8500, introduced in August 1997, was the end of the line for Apple LaserWriters. Although Apple stopped introducing new printers in 1997 and discontinued most immediately, the 8500 remained available until January 1999.
The LaserWriter 12/640 PS was one of Apple’s last LaserWriter printers.
The LaserWriter 4/600 PS was the last low-end LaserWriter; it supports 600 dpi resolution. Its only connection is for LocalTalk networking.
The Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS was a no compromise color laser printer with 600 dot-per-inch output, 110 lb. of weight, and gorgeous output. It uses four separate toner cartridges – black, cyan, yellow, and magenta.
The LaserWriter 16/600 PS was the low end of the second generation LaserWriter 600 family. It includes a parallel port for use with PCs. It was part of the first family of LaserWriters to support 600 dpi resolution, following the LaserWriter Pro 600 and 630 from 1993.
The LaserWriter Pro 810 was a beast – 19.5″ tall, 81 lb., and with three paper trays, this one was designed for heavy use. It prints pages “sideways” compared to most laser printers, which also allows it to print on 11″ x 17″ paper.
Unlike the serial-only Personal LaserWriter 300 introduced earlier in 1993, the Personal LaserWriter 320 was an affordable laser printer with LocalTalk support.
The LaserWriter Select 360 was the only networkable model in the LaserWriter Select family. Unlike earlier LaserWriter Select models, the 360 uses a Fuji Xerox Pro printer engine, which is twice as fast and has 600 dot per inch resolution (vs. 300).
Earlier in 1993, Apple had introduced its low-end LaserWriter Select line, which seemed like a replacement for the Personal LaserWriter family – but here was the Personal LaserWriter 300, another low cost 4-page-per-minute serial-only QuickDraw printer similar to the Personal LaserWriter LS. Color me confused by two competing product lines!
The LaserWriter Select 310 was something of an anomaly for Apple, a PostScript printer without network support. The 310 is part of Apple’s low end 5 page-per-minute LaserWriter Select family that replaced the earlier Personal LaserWriter series.
The LaserWriter Select 300 was a QuickDraw laser printer without network support and part of Apple’s low end 5 page-per-minute LaserWriter Select family that replaced the earlier Personal LaserWriter series.
The LaserWriter Pro 630 was the high end of LaserWriter 600 family, which brought the LaserWriter to 600 dpi resolution.
The LaserWriter Pro 600 was the low end of LaserWriter 600 family and the second LaserWriter with a parallel port (the 1992 Personal LaserWriter NTR was the first).
The Personal LaserWriter NTR was a networkable 4-page-per-minute Postscript laser printer designed to work with PCs (via parallel port) as well as Macs. It was the first LaserWriter to use an AMD CPU instead of a Motorola 68000 or 68030.
Introduced in 1991, the LaserWriter IIf was a big step forward from the LaserWriter IINTX. It had a much more powerful CPU, a 20 MHz 68030 instead of a 16 MHz 68000, and its 2 MB of memory could be expanded as high as 32 MB. It was one of the first printers with Postscript […]
Although the LaserWriter IIf was a big step forward from the LaserWriter IINTX., the IIg was also a big step forward from the IIf. It was the first LaserWriter with ethernet, and it included two technologies to improve output. FinePrint reduced jaggies on text while PhotoGrade supported over 65 levels of gray in printed output. […]
The Personal LaserWriter LS was a low cost 4-page-per-minute QuickDraw printer similar to the Personal LaserWriter SC, but it connected to Apple’s serial port instead of usings SCSI and retailed for $700 less. It is not networkable and does not have Postscript. As a QuickDraw printer, it depends on the host computer to render the […]
The Personal LaserWriter SC was a lower speed, lower cost replacement for the LaserWriter IISC. Like the IISC, it connects to a single Mac using SCSI. It is not networkable and does not have Postscript. It is a QuickDraw printer that depends on the host computer to render the page before sending it to the […]
The Personal LaserWriter NT was a networkable 4-page-per-minute Postscript laser printer designed as a lower cost alternative to the LaserWriter IINT.
The LaserWriter IINTX was the top end of Apple’s first generation LaserWriter II family and a more powerful successor to the LaserWriter Plus. It was considered the best laser printer on the market at the time. The LaserWriter II family of printers all used the same 8 page-per-minute 300 dot-per-inch Canon LBP-SX engine, but each […]
The LaserWriter IINT the core of Apple’s LaserWriter II family and a worthy successor to the LaserWriter Plus. The LaserWriter II family of printers all used the same 8 page-per-minute 300 dot-per-inch Canon LBP-SX engine, but each model had a different logic board. The LaserWriter IINT was the middle of the line and the least […]
The LaserWriter IISC was a bit of an oddity. It was the low end of the LaserWriter II family, and to keep costs down Apple left out LocalTalk networking and Postscript. The IISC connects to a single Mac using a SCSI cable. QuickDraw images are rendered in the computer and then sent to the printer.
The LaserWriter Plus, introduced on January 16, 1986 along with the Mac Plus, built on the success of the networkable, Postscript-based, 300 DPI LaserWriter by adding 22 more fonts to the 13 included with the original LaserWriter.
The original Apple LaserWriter was the 77 pound beastie that helped launch the desktop printing revolution in 1985, along with Aldus (later Adobe) PageMaker and the Fat Mac. Three things helped it make inroads: its 300 dot-per-inch resolution, the Postscript page description language (which Apple was the first to license), and the fact that the […]
