There’s life in the old dot yet. So said Edward Huggins, corporate communications manager for Epson UK Ltd, announcing the launch in Britain of the LQ range of 24 pin printers matrix printers. The range comprises the LQ-570 and 1070, LQ-870 and 1170 wide and narrow carriage printers, all of which were launched in the US, bar the LQ-1070, in July (CI No 1,714). And the humble matrix printer is growing up and adding features that come down from laser printers. They use Epson’s enhanced printer control language, ESC/P 2, which has an enhanced graphics mode that places dots more accurately for 360 by 360 dots-per-inch output. Available now, the LQ-570/1070 models, costing UKP340 and UKP520 plus tax, offer 10 standard LQ fonts, two of which are scalable from eight to 32 points. The faster LQ-870/1170 models offer the same fonts and are priced at UKP600 and UKP730. The printers include drivers for WordPerfect 5.1, PlanPerfect 5.1, DrawPerfect 5.1, LetterPerfect 1.0, Microsoft Windows 3.0, Microsoft Word 5.5 and WordStar 6. Amid the extollment of the virtues of dot matrix, Epson unveiled the EPL-4100, a replacement for the EPL-7100 laser printer. It has similar drivers to its dot matrix cousins but includes a driver for Lotus 1-2-3 and Harvard Graphics. Running costs have been reduced by separating the longer-lasting photoconductor material from the toner – previously both had to be replaced simultaneously. The new laser printer offers 24 fonts in all, 11 of which are built-in bit-maps and 13 which are scalable ranging from three points to 960 points. Shipping next month, the Epson EPL-4100 laser printer is UKP950, excluding value-added tax.
