Mannesmann Tally Ltd, Wokingham, Berkshire-based UK subsidiary of the electronics arm of West German steel and steel pipes giant Mannesmann AG, has added a plain paper ink-jet printer, the MT91, to its range of printers. The company is marketing the MT91 as a rival to low-end laser printers and is confident that its new application of ink-jet technology will enable it to carve out 10% of the UK ink-jet market within a year. According to Mannesmann Tally, the 136 column printer uses a new ink formula and printhead mechanism that enables the ink to dry faster, without clogging, so that it can print on normal office paper, which has hitherto been considered too porous for use with ink-jet printers. Priced at UKP800, the MT91 can print onto plain paper up to A3 size, has clog free ink, power-on cleaning, autocapping of nozzles and ink empty sensing. It offers print speeds of 220 characters per second at draft quality, 110 characters per second at letter quality. The resolution is 360 dots per inch, and comes with IBM Proprinter emulation as standard, as well as an auto sheet feeder and a Centronics parallel interface. In a bid to catch those looking at laser printers, the MT91 also claims a noise level of below 45dBA and a changeable font size which can either be controlled from the front panel of the printer or can be programmed from software on the computer. At the largest 1 character size the quality is not as sharp as it would be from a laser printer, but would be acceptable in a retail environment where quickly changing price reductions and product offers needed advertising. Options available on the MT91 include NEC P7 emulation slots for additional font cartridges (each of which costs UKP19), RS-232 serial interface and a pin feed tractor device. Now all the company has to overcome is the turn-off that name ink jet is to many people, for whom it immediately conjures up images of Billy Bunter, dusty classrooms, old fashioned dip pens, and ink blots.
