Hewlett-Packard Co has launched a family of high-volume printers, the Hewlett-Packard LP Series line-impact printers, designed for mid-range to large systems, which will eventually replace the current generation 256XC and C235XA impact printers. The company reckons the LP Series delivers better print quality, better price performance – less than half a cent a page – and reduced maintenance costs than previous printers while being plug compatibility with existing impact-printers, the Palo Alto company claims. The family’s capabilities range from 475 to 1,200 lines per minute, and support HP 9000 and HP 3000 servers. Field upgrades to higher-performance models are available. All printers include 27 character sets, seven symbol sets and a wide range of bar codes. Both QMS (Code V-II) graphics and Printronix Graphics Language are available as upgrade products. The print-shuttle mechanism has no wear points, enabling very high-duty cycles, the company says. Advanced hammer technology provides multiple printing modes based on application need, to deliver extremely high-speed, high-quality print, graphics and bar codes. The printers have been designed to work in harsh environments where heat, humidity and dust may be issues for other printers. The LP Series printers range from $5,780 to $15,000; shipments are expected to begin in December. QMS (Code V-II) and PGL graphics upgrades will be available for $1,000 each.
