- Bare Bones Software
- Readers Like You!
- Fetch Softworks
- Web Crossing
- Microsoft
- CS Odessa
- MacSpeech
- Circus Ponies
- Mark/Space, Inc.
- VMware
We're at Macworld Expo 2009 in San Francisco with the latest news about the show. Check back often this week for updates!
- Phil Schiller Delivers Lackluster Keynote
- iPhoto '09 Adds Faces and Places
- iMovie '09 Seems to Fix Everything from iMovie '08
- GarageBand '09 Adds Music Lessons
- iWork Turns '09
- Apple Moves to Unprotected Music, Tiered Prices
- Apple Pioneers New Battery Tech with 17-inch MacBook Pro
- Jobs Clears the Air on Health Issue
- Welcome to Macintosh Movie to Screen at Macworld Expo
- MacHEADS Movie to Premiere at Macworld Expo
- TidBITS Events at Macworld SF 2009
Mac OS X Zip Expanding Utility
Firefox (and possibly other applications) may ask you what you want to do with .zip archives that you download from the Internet. If you want to expand them with Mac OS X (rather than StuffIt Expander), you may be unsure of which application actually does the job. You're looking for Archive Utility (in Leopard) or BOMArchiveHelper (in Tiger). In either case, the application is stored in Hard Drive/System/Library/Core Services/. Don't move it from there, though, or you'll confuse matters.
Written by Adam C. Engst
Recent TidBITS Talk Discussions
- iWork.com and MobileMe? (1 message)
- Safari Stalling on Opening PDF files (6 messages)
- A contrarian view of Macworld Expo's utility (3 messages)
- Secure Certificate Hack Doesn't Imperil Users (15 messages)
Published in TidBITS 215. Subscribe today to receive TidBITS in email every Monday.
- More ARA
- Shawn Ramer
- Newton, Take Two
- 4-Sight Small Site
- Stac Wins Suit Against Microsoft
- CE Acquires Powercore
- Meeting Maker Followup
- More PowerPC Reports
| The Hidden Printer
Technical Support Coordinator, BAKA Computers
What's the bargain of the decade? Rumors of the upcoming Apple PowerPC accelerator cards aside, a remarkable deal I'm surprised isn't talked about more is the DEClaser 1152 laser printer, at $699.
Okay, so that's a bit of a convoluted sentence. My apologies. To rephrase: Digital Equipment Corporation offers a 300 dpi, PostScript Level 2 laser printer at a retail price of $699. It uses a four-page-per-minute Canon laser marking engine, supports Hewlett-Packard's PCL4, and has serial, parallel, and AppleTalk ports to support Macs, DOS, Windows, and other platforms. It's been available since 1992, but we must have been napping.
The AppleTalk port doubles as a second serial port, and in that configuration all three ports are active at once. With the port in AppleTalk mode, that and the parallel port can be simultaneously active. The printer automatically selects PostScript or PCL4 for each job it receives.
Apple's closest-competitor offerings are the Personal LaserWriter 320, which has PostScript but lacks PCL4 and costs an extra few hundred dollars, and the LaserWriter Select 360, which has all of the 1152's features, offers 600 dpi instead of 300, and sells for more than twice as much. Hewlett-Packard, also a big player in the Mac printer market, has its LaserJet 4ML in the same range as the Personal LaserWriter 320, and the LaserJet 4M costs even more than the LaserWriter Select 360.
Is the DEClaser 1152 the printer for everyone? Hardly. It's not particularly fast, its font selection is reminiscent of a 1985 LaserWriter (though it fully supports PostScript or TrueType fonts you might install on your Mac or PC), and 300 dpi isn't exciting these days. But as an entry-level printer - with inkjet or non-PostScript laser printers as the only competitively-priced options - it's worth a peek, especially if you need cross-platform capabilities.
Digital Equipment Corporation -- 800/332-4636 -- 508/493-5111
508/493-8780 (fax)
MARK/SPACE, INC: If you have a smartphone, we can sync it!Sync your address book, calendar, notes, music, pictures, and
more from your BlackBerry, Windows Mobile or Palm OS mobile
phone to your Mac. <http://www.markspace.com/bits>