The Need For Speed: High-Volume Network Printers By Jay Milne   With most things in the computer industry, bigger, faster and cheaper is usually better. And for the most part, this also is true of network printing. Users want higher print quality, faster print times and more functionality. The network administrator wants a printer that runs forever, is easily configurable and will interoperate with everything else on the network. Although workgroup printers present a good solution for the small office, enterprise networks require more speed and better paper-handling capabilities. At our San Mateo, Calif., lab, we tested high-volume monochrome, nonimpact network printers that offer rated engine speeds of 30 to 50 pages per minute (ppm). Units from Dataproducts Corp., GENICOM, Hewlett-Packard Co., Konica Business Machines USA and Olympus America were put to the test. To view the Report card. These high-volume printers are characterized by their speed and extended duty cycles and differ from mass-market workgroup network printers (such as the HP 5Si, Lexmark Optra or similar printers, with rated speeds between 16 and 24 ppm). These workgroup units typically provide better networking capabilities, printer management and configuration tools. But what these workgroup printers lack--and where the high-volume printers shine--is high-end paper-handling options and fast text printing speeds. Additionally, high-volume printers require lots of room and several strong people to move them. When fully decked out, these units are quite large--for example, the Konica tipped the scale at over 500 pounds. When the toner dust finally settled, Hewlett-Packard's 5000 Model D640 was standing in front. HP's unit offers fine print quality, strong performan ce, a large array of paper-handling features and solid network connectivity. Hot on HP's tail was Dataproducts' Typhoon 30, which offers strong integrated networking, printer management and monitoring. Konica, Olympus and GENICOM models round out the rest of the pack. All units tested carefully balance paper-handling options and cost per page, but Konica's printer stands out for its lowest cost per page: .5 cents per page. Remember that these units can kick out pages at a very fast rate, and the savings can add up quickly when printing tens of thousands of pages per month. Unfortunately, although Konica had an excellent price per page, it was a slow performer. Hewlett-Packard Co. 5000 Mode l D640 (Beta) The 5000 D640 is HP's latest high-volume printer from its systems division. It is the big brother of the HP LaserJet 5Si and features an improved duty cycle and lower cost of ownership. We were able to test a preproduction unit, but, unfortunately, no add-ons were available for testing. Specifically, the unit did not include Adobe PostScript Level 2 functionality, which should be available by press time. The HP performed well on all of our tests and proved to be a solid printer. The only downside is its cost per page: 1.4 cents (this number is based on list price; your cost most likely will be lower). Although this is a moderate price, it is almost an entire cent more than the Konica 7050's price per page. HP's new unit differs from top-of-the-line LaserJets, such as the HP 5Si. For instance, the 5000 D640 does not support the HP MIO interface (the internal print server), but rather ships wit h a Bitronics parallel and serial interface and an HP JetDirect Plus external print server. The JetDirect provides all of the networking capabilities for the printer and supports both Ethernet and Token-Ring. Both of the printer's input ports are "hot," which lets each port receive simultaneous input and lets the printer be connected to a second external print server for additional connectivity. Only the HP, Olympus and Dataproducts printers offer multiple "hot" input ports.

News Servers: Delivering the News When You Want It by Dan Backman with Jeremy Impson Updated Februayr 7, 1997