HP 1320n vs Brother 5250dn

[Dewdman42]

Ok, here is the faceoff. I have been able to whittle it down to these
two affordable printers. What experience do you folks have with either
one? They are very comparable in capabilities. the Brother is about
half the price of the HP though. I also read very favorable reviews
about the Brother's print quality and not so favorable about the HP.
Additionally, there is a wireless option for the Brother. The Brother
also has Postscript level3 while the HP only has level 2. On the face
of it...the Brother seems like a slamming deal. Obviously, there is
brand name recognition of HP. Not sure what everyone thinks about
these two otherwise similar printers. Both are 1200x1200dpi wit
network duplexing.

Please let me know your opinions. Thanks.

 

[Chris]

Ok, here is the faceoff. I have been able to whittle it down to these
two affordable printers. What experience do you folks have with either
one? They are very comparable in capabilities. the Brother is about
half the price of the HP though. I also read very favorable reviews
about the Brother's print quality and not so favorable about the HP.
Additionally, there is a wireless option for the Brother. The Brother
also has Postscript level3 while the HP only has level 2. On the face
of it...the Brother seems like a slamming deal. Obviously, there is
brand name recognition of HP. Not sure what everyone thinks about
these two otherwise similar printers. Both are 1200x1200dpi wit
network duplexing.

Please let me know your opinions. Thanks.

Hello,
I am also interested in this, in my case it's the Brother 5270dn compared to
the HP1320n.

So far what I've read is that the Brother seem to curl pages when printing
duplex. I don't know whether that's a real issue though, it's just
something I've read from user review's. For the HP, I read that he has
problems with the manual feed. On Linux only 600x600dpi printing is
supported by the Brother, but I suppose that should be enough. What else...
Brother offers 2 year support, whereas HP only 1 year (at least in my
country). I also learned that Brother has come up with it's own PS
emulation, which is called BR-script. I would be interested to learn what
might be the difference with how HP does it. Anyone?

 

[RedGrittyBrick]

Dewdman42 wrote:



Hello,
I am also interested in this, in my case it's the Brother 5270dn compared to
the HP1320n.

So far what I've read is that the Brother seem to curl pages when printing
duplex. I don't know whether that's a real issue though, it's just
something I've read from user review's. For the HP, I read that he has
problems with the manual feed. On Linux only 600x600dpi printing is
supported by the Brother, but I suppose that should be enough. What else...
Brother offers 2 year support, whereas HP only 1 year (at least in my
country). I also learned that Brother has come up with it's own PS
emulation, which is called BR-script. I would be interested to learn what
might be the difference with how HP does it. Anyone?

I have a 1320tn, I'm pretty sure the postcript is an emulation too.

One of my buying criteria was longer term availability of toner
cartridges from local sources. Everyone stocks HP compatible
consumables, support for the other brands seems to come and go.

 

[Chris]

I have a 1320tn, I'm pretty sure the postcript is an emulation too.

One of my buying criteria was longer term availability of toner
cartridges from local sources. Everyone stocks HP compatible
consumables, support for the other brands seems to come and go.

Good point, didn't think of that actually. By the way, something I've been
wondering for a while, what does postscript "emulation" mean? Does it mean
that some printers are "truly" postscript and others are just "emulated"?
Maybe it's a stupid question, I don't know, it's just not very clear to me.
Anyway, thanks for replying.

Chris

 

[Warren Block]

By the way, something I've been wondering for a while, what does
postscript "emulation" mean? Does it mean that some printers are
"truly" postscript and others are just "emulated"? Maybe it's a stupid
question, I don't know, it's just not very clear to me.

PostScript is a programming language, so a PostScript printer needs an
interpreter to run that language and render the program into a page
image.

Adobe created PostScript. Back then (early 1980s) only Adobe's
PostScript interpreter was available, and the licensing fees for it were
and still are relatively expensive.

Many printer manufacturers include a non-Adobe PS interpreter to cut
costs. These "emulations" are generally not as good as the real Adobe
interpreter, but usually good enough for average printing.

 

[Floyd L. Davidson]

Good point, didn't think of that actually. By the way, something I've been
wondering for a while, what does postscript "emulation" mean? Does it mean
that some printers are "truly" postscript and others are just "emulated"?
Maybe it's a stupid question, I don't know, it's just not very clear to me.
Anyway, thanks for replying.

I would assume that "PostScript Emulation" means the print
engine works with a different language natively, and PostScript
files are converted (with firmware) before printing. I don't
know about the Brother printers discussed earlier in this
thread, but HP printers actually work in HPCL (HP Printer
Control Language), rather than Adobe's PostScript.

 

[Warren Block]

I would assume that "PostScript Emulation" means the print
engine works with a different language natively, and PostScript
files are converted (with firmware) before printing. I don't
know about the Brother printers discussed earlier in this
thread, but HP printers actually work in HPCL (HP Printer
Control Language), rather than Adobe's PostScript.

Back in the old days, HP lasers only had PCL, but even cheap HP lasers
from recent years accept PCL or PS.

HP has used both Adobe and emulated PostScript.

 

[Chris]

PostScript is a programming language, so a PostScript printer needs an
interpreter to run that language and render the program into a page
image.

Adobe created PostScript. Back then (early 1980s) only Adobe's
PostScript interpreter was available, and the licensing fees for it were
and still are relatively expensive.

Many printer manufacturers include a non-Adobe PS interpreter to cut
costs. These "emulations" are generally not as good as the real Adobe
interpreter, but usually good enough for average printing.

Thanks for clearing that up. Since it is quite rare (for me) to find
somebody that knows anything about postscript, can I ask what is actually
the advantage of a postscript printer anyway? When choosing a monochrome
laser printer, I was told to make sure to buy a postscript printer. I am
beginning to wonder why actually. Is it because I print from Linux?

 

[Warren Block]

Thanks for clearing that up. Since it is quite rare (for me) to find
somebody that knows anything about postscript, can I ask what is actually
the advantage of a postscript printer anyway? When choosing a monochrome
laser printer, I was told to make sure to buy a postscript printer. I am
beginning to wonder why actually. Is it because I print from Linux?

PostScript has a lot of advantages over other typical page description
languages. First off, it's resolution-independent. Create a PS output
file, and it will print at the resolution available at the printer: 300
DPI, 1200 DPI, 2540 DPI on a phototypesetter. In PCL, you'd have to
create a file specifically for each output resolution.

PS has been around long enough that fonts and print quality problems
have been ironed out.

Unix programs often produce PS output, because that avoids having to
support multiple printer languages.

It's possible to run a PS interpreter on the computer instead of the
printer. That can work okay, but it's easier to just send PS directly
to a printer that understands it.