Seiko DPU-411:

This 2-pound, serial-port thermal printer produces draft-quality output on 40 column thermal paper rolls. The DPU-411 could be useful to those who only need to print out short, draft quality notes.

By Rich Hall

We first heard about this printer from Gran Thrnblad, a Swedish subscriber (see page 37, Jan/Feb 92 issue). The DPU-411 is relatively easy to set up, but is not able to signal the 95LX to stop sending data when its printer buffer is full. This means that if you try and print a file larger than about 3 pages (7K), the buffer overflows and the Seiko starts printing garbage. This may not be a problem if you are printing small text files, but Lotus .WK1 and Phone Book (.PBK) files can easily grow to over 7K bytes.

This draft-quality printer comes with an AC adapter and one roll of thermal paper. Additional rolls of thermal paper are available from your Seiko dealer (5 rolls for $13). The DPU-411 comes with a serial port and connects easily to the 95LX using the HP Serial Cable that came with the Connectivity Pack (HP F1001A) and the 9to-25 pin Modem Adapter that came with the Serial Cable Adapter Kit (HP 82224A). However, because of print buffer problem mentioned above, this printer has limited usefulness for the 95LX.

Other Printers

The August 1992 issue of PC Magazine and Vol.10, Issue 6 of Computer Buyer's Guide & Handbook reviewed some additional portable printers. We already mentioned the Brother HJ-100i and the StarJet SJ-48 (based on the Canon Bubble Jet but marketed by different companies). The DECjet 1000 and the Kodak Diconix 701 are two 7 lb parallel printers that exceeded the 5 lb weight limit criteria we set. The Diconix 701 was one of PC Magazine's Editor's Choice award winners (page 327 of the August 92 issue). It has better print quality than the Diconix 180si and comes with a built-in sheet feeder. We do describe the features of the DECjet 1000 and the Diconix 701 in the Printer Comparison Chart on the next page.

The Toshiba ExpressWriter 201 was also listed by PC Magazine. It is small and slow, with two internal fonts and Epson LQ emulation only. Toshiba has recently gone through a restructuring, and the company representative I spoke with said that the ExpressWriter was being discontinued.

These additional printers have parallel ports only, which means that if they work with the 95LX, you'll need a serial-to-parallel port adapter to connect them. We have not tested any of these additional printers and can make no guarantees that they work with the 95LX, even with a serial-to-parallel adapter. We would welcome feedback on positive experiences you've had with the portable printers you use with your HP 95LX.