Color thermal wax printers

[Brent Bates ViGYAN AAD/TAB]

   We have a Tektronix 4693D.  It isn't their PostScript printer, but, from
what I hear on the net, I don't know if I would want a PostScript one.
We are very pleased with our 4693D.  We haven't had any major problems with
it.  The print head went bad once, but since then no real problems.  We have
had it for about two years I think.  We use it primarily for quick hard copy,
day to day stuff or when the boss comes in and says he needs it yesterday,
:-).  You have to be carefull with transparencies, because they tend to melt.
The 4693 is a four pass system; cyan, yellow, magenta, and black.  For paper
hard copies I use all four passes, but for transparencies, I drop the black.
This helps slow down or eliminate the melting depending on the image and the
projector.  For quality hard copy, we have a centrally located film recorder
that we use for transparencies, slides, and negatives.
   If you HAVE to have PostScript, I guess the Tektronix would be the best
bet.  If you don't HAVE to have PostScript, I would go with the Kodac 7700
(? I don't remember if that is the correct number or not, I just got another
flier from them the other day.)  The Kodac unit gives you 8"x11" or 11"x11"
prints or transparencies, that DON'T scratch or melt like thermal wax and
they are near photo quality too.  You can get SCSI or IEEE interfaces for the
unit.  It also cost about twice as much as thermal printers, around $20-25k.
If you are interested in the Kodac unit, I can find the info and send more
infomation tomorrow.

  Brent L. Bates				Phone:(804) 864-2854
  NASA-Langley Research Center			  FAX:(804) 864-6792
  M.S. 361
  Hampton, Virginia  23665-5225
  E-mail: blbates at aero36.larc.nasa.gov or blbates at aero8.larc.nasa.gov