Shinwa-CTI CP-80 Printer
Reviewed by Charles R.W. Lyne
Price: £332 inc VAT.
Supplier: Key Computer Centres Ltd., Enterprise House, Terrace Road, Walton-on-Thames.

The CP-80 is made by a Japanese firm called C.T.I. (Creative Technology International Inc.), and seems to have been designed as a drop in replacement for the MX-80 in almost all situations.

To this end, all the many software features are identical in operation to the Epson, making it very convenient for those who have programs and word processors already set up for the Epson.

The hardware is outwardly similar to the Epson, being 377(W) x 295(D) x 125(H) millimetres in size, and 5.3 Kg. in weight. The paper feed knob is on the left, but the switches/indicators are, familiarly on the front right corner. The controls are: On/Off Line Form Feed Line Feed (The two feed switches are only operative when the printer is "Off Line").

Indicators: Power On, On Line, Ready, Paper Out

Maximum print speed is the same as the Epson, at 80 c.p.s. (the new Epsons are faster), and it has the normal 80 character standard print width, though the characters are slightly smaller, so the eighty characters take less of the paper's width. This feature also allows the compressed character format to have up to 142 columns. The double width characters are still limited to 40 columns. Unlike the standard Epson, the paper feed mechanism has options for tractor feed (sprocketed paper) and friction feed (single sheets) at no extra cost.

Interface options are nominally the same as in the Epson, i.e. parallel (Centronics) built in, and a variety of RS232 interface boards by Epson and other manufacturers are supposed to be directly compatible. There does appear to be a problem at present though with the design of the printer electronics, which are not fully compatible with standard Epson interface boards. In fact, the printer will be damaged if a standard RS 232 interface is connected!

This of course is less likely to affect BBC B users who have the parallel interface available as standard. It is worth noting that the effective baud rate of the parallel interface is up to about 40,000 baud, so the data transfer part of the printing operation is faster than on an unbuffered RS232 interface.

Other facilities of note are, the italic characters, compressed characters, emphasized characters, double printed characters, and combinations of these options.

The CP-80 also has superscript, for mathematical formulae and subscript, for chemical formulae and other applications.

This printer does not have the international character sets, selectable under software control, as the Epson does, but the £ sign is character number 129, which is of course, easily defined from Wordwise using the "DP129" command, or in Basic as "CHR$(129)". There is also a command for continuous underlining and a useful range of graphics characters is provided. There is also a hardware option for producing slashed zeros.

The mechanical and electronic construction appears to be very sound, but the design of the case leaves a little to be desired concerning access to the internal switches. In conclusion, a good printer which compares favourably with the many other 80 column printers, but at the same price as the Epson printers, I personally would buy an Epson.

Reviewed by Mike Williams
Price: £368 inc VAT (see note after review).
Supplier: Technomatic Ltd, 17 Burnley Road, London NW10 1ED

This NEC dot matrix printer is an attractive and compact model. The main on/off switch is at the side with the other main switches and warning lights at the front. Unlike some printers, when first switched on the printer is not on-line and has to be selected by means of the SEL switch. The front panel switches, when the printer is deselected, provide Line Feed and Top of Form functions. The printer has a standard parallel interface for connection to the BBC Micro.

The printer will take either friction-fed or sprocket-fed paper. The cover is in three parts which are removed for paper and ribbon changing and for access to the DIP switches. The hinged perspex paper cutter has a very coarse serrated edge and a lot of flexing occurred in the cover when refastening the paper cutter. Apart from this both friction and sprocket feed worked well.

The DIP switches are situated, unusually, inside and at the bottom of the machine. There are two switches covered by a clear plastic strip which clearly labels the two switches. However, access to the switches means reaching through the the wires which move the print head backwards and forwards, and this was quite awkward, to say the least. One interesting feature is that any of 5 different character sets can be selected including UK, German and Swedish. The European character sets also include the Greek alphabet as standard which could be useful for scientists and mathematicians.

Printing speed is normally 180 cps and the printer produces quite a variety of whining noises while working (indeed some ingenious programmer might even be tempted to make it play music!) .

The printer is able to print Pica (19 cpi. 80 ch. per line) and Elite (12 cpi. 96 ch. per line) characters and to print both of these condensed and enlarged. In addition, proportional spacing can also be selected and characters can be enhanced and/or underlined. You can set up to 16 horizontal tab positions and up to 6 vertical tab positions, useful for printing standard formats. As well as the normal character set, the printer will produce dot mode graphics, though apparently not compatible with that of Epson printers. The printer also has an internal graphics character set which includes the symbols for the card suits (hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades) and various other shapes. Teletext graphics characters are not available nor can characters be defined by the user.

The handbook supplied with the printer is quite comprehensive but could be improved. Elementary things, like how to remove the top cover are missing and the general layout makes it difficult to locate specific pieces of information quickly.

All in all this is a very reasonable printer for the price. It looks well made and provides a full printing specification as one would expect at this price. There are just a few niggles as mentioned above that could have been avoided by slightly better design and construction.

We are very grateful to Technomatic for loaning us a printer for review and their good co-operation at other times. Technomatic will sell the NEC printer to Beebug members at the special price of £358 inc VAT plus £8 for carriage until the end of October. Send your order direct to Technomatic and quote your Beebug membership number, referring directly to this review. Technomatic do, of course, supply many other types of printer.

Reviewed by Ian Gilbert
Cost: £276 inc VAT.
Supplier: CJE Microcomputers, Worthing.

This is a dot matrix printer with tractor and friction feed, weighing a sturdy 8.5kg and reasonably quiet in operation - the plastic cover reducing the noise from the print head. It is easy to use with A4 sheets of paper or tractor feed paper. (Sizes from 3" up to 19"). Printing is by a 9 by 7 dot matrix with all characters, block graphics and an international character set. (A high resolution graphics option for screen dumps is available). The printer does not have lower case decenders.

Printing speed is fast at 80 characters per second and is bi-directional with logical seeking. This combines to give rapid printing of large programs and documents, the characters being very clear and readable. The print ribbon is contained on two standard typewriter reels.

It prints at 80, 96 or 132 characters per line and has a double width printing option. Although the print is condensed at 132 characters per line it is still clear and useful for producing large tables of information.

Centronics or RS232 interfaces are available for direct connection to the BBC Micro. The high resolution graphics are available by changing the printers character ROM. This ROM is produced by CJE Microcomputers of Worthing (Tel 9903 213909) who can also supply the printer with the ROM and lead for around £260 incl. delivery.

I have been using this printer for nine months and have found it an invaluable aid to programming. It produces clear and rapid print and although it does not have lower case decenders it is good value for money.