Redwood City, CA Ð NeXT began shipping its NeXT Color Printer (NCP) in September, and early reports suggest that customers are satisfied with the product.
"I've been real happy with it," said Diane Webb, program manager for Commercial Information Systems at ESL, a Sunnyvale, California-based subsidiary of TRW.
Webb's group works closely with several government NeXT users, and between them they had used four $10,000 QMS-100 color printers. Though they still use the QMS for overhead transparencies, the NCP has made it cost-efficient to use color on paper.
The key advantages of the NCP for Webb are the large print area, plain-paper capability, and the use of ink only for colored elements. These are critical concerns, because ESL documents are mostly text, with only a small amount of color needed for emphasis or illustration.
"We're printing a ton of stuff in color now, while with the QMS we didn't because of the special paper and huge toner requirements," said Webb. "We'll probably get a few more."
Wiley Hodges, marketing operations manager for Lighthouse Design, has had the opportunity to see NCPs in use in many different sites, since Lighthouse's Diagram and Concurrence users want to see their output in color. "Overall they are pleased with it," said Hodges. "Every one of our major customers has one."
The only complaints that have surfaced concern the printer's less-than-blazing speed, lack of documentation, and lack of high-print quality for final proofing and production.