Printer stuff
=============

I  don't  have  a  desktop  printer.  I  had  a  Postscript-capable  (a
second-hand  HP  LaserJet) printer  for  more  than  10 years.  It  was
connected to my SGI  Indy and then to the SGI O2. When  it died I got a
replacement. Unfortunately, It  arrived damaged and died  in few weeks.
Then I decided not to buy a new one.

But I have  had a PSION printer for  a long time. As I  didn't used any
Organiser II for  a logn period I  also didn't used the  printer. Now I
returned to both as you might read in some of my recent posts.

But I still tend to use Palm  III (then IIIx or the TRGpro) to organise
my calendar and  other stuff and it  would be nice to be  able to print
some stuff in some  cases. In theory I can transfer  data from the Palm
to the desktop and then transfer them to the PSION (and then insert the
PSION  to the  printer and  print  the data).  It is  possible but  not
feasible.

Unlike the Psion  Inc, the Palm (US Robotics/3Com/...)  didn't made any
printer. But some third-party products  did exist. Recently I found the
SiPix  Pocket Printer  A6 (more  about  it on  my WWW  [1]). It  wasn't
expensive so I  got it. It is  said to be compatible with  the Palm and
Windows CE  devices (drivers and even  the SDK is still  available [2])
and also with the Mac OS X (but  not the macOS, I assume) and with some
(now obsolete) versions of the Windows OS  (up toi 7, I think). A Linux
printing system driver  is also available [3]. As it  should work under
CUPS, it might also work with the macOS, too (my newest Mac is the iMac
G5 so I can't try it).

The printer uses an infrared port to connect to the Palms and other PDA
and the serial  port (with the Apple-style round  connector) to connect
to the desktop  computers. A SiPix serial-USB able exist  but it is now
more expensive than the printer itself.

I have plan  to try it with my  Linux desktop and (if only  I find that
damn serial cable for the MC600!) with the MS-DOS laptop.

At the moment I  have tried my Palms. The III family  (OS 3.x) works as
expected. The Tungsten  W (also a Motorola m68k device,  OS 4.x) works,
too. But the OS 5.x devices (these with the ARM CPU and with OS 5.x) do
not work. It is probably easy  to understand. The SiPix driver software
modifies some  standard Palm OS programs  by adding an "A6  Print" menu
item and the  functionality to them. These apps in  their original form
are not present in the OS 5.x. Thus this approach cannot work.

It also means that the Palm can use the printer only to print from five
programs:

* AddressBook
* Memo Pad
* ToDo
* DateBook
* EMail

And print configuration is very limited. Of course, one has a SDK so it
is (at least in theory) write the own printing solution...

Desktop systems  can print  without these  limitations, of  course (the
only  limitation is  paper format  - it's  the A6  as the  printer name
suggests - which it is a bit hard to get now..).

Anyway, many applications can export to the Memo program so text can be
printed. But it  is way too more limited than  the PSION solution which
includes even some OPL procedures  for printing (including some sort of
graphics).

When compared  this printer with  the Psion Organiser II  printer there
are some differences: the SiPix one  is more portable (it's lighter and
more than  50% smaller) and it  needs 4 normal AA  batteries. Moreover,
the Psion solution needs a build-in  battery (but it can be repalced by
6 AAs with some effort).

The SiPix  can be used  with more different  devices (any Palm  with OS
2.x-4.x and with the infrared port,  I don't know which PockePCs can be
used but at  least some of them  can). The Psion model  works only with
the Organiser II.

But the  SiPix can print  only text and only  from a few  programs. The
Psion one can print with almost  any Organiser II program and also with
OPL programs written  by users. And it's manual even  notes that it can
print graphics (I don't say that it's easy, though).

It is  also good  to note that  Psion solution is  from late  1980s and
SiPix one from about 2000).


But it the  serial connection to the  SiPix will work then it  may be a
nice travel companion for my laptop...


References:

[1] http://jirka.1-2-8.net/20200504-2030_Sipix_first_look
[2] https://sourceforge.net/projects/a6driver/
[3] https://www.openprinting.org/printer/SiPix/SiPix-Pocket_Printer_A6

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