By Joel T. Patz

Last year Okidata introduced two LED page printers, the OL1200 and the OL810e. Both offered crisp, 600x600-dot-per-inch output and a multitude of features.

This year Okidata has updated the two with PostScript, new drivers and an expanded feature set. The printers are designated the OL1200/PS and the OL810e/PS, and I evaluated them both recently.

Okidata's OL1200/PS offers options galore. This new desk-sized printer measures 10.6 by 14.4 by 16.9 inches and weighs 35 pounds, making it suitable for offices with limited space. Its versatile design supports individual and network printing for multiple platforms, including PC, Macintosh and UNIX. The OL1200/PS can be simultaneously connected with optional Ethernet or Token Ring network adapters, a parallel connection and a serial connection. Better yet, its automatic interface and automatic emulation switching allow single printer support for a variety of computers.

The standard paper drawer accommodates several paper sizes, including letter, legal, executive, A4, A5, A6 andB5, and paper weights ranging from 16 to 24 pounds through the tray (16 to 32 pounds manual feed). The drawer pulls open from the front and has a gauge to approximate how much paper remains in the tray. In addition to the normal 500-sheet capacity, you can configure the printer to use the front feeder, increasing capacity to 600 pages. You can also increase paper capacity with an optional multipurpose feeder that holds up to 50 envelopes (the standard feeder handles 10) and 100 sheets of paper, and a second 500-sheet drawer.

Choose whether printed material stacks face down (collated order) in the top tray or feeds through face up (reverse order) to the rear tray. For printing transparencies, labels or heavy stock, you'll use the front feeder and the rear paper exit tray for straight-through printing. When using the top output tray, a sensor alerts you when its 250-sheet capacity is reached.

The clearly marked control panel on the printer's leading edge includes an easily readable window for printer messages, along with a series of lights showing printer status. You'll also find a series of buttons to access printer functions.

The OL1200/PS comes with numerous resident fonts: 35 Adobe Type 1, 35 PCL and 10 TrueType scalable typefaces, USPS PostNet Bar Codes and provision for optional font cards. The standard 6MB of RAM-with the included Adobe Memory Booster Technology it is increased to 12MB effective RAM-can be upgraded to 34MB using standard SIMM memory. Estimated cartridge life at 5 percent coverage is 5,000 pages.

When installing the printer with Windows 95, the system recognized the printer as an HP LaserJet 4. I successfully used these drivers as well as the Windows 95 driver Okidata supplied.

My tests showed the OL1200/PS, with its 600x600dpi default resolution enhanced by OKI Smoothing Technology, printed 11 pages per minute, very close to the rated 12ppm. It takes the printer less than 15 seconds to warm up from standby mode. In typical operation mode, it consumes about 100 watts of power, with a maximum of 600 watts. When not printing, its Energy Star-compliant mechanism goes into power-saving mode. The overall performance and print quality of the OL1200/PS were outstanding.

The smaller OL810e/PS measures 7.9 by 12.8 by 14.6 inches and weighs 23 pounds. Its paper drawer holds 250 sheets in various formats with a choice of front- or rear-tray paper exit. Top tray collection will handle 150 sheets in correct order, and the rear tray will handle 50 sheets of straight-through output. You can also add another paper drawer and multipurpose feeder. You can choose print resolutions of 300-, 600- or 600x1200dpi. The fonts on both machines are identical.

The control panel provides the same button-access to the printer's functions and, in addition to the control panel window, a single light indicates the printer's status. The OL810e/PS comes with 3MB of standard RAM (6MB effective RAM with Adobe Memory Booster Technology), which can be upgraded to 19MB. The toner cartridge's estimated life is approximately 2,000 pages. My tests showed a print speed of 5 pages per minute-less than the rated 8ppm. Printed output quality was outstanding.

Either the Okidata OL1200/PS or the OL810e/PS would be an excellent choice.

--Info File--
Okidata OL1200/PS
Price: $1,839
Pros: Output; options; installation
Cons: None
WinMag Box Score: 4.0

Okidata OL810e/PS
Price: $1,439
Pros: Output; design
Cons: None
Okidata
800-OKI-DATA
WinMag Box Score: 4.0