From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

From the -2miss that awesome sound-+ department:
Title: How dot matrix printers created text
Author: Thom Holwerda
Date: Wed, 03 Jul 2024 22:15:43 +0000
Link: https://www.osnews.com/story/140137/how-dot-matrix-printers-created-text/


The impact printer was a mainstay of the early desktop computing era. Also called rCLdot matrix printers,rCY these printers could print low-resolution yet very readable text on a page, and do so quickly and at a low price point. But these printers are a relic of the past; in 2024, you might find them printing invoices or shipping labels, although more frequently these use cases have
been replaced by other types of printers such as thermal printers and laser printers.
[rCa]

The heart of the impact printer is the print head. The print head contained a column of pins (9 pins was common) that moved across the page. Software in
the printer controlled when to strike these pins through an inked ribbon to place a series of rCLdotsrCY on a page. By carefully timing the pin strikes with
the movement of the print head, the printer could control where each dot was placed. A column of dots might represent the vertical stroke of the letter H,
a series of single dots created the horizontal bar, and another column would create the final vertical stroke.
ra2 Jim Hall at Technically We Write[1]

Our first printer was a dot matrix model, from I think a brand called Star or something similar. Back then, in 1991 or so, a lot of employers in The Netherlands offered programs wherein employees could buy computers through their work, offered at a certain discount. My parents jumped on the opportunity when my momrCOs employer offered such a program, and through it, we bought a brand new 286 machine running MS-DOS and Windows 3.0, and it included said dot matrix printer.

ThererCOs something about the sound and workings of a dot matrix printer that just canrCOt be bested by modern ink, laser, or LED printers. The mechanical punching, at such a fast rate it sounded like a tiny Gatling gun, was mesmerising, especially when paired with continuous form paper. Carefully ripping off the perforated edges of the paper after printing was just a nice bonus that entertained me quite a bit as a child.

I was surprised to learn that dot matrix printers are still being manufactured and sold today, and even comes in colour. TheyrCOre quite a bit more expensive than other printer types these days, but I have a feeling theyrCOre aimed at enterprises and certain niches, which probably means theyrCOre going to be of considerably higher quality than all the other junk printers that clog the market. With a bit more research, it might actually be possible to find a brand new colour dot matrix printer that is a better choice than some of the modern alternatives.

The fact that IrCOm not contemplating buying a brand new dot matrix printer in 2024, even though I rarely print, is a mildly worrying development.

Links:
[1]: https://technicallywewrite.com/2024/07/01/dotmatrix (link)
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From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

On 08 Jul 2024 00:55:25 GMT, Retrograde wrote:

The mechanical punching, at such a fast rate it sounded like a tiny
Gatling gun ...

You want Gatling gun? Pukka rat-a-tat-a-tat? Try a daisy-wheel printer.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

trimmed followups to: comp.misc

In comp.misc Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

From the -2miss that awesome sound-+ department:
Title: How dot matrix printers created text
Author: Thom Holwerda
Date: Wed, 03 Jul 2024 22:15:43 +0000
Link:
https://www.osnews.com/story/140137/how-dot-matrix-printers-created-text/

The impact printer was a mainstay of the early desktop computing era. Also called rCLdot matrix printers,rCY ...

That is the only printer I have at home :)

I keep thinking of getting into the modern era,
but I really do not need to yet.

<snip>
--
[t]csh(1) - "An elegant shell, for a more... civilized age."
- Paraphrasing Star Wars
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

Our first printer was a dot matrix model, from I think a brand called Star or >something similar. Back then, in 1991 or so, a lot of employers in The >Netherlands offered programs wherein employees could buy computers through >their work, offered at a certain discount. My parents jumped on the opportunity
when my momrCOs employer offered such a program, and through it, we bought a >brand new 286 machine running MS-DOS and Windows 3.0, and it included said dot >matrix printer.

That would be Star Micronics. A step below Epson, a step above Panasonic. --scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

On Tue, 09 Jul 2024 00:29:49 +0000, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

Our first printer was a dot matrix model, from I think a brand called
Star or something similar. Back then, in 1991 or so, a lot of employers
in The Netherlands offered programs wherein employees could buy
computers through their work, offered at a certain discount. My parents >>jumped on the opportunity when my momrCOs employer offered such a program, >>and through it, we bought a brand new 286 machine running MS-DOS and >>Windows 3.0, and it included said dot matrix printer.

That would be Star Micronics. A step below Epson, a step above
Panasonic.
--scott

I bought my first dot matrix printer in 1984 (I remember this because I
was printing while the Olympics was on, with Zola Budd etc.)

It was a Canon PW1080A. It did normal printing, and also NLQ (Near Letter Quality) which wasn't bad for the day. It printed each line twice (bidirectional) filling in the gaps on the second pass.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

On Mon, 8 Jul 2024 06:43:30 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:

On 08 Jul 2024 00:55:25 GMT, Retrograde wrote:

The mechanical punching, at such a fast rate it sounded like a tiny
Gatling gun ...

You want Gatling gun? Pukka rat-a-tat-a-tat? Try a daisy-wheel printer.

I remember a Youtuber showing off the Coleco Adam computer of the 1980s a
few year ago, which included a daisy-wheel printer. He put ear protection
on and fired it up.

Then you could hear his wife/girl friend from the kitchen "WTF?!"

While in around 2000, when Ink- and Laser Jets were common, I found a
Star LC 10 or something on the flea market. My Linux box back then still
had a parallel port, so I bought it (nostalgia already kicked in for
me). Worked on Linux out of the box.

Next morning a neighbor asked what that "noise" was, so I explained. And promised to not do it again at night.

Funny, just 5 to 10 years earlier no one would had complained, as dot
matrix were common in the 80s and early 90s.

F'up2 comp.periphs.printer
--
Andreas
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On 08 Jul 2024 00:55:25 GMT, Retrograde wrote:

You want Gatling gun? Pukka rat-a-tat-a-tat?

That's why I do not miss my KSR33. I gave it away into a private
collection, luckily early enough: I still am able to hear. ;-P

When it was printing, it could be heard in the whole house.
--
xkcd - The blag of the webcomic - Randall 2019-08-26
Chapter 19: How to Send a File <https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/08/26/how-to-send-a-file/>
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> wrote:

Next morning a neighbor asked what that "noise" was, so I explained. And >promised to not do it again at night.

Funny, just 5 to 10 years earlier no one would had complained, as dot
matrix were common in the 80s and early 90s.

Back in the seventies and eighties it was not unusual to find a dedicated "printer room" in computer centers and offices, with some degree of soundproofing and maybe a double-pane window so you could see if your
printout had come out yet.

These rooms often get repurposed as tiny offices for grad students or as meditation or lactation rooms but mostly they turn into storage areas now. --scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

On Sun, 17 May 2026 08:40:18 -0400 (EDT), Scott Dorsey wrote:

Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> wrote:

I forgot to mention the Star LC10 was a dot matrix, not daisy wheel printer...

Next morning a neighbor asked what that "noise" was, so I explained. And >>promised to not do it again at night.

Funny, just 5 to 10 years earlier no one would had complained, as dot >>matrix were common in the 80s and early 90s.

Back in the seventies and eighties it was not unusual to find a dedicated "printer room" in computer centers and offices, with some degree of soundproofing and maybe a double-pane window so you could see if your printout had come out yet.

These rooms often get repurposed as tiny offices for grad students or as meditation or lactation rooms but mostly they turn into storage areas now.

Yes. But private users also got printers in the 80s. They didn't had a dedicated or sound proof room. And it was accepted by parents, siblings
or neighbors. That changed in the (late?) 90s with Laser and Ink Jets.

People became sensitive pussies. ;-)
--
Andreas
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.periphs.printers

On Sun, 17 May 2026 23:05:51 -0400, Andreas Kohlbach wrote:

Yes. But private users also got printers in the 80s. They didn't had a dedicated or sound proof room. And it was accepted by parents, siblings
or neighbors. That changed in the (late?) 90s with Laser and Ink Jets.

Indeed. Bought my first one in 1984. A Canon PW1080A, NLQ.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2