CX PARTS CATALOG

PRINTERS AND CONTROLLERS
QMS-PS 800, PS Jet, PS 800+,
PS Jet+, and PS 800 II

QUALITY MICRO SYSTEMS
POSTSCRIPT FAMILY OF PRINTERS

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Controller Notes | Supplies and Accessories | Ordering Information | Text Only

Model Information

GENERAL INFORMATION

QMS-PS 800 / QMS-PS Jet

The QMS-PS 800 was the first member of a highly successful product line from QMS combining the two best technologies in the laser printer industry: namely, Canon engines and Adobe PostScript software and fonts. This magic combination was the core technology that allowed QMS to become more successful than most of the other laser printer manufacturers that fought for market share in the late 1980s. The only other source for this hot combination was Apple Computer, which was second in market share only to HP.

PS 800 versus PS Jet

The QMS-PS Jet was originally just the PS 800 controller, marketed as a PostScript upgrade for HP LaserJets and other CX-based printers. It was sold by QMS's subsidiary company, The Laser Connection, which was essentially QMS's in-house distributor specializing in laser related products from QMS and others. In the summer of 1987 The Laser Connection started selling whole printers, called QMS-PS Jet. About 3,500 of these printers were in fact converted HP LaserJets that QMS bought through a broker during a shortage of CX engines, created when Canon converted its manufacturing focus to production of the HP LaserJet series II. The QMS-PS Jet and PS Jet Plus are exact equivalents to the PS 800 and PS 800 Plus in every way except for the name. The name was changed on the control panel, start-up page and documentation. There are absolutely no performance differences.

The QMS-PS 800 improved upon the Apple LaserWriter in several ways. The controller was basically Adobe's improved design, offered to OEMs as the Redstone. Some of the very first PS 800 printers contained unshielded prototypes that were labeled Adobe Redstone on the silk-screened legend. The Printer Works is saving such a board for the day when someone at the Smithsonian recognizes how rare and significant it is. The PS 800 design increased the RAM from 1.5 megabytes in the LaserWriter to 2.0 megabytes standard, and sockets were provided to add an optional third megabyte. The extra half megabyte allows the QMS-PS 800/PS 800 Plus printers to print a full-size legal page, which the Apple LaserWriter cannot print. The LaserWriter prints legal pages with the margins moved in, because of memory limitations. Like the LaserWriter, the PS 800 controller is based on a Motorola 68000, but the QMS version has a hardware barrel shifter to speed up rasterization. A barrel shifter was built into the 68020 CPU chip so Adobe didn't have to include this special hardware in its next generation Atlas controller. The processor speed was slower only 9 MHz, but the improved hardware allowed it to outperform the 11.16 MHz Apple LaserWriter on most tests.

The "Laser Wars" article in the June 1987 issue of MacWorld found the QMS-PS 800+ to be up to four times faster than the Apple LaserWriter. The barrel shifting hardware, along with revised PostScript code and more memory, allowed the slower 9 MHz processor of the PS 800+ to outperform the LaserWriter.

The PS 800 also included two features that PC users wanted, not included in the Apple LaserWriter: HP Emulation and a Centronics parallel port option. The HP emulation cleverly used Adobe fonts, but did not change them to HP font metrics. This difference produces text that is not right justified. Most people who bought the PS 800 didn't really care about its HP emulation problems, because they needed PostScript for desktop publishing and only occasionally used HP emulation for other applications that didn't support PostScript. Users can avoid the font metric problems by downloading a real HP font. HPGL (7475 Plotter) emulation was also included for compatibility with CAD programs.

The RS-232 serial interface of the QMS-PS 800 also supports baud rates to 57.4 baud, whereas the Apple LaserWriter was limited to 9600.

The Centronics parallel interface was popular with users. It was easier for most PC users to use than the RS-232 serial, and the parallel data transfer rate was usually faster depending on the PC's hardware. Adoption of the parallel interface as the defacto standard for PC printers actually crippled PostScript printers because the printer could not send all of the intelligent status messages back to the computer as it does over AppleTalk and RS-232. Most PC parallel ports have bidirectional capability, but because standard DOS doesn't support bidirectional communication on the parallel port, applications always set the printer to PostScript batch mode, and all the wonderful interaction and cooperation between computer and printer for downloaded soft fonts and meaningful error messages was killed.

Like many other printers of the day (specifically, the Canon LBP-8A1/8A2, HP LaserJet and QMS KISS), the QMS-PS 800 could be purchased with either a parallel interface or a serial interface; but a connector with both was an expensive option. This was due to the design of the CX engine which required that the interface connectors be cabled from the controller in the top of the printer to the bracket on the side. It wasn't until the SX engine came along that almost every manufacturer included both parallel and serial connectors as standard equipment. The SX design made the additional cost of two connectors trivial, as the formatter was placed at the I/O bracket and no expensive internal cables were necessary. The Printer Works and its customers used to think QMS was gouging us for the dual I/O cables at $125. The Printer Works once needed 200 for a batch of printers Ñ we made them ourselves and found that parts and labor added up to about $65; so the QMS price wasn't that unreasonable after all.

Plus Versions

Both the QMS-PS 800 and PS Jet were also available in "Plus" versions. The Plus version included the Adobe "Plus" set of 35 scalable fonts standard in the Apple LaserWriter. (See the LaserWriter section of this catalog for a list of these 35 scalable fonts.)

QMS-PS 800 II

The QMS-PS 800 II was introduced in mid-1987 as the fastest top-of-the line CX-based PostScript printer. It uses the improved dual-bin Canon LBP-CXD engine. The CXD has two 250-sheet paper cassettes for a total of 500 sheets on-line (hence HP's name for it, the LaserJet 500 Plus). All of the CXD parts are documented in this catalog.

When the PS 800 II controller was under development, the QMS sales and marketing departments were very excited about the competitive advantage they were soon to have over Apple Computer. The Apple LaserWriter was by far the best-selling PostScript printer of the era, and its existence was helping to sell many more Macintosh computers, to people interested in being able to print the professional looking documents it could produce. QMS was poised for recognition from Apple and PC PostScript users. The QMS controllers were much faster than the Apple controller and the CXD engine was bigger and better, too. Unfortunately, the large size of the CXD engine made it less appealing than QMS had hoped, and it wasn't until QMS used the controller technology developed for the PS 800 II in the QMS-PS 810 (a very successful SX-based printer) that QMS took a significant market share away from Apple. All PS 800 II printers came with the triple interface connector that included RS-232, AppleTalk, and Centronics parallel.

FONT INFORMATION

The QMS-PS family uses the Adobe Plus set of 35 typefaces. This includes the original Courier, Helvetica, and Times Roman (in regular, oblique or italic, bold, and bold oblique or italic), plus the added font families of TC Avant Garde, ITC Bookman Light and Demi, Helvetica Narrow, New Century Schoolbook, and Palatino families, plus ITC Zapf Chancery and ITC Zapf Dingbats.

REFURBISHED PRINTERS AVAILABLE

Although many of the QMS-PS series printers have been discontinued, The Printer Works offers refurbished printers in like-new condition with a full-one-year warranty. For a price quote, select the part number of the model that interests you in the ordering information table.

Controller Notes

Model Information | Supplies and Accessories | Ordering Information | Text Only

PS 800/PS 800+/PS Jet/PS Jet+/PS 800 II

The very first QMS-PS 800 printers contained Adobe Redstone controllers. This PCB layout was reworked and cleaned up by QMS engineers. The first mass-produced units contained Adobe PostScript version 38.0, which was replaced by 46.1 and, finally, 47.0. The code was in EPROM, but PALs had to be changed as well. This family of controllers uses lots of parts that can get hot and fail. Our experience has been that the failure rate for these controllers is much higher than any other formatter we have ever sold and supported.

The PS 800 II uses basically the same controller design as the PS 800 Plus, with 2 or 3 megabytes of RAM installed, as well as the improved version 47.0A of PostScript. Initially, the speed was increased to 16.00 or 16.67 MHz, but in the field, this speed was found to be somewhat unreliable, so QMS slowed it back down to 12 MHz. As a result, there are some PS 800 II printers that are about 25% faster than others. All PS 800 II printers came with the triple interface connector that included AppleTalk, RS-232, and Centronics parallel. One common failure is that the battery in the DALLAS non-volatile SRAM wears out and the printer forgets its page count and other settings.

Supplies and Accessories

Model Information | Controller Notes | Ordering Information | Text Only

You can check prices or order these items from the ordering information table below.

TONER

The QMS PostScript family uses the same toner cartridges as all other CX-based printers.

PAPER HANDLING

The QMS PostScript family of printers use the same shaped paper trays as all other CX-based printers. All versions are physically interchangeable. (See also Diagram 300, Paper Cassettes for CX Engines.)

MEMORY AND CONTROLLER UPGRADE OPTIONS

PS Jet/800 and PS Jet+/800+ (early style, before ROM Version 46.1)

There is no direct RAM upgrade available for early style units, but it may be possible to use the PS Jet/PS 800 ROM Upgrade Kit to bring the ROM up to Version 46.1, and then upgrade as for later styles. This upgrade kit gives PS Jet controllers a total of 35 resident typefaces and emulations for HP LaserJet+ and HP-GL Plotter Graphics. It requires controller revision level H or later and you may also need a PS Jet Internal Serial Cable (Part Number 4013063).

PS Jet+/800+ (late style, ROM Version 46.1)

To upgrade the RAM from 2Mb to 3Mb on the PS Jet+ and the PS 800+ you will need the PS Jet+ RAM Upgrade Kit consisting of 32 DRAM chips, 2 DIP resistors, and an updated PAL. The DRAM Chips are inserted in the two banks of sockets, the DIP resistors are inserted in the sockets at locations RP12 and RP13, and the PAL at location U33 is exchanged.

PS 800 II

To upgrade the RAM from 2Mb to 3Mb on the PS 800 II, you will need the PS 800 II RAM Upgrade Kit consisting of 32 DRAM chips and an updated PAL. The DRAM chips are inserted in the two banks of sockets and the PAL at location U8 is exchanged. The PS 800 II is a substantially revised PS 800 design that has a few things in common with the PS 810 controller used in the SX engines. The PS 800 II controllers are the same size and shape as the earlier PS 800 boards, but the board layout and the type of DRAM chips used are different. PS 800 II boards, like early PS 810 boards, have 2 megabytes of RAM, in a closely packed array of eight rows of 41256 DRAM chips, in the ZIP configuration. Most DRAM chips at that time came in the DIP (Dual In-line Package) configuration. The optional third megabyte plugs into conventional DIP-type sockets on the PS 800 II board. The firmware used in the PS 800 II is version 47.0A, which is very similar to the 47.0C used in the PS 810 and the JetScript.

PS Controllers: QMS-PS Jet / PS Jet+

The PS Jet controller kits (available in ordering table below) were marketed as upgrades for the HP LaserJet. A dual I/O interface bracket is included with the kit and a triple interface bracket assembly is optional. See the Interface Bracket and Connector Assembly page in the Parts & Assemblies section of this catalog for pictures of these assemblies.

Ordering Information

Model Information | Controller Notes | Supplies and Accessories | Text Only

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select a Part Number in the table.

Model Information | Controller Notes | Supplies and Accessories | Text Only