Inkjet printer that works on a dos machine?

[gizbug]

Boss is in search of one. Just a DOS computer. Can't seem to find any inkjets that are able to be used in a DOS ONLY environment.

 

[tynopik]

i'm pretty sure an old hp deskjet 500 would work, try ebay

 

[Zepper]

I found some older model HPs out there the other day that work with DOS. I can't find it now but it's in a thread here - in the Peripherals section I think.
.bh.

 

[0roo0roo]

thnk they had dos drivers. probably not supported by hp anymore though

 

[corkyg]

I used the original H-P DeskJet and the DJ500 on a pure DOS machine - no problem.Inkjet printer that works on a dos machine?

Back then, printer drivers were contained in application software, i.e., WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS had printer drivers. So did Volkswriter and other word processors. Likewise, the original Lotus 1-2-3 had drivers.

You probably will have to be lucky and hit some yard sales.

Do a Google for "DOS Printer Drivers" and you will see what I have said illustrated with sources. You have to focus on the DOS application. MS DOS also had generic printer drivers built in.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Canon bubblejet and HP deskjet are the ones most likely to have DOS support (others only if they have _hardware_ emulation of HP PCL (printer command language) or a BJ command set).

HP PCL has been around since the original laserjets (almost 20 years) and it was supported by most everything, but DOS support might only be black & white depending on the program.

Does your boss insist on an inkjet? An old cheap used Laserjet would offer much sharper printing and most models will have hardware PCL.

PS - it's important to find out what program your boss uses, and what printer drivers each one has built in. Like corky-g said, in DOS there are no "universal printer drivers" that all programs shared. Each program had its own drivers and only supported a certain set of printers (or a family like "HP PCL3 compatible")

 

[Zepper]

Centrix-Intl is out of the 940Cs that they had when I posted in the other thread. Here is the link to the other thread: Link
. See the info I and others posted there.
. I found a good looking HP 940C on eBay for $49.95 (buy it now) +15. shipping. You will need a parallel (IEEE compliant) cable as DOS doesn't know about USB... And there's an industrial strength refurb on the hp site for $250. that can do folio size paper...
. As others have said, if you can find an old Canon BJ-100 or 200 or the the earlier HPs like the 500 series, they also work with DOS. But they are getting pretty long in the tooth. And DOS is pretty much a black and white environment anyway, so the color features of the 940C will be wasted unless his programs have drivers that can use it.

 

[nineball9]

Originally posted by: tynopik
i'm pretty sure an old hp deskjet 500 would work, try ebay

Yes, it will. Many years ago, I bought a DeskJet 500 with a 386SX-16 running DOS 4.01. Printer drivers were application specific back then, though MS may have incorporated DeskJet 500 support in DOS 6 (I really don't know). I know WIN95 had native support for a Deskjet 500; don't remember about Win3.1.

Ironically, I threw it out about 3 months ago. It worked fine (I had dismantled it the previous year and completely cleaned the guts), however I purchased a newer printer and wanted my desk space back.

Good luck.