22 Oct
2007
22 Oct
'07
3:26 p.m.
Lots of new IBM things today, but all basically PC related.
Does anyone here have a 5182 Color Printer? This was one of the
goodies today, from an ex-IBM salesman that was finally clearing out
the closet. He said it was a very unsuccessful product from the XT/AT
era, and may have never been for sale to the public. He said they were
probably internal use only.
I have never seen one, but there's a section in the Options and Adapters
TechRef for the 'IBM Personal Comp[uter Color Printer'. Unfortunately the
TechRaf doesn't give model numbers, so I can't eb sure it's the same
unit, but I suspect it is. For reference, the TechRef shows the
microcontroller as a 6803 at loaction U6 on the control board.
If it is the same device, the mention of it in said TechRef would seem to
imply it as a released product.
The 5182 is a dot matrix printer with a four color ribbon. Kludge on a stick.
Thet idea was not uncommn at the time. DEC made one called the 'LA324'
which could take a colour ribbon and mechanically shifted it up and down
to change colour. I also rememebr using an Epson printer in the mid 1980s
that could take a 'colour kit' which was a motor + mechanical bits to
tilt the ribbon.
How well it worked I don't know. I've never been able to find a colour
ribbon for my LA324.
-tony