Longshot but are these printers compatible? (Okidata 320)

[zerobotman]

I was wondering if these older printers were compatible with the Mac SE or any 68k mac. I wouldn't mind writing on my mac (silly i know but at least it's performing a function ) and these are the oldest printers available locally with the next on the list being pentium 3 era pc serial inkjet printers.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-printers-scanners-fax/ottawa/reduced-okidata-dot-matrix-printers/1089432041?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

 

[olePigeon]

Not certain, and Google didn't show anything.  Maybe look for an Imagewriter II?

 

[NJRoadfan]

They will not be compatible out of the box as they are likely parallel port only. They appear to support Epson ESC, so you would need a serial-to-parallel printer adapter like the Orange Micro Grappler -9-pin.

 

[Elfen]

If they have a Serial Port or a Parallel to  Serial Adapter, and a driver, you can use them.

I remember long ago there in System 6 there was a Generic Printer driver that worked for basic text output.

 

[Gil]

Would be interested to find out if so. I have an ML-490.

 

[techknight]

crazy thing is, these printers are STILL used today in the point of sale industry. 

 

[Gil]

crazy thing is, these printers are STILL used today in the point of sale industry.

They're awesome printers. I use mine primarily to print pin feed checks with Quicken (I know, lol). They're true workhorses and have a lot of convenient features.

 

[olePigeon]

I see them all the time in auto shops.  Used for carbon copy receipts and orders.

 

[ScutBoy]

Oki 320's are the cockroach of printers  - they will turn up forever running in places where you least expect them.

I supported these 20 years ago for a retail tire chain, and I still see them all the time in places, as noted above, where multi-part forms are printed.

 

[techknight]

a tool rental shop I used to do IT work for had a few of these. One of them finally died though. started getting sluggish and eventually poof. 

Im sure a good maintenance and mechanical clean-out could have fix it, but they still sell these NEW so he bought one. 

 

[Elfen]

New? They still make them? Or was it NOS (New Old Stock)? I would be amazed that they are still making them, and they do use those Typewriter Roll Ribbons which are still being made.

Too bad they stopped making the HP 540 DeskWriter/DeskJet cartridges (the Green Cap Cartridges) long ago or I would still be using my DeskWriter 540c. Though it is an InkJet Printer, it is a very strong one from HP. It's only issue is that it went obsolete when they stopped making those Green Cap Cartridges, otherwise it would still be working to this day.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Chances are Oki is still making them new, just like Epson is still making new LQ series dot matrix printers with built in USB!

 

[zerobotman]

cool. i'm probably going to pick one up regardless. $20 isnt' so bad and who can resist the "SCREECH SCRATCH" sound of an old printer.

 

[Elfen]

Love That Old Sound! It's even louder if the printer can print bidirectionally!

 

[Gil]

Yes, Oki still produces a full line of dot-matrix printers to this day. Epson does as well. There's still a market for them.

 

[Gil]

https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/182064292740

^just saw this pop up on eBay. Looks like exactly what you'd need to print to one of these. I'd never even heard of this product before.

 

[olePigeon]

I just remembered that I have some PC printer drivers for Macintosh.  It's nearly identical to that official Apple one.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same product.  It also has a special serial to parallel adapter cable.

I could upload the software, but, unfortunately, I don't know where you'd get a cable.