Charles Bado

Q: 95 Apple Personal LaserWriter Compatibility

This is a great printer but uses an older coaxial plug in.

How can I adapt it to connect to my new MacPro? Is there a way to connect this printer to my new Macbook Pro? I hope it doesn't have to be thrown out.

95 Apple Personal LaserWriter, 95 Apple Personal LaserWriter 300

Posted on Aug 30, 2010 6:13 AM

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Q: 95 Apple Personal LaserWriter Compatibility

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Aug 30, 2010 8:24 AM in response to Charles Bado
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 30, 2010 8:24 AM in response to Charles Bado
    There are at least six printers with the word "personal" in their name. Could you please provide the complete model name:

    Personal LaserWriter SC (SCSI)
    Personal LaserWriter LS (Serial only)
    Personal LaserWriter 300 (Serial only)
    Personal LaserWriter NT
    Personal LaserWriter NTR
    Personal LaserWriter 320
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Solvedanswer

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Aug 31, 2010 12:05 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 31, 2010 12:05 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    If you are referring to the Apple Personal LaserWriter 300, it is a QuickDraw-only printer. Apple abandoned the QuickDraw model for a Postscript model, so these printers do not work in Mac OS X. There are no known third-party drivers.
  • by Charles Bado,

    Charles Bado Charles Bado Sep 2, 2010 5:49 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 2, 2010 5:49 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Thank you so much for clarifying this for me.
  • by CaptNorm,

    CaptNorm CaptNorm Oct 21, 2010 10:42 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
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    Oct 21, 2010 10:42 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    I have three Personal Laserwriter LS printers. Will they too be incompatible with a new iMac and MacBook Pro I am about to purchase?
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 21, 2010 10:49 AM in response to CaptNorm
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 21, 2010 10:49 AM in response to CaptNorm
    These printers are QuickDraw-only printers, do not use AppleTalk, and cannot be "recognized" or "identified" in the usual way. If you cannot get one of these to print by just sending data to it, it will not be useable under Mac OS X.

    LaserWriter IISC (SCSI)
    Personal LaserWriter SC (SCSI)
    Personal LaserWriter LS (Serial only)
    Personal LaserWriter 300 (Serial only)
    LaserWriter Select 300 (Serial only)

    There are no Mac OS X third-party drivers available, so using these under Mac OS X seems unlikely.