Buying new laser printer - is Postscript a necessity?

[datawrangler]

My old B/W laser printer has bitten the dust, and I'm shopping for a new model. In the past, I have always insisted on a Postscript-compatible printer, thinking this was the only way to render high-quality graphics (I print plenty of text-only documents of course, but technical drawings and fancy typograph still constitute the bulk of my printing).

Is Postscript (or Postscript emulation) still an important feature for today's laser printers?

 

[Blue Velvet]

Is Postscript (or Postscript emulation) still an important feature for today's laser printers?

If you're working directly from vector apps, yes. Virtually all laser printers have at least PS level 2 emulation in them these days... even the cheap A4 mono Samsung I've got has it.

 

[MisterMe]

My old B/W laser printer has bitten the dust, and I'm shopping for a new model. In the past, I have always insisted on a Postscript-compatible printer, thinking this was the only way to render high-quality graphics (I print plenty of text-only documents of course, but technical drawings and fancy typography are still constitute the bulk of my printing).

Is Postscript (or Postscript emulation) still an important feature for today's laser printers?

Is PostScript a necessity? No.

Is PostScript darned nice to have? Yes.

When you consider the fact that your old B&W PostScript laser printer was much more expensive than genuine PostScript color printers today, the decision is a no-brainer. Go with PostScript.

Here is the deal. PostScript future-proofs you. Every OS has a PostScript driver. Every OS will have a PostScript driver for years (decades?) into the future. With PostScript, you may upgrade your OS, replace your computing platform, make just about any change you want to make or have to make and not worry about printer support.

 

[DesignerOnMac]

My old B/W laser printer has bitten the dust, and I'm shopping for a new model. In the past, I have always insisted on a Postscript-compatible printer, thinking this was the only way to render high-quality graphics (I print plenty of text-only documents of course, but technical drawings and fancy typograph still constitute the bulk of my printing).

Is Postscript (or Postscript emulation) still an important feature for today's laser printers?

I would say no. I have a brother HL-5170N and before it prints it always tells me there are graphics etc., that may not print, but it always does. AS a graphic designer, I was concerned about this, but no issues at all.