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Posted By

George
on 2010-08-13
15:26:46
 Matrix Printer MPS 803

Hi,

i bought from ebay the black MPS 803 with original box. A real beauty. Outstanding design. I would like to do some testing.

I would like to know, what the complete content of an boxed Mps 803 is. I just got the box, the printer and a cable

I found the manual here. Poor quality scan. Does anybody has a better scanned manual of the "black beauty"?

Posted By

Chicken
on 2010-08-13
15:37:03
 Re: Matrix Printer MPS 803

I think there should be a manual in the box as well.

Commodore MPS-803 Dark Gray

The tractor unit was optional, though (as you might have seen already).

Commodore TU-803 Dark Gray

Sorry, I don't have a better scan. I never owned a MPS 803 but the Seikosha SP 180 VC which was quite popular among plus/4 owners (and was bundled with the plus/4 at some computer discounters like VOBIS).

Posted By

George
on 2010-08-13
16:16:33
 Re: Matrix Printer MPS 803

The printer in black is quite rar. Got me some time to find one in germany. Bought it for 8 Euros, beacuse the owner did not know what he had.

I found a manual at:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3BTTC7JX

Content of the box schould be:
1. Commodore Printer, Model MIPS-803
2 Printer Ribbon Cassette
3 Serial Cable
4. User's Guide
5. Warranty Card

i just tested it. Works fine after 25 years! And so quite. wow.
I am surprised how easy to handle this hardware is.
You put the sheet of paper behind and pull it to position.
There is only 1 Button: Paper advance (Line feed). Thats all!

Real plug/play.

Posted By

Chicken
on 2010-08-13
17:33:39
 Re: Matrix Printer MPS 803

Yeah, the warranty card came with all the CBM euqipment. Fortunately, I never had to use any.

Is the ribbon still ok? I recently bought a new one for my Seikosha printer (20 years old). You might find a replacement one for the MPS 803 as well.
Back then, lots of ppl just "re-inked" the ribbons but that wouldn't be my first choice when you can get a new one.

Posted By

George
on 2010-08-13
18:22:27
 Re: Matrix Printer MPS 803

Ribbon is ok, has still some ink in it. Who knows if its the original.

The size of the printer is very much of the size of a plus/4. But the printer is twice in his height.
Very heavy piece. Has some style elements of the plus/4. The power light is red and has the same shape, the cooling rips at the front/side has the same style.

Next i need is the 1551 floppy and the 1801 Monitor. The 1801 is the Monitor, which i find matches best to the plus/4. I don't like the 2 round buttons a the front of the cm-141(which is NTSC anyway) or the 1802 (PAL). I haven't seen any of these Monitors in Europe with the 264 style.

Posted By

Chicken
on 2010-08-13
18:51:14
 Re: Matrix Printer MPS 803

The 1802 had various incarnations. I used to have the latest one (1802 D) which in my opinion looks best (even if it didn't match the plus/4).

http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/mecomp2.html

The monitors to match the plus/4 had the "color spectrum" like this one

http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/mecomp3.html

Posted By

MMS
on 2010-08-15
08:47:19
 Re: Matrix Printer MPS 803

I had an MPS803 in the past, and did some nice things with that. In fact mainly with GEOS on C64, as Plus/4 had hardly anything at that time I could call WYSWYG programs for Newsletter creation. (or maybe I was just not aware of that. the existance of GEOS was a surprise to me, but would not help me, as working only with 1551, and I had 1541/II)

On the other hand I should state, that after switching to a 24pin STAR printer (it was an A3, color capable beast, at least 20kgs, and I bought it from a factory for ~5 Euros) a new level became available for me with GEOS.

Certainly if the MPS803 is a collectible, then it is a perfect match to plus/4. If you wanna do some more serious jobs (who knows? happy ) then a decent STAR (eg NX-1000) or Panasonic KX-P2123 will improve the output. They are even color capable with a cheap ribbon.
As GEOS is available for Plus/4 also, I suppose the printer support is the same as on C64 and you may connect them easily (the STAR has a commodore interface, the Panasonic I am not sure).

Posted By

George
on 2010-08-15
18:52:03
 Re: Matrix Printer MPS 803

Hi MMS,
Thanks for your tips.

I don't want to do anything with this printer. I just collect the the matching Hardware for the plus/4 of that time for my little museum.



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