The scope of this review is to evaluate how this product performs with the VPS suite of products, distributed by Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. This product was configured and tested by the System Engineers in the Enterprise Document Engineering (EDE) department at LRS.
Company Profile
QMS, Inc., a $300 million international company founded in 1977, is a leading producer of monochrome and color network capable print systems. The QMS Print System product line includes monochrome and color laser, color thermal transfer, and bar code/label print systems, with print speeds ranging from 10-45 pages per minute.
The QMS Crown© and CrownNet™ technologies are central to the QMS network printing product strategy. These open technologies offer advanced features such as: multi-tasking, mixed platform and network support, simultaneous protocol support, sophisticated document handling, remote management, and software loadable enhancement and upgrade capabilities. QMS, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AQM.
Testing Environment
The test printer was configured with the standard interface complement, consisting of IEEE-1284 parallel and Ethernet (both 10baseT and 10base2) interfaces. The test subject was also equipped with 24MB of memory and a 512MB hard disk. The Ethernet adapter was configured to support Novell NetWare and TCP/IP. The CrownNet adapter supports TCP/IP Line Printer Daemon (LPD) operation.
The VPS system used was the most current VPS release, VPS release 6.2 at fix level 234. The test system also included the VPS/TCPIP, VPS/PCL, and VPS/PC for NT extension products. The VPS/PC for NT product, release 1.0.004, was installed on a dedicated 120Mhz Pentium computer running Microsoft NT Workstation 3.51 (with Service Pack 4 applied) with host APPC access provided by Microsoft SNA Server version 2.11. TCP/IP connectivity from the mainframe was provided by IBM's TCP/IP for MVS v3r1. The Novell NetWare environment was a NetWare 3.12 server on our corporate LAN.
The output data format consisted of standard EBCDIC line mode data with ASA carriage control. The output was delivered by VPS using three different formats. The output was sent as straight line mode data, as enhanced line mode data, and as line mode data with Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) characteristics. The enhanced line mode data involved sending PCL format commands (for portrait and landscape printing) and PostScript format commands (for 2-up and 4-up printing), with the output. VPS exit 14 and VPS/PC inserted the appropriate PDL command sequences before and after the print datasets. The AFP characteristics included FORMDEF, PAGEDEF, OVERLAY, and PAGE SEGMENT AFP resources, which would be converted to PCL by the VPS/PCL extension product. In each case the output was delivered to the printer by both TCP/IP (LPD) and VPS/PC for NT (via Novell NetWare) delivery mechanisms.
Testing Results
The installation of the printer was found to be quick and relatively trouble free. The CrownNet interface card is standard equipment, so no additional hardware installation is required to establish network connectivity. Configuring parameters in the printer can be set using the front panel display and keys, or by using QMS' CrownAdmin utility (available in Win3x, NT, Mac, and Unix platforms). Entering the parameters required to establish Novell NetWare and TCP/IP connectivity was quick and simple using both methods.
We tested the TCP/IP capabilities of the printer first, using VPS/TCPIP. The LPR/LPD protocol was used for this test (direct port 9100 connections are not supported; for more information on port 9100 connections, check the LRS web site, www.lrs.com).
The 2425 Print System performed well on this test, quickly and accurately printing all output sent to it. Enhanced line mode output was tested using standard VPS exit 14 load modules to send both PCL and PostScript formats to the printer without any problems. No changes to the VPS printer definition were necessary to switch between PCL and PostScript formatted output. The printer handled 2-up and 4-up printing using PostScript formats without any problems. The EPS automatic datastream sensing feature worked flawlessly.
The printer was next configured as a Novell network printer connected to our Ethernet network. Output was routed through VPS/PC for NT on our Token Ring network. The NetWare print queue serviced by the printer was located on a NetWare 3.12 file server attached to the Token Ring. The protocol used for this test was Novell IPX. No problems were encountered.
The enhanced line mode output was tested using start and end sequences in the VPS/PC for NT printer route. Both PCL and PostScript formats were used in the start and end sequences with no problems. AFP output was also sent to the printer through VPS/PCL and VPS/PC without any problems. Similar results were achieved operating the printer as a locally attached printer (lpt1) from the VPS/PC for NT machine using the parallel port on the printer.
The QMS 2425 Print System is a physically large printer (arriving on a pallet) that has huge capacities (holds 3,000 sheets of paper with the optional paper deck, a maximum of 128MB of memory, and up to 2.2GB of hard disk). If space isn't a problem, this is a solid network printer platform and a good performer.
Features & Options: QMS 2425 Print System
| Parameter | Description |
| Engine Speed | 24 ppm @ 600 and 1200 dpi (simplex) |
| 24 ppm @ 1200 dpi (requires optional "Multi-Res" daughterboard) |
| Resident Memory | 8-24MB standard, expandable to 128MB (standard SIMMs) |
| Resident Fonts (type & number) | 40 Type 1 scaleable fonts (PostScript(tm) Level 2) |
| 51 scaleable Intellifonts (HP PCL 5e) |
| 50 HP-GL symbol sets |
| 1 bitmapped font in 25 symbol sets |
| all typefaces have multilingual character sets |
| Flash Memory | 8MB (standard) |
| Hard Drive | 256MB IDE (standard) - up to 2.2GB (optional) |
| up to 3 external SCSI drives (optional) |
| Resolution (quality) | 300, 600 and 1200 dpi |
| Paper Handling | 500-sheet upper input tray (Letter/A4 to Legal B4) |
| 500-sheet lower input tray (Letter/A4 to 11" x 17"/ B3) |
| 100-sheet multipurpose tray (3.87" x 7.5" to 11.69" x 17.7") |
| 500-sheet face down output tray |
| 100-sheet face up output tray |
| 100-envelope feeder |
| 2000-sheet paper deck (Letter/A4 to 11" x 17"/A3) |
| 2000-sheet output stacker/stapler |
| duplexer |
| Automatic Data Stream Sensing | Emulation Switching Processor (ESP) technology |
| NPAP Bi-directional Communications | Yes |
| Language(s) | PostScript Level 2 emulation standard |
| HP PCL 5e emulation standard |
| HP-GL Plotter Emulation (7475A, 7550A, & Draftmaster) |
| Printer Port(s) | High-speed bi-directional parallel port (IEEE 1284) (standard) |
| Serial RS-232C (optional) |
| LAN Connectivity | Internal QMS CrownNet adapters: |
| Ethernet (10baseT / 10base2) (standard) |
| Token-ring (optional) |
| Coax/Twinax (optional) |
| DECnet (optional) |
| Duty Cycle | Maximum of 100,000 pages per month |
| Warranty | Free one-year On-site and Express warranty |
Report Card
QMS 2425
| Installation |  + | | | Ratings: | | | = no problems | | - | = problems | | + | = above average | | N/A | = not applicable |
|
| VPS | |
| VPS/PCL | |
| VPS/IPDS | N/A |
| VPS/TCPIP | |
| VPS/PC | |
