Cut sheet electrographic printer designed and manufactured by Xerox
The Xerox 1200 Computer Printing System is a computer printer system that was developed by Xerox. It was the first commercial non-impact Xerographic printer used to create computer output. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a laser printer, but it did not in fact have a laser.
Development.
The printing system was announced in May 1973. It was first shipped in mid to late 1974. It was based on the Xerox 3600 Copier, which was initially released in 1968 as a 60-page per minute copier with a 2000 sheet paper tray. It used a selenium photoconductor drum with characters positioned in a manner similar to a line printer. It used an optical character generator designed by optical engineer Phil Chen.
Characteristics.
The 1200 Computer Printing System was available in both an offline and an online model:
The printer itself has the following characteristics:
Marketing.
Lease costs for a Xerox 1200 started at $2,100 per month.
Some example early users included the following:
In March 1976 Xerox announced they would also begin offering the Xerox 1200 for sale (rather than the lease-only model they were using), with a list price of US$145,000. That price dropped to $125,000 in December 1976.
Competitors.
While the Xerox 1200 was first to market in the non-impact space, it was rapidly joined by the Honeywell Page Printing System in 1974 (with shipments starting in 1975) and the IBM 3800 in 1975 (with shipments starting in 1976).
Follow on product.
The Xerox 9700 was announced in July 1977 with planned availability in the third quarter of 1978, although with a considerably higher purchase price of $295,000. It was a genuine laser printer that could print 120 pages per minute at 300 dots per inch. It could also print in duplex.
References.
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