Review - Two Printer Interfaces for the Atari

You are at your local computer store and have just spent practically your last dollar buying that new whizbang parallel printer that everyone is talking about. You know, the one that will do everything but play "The Star Spangled Banner"? Anyway, you're just about ready to walk out the door when suddenly the salesman yells over to you, "Oh, by the way, you do have an interface module for that printer, don't you?"

Interface module? Oh oh... an interface module! You had forgotten all about that, hadn't you? So you say -- somewhat clumsily -- "Oh... yeah, I need one of those, don't I? Um... how much are they?" His answer -- over $200 retail for an Atari 850 -- is way out of your means at the present time, and you start becoming visibly worried at the prospect of not being able to use your new toy. "Look," he says to you, "if all you need is a printer interface, and if about $100 retail won't break you, you can get one of those MPP-1150s or an Ape-Face!"

The MPP-1150 is an interesting little device. It measures a mere 4 3/8" x 3 1/4" and contains only one 40-pin IC chip (yes, I'm a sucker when it comes to taking things apart!), but there are two sockets on the PC board. The extra socket can hold an optional 2K printer buffer chip that is available from MPP. A nice little option, if you ask me, one that will surely come in handy. It also has an Atari serial I/O connector to tie your disk drive, cassette recorder, etc. onto (it doesn't have to be the last device in the chain), and a three-foot ribbon cable with a Centronics-compatible 36-pin connector on the business end.

Hooking up the MPP-1150 is very simple -- practically nothing can go wrong! Just insert the connector at the end of the cable into your computer and plug the ribbon cable into your printer. If you have other Atari-compatible devices, they plug into the connector on the printer interface. There is no power supply, because the interface gets all the electricity it needs directly from the computer. That's all there is to it! Oh, by the way, MPP warranties the 1150 for two full years.

Splitting hairs

The Ape-Face gives you the same song and dance as to size and operation, but there are some internal differences. Unfortunately, these two boxes perform the exact same operation and do it equally well, so well that I feel I am starting to split hairs in this review of the two models. Nevertheless, here goes. While the Ape-Face interface is ten dollars less than the one made by MPP and, internally, seems to be of better construction (solder masked PC board holding three IC chips and a voltage regulator), I prefer the MPP for several reasons.

Extra I/O Connector -- The Ape-Face has only one Atari connector associated with it. If you also have a 410 cassette recorder in your system, you are in big trouble! Either you can use the recorder or you can use the interface, but not both. The reason is that connecting the Ape-Face leaves no place to plug in the recorder.
Cable Length -- Both of the units have a multiconnector ribbon cable running from the box to the 36-pin connector that mates with your printer. The Ape-Face's cable is only 18 inches long, while the MPP's cable is 36 inches long. Some people might say that longer cables tend to pick up noise. However, I have used ten foot lengths in similar applications with no problems at all. Ribbon cable, in fact, tends to reduce noise pickup, since every other wire in the cable is by definition a ground wire.
Power Requirements -- Again, both of these units take their power from the Atari computer, but there seems to be a significant difference in the quantity of electrical current required. The MPP-1150 needs to power only one large-scale integrated circuit chip, while the Ape-Face needs power for four. Not only that, but the Ape-Face comes in two models -- one for the 1200XL and another for all the rest. With the MPP, one model fits all!
Printer Buffer -- I think I mentioned this before ... The MPP interface has the capability to accept a 2K print buffer. All that is needed is to insert a memory chip (available from MPP) into the extra socket on the interface. Again, no can do on the Ape-Face. Once you have used a printer buffer, it is hard to imagine having gone without one!

MPP-1150

Ape-Face

The big finish

Both the MPP-1150 and the Ape-Face seem to be well designed and worth the money. I prefer the MPP, even though the retail is ten dollars more. It is also more appealing aesthetically -- a bright blue box wins over a black box with a monkey graphic on top every time!

Oh, I almost forgot! If for some reason, you have a serial printer instead of the more common parallel, the MPP's interface will handle it with a plug-in chip. There is obviously not much call for it within the Atari community, but it can come in handy if your printer is somewhat of an orphan.