LaserWriter (original)

The original LaserWriter was a monochrome laser printer that was released by Apple Computer. The first model of the LaserWriter series, it was announced on January 23, 1985 and released in March 1985.

Description
The LaserWriter could print at a resolution of 300-dpi from a Canon LBP-CX print engine that could output 8 pages-per-minute with a rated life of 300,000 pages. It is compatible with Apple M0180 or HP LaserJet 92285A toner cartridges (also used by the series).

The 12 MHz Motorola 68000 processor (running at 11.16 MHz) could rasterize images from PostScript Level 1 or printer data. However, rasterization performance was hampered by a incurred by the use of slower memory. The data could be transmitted through a LocalTalk network to its serial port, or a direct serial PC connection to its  port.

Included fonts
The LaserWriter featured a 512 KB ROM which contained the PostScript software and 13 Type 1 fonts:
 * Courier
 * Helvetica
 * Symbol
 * Times Roman

Discontinuation
The LaserWriter Plus was announced on January 16, 1986 with the ROM doubled to 1 MB, containing 22 additional fonts; it was released in March 1986 for $6798. The original LaserWriter remained on the market with the price cut to $5995. Both models were discontinued in February 1988 and replaced by the faster and more compact LaserWriter II series.

Articles

 * Four reasons the LaserWriter mattered by Benj Edwards at Macworld (2010-04-26)