Can you identify this printer?
Can anyone identify this printer? Here's what I remember about it. All of this is fuzzy: * Bought around 1990. I think I purchased it from DAK. * Daisy wheel printer * It had a left-edge of paper sensor, so you could just drop in a piece of paper and it figured where the edge was. * Cool dual-font daisy wheel. I think it contained normal and italics on one print wheel. * The name *might* read "Advantage D80." That rings a faint bell in my head, but I can't find any info about it. Thanks! Dave -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com
Maybe a Diablo 630? They were very popular. The manual single sheet feeder would do what you're describing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_630 On Mon, Aug 24, 2026 at 11:47 AM David Hayden via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Can anyone identify this printer? Here's what I remember about it. All of this is fuzzy:
* Bought around 1990. I think I purchased it from DAK. * Daisy wheel printer * It had a left-edge of paper sensor, so you could just drop in a piece of paper and it figured where the edge was. * Cool dual-font daisy wheel. I think it contained normal and italics on one print wheel. * The name *might* read "Advantage D80." That rings a faint bell in my head, but I can't find any info about it.
Thanks!
Dave
-- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com
Thanks. I don't think it's a 630 because that has the buttons on the front and mine had the little button panel on the top. Dave On 8/24/2026 11:54 AM, Dave Shevett wrote:
Maybe a Diablo 630? They were very popular. The manual single sheet feeder would do what you're describing.
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There were DAK catalogs online from that time. Within these catalogs I'd look for computers sold by DAK because they used to include complete packages that included a printer. Maybe that's the route to take in your search b On Mon, Aug 24, 2026 at 2:47 PM David Hayden via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Thanks. I don't think it's a 630 because that has the buttons on the front and mine had the little button panel on the top.
Dave
On 8/24/2026 11:54 AM, Dave Shevett wrote:
Maybe a Diablo 630? They were very popular. The manual single sheet feeder would do what you're describing.
-- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com
Thank you to everyone who responded, especially for being so polite. My original email included an embedded photo that was stripped out. Here is a photo of the printer <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ylov166tw76les0a495dq/N04_025a.tif?rlkey=rchtowp67r1waavsemp6fso1i&st=530cqv3c&dl=0> I checked the online DAK catalogs from 87-90 and didn't see it. I don't think it's a Diablo 630 because mine had the buttons on a panel on the top case. The 630's buttons are on the front. I think the photo says "Advantage D80" and that that rings a bell but I can find no info on such a printer online. I *can* find info on the Advantage D25. Thanks! Dave On 8/25/2026 7:44 AM, Bill Degnan wrote:
There were DAK catalogs online from that time. Within these catalogs I'd look for computers sold by DAK because they used to include complete packages that included a printer. Maybe that's the route to take in your search b
-- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com
Might be a Brother HR-15? that has a similar layout, but the panel is a little different. Hope you find out! Let us know if you figure it out! On Tue, Aug 25, 2026 at 10:28 AM David Hayden via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Thank you to everyone who responded, especially for being so polite. My original email included an embedded photo that was stripped out.
Here is a photo of the printer < https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ylov166tw76les0a495dq/N04_025a.tif?rlkey=rcht...
I checked the online DAK catalogs from 87-90 and didn't see it.
I don't think it's a Diablo 630 because mine had the buttons on a panel on the top case. The 630's buttons are on the front.
I think the photo says "Advantage D80" and that that rings a bell but I can find no info on such a printer online. I *can* find info on the Advantage D25.
Thanks! Dave
On 8/25/2026 7:44 AM, Bill Degnan wrote:
There were DAK catalogs online from that time. Within these catalogs I'd look for computers sold by DAK because they used to include complete packages that included a printer. Maybe that's the route to take in your search b
-- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com
daisy-wheel printers were produced in all kinds of models in the era - like radios, TVs, computers. DAK was a discount reseller of anything electrical or electronic in the era; there were many other resellers like that. So the more information you can provide *and confirm* the better. I will ask questions and let's see if your rmemory is revived on details. A daisy-wheel printer with two sets of fonts on it, was extremely uncommon because it would cost more to produce. Are you sure it was a daisy wheel and not a dot-matrix which could reproduce many fonts? Do you remember how you used those "buttons" on the keypad to do different things? And sensing paper edge was not at all special. What computer did you use with this printer? What did you print on it? Again, questions may revive memories which will be informative. Where did this photo come from? Is it "yeah, this looks something like my printer", or "this is from a photo of my desk in 1990 when I was in high school"? Finally - why are you interested? You are asking strangers to do work, what will this work accomplish? I spent some time in image search (useless) and "dual font daisy wheel" (Google AI claimed that daisy wheels don't work that way). Regards Herb
David Hayden via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> writes:
I think the photo says "Advantage D80" and that that rings a bell but I can find no info on such a printer online.
An archive.org full-text search finds an announcement in Computerworld from August 26, 1985: | Xerox Corp. has announced a daisywheel printer from its subsidiary, | Diablo Systems, Inc., that is said to be connectable to most personal | computers, word processors and workstations. | | The Xerox/Diablo Advantage D80 is said to produce letter-quality | documents at speeds up to 80 char./sec. with noise measured as low as | 58 dba. The unit features Diablo’s allpurpose interface, which allows | connection to RS-232, Centronics Data Computer Corp. or IEEE 488 | interfaces. | | Features include a semiautomatic paper feed, with an optional | automatic dual-bin, cut-sheet paper feeder, an envelope feed and a | bidirectional tractor for feeding forms and computer fanfold paper | through the printer. The D80 uses Diablo’s extended character set, | which contains 200 char./print wheel. Multilingual print wheels are | also available. | | The unit costs $2,195. The bidirectional tractor costs $300, and the | dual-bin, cut-sheet paper feeder costs $903 and will be available in | the fourth quarter of 1985. The envelope feeder costs $300 and snaps | onto the cut-sheet paper feeder. | | Xerox, Xerox Sq. 006, Rochester, N.Y. 14644. https://archive.org/details/computerworld1934unse/mode/2up There are also some mentions of a D80IF from the previous year. -- Adam Sampson <ats@offog.org> <http://offog.org/>
Bingo. 80 Microcomputing (magazine) December 1985 page 146 (PDF page 147) ad for the D80 *with photo*. Photo matches Hayden's fuzzy image. https://archive.org/details/80-microcomputing-magazine-1985-12/page/n147/mod... The key was to search for "Diablo D80", not "advantage" which is a very common word. Of course, persistence. No mention of a dual-font printwheel, that was a red herring. Just mention of "200 characters per printwheel" which would be enough to include say regular and italic fonts, or as previously noted "multilingual". Now, why are we looking for this? regards Herb Johnson
participants (6)
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Bill Degnan -
Dave Shevett -
David Hayden -
Herb Johnson -
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