Atari SLM605

Atari SLM605
An SLM605 with its paper tray (photograph: atari-computermuseum.de)
Manufacturer	TEC for Atari Corp. according to atari-computermuseum.de; Epson according to the AEX site
Type	300 dpi laser page printer
Release date	Shown 24 August 1990 (Atari Messe, Düsseldorf); on sale 1990
Discontinued	About 1993
Price	DM 2,248 (1990); US$1,295.95 (November 1990)
Interface	Atari DMA (ACSI) port, through the SLMC804 controller
Compatible	Atari ST and TT computers with at least 2 MB of RAM
Dimensions	41 × 21 × 41.5 cm (W × H × D)
Weight	15.4 kg
Predecessor	Atari SLM804

The Atari SLM605 is a 300 dpi laser printer that Atari Corp. sold for the Atari ST and TT from 1990, as the successor to the Atari SLM804. Like the SLM804 it holds only the print engine. The computer builds each page in its own memory and sends it through the same SLMC804 controller on the DMA port, so it needs at least 2 MB of RAM. It is smaller and a little slower than the SLM804, at 6 pages a minute against 8, but its first page comes out sooner.

History

atari-computermuseum.de records that the SLM605 was first shown at the Atari Messe in Düsseldorf on 24 August 1990 and went on sale that year at DM 2,248. In the United States it cost $1,295.95 in November 1990. Production ended in about 1993.

START reported from the Fall COMDEX in Las Vegas in November 1990 that the new printer produced fast and flawless copies, printing six pages a minute at 300 × 300 dpi for under $1,300. The same report listed the hardware and software bundles Atari had approved for the fourth quarter of 1990. Two of them, at $2,099 each, were desktop publishing packs with a Mega 2, an Atari SM124 monitor, a Atari Megafile 30 hard disk and an SLM605, one with Calamus and one with Deskset II.

Sources disagree about who built the printer. atari-computermuseum.de gives TEC as the manufacturer, as for the SLM804. The AEX site (atari-explorer.ctrl-alt-rees.com) says the SLM605 was a lower-maintenance unit made for Atari by Epson. No service document hosted here settles the question.

Specifications

SLM605 specifications (atari-computermuseum.de)

Item	Value
Print method	Electrostatic photocopying with laser scanning; dry dual-component developer
Resolution	300 dpi
Speed	About 20 seconds for the first page, then 6 pages per minute; warm-up about 60 seconds
Media	Standard copier paper, labels, envelopes, transparencies suitable for copiers
Paper feed	Cassette and manual feed
Connection	External SLMC804 DMA controller to the computer's ACSI port
Dimensions	41 × 21 × 41.5 cm (W × H × D)
Weight	15.4 kg

The control panel in the museum's photograph has a paper-size slider marked Letter, Legal, A4 and B5, keys marked MANUAL, THICK PAPER and PRINT, and lamps that include POWER, READY, ERROR and CHANGE DRUM. The top cover lifts to give access to the drum and toner area.

Controller

The SLM605 uses the SLMC804 controller made for the SLM804. The controller's command set and status codes are described in Atari's The Atari Page Printer Interface (April 1988); see Atari SLM804#The SLMC804 controller and Atari SLM804 Troubleshooting Guide#SLMC804 status codes. Those codes come from the controller, so they are what an ST program reports with either printer. The SLM605 engine's own signals and lamps are not covered by any document hosted here.

Repair and documentation

The Atari Document Archive lists an Atari SLM605 owner's manual (C398791-001 Rev. A) with a French edition, and an SLM605 service manual (E0-30038A, May 1991). Neither is hosted here. For the shared controller, see Atari SLM804 Troubleshooting Guide and Atari SLM804 Documentation.

Gallery

• 
  Control panel (atari-computermuseum.de)
• 
  Top cover raised (atari-computermuseum.de)
• 
  SLMC804 controller (atari-computermuseum.de)
• 
  Back of the SLMC804 (atari-computermuseum.de)

Related pages

• Atari SLM804
• Atari SLM804 Troubleshooting Guide
• Atari SLM804 Documentation
• Atari Mega ST, Atari Mega STE, Atari TT030