I recently bought an Agfa Selectset 7000 imagesetter.
It came with an APS RIP that runs on an old DEC Alpha 266 MHz PC,
and has a PCI SCSI card. The SCSI cable goes to an Autologic
interface box which is cabled to the imagesetter.

I'm interested in upgrading the RIP setup so I can hopefully do the
following:

1) Transfer PCI SCSI card to a new Pentium PC running Windows 2000
or Windows XP.

2) Get upgraded RIP software that'll work with the hardware and support
postscript level 3. My intention is to accept only .pdf files, then impose
them in 4-up format.

I'd like to do the above for $2000.00 or less.
So far people have told me to spend $4500 or so to get a Harlequin RIP
with Xitron interface, but that's more than I paid for the imagesetter.
If this is the only way to go, I'll do it, but I'm hoping there are alternatives.

My background is very technical, but I know only a little about printing.
My partner in this project knows a lot about printing, but isn't a computer
person.

I don't know if there is any "new" rip that you will be able to get for 2000 for an imagesetter.

We use a SS7000 and use the Xitron/Harlequin interface.

You could try looking for a used one about 2-3 years old. If you can get a printers trade magazine you can usually find ads for places selling stuff like that.

:)

Thanks for your answer. :)

What version of Harlequin/Xitron do you use with your Selectset 7000,
and are you happy with it?