4.2BSD/usr/doc/hints/10.t

.sh PLOTTERS
Electrostatic printer/plotters that are capable of 200 dots/inch are usable
both as plotters and as output devices for \fItroff\fP.  We have an old
model Varian that requires considerable care and feeding; newer models
are said to be less of a headache.  A new Versatec 11'' model
sells for about $8,000.  The objections to all these guys are that
the paper tends to be wet sometimes, stinky, and more expensive
than line printer ($20 per 1000 sheets).
These are high maintenance items as are all heavily used hardcopy
output devices we are familiar with.
For \fItroff\fP, we now vastly prefer the Imagen laser printer
mentioned above.