Choosing the Right Printer

The computer printer produces a hard copy (permanent human-readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form on paper or transparencies. Of the several types of printers currently in use, we will concern ourselves with those most commonly used at home or in small business. These are the inkjet printer, the laser printer, and the multi-function printer (printer, scanner, and fax). With each of these printers you must understand that the speed and resolution affect the price. The speed is measured in pages per minute (ppm) or characters per minute (cpm). The resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). It is important for you to think how you are going to use your computer printer. Will you print one page a day, or ten, or more? Will you print text or graphics? Will you print photographs? Do you need a scanner or fax machine? These considerations will help you in deciding which printer you should select.

The inkjet printer is the most popular printer nowadays; it uses liquid ink, which is sprayed on paper forming characters and images. It is good for both color and black and white printing, and has good speed. This printer can be used for text or graphics, because of its excellent resolution. It is ideal for home or small office where printing demands are not very great.

The laser printer is more expensive, and is better suited for printing a greater number of pages per month. This printer uses powdered ink and a xerographic process to create images on paper. A color laser printer is more expensive then a monochrome printer. It is well suited for home or office, and can be used as a network printer.

The multi-function printer can house either an inkjet or a laser printer while it also houses a flatbed scanner and a fax machine. Some of the newer multi-function printers do not have a built in fax, but rely on the fax software on the computer itself. This makes a powerful combination allowing you to fax original documents, as well as computer generated data. It also gives you a color copier using the scanner and printer. The scanner allows you to input text and graphics into the computer, where it can convert textual data to alphanumeric data with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software.

The USB port which offers higher data transfer rate, better compatibility, and hot-swappablity; has become the standard and has replaced the LPT port. Currently almost all printers come with a USB port and some even feature PictBridge (a technology based on the USB interface). You can connect a PictBridge-enabled digital camera to a PictBridge-enabled printer. Other ports may also be available on certain printers for specific applications, such as network ports (RJ-45) and the fax port (RJ-11).