| Buying a printer can be a complicated business, | | | | image of the page onto a charged photoreceptor, |
| there are more shapes, sizes and types of | | | | which in turn attracts toner in the shape of an |
| printers available to the home and small business | | | | electrostatic charge. Toner is the material used to |
| user than ever before. Printers have also become | | | | make the image (as ink is in an inkjet printer) and |
| specialised for their intended purpose.It is no | | | | is a very fine powder, so laser printers use toner |
| longer a case of "a printer is a printer". Printers | | | | cartridges instead of ink cartridges.Laser Printers |
| are now designed to be good in a particular area | | | | have traditionally been the best printing solution |
| rather than a "Jack-of-all trades", which will do | | | | for heavy office users as they produce a very |
| everything.An often overlooked issue, is the very | | | | high quality black text finish and offer relatively |
| serious consideration of cost of ownership, which | | | | low running costs. However, laser printers have |
| is all about of how much it will cost to keep your | | | | advanced a great deal recently and their prices |
| printer running (see below). So making that | | | | have steadily dropped, as a result there are now |
| decision on which printer to go for can be a | | | | compact laser printers, multi-function and colour |
| seriously arduous task, especially if you are keen | | | | laser printers all at very affordable prices. Laser |
| to buy a printer that is not only affordable to buy | | | | printers make sense if you need to do a lot of |
| but also cheap to run.So here is the information | | | | high quality black or colour prints, not photos. The |
| that you need to know and consider, but no one | | | | great thing about a colour laser printer is that |
| tells you! We have not expanded on which printer | | | | they can print a very good quality colour image |
| is the best at any given time because models | | | | on standard copier paper, so you do not need to |
| constantly change and you can find that | | | | use expensive photo paper for large jobs. Do |
| information in any current glossy PC magazine off | | | | check the prices of the consumables before you |
| the shelf. Instead, here you will find the good, bad | | | | buy the printer as these can be very expensive |
| and ugly bits from the different types of printers | | | | for colour laser printers.Laser printers are the best |
| available so you can make an informed decision | | | | solution for people who are printing in large |
| yourself.Inkjet TechnologyInkjet printers form | | | | volumes, that is, in 100's of pages at a time or |
| images by spraying tiny droplets of liquid ink onto | | | | 1000's of pages per month. Colour lasers also |
| paper. The size and precision of the dots of ink | | | | take quite a while to warm up, so are not ideal |
| and the type and quality of the ink itself govern | | | | for printing single pages.Solid Ink PrintersSolid ink |
| how good the print quality is. A quality inkjet | | | | printers use solid wax ink sticks in a |
| printer can produce very near photo-quality | | | | "phase-change" process, they work by liquefying |
| images using specialist photo coated paper. In | | | | wax ink sticks into reservoirs and then squirting |
| general there are two types of inkjet printers, | | | | the ink onto a transfer drum from where it is |
| those with the printhead built into the printer like | | | | cold-fused onto the paper in a single pass. Solid ink |
| Epson, Brother etc and those where the printhead | | | | printers are marketed almost exclusively by |
| is actually on the ink cartridge like HP and | | | | Tektronix / Xerox and are aimed at larger |
| Lexmark. There are many arguments for and | | | | businesses and high volume colour printing.Solid ink |
| against both technologies, but in our experience | | | | printers used to be cheaper to purchase than |
| we have found both to be very good, the major | | | | similarly specified colour lasers and fairly |
| difference seems to be that the cost of running a | | | | economical to run owing to a low component |
| printer using the "printhead" type ink cartridge is | | | | usage, today it is not necessarily any cheaper |
| usually higher.Inkjet ink is specially formulated for | | | | than a colour laser printer. Output quality is good |
| specific printer models and their purpose, much | | | | but generally not as good as the best colour |
| technology is involved in the development of | | | | lasers for text and graphics or the best inkjets |
| these inks to improve print quality, longevity, | | | | for photographs. Print speeds are not as fast as |
| drying speeds and printing speeds etc. Most inkjet | | | | most colour lasers.Dye-Sublimation |
| ink is produced using dye based ink which can | | | | PrintersDye-Sublimation printers use heat and solid |
| flow easily through the tiny nozzles of the | | | | colour dyes to produce lab-quality photographic |
| printhead, this type of ink is good for photos and | | | | images. Dye-Sub printers contain a roll of |
| colour shades but not so good for longevity or | | | | transparent film made up of page-sized panels of |
| solid vibrant colour, think of it like a water colour | | | | colour, with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black dye |
| painting. In recent years pigment ink technology | | | | embedded in the film. Print head heating elements |
| has advanced considerably to enable use in inkjet | | | | vaporize the inks, which adhere to a specially |
| printing. Previously ink pigments were too large | | | | coated paper, as the ink cools it re-solidifies on |
| and would block up the nozzles. This type of ink is | | | | the paper. Colour intensity is controlled by precise |
| good for solid colours and longevity, think of it like | | | | variations in temperature.Dye-sublimation printers |
| an oil painting.Manufacturers like Epson, HP and Jet | | | | lay down color in continuous tones one color at a |
| Tec are now increasingly using a fusion of dye | | | | time instead of dots of ink like an inkjet, because |
| based and pigmented inks to create superb quality | | | | the colour is absorbed into the paper rather than |
| photo printing with vibrant colours and longevity | | | | sitting on the surface, the output is more |
| too.Inkjet printers use anything between two and | | | | photo-realistic, more durable and less vulnerable to |
| eight ink cartridges to do their job. Generally | | | | fading than other ink technologies.The downside of |
| speaking the entry-level machines use two | | | | Dye-Sub printers is that they are generally more |
| cartridges, good all round machines use four and | | | | expensive to buy and run, usually limited to photo |
| specialist photo printers use six or more. The two | | | | sized prints only and can only print onto one type |
| cartridge system works fine though can be a bit | | | | of specialised paper as well as being quite slow to |
| wasteful on the colour ink, so go for a | | | | print.Dye-Sublimation printers are best for those |
| four-cartridge system where possible especially if | | | | who want to link up their digital camera to a |
| you do colour printing. The six or more cartridge | | | | purpose built printer and print out the finest quality |
| systems produce outstanding photos, but can be | | | | photos at home without fuss.Dot Matrix |
| costly and a pain to keep changing cartridges | | | | PrintersDot matrix printers are relatively old |
| (printer does not work if any one cartridge is | | | | fashioned technology today with poor quality print, |
| empty).Inkjet printers are the best solution for | | | | slow and very noisy output. This type of printer is |
| most people and are usually the most cost | | | | no longer used unless you wish to create invoices |
| effective way to print - unless you are printing | | | | using the continuous paper with holes on both |
| large volumes.Portable Inkjet Printers | | | | sides. The good thing is that they are very cheap |
| These printers are small, lightweight and ideal for | | | | to run!Cost of OwnershipMany printers today are |
| people on the move. Although the printing of high | | | | very cheap to buy, but people are sometimes |
| quality photographs is usually beyond this type of | | | | shocked to discover the cost of replacing the |
| printer, basic colour printing is of good quality and | | | | consumables (ink or laser cartridges, imaging |
| the quality of text print is mostly outstanding | | | | drums, fuser, oils, specialist papers etc). The cost |
| considering the size of these tiny portable A4 | | | | of replacing the ink can sometimes cost more |
| printers. These printers are not suitable for high | | | | than the printer itself! This is one of the most |
| volume printing.Inkjet PrintersThe Inkjet Printer is | | | | commonly overlooked factors when printers are |
| the most commonly used type of printer among | | | | reviewed and yet one of the most important |
| home and small business users. With excellent all | | | | things to consider before handing over your hard |
| round printing capabilities, from black & white text | | | | earned cash. Tests run in 2003 by Which? |
| print and good colour prints through to very | | | | magazine famously compared the cost of HP's ink |
| hi-resolution, high quality photographs using Inkjet | | | | with vintage 1985 Dom Perignon.A Sheffield City |
| Photo Printers. Inkjet printers are available from | | | | Council report aimed at helping schools decide on |
| cheap entry level to high-end business use | | | | the best-value printers to buy, calculated total |
| machines and can print from photo size prints to | | | | cost of ownership over the lifetime of a printer |
| massive A2 and bigger sizes, there are models | | | | (not sure how long that is!). Adding up all the |
| for occasional use and others for high volume | | | | running costs, ink or toner, paper, maintenance |
| print jobs too. One of the many great things | | | | and even electricity, SCC worked out that a |
| about Inkjet printers is that you can use a wide | | | | colour inkjet costs approx 38p per page to run |
| variety of media to print on, including standard | | | | compared to a colour laser which costs approx 7p |
| paper, photo paper, card, t-shirt transfers, canvas, | | | | per page. Sheffield City Council advised its schools |
| projector film etc, achieving different looks and | | | | that if they printed more than three colour pages |
| textures for your prints and print for different | | | | a day (assuming a 40-week academic year) they |
| purposes. Most Inkjet printers are USB | | | | should buy a laser.These figures cannot be taken |
| connections and not suitable for networks, | | | | hard and fast due to the many variables involved, |
| although models are also available for networks | | | | but it is generally accepted that the cost per print |
| and with parallel connections.Multi-Function Inkjet | | | | of a laser printer is cheaper than that of an inkjet, |
| PrintersMulti-Function Inkjet Printers have been | | | | which is in turn cheaper than that of a sub-dye |
| built to meet the needs of home offices and small | | | | printer. However, you would have to do a fair |
| businesses. These excellent value machines | | | | amount of colour printing to take advantage of |
| provide multiple solutions in one compact and easy | | | | the economy offered by a laser |
| to use machine i.e. printing, scanning, copying and | | | | printer.SummaryWhen buying a printer, firstly |
| some also have built in fax machines too. Not only | | | | carefully consider its use, is it mostly general |
| are these machines great for saving space on | | | | printing or for photographs, is it for occasional use |
| your desk, but they are also very good for | | | | or high volumes, will it be a stand alone device or |
| printing too using the same technology as | | | | connected to a network? Then using the guideline |
| standard inkjet printers. The only thing you should | | | | information above you will be able to decide on |
| be aware of is that you can only use one function | | | | which type of printer is most suitable for you at |
| at a time and if anything goes wrong with an | | | | the time.Article by Iggy Quazi director of |
| "All-in-one" machine, you may lose the all the | | | | Ecommerce business Mouse2House based in |
| functions at once!Laser PrintersLaser printers | | | | Essex, England stocking a wide range of digital |
| work in a similar way to photocopiers, except | | | | imaging devices. ...For more information visit for |
| they use a laser instead of a bright light to scan | | | | the latest digital media products. |
| with. They work by creating an electrostatic | | | | |