Understanding Printers

There is an overwhelming variety of printers available today. Some print in black and white, some in color; they all connect to your computer via either the parallel or USB port.

Different Types of Printers

When it's time to choose a new printer for your system, you should consider how you want to use the printer. If all you're printing is memos, letters, and similar documents, go with a black and white printer you don't need to pay extra (in both cost and printing time) for a color model. If, on the other hand, you'll be printing out a lot of children's projects, greeting cards, and the like, go for color. And if printing photos is your goal, adding a separate photo printer is a serious option.

Let's take a quick look at the different printing technologies you can choose from.

Inkjet

The lowest-priced printer available today is the inkjet printer. Inkjet printers produce printout by spraying ink through holes in a matrix onto single sheets of paper. These printers are lower-priced than laser printers, and the best of the bunch have print quality indistinguishable from laser quality. They're also slower than laser printers, and not quite up to task if you have a large printing volume.

If you want a color printer, you're pretty much limited to inkjet technology. (Color laser printers are too expensive for most consumers.) Just make sure you get a model with a separate black cartridge, so that when you do print black and white, you're not wasting your color ink.

Laser

The highest-quality (and highest-priced) printers available today are laser printers. Popularized by Hewlett-Packard's LaserJet models, these printers work much like copying machines, using a small laser to transfer toner (a kind of powdered ink) to paper. Like inkjet printers, laser printers print on single-sheet paper, with the only moving parts being in the paper-feed mechanism.

Laser printer output is extremely high quality, and the process is fast and quiet. If you print in large volume, laser printers are the only way to go. For this reason alone, these are the kinds of printers you see in most businesses.

Photo

A photo printer is optimized to create high-quality photo prints, typically on special photo print paper. Most consumer photo printers use inkjet technology.

Note, however, that photo printers are notoriously slow (five minutes or more to make a single print) and drink ink like it's Gatorade on a hot summer day. When you add up the cost of ink cartridges and the special photo paper you have to use, you'll find that a single print will cost you ten cents or so, on average.

Combo

One of the hottest trends today is the combo printer/fax/copier/scanner machine sometimes called an all-in-one. These units are very efficient, both in terms of cost and in desktop footprint. They essentially hook up and configure like normal printers, but with additional functions.

You'll find that different manufacturers offer combo printers in a variety of configurations. Some combo units include inkjet printers; some use laser printing technology. Some feature sheet-fed scanners, others flatbed. You get the picture; shop around for the unit that best meets your particular needs.

Buying a Printer

There are several big companies that offer printers of all different shapes and sizes. These manufacturers include the following:

• Brother (www.brother.com)

• Canon (www.usa.canon.com)

• Epson (www.epson.com)

• Hewlett-Packard (www.hp.com)

• Lexmark (www.lexmark.com)