Over the past several weeks, I have received several e-mails from readers inquiring about printers, specifically, to do with the purchasing or replacement of an older printer:
I would like to let you know how much I like reading your very informative column. Recently, I noticed that the print quality on my printer has begun to deteriorate and am contemplating, right now, on replacing my 7 year old printer. Since the purchase of my last printer, I have noticed that the choices have grown and choosing one seems very daunting to me. Could you help me decide?
– Susan M, avid reader.
Next to the good old monitor, the printer is probably the most frequently used part of the average home computer. Over the past couple of years the technology in these “buggers” has changed considerably. Today, printers can produce a vast array of projects from the production of near quality photos that rival those developed by professional photo finishers to colourful banners, posters, and text documents.
Generally speaking, there are two groups of printers out there in the world – impact and non-impact printers. The basic difference between the two types of printers comes down to whether or not the print head of the printer actually makes contact with the paper during the process of printing. Impact or dot-matrix printers, for the most part, are computer history, but some may still be used in old cash registers or businesses that still use carbon-paper forms. Most computer users, today, will probably be buying some type of a non-impact printer either an inkjet or laser printer.
Inkjet printers have been around since the 70’s and uses a series of tiny nozzles that spray ink onto the paper. The tiny droplets of ink together form the image or text on the paper. Inkjets are quiet and very suitable for home or small office use. The inkjet printers, today, are relatively inexpensive. Inkjet printers provide their owners with the flexibility to take on a variety of projects in colour or black and white. Inkjets tend not to produce very crisp black and white text or line graphics but produce very photorealistic images and pictures relative to their laser counterparts. While the initial cost of the printer is quite low, the operating (maintenance) cost over the long run is quite high relative to a laser printer. Beware that guys and gals that are planning on doing a lot of printouts will eventually be kicking themselves in the long haul.
Consumables, particularly the ink, are the biggest cost of operating an inkjet printer. Inkjet cartridges, for the most part, are all refillable. But, once refilled, depending upon the type of inkjet cartridge one has, printout quality usually deteriorates. Printout quality often has nothing to do with the ink, but rather the cartridge. There are two types of ink cartridges on the market today, ones that have built-in print heads and those that do not. Lexmark, Hewlett-Packard, and Canon inkjet printers use the former whereas Epson printers use the later. The ones with print heads are generally more expensive and provide users with higher quality printouts because every time the user buys a new cartridge he or she is essentially getting a new printer because both the print head and ink are being replaced. The ink cartridges for these printers are designed not to be refilled because the ink actually insulates the print head from burning out or deteriorating. So as the ink is used up the print head gradually deteriorates and thus when the user attempts to refill and use the old cartridges he or she will get deteriorating print quality. Instead of buying a refill kit for these types of old cartridges, users should buy OEM (original equipment manufacturer) cartridges. These are cartridges that are made by, usually, the same manufacturer that made the cartridges and sold them under the brand name of your printer. You can get these at local stationary stores or stores that specialize in selling printer supplies. The cartridges that do not have print heads like the ones in the Epson brand printers tend to be refillable because they are just containers of ink. The print head is actually a permanent part of the printer. You usually should notice very little degradation in print quality unless of course you use the wrong type of ink and clog the tiny ink nozzles in your print head. In this case, you probably have to either take it to a technician or buy a new printer. Make sure you are using the right type of ink if you are planning on refilling these types of ink cartridges yourself.
Laser printers use a laser to reproduce the image or document the user wants to printout. If you really keen on wanting to know how a laser printer really works check out the How Stuff Works website. Laser printers are great for, primarily, doing black and white text documents or images. Colour laser printers are just beginning to sell at prices that are affordable to small home/business users. The colour images produced by these machines are still not as good as the average inkjet. All laser printers can handle a heavier workload and are quicker than your typical inkjet. Laser printers are cheaper to operate, cost per page wise, in the long run. The toner or printer cartridge lasts considerably longer than its inkjet equivalent. Recycled toner cartridges, particularly for the larger brands of printers like Hewlett Packard, are readily available to further reduce to cost of ownership. Additionally, laser printers do not need to use additional specialty paper to print out certain projects like: photographs, cards, etc. Laser printers just require regular paper. The only downside to buying a laser printer is the initial cost of a printer tends to be slightly higher than an Inkjet.
Most laser printers sold today are using laser technology, but there are models of laser printers, particularly the lower end laser printers, out on the market that uses an LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology. LED type laser printers are not really laser printers per se. LED laser printers are cheaper but produce inferior images and text output relative to ones using a laser technology. So, make sure you ask the sales representative about it before you buy…
Multifunctional Printers…
Users in small or home businesses may want to opt for one of numerous multi-functional units out on the market. Multifunctional printers can copy, scan, fax, and print documents in colour, or black and white. The multi-use machines can give their purchasers incredible flexibility by replacing their scanner, printer, and fax machines with a single unit. There are two types of multifunctional printers – inkjet and laser. Depending on what you want to do and how much you want to pay, these multifunctional units may fit the bill.
Other things to consider…
- Pages per Minute (ppm). This specification measures the speed of the printer. The page per minute that is printed on the box is usually somewhat inflated by the manufacturer. The actual ppm is usually closer to half of what is stated on the box.
- Maximum resolution of printer is measured by DPI or Dots per inch. In short the more dpi your printer can produce the finer the image or picture or crisper the black and white text will be.
- If you are planning on buying a laser printer, make sure you take a look at the amount of memory that is included with your printer. This is important if you are going to be sharing the printer between two or more computers. The more memory you have the smaller the printer queue will be, meaning the faster your print job will come out of the printer.
- Connectivity. For guys and gals with older computers, make sure that the printer comes with a parallel cable connection. Most printers sold today only come with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection. USB connections do provide for faster transfers of data from computer to printer, so if you are planning on printing large files, like photos of family and friends, it is good to have a USB connected printer.
- Paper Tray capacity. This is important if you plan on sharing your printer between two or more computers and are printing large files or documents. Most home inkjets and lasers hold between 50 to 250 sheets of paper which sufficient. You definitely do not want to be running around looking for paper to put into the tray every time you print.
- Paper handling capabilities. Important if you are going to be doing print jobs that require different paper sizes like: envelopes, and banners.
- Cross platform compatibility. Some printers work better with Windows computers whereas others work well with Macintosh machines. If you are working with both types of machines in an office or at home make sure it is cross-platform friendly.
- For individual who are going to primarily use their printers to print photographs, consider getting an inkjet that does borderless printing or inkjets that just do photos. Special photo inkjets are also available that allow users to simply plug in their flash media cards (memory cards) or via USB connection directly into the printer without ever having to turn on the computer, a major plus for digital photographers.
Well, there you have it, everything and just about anything you want to know about purchasing a new printer.
Until next time,
~Geekboy
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions feel free to e-mail me at: gb.technobytes@gmail.com or by clicking here.
Posted by Geekboy 
TECHNOBYTES 