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