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The type of
printer you choose depends on what
you want to print, be it text,
graphics or photos in black &
white or colour. If you know that
text will make up the bulk of your
printing then a monochrome Laser
printer will suit your needs. But
for most graphics and photos you'll
want colour, which means an inkjet
printer or possibly a colour laser.
One of the best
ways to get information about
printers is online. Some
manufacturer sites have solution
advisors that allow you to select
criteria like price, interface and
type of printer, and then search for
models that match your
specifications. Often you can view
several sets of printer specs
side-by-side for easy comparison.
Reviews are also a significant
source of information, providing
analysis on price, speed, print
quality and usability.
Research is important and below is some brief
information that we hope will be
useful.
ADVANTAGES
OF A LASER
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The main
advantages of laser printers are
speed, precision and economy. A
laser can move with much greater
speed than an ink jet. And because
the laser beam has an unvarying
diameter, it can draw more
precisely, without spilling any
excess ink.
Laser printers or LaserJet printers tend to be more expensive than
inkjet printers, but it does not
cost as much to keep them running.
Toner powder is cheap and lasts a
long time, while you can use up
expensive ink cartridges very
quickly. This is why offices
typically use a laser printer for
printing long text documents.
However, prices have gone down as manufacturers have
found new ways of cutting costs.
Output quality and build size has
improved, making them more suited to
home use.
MONOCHROME
LASER
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Laser
printers work on the same
electrostatic concept as
photocopiers, which accounts for
their speed. A monochrome laser
produces sharp text fast. Lasers are
best at reproducing text, especially
if you need to print fonts that are
larger or smaller than the usual 10
to 12 point sizes. A laser printer
offers a lower cost per page since
monochrome toner is comparatively
cheap and regular paper does the
job.
Laser
printers also tend to have better
paper handling options. For example,
they can hold more paper or make it
easier to attach an extra tray for
different paper sizes. These
features make monochrome lasers a
great choice for a home office.
COLOUR
LASERS
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Laser
printers are usually monochrome
devices, but as with most mono
technologies, laser printing can be
adapted to colour. It does this by
using cyan, magenta and yellow in
combination to produce the different
printable colours.
A
key area of development, pioneered
by Lexmark's 12ppm LED printer
launched in the autumn of 1998,
boosted colour print speed up to the
same level as mono. The Lexmark
Optra Colour 1200N achieves this by
having completely separate processes
for each colour.
Apart
from their speed, one of the main
advantages of colour lasers is the
durability of their output - a
function of the chemically inert
toners that are fused onto the
paper's surface rather than absorbed
into it, as with most inkjets. This
allows colour lasers to print well
on a variety of media, without the
problems of smudging and fading that
beset many inkjets. Furthermore, by
controlling the amount of heat and
pressure in the fusing process,
output can be given a
user-controllable
"finish", from matte
through to gloss.
The
future for laser and LED colour
printing looks bright. Within years
of the first appearance of colour
lasers in 1994 prices have dropped.
With the market continuing to be
stimulated, both by falling prices
and improved technology, it looks
inevitable that the laser or LED
colour laser will become as
commonplace and as indispensable as
the photocopier.
CONSUMABLES
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By
dividing the total cost of
consumables by the number of pages
produced from those consumables, you
can calculate a cost per page.
In
addition to toner, laser printers
have a number of components that
periodically need to be changed. A
toner cartridge has inside of it an
OPC (Organic Photoconductor) drum,
developer unit, ozone filter and
fuser, which explain why cartridges
can be so expensive. Some printers
allow you to change each of these
components separately so you'll need
to calculate the individual
replacement prices plus toner to
arrive at a figure that is
equivalent to cartridge price.
DRUM
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Most
lasers use cartridge technology
based on an organic photoconductive
(OPC) drum, coated in
light-sensitive material. During the
lifetime of the printer, the drum
needs to be periodically replaced as
its surface wears out and print
quality deteriorates.
TONER
CARTRIDGE
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The
cartridge is the major item in a
laser printer. Its lifetime depends
on the quantity of toner it
contains. When the toner runs out,
the cartridge is replaced. Sometimes
the toner cartridge and the OPC drum
are housed separately, but in the
worst case, the drum is located
inside the cartridge. This means
that when the toner runs out, the
whole drum containing the OPC
cartridge needs to be replaced,
which adds considerably to the
running costs of the printer and
produces large amounts of waste.
The
situation is even worse with a
colour laser - which can actually
have up to nine separate consumables
items (four colour toners, an OPC
belt or drum, a developer unit, a
fuser unit, fuser oil and a waste
toner bottle). Many of these must be
fitted when the printer is set up,
and all expire after varying pages
counts, depending on the
manufacturer and usage. This high
component count is a major reason
for the cost and general lack of
usability and manageability of
colour lasers, and its reduction is
a major focus for laser printer
manufacturers. Not all the
consumables in cartridges wear out
when the toner is finished so you
can save money and recycle the
cartridge.
RECYCLED
TONERS
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A
recycler can simply refill the
cartridge with toner or
remanufacture the cartridge by
replacing the drum and a few other
components with new ones. The
recycled cartridge is usually
quality tested too. Buying recycled
cartridges can save you between
25-50%, and help the environment. We
sell many of these, see our site for
prices.
RESOLUTION
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Once
you know what type of printer you
need, there are a number of
technical criteria that are worth
consideration. Firstly, the
printer's resolution tells you how
many dots per inch (dpi) can be
printed. Simply, the higher the
resolution the better the image
quality. Resolutions are quoted for
both the horizontal and vertical
(i.e. 300x600). The standard
resolution to aim for is 600x600.
SPEED
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Printer
speeds vary a lot with lasers being
faster than inkjets and monochrome
text printing faster than colour
graphics. The page per minute (ppm)
quotes in the printer specs measure
how fast the engine can turn out
blank paper. This is not the actual
printing time since it fails to take
into account processing time. Raw
engine speed does give an indication
of true printing time, but it's
wiser to read printer reviews that
quote-actual ppm.
PAPER
HANDLING
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Paper
is obviously a crucial part of
printing. For text, most printers do
well on ordinary stock, but colour
printers often require specialized
stock for optimal results. Factor in
the extra cost for this paper when
you evaluate cost per page. As far
as page size goes, most lasers and
inkjets can handle A4, but expect to
pay more for a printer that can
handle A3 pages. Some printers can
also print on heavy stock,
envelopes, transparencies and
labels. Make sure the printer can
handle the types of paper you need.
If you want to print on a variety of
papers, you should also consider
multiple paper trays. The capacity
of the trays may be a factor
depending on your expected printing
volume.
COMPATIBILITY
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Not
every printer is compatible with
both Apple and Windows computers.
The specifications will tell you
what operating systems are
supported. This all depends on the
printer language, which consists of
computer commands that tell a
printer how to format a document.
The de facto standards are PCL
(Hewlett-Packard Printer Command
Language) and Adobe Postscript.
Windows GDI (Graphical Device
Interface) can cause trouble if
you're printing from DOS programs so
check if the printer also uses
another language like PCL.
Postscript is the best at retaining
the original formatting if you're
swapping files with others.
INTERFACE
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Another
issue between your computer and
printer is the interface. The
parallel port is fine for personal
use or in a small office where users
are sharing one printer. But larger
workgroups will require a network
connection. There are many choices
for network connectors so they are
often considered extra accessories
and not included in a printer's
cost. Recently, a third connecting
option appeared on the market, the
USB (Universal Serial Bus). USB
offers higher data transfer rates.
MEMORY
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Laser
printers need memory to hold a
document. Often manufacturers reduce
printer prices by including just
enough memory for low-resolution
printing. Make sure you check the
printer has sufficient memory to
print at the resolutions you want.
Find out how much extra memory costs
in case you want to upgrade later to
increase the printer's efficiency.
Also find out if you can upgrade
with cheaper generic memory or if
you have to use the manufacturer's
brand.
That’s
all for now, we wish you the best of
luck and let us know weather you
found the above information useful!
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