Computer Printers

1. Day-to-day Printing

Every business needs to produce letters, memos, reports and address labels.

The amount you need to spend on a printer will largely depend on the quality, speed and versatility you require.

1.1 Compare the quality of different printers.

Printers with more dots per inch (dpi) produce crisper, more detailed images.

• Any letters you send out should be printed at a minimum of 600dpi. A basic laser printer will print at 600dpi. A good one will print at 1,200dpi, or more.
• Inkjet printers are cheaper than laser printers and produce good output. But they tend to be slower (see 1.2).
• The low-quality output of dot-matrix (impact) printers makes them unsuitable for printing letters and documents. But you will need a dot-matrix printer if you want to use multi-part stationery or carbonless paper (see 3.2).

1.2 Compare the speed of different printers.

• Small laser printers are suitable for small businesses with one to three people using them. They print at a speed of eight to 16 pages per minute (ppm) and are designed to produce 1,000 to 5,000 pages per month.
• Heavy-duty laser printers are suitable for larger networks. Some expensive, fast laser printers are network-ready; others connect to a print server (see 5.2). These large laser machines will print at 12 to 40ppm. The volume the printer is designed to handle is usually matched to the speed of the printer.
• Inkjet and dot-matrix printers are generally slower than laser printers. They produce two to eight ppm (they take longer to print pages with more ink on them).

1.3 Consider the versatility of different printers.

• Large-capacity feed trays cut the number of times you have to refill a network printer. They can hold thousands of sheets of paper.
• Two or more paper feed trays make it easier to switch between different kinds of paper, such as ordinary printing paper, letterheads and labels.
• Some large laser printers have separate trays for envelopes and labels.
• Use an inkjet printer to print on card or film (eg for business cards or OHP slides). They are the cheapest way to print in colour and do not distort the card or film.
• Use a dot-matrix printer to print on multi-part or carbonless paper (see 3.2).
• Check before using a laser printer to print on film or glued paper. The heat may melt them and damage the printer.
• Some laser printers can work with both PC-compatible and Macintosh computers, but most are designed to work with one or the other.

1.4 Compare the running costs of different printers.

• For example, a page printed on a laser printer costs less than one printed on an inkjet printer. So if you have large print runs you may find it cheaper to buy a laser printer, even though the initial costs are greater.

1.5 Consider using a multifunctional device which combines a laser or inkjet printer with a photocopier, scanner and fax.

This can save you both time and money.

• A combined machine reduces the number of different consumables (for example, toner cartridge) that you will need.
• Consider whether the expected workload for one of the functions is likely to be much greater than the others. A printer bottleneck can easily arise if this is the case.