Which Printer for Which Use

Along with the USB key, the computer monitor, the external hard drive, the computer keyboard, and the PC camera, the printer is one of the essential peripherals of the computer.

Printer: several models for your computer

There are three main types of computer printers:

– Inkjet printers:

– This is the most common type of printer and has an excellent price-quality ratio.

With this type of printer, printing is done by projecting ink drops on the paper, thanks to nozzles.

It is necessary to be careful because the nozzles can become blocked in case of prolonged non-use.

– Laser printers:

– The laser printer is specially reserved for professional use because of its cost of purchase and that of its consumables.

– The ink is contained in a tuner in the form of powder.

– A laser printer thus offers precise and economical printing in ink.

– Dye-sublimation printers:

– This type of printer is used for printing photos.

– The print heads are composed of heating resistors that transform the ink into gas.

– The shade of the color is variable according to the temperature of the print head.

A dye-sublimation printer allows composing more than 1607 million colors and obtaining a printing result close to silver.

Which printer for which use?

The printer is mainly used for printing documents of all kinds.

But nowadays, there are more and more multifunctional printers with a scanner that can make photocopies and sometimes even a fax function.

Most printers even have memory card readers to print photos directly from your memory cards. Some also offer the possibility to connect a camera directly.

The printer thus offers more and more options that do not necessarily require turning on the computer to use it.

Printer: the points to compare to choose well

Here are the different parameters you need to study to choose a printer that suits your needs:

– Cartridges:

– When you buy a printer, it is important to know the price of the cartridges. This can vary from less than $10 to more than $30.

– It is essential to know that printer cartridges tend to be cheap when they first come out of a printer and then increase as the printer gets older.

– The price of cartridges will also depend on whether or not the read heads are integrated into the cartridge.

Cartridges with integrated read heads are more expensive, but the printer’s life expectancy is longer than for a printer where the read heads are on the printer.

– Resolution:

– The resolution of a printer is the accuracy of the image. This one is calculated in point per inch (PPP).

– The more the resolution is important, the more the image is clear.

However, the image will be better on a laser printer or a dye-sublimation printer than on an inkjet printer with the exact resolution.

It is possible to choose your resolution for each print within the printer’s maximum resolution.

– Printing speed:

– Print speed is the number of pages printed per minute (ppm). In addition to the printing speed, it is also necessary to consider the processing time of a page, which depends on the processor and the RAM of the printer.

– The speed will also vary according to the resolution and the chosen print quality.

– The printing speed indicated by the manufacturers is given for the lowest printing quality.

– Connections:

– The most common connection for printers is the USB port.

– Some printers can also be connected to the Ethernet port (RJ45) or WiFi or Bluetooth.

Printer price: from $60

The price of a printer is very variable.

It depends on the type of printer (laser or inkjet, for example), its functions, and its performance.

Here is a guide to the usual price of a printer:

Laser printer price

– Simple laser printer: $70 to $220,

– Multifunction laser printer: $100 to $500,

Inkjet printer price

– Inkjet printer: $85 to $400,

– Multifunctional inkjet printer: $60 to $180.