Buying a Printer Often, a printer is the first major purchase after you buy a computer. This article is also helpful for those who are thinking about upgrading to a new printer or adding a second printer. Technologies Dot Matrix Printers Dot-matrix printers are the lowest-cost printer to own and operate. The printer ribbons are made of an endless loop of fabric, and they last a long time, as the ribbon is a continuous loop of fabric in the ribbon cartridge. A dot-matrix printer can be purchased in a 9-pin or a 24-pin model. Think of the 9-pin as characters being formed by nine "number-2" pencils. Think of the 24-pin as characters being formed by 24 "number-3" pencils. Speed ratings are often misleading, because when printing from Windows, the slower graphics mode of the printer is used. Dot matrix printers are noisy and can disturb people trying to sleep or hear the television. Dot matrix print technology is really needed if you wish to use multiple-part forms (carbons). Color models take a long time to print, as colors are often formed by printing one over another, like blue over yellow to obtain green. Dot matrix printers can print usually from 180 to 360 dots per inch. The ribbon cost comes out to about less than a half-cent per page, for black and white printing. Ink Jet Printers Ink jet printers are a very quiet technology; they print by forming very small dots sprayed by 48-50 electronic nozzles at the same clarity as more- expensive laser printers. Newer models are also capable of printing color. Compare the availability and prices of replacement cartridges. Some models use a combination of a print head and ink cartridge that is replaced as a unit. Other models use a permanent print head, and use a replaceable ink cartridge. Inkjet printers can print from 180 to 720 dots per inch. A 300 dots per inch inkjet printer will print better quality than a 360 dots per inch dot matrix printer. This is because the inkjet prints characters formed by smaller dots. As the amount of dots per inch (resolution) increases, and colors are used, expect a "delay" before actual printing can begin. It takes time for all the "dots" to get "computed." This is perfectly normal. Inkjet models are ideal when you will print fewer than 50 pages a day. Check the printer documentation for any manufacturer-recommended special papers or restrictions on envelope size. Ink Jet Color Printers "Monochrome" means it prints only in black with black ink. A "4-color" printer means it prints colors with colored ink and blacks with black ink. Since black is often used most, it helps if black ink can be replaced separately from colored inks. A "3-color" printer means it prints all black with a black ink cartridge or prints with a 3-color cartridge and produces black by mixing the three colors. A 3-color printer requires manual ink cartridge switching by user. Mixing colors to produce black is less economical than using the black cartridge and the black (made by mixing colors) has a slight greenish tint. Laser Printers Laser printers are needed when you will consistently print more than 50 pages every day. They print using the same technology the average copier uses. All of the data for the whole page is sent to the printer, before the actual printed page is ejected. There is a "warm up" time before the first page starts to print. Laser printers and ink jet printers have replaceable supplies that affect the cost of each page printed. For black and white printing, these costs can range from 2-4 cents per page. Inkjet offers the best price-performance for the home or small business. Laser color printers are still up in the thousands of dollars. For any printer you buy, be sure to use this "top 10" check-list: 1. Price 2. Printing speed 3. Warranties 4. Toll-free technical support 5. Printer driver availability from printer manufacturer 6. Supplies availability 7. Supplies cost (cost per page of text or graphics) 8. Service contract cost 9. Space the printer needs on a desk 10. Ease of using operator panel, loading paper and envelopes Printer Cables Finally, be sure you use a quality printer cable. Printer cables are the major cause of printing problems not fixed by the printer setup in the software. Try to use a 6-foot parallel interface cable that feels "heavy." Be sure it has all the conductors. Lighter ones will often not have as much shielded copper wire or enough conductors. Adding a Second Printer There are several ways to add another printer. You can buy an additional adapter card and plug it in a slot. Be sure the card can be set to LPT2 which is a port setting Windows needs. Note that an added card may have to share the interrupt request five (IRQ 5) used by your sound card. Or you can buy an electronic printer data sharing switch and cables. The mechanical printer data A/B switches vary greatly in quality and can cause problems. Be sure of a store return policy for whatever you buy. A third way (if your printer has a serial port) is to use Port B on the back of your PS/1 and call it COM2 in the Windows Port Setting. For serial port connections to a printer, use the printer manufacturer's recommended cable or a null modem cable. The usual modem cable will not work for a printer connection. In all of the above, the Windows Default Printer MUST be set each time a different printer is used for a Windows application. Summary Ink jet is "on top" as the printing technology of choice among the small office/home office segment and the home consumer market. For the one or two person home-office, or for the consumer at home, ink jet is ideal because the print quality is excellent (very comparable to the laser) and the cost is very reasonable. A good monochrome unit sells for about $250 while a similar color unit is in the $325 range. Ink jet units print more slowly than laser models, but in your home or home office, fast print speed is not a major priority the way it is for large corporations. Especially with laser printers costing a few hundred dollars more than an inkjet. If you have any questions about this procedure, please post a note in the appropriate topic or forum area. Be sure to include your DOS version and your model number (i.e., 2155-G82).