Types of Printers :
Impact Printer :
- Produces text or graphics by striking on an ink ribbon onto the paper.
Non-Impact Printer:
- Does not make direct contact with the paper. Ex. Spraying Ink, applying heat, etc.
Impact (Dot-Matrix)
- Set of closely spaced pins and a ribbon to print letters or other characters.
- Impacts the page to print, much like a typewriter.
- Can run at speed between 50-500 CPS (Characters per second)
- Commonly used for invoices, purchase orders, shipping forms, labels, etc.
- Print multi-part forms in a single pass, producing more pages than even high speed laser printers.
Ink-Jet
- Sprays ionized tiny drops of ink onto a page to create an image.
- Capable of producing high quality print almost matching a laser printer.
Laser Printer
- Shines a laser beam to produce an image on a drum.
- Drum rolls through a toner and electrically charged portions pick up ink.
- Using a combination of heat and pressure, the ink is transferred onto the page.
- Prints fast, cartridge lasts a long time.
Light Emitting Diodes / Liquid Crystal Display
- Electro photographic printers that are identical to laser printers in most ways.
- Uses light source / liquid crystals instead of laser to create an image on a drum.
- Very high quality text and graphic print out.
Dye Sublimation
- Professional devices used in demanding graphic arts and photographic applications
- Prints on mugs, license plates, and other popular hard surface items.
- Prints by heating ink, turning it from solid to gas, laying one sheet at a time.
- Requires particularly expensive special paper, as dyes are designed to diffuse into the paper surface, mixing to create precise color shades.
Portable
- Lightwieght, option for battery operated instead of drawing power from the computer.
- Realizes basic print resolutions suitable for plain text printing.
- Thermal printer, thermal transfer printer, and ink-jet printer.
Plotters
- Large-scale printers, very accurate at reproducing line drawings.
- Commonly used for technical drawings such as engineering drawings or architectural blueprints.
- Flatbed Plotters : Horizontally aligned with a flat surface to which a piece of paper is attached. Paper remains stationary, printer moves pens across the paper to draw the image.
- Drum Plotters / Upright Plotters : Vertically positioned, drum rolls on paper. More noise, more compact than flatbed plotters.
Digital Photo
- Print great resolution photo for quality images.
Wireless
- Allows wireless network.
Multi-function
- Combines top-quality color ink-jet or laser printer with plain-paper.
- PC Faxing, color copy and scan, telephone
- Saves space, all in one for convenience.
Bank Receipt / Thermal
- Prints by selective heating on coated thermal paper.
- Thermal Wax Transfer : Adheres a wax-based ink onto paper from a ribbon.
- Thermal Dye Transfer / Dye Sublimation : Prints images as dots after dithering. Not photo realistic.
Label
- Prints labels one at a time. Easy installation.
- Can print different types of labels such as super markets, bar codes, normal text.
Type | Specifications | Acquisition | Use | Maintenance |
Impact (Dot-Matrix) | 240 x 216 dots per inch 160-330 characters per second Pins : 9 3-4 non carbon copies Max thickness less than 0.013 in. | $154.99 – $254.55 | Parallel ports | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables |
Ink-Jets | 5760 x 1440 dpi Black : 23 ppm Color : 14 ppm Max Printable Area : 8.5"-13” x 44" | $84.99 – $349.99 | USB Port Ethernet | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables |
Laser | 600x600 – 1200x1200 dpi 15 - 50 ppm Printable Area : 8.50" x 14" Standard Memory : 128 MB | $281.00 - $799.00 | USB Port Ethernet | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables |
LED/LCD | 2400x600 dpi 17 – 25 ppm black/color Printable Area : 8.5” x 14” Standard Memory : 32 - 128 MB | $199.00 – $420.99 | USB Ethernet | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables |
Dye Sublimation | 300 dpi Black : 15 ppm Color : 2.4 ppm Cards : 2.13” x 3.4” Standard Memory : 16 MB | $1455.40 – $1961.99 | USB Port Ethernet | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables |
Portable | Black : 20 ppm 5760 x 5760 dpi Color : 14 ppm 9600 x 2400 dpi Paper Size : 4” x 6” – 8.5” x 14” PC Free Printing | $158.09 - $290.63 | USB Port | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables Battery |
Plotters | 600 x 300 - 2400 x 1200 dpi Mechanical Print Time: Best : 16 min/page Normal : 9.5 min/page Draft : 2.5 min/page Standard Memory: 4 - 160 MB | $909.99 - $2095.00 | USB Port Parallel Port EIO Jetdirect | Pen Plotters Power Cord Cables |
Digital Photo | 300x300 dpi Print Speed : 0.8 min/page Printable Area : 3.95” x 5.9” Portable Memory Card Reader | $69.99 - $99.99 | USB Port | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables |
Wireless | Black : 28 ppm 600 x 600 dpi Color : 22 ppm 4800 x 1200 dpi Media Size : Letter, Legal, Executive Standard Memory : 32 - 128 MB | $89.99 – $216.44 | USB 2.0 802.11 b/g/n Wireless Network | Ink Cartridges Power Cord |
Multifunction | Black : 35 ppm 600 x 600 dpi Color : 34 ppm 600 x 600 dpi Scanning : 4800 x 4800 Resolution Fax Resolution : 203 x 98 dpi Paper size : Legal, Letter Standard Memory : 128 MB | $199.99 – $380.00 | USB Port Ethernet 802.11 | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables |
Bank Receipt / Thermal | 180 - 203 dpi Max Mono Print Speed: 200 mm/s Number of Columns: 60 Maximum Roll Diameter: 3.3" | $261.84 – $616.51 | USB Port | Power Cord Cables |
Label | 203 dpi Print Speed : 10 ips (Inch per second) Standard Memory : 32 MB 8 MB Flash Drive Real Time Clock | $390.00 - $1,119.00 | Parallel USB Port | Ink Cartridges Power Cord Cables |
Printer Manufactureres:
Brother
Canon
Dell
Epson
HP
Lexmark
Panasonic
Samsung
Sharp
Toshiba
XeroxSource :
http://www.cleverace.com/Printer_types.htm#q7
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