Printers

A computer printer is a computer accessory which is commonly known as a computer peripheral which aids you to produce a hard copy of your document or image that is stored in your computer. These hard copies are usually made on paper or transparencies. Older generation of printers were connected to your computer via a printer cable but nowadays most printers attach to computers via a USB cable. Once attached to a computer the printer requires a driver to make it work. All printers come with bundled with their driver software and new versions of this software are also available from the printer manufacturer's website.

There exist several printing technologies in the world today but the two main types are Impact and Non Impact technologies which both have various types of printers. Impact printers are those in which the printer mechanism touches the paper in order to create an image. The two primary kinds of impact printers are dot matrix printers in which the pin head is composed of a series of small pins which penetrate a ribbon coated with ink and use this ink to create the image on the paper. Companies like Epson, Panasonic, Oki Data all make dot matrix printers which are often consider good for printing a large number of documents which are made up of basic text.

Character printers are in fact computerized typewriters which have a ball or a bar with a series of numbers and characters embossed on it. When a particular character is struck against the printer ribbon an image of the character is then transferred on to the paper. These printers are also suitable for mainly printing basic text.

Non impact printers do not touch the paper as they create an image, the popular laser and inkjet printers which are widely used are both a part of this group. While inkjet printers use a series of nozzles to spray drops of ink directly on to the paper, laser printers use toner, static electricity and heat to bond and place the toner ink on the paper. Many companies like Ricoh, Lexmark, Oki, Dell, and Brother produce laser printers which were initially very expensive but are now getting more affordable as the technology is becoming more widespread though costs of toners used in laser printers continue to remain high.

Solid ink printers contain ink which is a wax like substance which melts when applied to paper and then hardens. The American company, Xerox makes an excellent range of solid ink printers which the company claims produce more vibrant colors than other printers and are easier to use as they can print on a wide range of media. The company also claims its solid ink printers are more eco-friendly as they generate less wastes.

Dye Sublimation printers use dyes of the four basic colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black along with a heating element which the print head uses to release the appropriate amount of color on the glossy surface of the paper. These printers are ideal for printing photographs.

Thermal Wax printers are a combination of dye sublimation and a solid ink printer which uses a ribbon with CMYK color bands. Yet another type of non impact printer is a Thermal autochrome printer which uses paper which has color embedded in it rather than ink. The paper has three layers of color which the printer head uses in conjunction with a heating element.

Many printers today are also multifunctional and along with printing capabilities they can be used for copying, scanning and faxing. Companies like HP and Epson make these all in one printer which often eliminates the need to own many different gadgets for various functions.