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If you already have a printer, you should consider upgrading to a newer model only if
you find your current printer's performance, such as its speed, print quality,
ease of use, or noise level, to be unacceptable. Although printers are
always falling in price and improving in performance across the market, you will realize few
benefits with newer software by having a late-model printer.
There are two basic types of printers that control most of the market. Laser printers, which are almost always
more expensive, use toner cartridges (technology similar to that found in photocopiers) to place
text or graphics on the page, and are usually focused toward printing text
in black and white at high speeds. Ink-jet printers, which are more popular in
the home computer market, use tiny jets to spray ink directly onto the page, are usually
slower, and often can print not only in black and white but also in color.
Many printers of both types feature easy printing on both sides of the page, copy collation,
power saving modes, or special bundled graphics or publishing software.
If you are considering buying a printer, you should consider two particular factors most carefully: speed and print quality. A printer
should be able to print both text and graphics quickly, and the speed at which it prints
graphics should not be significantly slower than the speed at which it prints text.
Regular text should be crisp, smooth, and black, and graphics should have realistic
colors or tones and should be minimally grainy. You should try to find a printer within
your budget and within any other constraints (such as size) that maximizes speed and print quality.
You can narrow your choices further, if necessary, by considering special features. Printers
range in cost from $80 to more than $500.
It takes about 30 minutes to install a new printer. No tools are needed.
Click here for a list of links to printer manufacturers.
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