Digital Cameras for Teachers
Printing & Printers
What are the different types of printers?
Older or low-end inkjet printer Less than $100 Documents, web pages, spreadsheets Photo printer
$150 and up Photographs and presentations Laserjet, network $250 High volume black and white Multifunction $200-$300 Scanner, printer, copier, fax
Inkjet printers:
The line between inkjet and photo printers are blurring. There are still many older and less expensive inkjets around, however. Inkjet printers work by spraying Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK) ink through tiny nozzles contained in a print head which moves back and forth across the surface of your paper.
Inexpensive Cartridge costs Easy to operate Slow, sometimes noisy Color Not smudgeproof
Photo Printers
A photo printer is made to print photos, which means that you may be sacrificing text quality and speed. They come in a range of sizes, from the small printers dedicated to 4x6, so you can easily take them with you. Some will print poster size, with poster size paper and ink costs to match. Many, including the portable printers, will connect directly to your digital camera, or even come equipped with a digital card reader, so that you don't need a computer to print out your pictures, although you may not be able to crop or correct them. Photo printers start at $150, but printers that offer professional-quality printing will start at $300-$500. They may come with six color cartridges, including light cyan and light magenta in addition to CMYK, for greater detail and color quality.
High quality color photos More expensive Connects directly to camera or card Higher cost cartridges Archival Slow, text not as good
Multifunction printers
All-in-one, or MFP (Multifunction) printers combine a printer, scanner, copier, and often a fax. The prices for MFPs have come down dramatically while the printing and scanning capabilities have risen, so you can get a good-quality all-in-one for about $200-$300. Laser all-in-ones will cost more.
Convenient Ongoing cartridge costs Saves space Not all funcions are high-quality Extra functions available Repairs will tie up printing & scanning
Laser Printers
Laser printers are especially useful for small businesses which do a lot of printing of text . They tend to be faster and more accurate than inkjet printers, and laserjet toners, while more expensive than ink jet cartridges, last longer. Smaller laser printers are now less expensive and easier to find.
Fast, clean high-volume black and white printing Higher initial cost Networkable Toners last a long time Color cartridges expensive
Features to consider
New types of printers: "Dye sublimation" refers to a process in which a heated printer head passes over film into which cyan, magenta, yellow and black dyes have been embedded, and "vaporizes" into the surface of the photo paper. The glossy surface is more resistant to fading over time. As prices come down for these printers, their popularity rises. "Pict Bridge" is a new standard becoming acceptable that allows you to print directly from your camera to a dedicated photo printer such as the Canon Pixma. Until now, most direct-connect photo printers have been proprietary, so you would have to use an Epson with an Epson, for example.
Speed: Printer manufacturers may be basing print speed on draft mode, so don't always believe claims of print speed! Photo prints can take up to 15 minutes or more to print one digital photo, depending on resolution and print quality. Laser printers tend to be faster, with text at 10 to 18 pages per minute, with color lasers taking from 1 to 3 pages per minute.
Print quality: Almost all monochrome and color lasers print razor-sharp text. Color lasers print color charts and other two-dimensional graphics well, but they can't match ink jets in handling photographs. On the other hand, while ink jet photos can be beautiful, especially on glossy paper, most ink jet printers produce somewhat fuzzy, jagged text and can't reproduce fine detail in line art or graphics like laser printers can.
Resolution: Ink jet printers generally have a maximum color resolution of 2400 by 1200 dots per inch and up. But it's hard to see more than 1200 by 1200 dpi with the human eye. Many printers use software to "interpolate", or fill in empty spots in an image. You can often print a page out before you buy a printer in order to compare. Monochrome lasers usually have a maximum resolution of 600 by 600 dpi or 1200 by 1200 dpi, and color lasers usually offer a maximum color resolution of either 1200 by 1200 dpi or 2400 by 1200 dpi. These are usually more than adequate for printing sharp text and simple graphics.
Cost per page: For ink jets, the cost of ink has the biggest impact on the overall cost of the printer over time. Cartridges can run from $7 for a single-color tank to $21 to $38 for a three-color cartridge, and $12 to $34 for a separate black cartridge. A page of black text can cost from 1 to 7 cents, and a page of color, 6 to 18 cents. Monochrome and color laser cartridges cost about 2 to 4 cents per page of black text, but color lasers have separate toner cartridges for each color, which can cost as much as $250 each (less for black). Since color laser's cartridges can print from 6000 to 12,000 pages, the cost of the toner may be worth it over time.
For more information on buying a printer, try the following websites:
How to buy a printer from PCWorld http://www.pcworld.com/howto/bguide/0,guid,16,page,3,00.asp
Printer shopping tips from PCWorld http://www.pcworld.com/howto/bguide/0,guid,16,page,4,00.asp
Digital Cameras for Teachers
EOU Malheur County Center (541) 889-7468 or (541) 889-6222
