Maximizing the Efficiency of Your Printer.

A printer is one of the most useful gadgets that we attach to a computer. It simple allows us to reproduce things so that we could touch them.  You can use the printer at work to create reports or other professional documents. At home you can use your printer to reproduce pictures or just to print text files. Regardless of the application, there are many useful tips and advices that will enable you to derive maximum benefit from the printer and documents created with the help of it. Whatever printer you would use – laser or ink jet, color or black and white – there are many different ways to get the most out of your printer.

We know that dot-matrix printer cost a lot to buy but there ink is very-very cheap. Also dot-matrix printer can have a longer lifespan compare to other type of printer. The following is some advice on how to maximize the use of a printer especially the ink jet type.

  

Using the genuine item for your printer parts and supplies is one way to ensure consistently a high quality. It may seem that it is cost-effective to buy toner made of recycled raw, or re-manufactured cartridges, but a comprehensive consideration of factors when making a deal actually saves money in the long term. Also ink residue could build up in the long run inside the printer’s mechanism if you continue to use refilled ink instead of the original ink

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Using the original, approved by the manufacturer, consumables and spare parts for equipment increases the reliability and print quality that ultimately allows you to save time, money and effort. Often the original ink cartridges and supplies come with a full guarantee for the entire duration of their application.

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It may be that the bulk purchase will save you money because it is often given an additional discount for purchase of multiple quantities of cartridges and other consumables.

It is worth considering how quickly you’ll be using purchased supplies, because the quality of the ink may degrade over time. If you buy multiple cartridges simultaneously, while having some leftovers, do not forget to first expend those that were purchased earlier.

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When it comes to ink consumption, among other ways of saving money it may be mentioned the use of the function “draft” on your computer or laptop as long as you’re not ready to print the final document. When you use the “draft” – less ink is spent that helps save money. In the program Microsoft Word “draft” version can be found by selecting the “print” menu “file” and then “print options”.

If you do not print color documents, it makes sense to set up your printer to black and white version of the print, as colored ink is usually more expensive than black. Web sites are often printed with color by default, but if you configure the printer for black and white print, it will save ink and money. If necessary, you can easily switch to color printing.

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To check your work, while avoiding the unnecessary printing of documents, you must use the command “Print Preview”. Double-sided printing, when the printer permits such a regime, also saves on paper costs.

Printing of documents only when they are really necessary for you saves money and put into practice the respect for the environment. Try to do the checking and proofreading on screen, printing out, if possible, only the most important final drafts of documents.

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This also applies to situations when you need to print one page of a multi-page document: remember that there are the printing options that allow printing only certain pages, so using these functions can extend the lifespan of cartridges for the printer, as well as other minor tweaks.

Nowadays the world has turned into the world of the Internet technologies where computers and printers are its inalienable part. Advantage of this opportunity to save your time and money.

Computer 101: The Dot-Matrix Printer is here to stay.

One of the early technology in printing is the impact printers, during the early era of computers in work place, home and school there is the all kinds of impact printers. One of the most recognizable model of the impact technologies for printers is the Dot-Matrix Printers. It is every where, where there is computer there is bound to be one of this kinds of printer. As time and technology for printer evolve and developed new type of printer started to dominate the landscape for printing. The once proud and dominant dot-matrix printer where slowly replace by the more silent and more efficient ink jet and laser printer. But did the dot-matrix completely loss is usefulness in the era of ink jet and laser printer, well the answer is a big NO. 

Even with today's new type of printing where almost all printer is a combination of three machine or the so called all-in-one type, where one can print, scan and photocopy any type of documents, and yes there is the fourth one the printer can also be used as a fax machine. But before we go any deeper, let's do a quick tutorials on what is a dot-matrix printer. 

What is a dot-matrix or impact printer?

A dot matrix printer or impact matrix printer is a type of computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth, or in an up and down motion, on the page and prints by impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, much like the print mechanism on a typewriter. However, unlike a typewriter or daisy wheel printer, letters are drawn out of a dot matrix, and thus, varied fonts and arbitrary graphics can be produced. Because the printing involves mechanical pressure, these printers can create carbon copies and carbonless copies.

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Each dot is produced by a tiny metal rod, also called a "wire" or "pin", which is driven forward by the power of a tiny electromagnet or solenoid, either directly or through small levers (pawls). Facing the ribbon and the paper is a small guide plate pierced with holes to serve as guides for the pins. The moving portion of the printer is called the print head, and when running the printer as a generic text device generally prints one line of text at a time. Most dot matrix printers have a single vertical line of dot-making equipment on their print heads; others have a few interleaved rows in order to improve dot density.

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Well i hope that the explanation above is clear enough for us to understand what is a dot-matrix or high impact printers. Even though we think that because of new development in printing technology the dot-matrix printer will become obsolete. Well for me i think not, because until this very day that i wrote this article there is a lot of offices and home that is using the dot-matrix printer.

Use of  Dot-Matrix Printer Today

As of 2005, dot matrix impact technology remains in use in devices such as cash registers, ATM, and many other point-of-sales terminals. Thermal printing is gradually supplanting them in these applications. Full-size dot-matrix impact printers are still used to print multi-part stationery, for example at bank tellers and auto repair shops, and other applications where use of tractor feed paper is desirable such as data logging and aviation. 

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Some are even fitted with USB interfaces as standard to aid connection to modern legacy-free computers. Dot matrix printers are also more tolerant of the hot and dirty operating conditions found in many industrial settings. The simplicity and durability of the design allows users who are not "computer literate" to easily perform routine tasks such as changing ribbons and correcting paper jams.

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Some companies, such as Printek, DASCOM, WeP Peripherals, Epson, Okidata, Olivetti, Lexmark, and TallyGenicom still produce serial and line printers. Today, a new dot matrix printer actually costs more than most inkjet printers and some entry level laser printers. However, not much should be read into this price difference as the printing costs for inkjet and laser printers are a great deal higher than for dot matrix printers, and the inkjet/laser printer manufacturers effectively use their monopoly over arbitrarily priced printer cartridges to subsidies the initial cost of the printer itself. Dot matrix ribbons are a commodity and are not monopolized by the printer manufacturers themselves.

What do you think is the future of the dot-matrix printer for the next 10 or 20 years, will still be around by that time or for all usefulness and durability it will be another extinct commodities in technology? Can you share your thoughts on these?