Office Printers: Technologies And Types
By Meagan Breitenstein

With every bit of information transfer and manipulation going digital these days, almost the entire data in any office are centered on its computers. This works as long as you want to work on it or view the data at one’s own desk. But what about keeping a dossier of these electronic data or obtaining the specs of a project to refer at home or while on a business trip? Well, one can take the printouts of the desired records and carry it wherever one wants or goes. The device that helps one take the print is called a printer, our current topic of discussion.

Office or simply are those devices that could convert the documents stored in electronic form in a computer into permanent human-readable text / graphics on a physical print media such as a paper. Most are used as a computer peripheral device, always connected to its document source. Then there are network that come with built-in network devices, which can be accessed and used by any PC present in the network.

Further, most modern day can interface with other electronic media such as memory cards and sticks, and digital devices like cameras and scanners. Then there are that combine the functionalities of a scanner and fax machines as well. In the following paragraphs, we’ll see the different types of common office in vogue.

Office are generally classified on the basis of the printing technology it employs. Along these lines, office - belonging to the modern printing technology - can be classified as tone-based printers, liquid inkjet printers, solid inkjet and dye-sublimation printers. It should be kept in mind that each technology has its own applications in terms of text/image quality, speed, and cost, and print media, with certain ones being tailor made to suit some specific print media only.

1. SAMSUNG SyncMaster 19" TFT LCD Flat-Panel Monitor 930B - $278.99
Features: *30-81kHz horizontal frequency, 56-75Hz vertical *Includes - D-sub VGA cable power cord users guide, monitor driver, Natural Color and MagicTune software (Mac version of MagicTune available on Samsung.com for download) *19 (diagonal) TFT LCD Flat-pa
2. Acer AL1912 Flat Panel 19" LCD Monitor (ET.L2302.022) - $397.99
Features: *Wide 140-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles *250 nits of brightness, 500:1 contrast ratio, 16 ms response time *Simple setup supports optional wall mount *PC compatible 3-year warrantyGreat
3. Samsung SyncMaster 213T 21" LCD Monitor - $694.01
Silver Features: *Dual digital and analog inputs for maximum versatility *Wide 170-degree viewing angles *250 nits of brightness, sharp 500:1 contrast ratio *2-year warranty PC and Mac compatibleForm Function and
4. HP Printing Mailbox for use with Presto Service - $9.50
Features: *The HP Printing Mailbox automatically downloads and prints Presto e-mails over a standard phone line, without interrupting voice calls. It uses plain 8.5 x 11 paper and one standard HP print cartridge. *Presto Service only delivers messages from family and fr
5. Viewsonic VP191B ThinEdge 19" LCD Monitor - $799.99
Features: *Accepts standard analog and digital DVD-I inputs *600:1 contrast ratio, 170-degree viewing angles *16 ms response time wall-mountable *PC, Mac, and HDTV compatible 3-year warrantyProduct DescriptionThe inno
6. Sony MFM-HT95 19"LCD Monitor with TV Tuner (Silver) - $588.24
Silver Features: *Analog and digital inputs, built-in NTSC TV tuner HDTV compatibility *170-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles *XBrite technology, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 450 cd/m2 of brightness *Stereo speakers and subwoofer PC/Mac 3-y
7. Hewlett-Packard HP Photosmart 130 Color Printer - $83.99
Features: *Up to 4,800 x 1,200 optimized color dpi on HP Premium Photo papers *Prints a borderless 4-by-6-inch photo in less than 3 minutes *Small and lightweight for easy transportability *HP Memories disc-creator software for albums and slide shows


Tone based work in a similar fashion as a typical photocopier, by adhering toner to the print media. The most common type of such a printer is the laser printer that uses a laser beam to meet the toner to the paper. They are known for its high quality prints, speed, and lesser cost per page, and hence are commonly used in general office applications. But due to its comparatively higher costs, it is yet to make a mark at a consumer level. Another tone based printer is the LED printer that uses a series of LEDs to affect toner adhesion.

Liquid inkjet reproduce text by spraying small but precise amount of ink on to the print media. This is the common consumer print technology owing to its low cost and reasonable print quality. Its disadvantages being its slow speed and the extra time that must be allowed in order to dry the ink before handling the sheet aggressively.

Solid inkjet – also called phase change – uses solid sticks of wax, which is melted onto the print medium for printing the characters. They are used in office environments and are suitable for printing on transparencies and other non-porous surface or media. Its disadvantages are higher power consumption and the waxy coat around the text owing to the wax ink used for printing. Xerox is the only manufacturer of solid inkjet at present.

Dye-based printing process employs heat to adhere dye on the print media. The printing medium can be plastic, poster paper, or print paper. These devices can produce high quality color applications, but are less suitable for texts.

If you are running an office, the choice of the printer(s) must be based entirely on the requirements at hand. If you need a large amount of high quality prints to be made, then tone-based would be the ideal ones to serve the purpose. Liquid inkjet are suitable if the numbers of printing documents or photographs are comparatively less. Solid inkjet comes handy if the application at hand demands printing on both sides of the print media without any color showing through the paper.

Finally, it is advisable to do a bit of market research, go through the product brochures of various manufacturers, and compare the pros, cons and prices, before making the purchase. You could find different quality and features even in the same type of devices.

Meagen Breitenstein work for A2B Office, specialising in of office printers and their technology, and also publishers lists of available in the UK at Office Printer Me.