Printers

Putting ink on the paper
The inkjet and photo printers both use the same basic method for putting ink on paper: Tiny balls of ink are spewed directly onto the paper. Because the teensy-tiny ink balls stick to the paper, this type of printer needs no ribbon or toner cartridge; the ink is jetted out directly, which is how the printer gets its name.
Laser printers are found primarily in the office environment, where they can handle the high workload. The printer works like a photocopier: The difference is that the computer creates the image and etches it by using a laser beam rather than using a mirror and the magic moving bar of light you see whenever you try to photocopy your face.
Impact printers are the traditional printers of yesterday's computers. The two popular types are dot-matrix and daisy-wheel. Impact printers are slower and noisier than the other types of printers. These printers use a ribbon and some device that physically bangs the ribbon onto the paper.
Check out the following summary of printers:
Inkjet printers are by no means messy. The ink is dry on the paper by the time the paper comes flopping out of the printer.
A laser printer combines several prime colors to make its image. The regular (noncolor) laser printer uses only one color of ink - usually, black.
Low-end inkjet printers cost less because they're dumb; they contain no internal electronics to help create the image. Instead, the computer is required to do the thinking, which slows things down a tad.
High-priced printers offer a higher-quality output, faster speed, more printing options, the ability to print on larger sheets of paper, and other amazing options.