The resolution of a printer is a measure of how many dots a printer can print in a line one inch long - thus it is measure in 'dots per inch' or DPI. This is one of the major factors that decides how good the print quality from a printer is. However, the DPI doesn't tell you the whole truth, since all modern printers include sophisticated enhancement routines that improve the quality of output. The only true way to compare quality between two printers is to print the same on both, making sure both are using the same quality paper and then simply compare these with the naked eye. As a guide, any new laser printer should have a resolution of at least 600x600 DPI. When I say 'at least', this doesn't mean you should be aiming for more - 600x600 dpi will be plenty for 90% of users.

Speed

The speed of a printer is measured in how many pages is can print in a minute: pages per minute or PPM. A laser printer should print at least 6 PPM while workgroup or network printers should be able to turn out 12 to 24 PPM.

Paper trays

If you're purchasing for a small business, make sure the printer can be expanded to take an extra paper tray. Also, make sure that the trays take at least 100 pages - preferably 200 if the printer is to be on a network. Internal paper trays are preferable to those where you can see the paper.

Colour laser printers?

Yes - they exist, but are still fairly expensive (around Rs.13000). Their main drawback is that they aren't very good at printing photographs, but are more suited to large areas of uniform colour - ideal for business graphics and charts. Similar results can be had for less from LED printers, such as Lexmark's Optra Color 1200. Note also that colour laser printers are very expensive to run. Home users are strongly advised to invest in a good colour inkjet printer instead.

Recommendations

If you're after a cheap but reasonably reliable laser printer, the Brother series provide excellent value for money. For true quality in a medium priceband buy Hewlettet Packard (but not the cheapest model!). For pro work companies like Xerox provide the ultimate in speed and reliability (at a price).
Last Updated 30-01-2002