The three main types of printers are the Dot-matrix, the Laser, and the Ink-jet printer. Each have their own uses, and one is not necessarily better than the other, though most will dissagree.
The first type, and the oldest as well, is the Dot matrix printer. The printer uses closely spaced pins to press into a ribbon, which then resemble the character you tried to make. Most dot matrix printers will give you anywhere from 9 to 24 pins. The two factors in a dot matrix printer that are important are Speed, measured in Characters Per Second (CPS) and quality. speed can run from 50 to 500 CPS, while the more pins, the higher the quality.
One advantage the dot matrix printer has over its ancestors, is that it is the only type that can print to multi-page documents, like carbon paper. Other than that, its loud, expensive, and out dated.
the second type is the Ink Jet Printer. The least in cost generally, it is better than the dot matrix, quality wise, but not as good as the laser jet. The ink jet runs by spraying ionized ink at a sheet of paper. Magnetized plates in the ink's path direct the ink onto the paper in the desired shapes. The quality of the printer is measured in DPI or, Dots Per Inch. Generally you will get about 300 DPI although newer printer do have higher resoulutions available.
while the price of an ink jest is lower, the speed is also, considerable slower than most other types of printers. However, it is the cheapest way to get a full color document on the go.
Finally, the laser printer, is about the middle of the three in price, but way haigher when it comes to quality. laser jet printers use a drum then gets magnitized by a laser, and then runn through a well of ink, in which only the magnitized portions of the drum pick up the ink, the ink is then transferred onto the paper using heat and pressure. Also measured in DPI, the laser printr usually runs at about 600 DPI in the middle range of quality.
