Classic Computer Magazine Archive COMPUTE! ISSUE 49 / JUNE 1984 / PAGE 14

Choosing The Right Printer

The Easy Way To Hard Copy

Selby Bateman, Features Editor

If you're thinking about buying a printer, remember that what you don't need in a printer can be as important as what you do. Save yourself time, money, and major headaches by following a few well-planned steps.

How can you choose the printer that's right for you? Listen to some experts:

"The most important thing you need to know when buying a printer is what in the world you're going to do with the thing," says Craig Ringuette, merchandising manager for Okidata. "That's the key. Once you know that, then there are clearly a lot of ways to be directed."

"You have to decide the quality of the print you want," states Rick Osgood, national technical support manager for Star Micronics. "Do you want dot matrix—which is going to print just draft quality—or do you require something a little better, like near-letter quality?"

"A buyer's first question will be, 'Will this work with my system?'" says Charles Srogus III, product line manager for Micro Peripherals, Inc. "And the second question will probably be, 'Will it print graphics? Will it do the fun things I see them demonstrating on television or at the local computer fair?'"

"You need to consider whether you want fully formed letter characters or whether dot matrix is adequate," adds Ken Bosom worth, president of International Resource Development, Inc., a market research firm. "And you should certainly think about whether or not you want color; and whether, if you get color, you can do anything with it."

Lower Prices, Better Quality

These printer manufacturers agree that buying a printer which works with your computer doesn't have to be a confusing or frustrating process. Lower prices and better quality are trends which have been accelerating during the past year. Computer owners now have a greater choice of reasonably priced printers than ever before. (See "The Inexpensive Printers Of 1984" in this issue.)

Axonix Corporation's ThinPrint 80, a $279, four-pound, battery-powered, portable, thermal printer that fits into one side of a briefcase and prints full-page text and graphics.

Computer printers are now a $2.4 billion industry. Leading printer companies such as Okidata, Epson, Ricoh, Canon, Micro D (Abati), Micro Peripherals, Star Micronics (Gemini), Diablo, Axiom, Alphacom, and others are competing fiercely to make their printers the most versatile, dependable, and cost-effective.

But with so many choices, you need to have a basic understanding of what kinds of printers there are. Then define your specific needs.

The two most popular types of printers for microcomputers are the dot matrix impact systems and daisy wheel printers. Thermal printers are another category. There are also several newer types of printers—ink jet, thermal transfer, and laser—which are already beginning to affect the personal computer printer market.

Dot matrix printers are less expensive, and produce images on paper much like those displayed on your computer monitor or television set—patterns of dots arranged to form characters or graphic figures.

Stacked Wires That Strike

There are several types of dot matrix systems, the most common of which uses stacked wires that strike in various configurations against an inked ribbon to form characters on paper.

The early dot matrix printheads usually were limited to five wires horizontally by seven vertically. This resulted in crude, often difficult-to-read rectangular characters, with ill-formed descending arms on the letters q, y, p, g, and j, for example. More recently, more wires have been added, producing more fully formed characters.

Cardco's LQ/2 is a $349.95 letter-quality portable printer which prints 12 characters per second, and has built-in interfacing for all Commodore personal computers. It is also compatible with the PC, PCjr, TRS-80, and other computers with parallel Centronics printer output.

A daisy wheel printer, on the other hand, has a printhead composed of formed characters which are located on the ends of spokes—or petals—emanating from a central, spinnable hub. The printhead looks like a high-tech daisy, hence the name. Daisy wheels leave an image very similar to a good typewriter, but print much more rapidly.

Closing The Gap

Daisy wheel printers generally are more expensive than dot matrix impact printers. And some newer dot matrix printers even rival the high-quality printouts from the daisy wheel printers.

Thermal printers actually burn off a coating on special thermal paper. Their costs are relatively low and their quality good. But thermal printers require special heat-sensitive paper, which is more expensive in the long run and subject to eventual decay.

How Fast Is Fast?

Different printers operate at different speeds. Generally, the faster the printer, the higher the cost.

"At the entry level, you're looking at a low-end 100 to 140 characters-per-second (cps) printer, for anywhere from $400 to $600," says Star Micronics' Osgood. "That can go all the way up to a printer with 200 to 250 cps at upwards of a thousand dollars."

Do you need a printer that prints twice as fast as the low-end model, if that means you'll have to pay twice as much or more in order to get it? This is where the tradeoffs start, and a smart shopper will know what his or her needs will be.

"A printer is a very slow device—it's one of the slowest devices you'll hang on your system," says Osgood. "You'll want to take into consideration the amount of buffering a printer has (a temporary storage area in the printer into which the computer can dump your data). If you can only have a one-line buffer on the printer, then you're going to tie up your computer for a long time. If you have a 16K or an 8K or larger buffer, then you can off-load your data from the system in a much quicker time, freeing your computer to do other work."

Okidata's $599 Microline 92 dot matrix printer can print 160 characters per second and, for correspondence quality, 40 characters per second.

Bidirectional And Logic-Seeking

In addition to sizable buffers, the faster printers put characters on paper both forward and backward rather than wasting the carriage-return time that occurs when a printhead must return to the left margin after each left-to-right pass. This is called bidirectional printing. Another advanced speed capability is logic-seeking, in which the carriage covers only the area of the line on which print is to appear rather than running from margin to margin on every return.

Okidata's Ringuette suggests that you ask, "Do I really need 200 or 300 cps? Is that important to what I'm doing? Can I live with 100 cps?"

The answer to those questions will be an important part of your decision on which printer you buy, he adds.

No Irreconcilable Differences

"Compatibility is another key issue," says Ringuette. "In other words, what software packages am I going to run, and what computer am I going to run this on?

Axiom's $299 dot matrix printer with dot-addressable graphics is plug-compatible with the TI-99/4A.

"Does the printer really work with that system? People get amazed by the compatibility problem. You get a printer, you hook it up, and it doesn't do anything because it's not compatible," he adds.

When buying a printer, make certain that the printer will work with your particular computer, or that there is an interface you can buy which will make the two compatible. Printer interfaces are usually Centronics parallel or RS-232-C serial types. If you're buying a printer from a store, have the dealer explain what interface you need to get the full capabilities of the printer for your computer.

Questions To Ask

Before you buy your printer, you should also know the answers to the following questions:

The TTP16 is capable of printing bold face, double-strike, expanded, compressed, superscript, subscript, proportional spacing, underlining, Pica, Elite, and Italicized print as well as hex dumps and graphics.

Many dot matrix printers offer a variety of type styles, as does this thermal transfer printer from Fujitsu.

  • What print width do you want? The number of characters that a printer can put on a line varies from 32 to 40 to 80, and even up to 132. The 80-column format is a standard with 8V2 x 11-inch paper for word processing, and is thus one of the most popular widths.
  • Do you want to print graphics, or only text? Many dot matrix printers allow you to print an almost unlimited variety of graphic images. Daisy wheel printers, however, use preset, fully formed characters. In addition, there are printers which support high-resolution images from your screen.

There is evidence that personal computer users are becoming more interested in these graphics capabilities as the price of printers comes down. "That's because of the business market," says Micro Peripherals' Charles Srogus. "But people in the home have seen that. The consumer is looking at it and saying, 'Gee, this is fun. I'd like to do that myself.'"

Many More Options

• What special print capabilities do you need for text? Many printers today give you the option of printing elongated type, condensed characters, underlined text, subscripts and superscripts, boldface and italic type, and other special forms. Some printers will also let you print different typefaces in a variety of sizes.

• What kind of paper do you want with your printer? There are tractor-feed printers which precisely advance paper by using teeth that fit into holes on both sides of the paper. The teeth pull the paper through the printer in one continuous feed. But the paper can later be separated into standard sheets. Friction-feed printers operate much like a typewriter, pulling the paper around a cylindrical platen. Friction-fed paper can slip out of alignment more easily than tractor-fed, however.

The Thinkjet Printer by Hewlett-Packard (HP 2225) is a $495 ink jet printer which uses an ink cartridge system and is fully portable.

• How much noise can you tolerate? Daisy wheel and dot matrix impact printers can produce quite a bit of noise, something you might also need to consider.

Once you've answered all of these questions, then you're ready to shop around and find the printer that does the best job for your computer.

A printer is so important for most computer users that Okidata's Ringuette sometimes gets the feeling that the purchase of a computer and then a printer is putting the cart before the horse. "You really ought to buy the printer first. Most people buy the thing backwards," he says, not quite tongue in cheek. "Basically, a computer is only worth the paper it's printed on."

Model Name Manufacturer/Distributor Compatibility Print Technology Speed Pitch Logic-Seeking Buffer True Descenders Max. Paper Width, in. Feed Type Suggested Retail Price Comments
Abati LQ-20 Micro D Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (daisy wheel) 18cps 120–180 cpl Yes 1.5K Yes 13 Friction standard; pin optional $479 Special character sets with purchase of additional wheels
Alphacom 42 Alphacom, Inc. Parallel and serial cables available; also Commodore, Atari, TI Thermal 80 cps 10 cpi One line Yes 4.5 Friction $119.95 Price does not include interface
Alphacom 81 Alphacom, Inc. Parallel and serial cables available; also Commodore, Atari, TI, Apple Thermal 80 cps 10 cpi One line Yes Friction $169.95 Price does not include interface
Cardco LQ-2 Cardco, Inc. Parallel standard; built-in interface for Commodore computers Impact (daisy wheel) 12–20 cps Max. 80 cpl Yes 80 characters Yes 8.7 Friction $349.95 Can run on optional battery pack
CGP-220 Tandy Corporation/Radio Shack Parallel standard; TRS-80 Color Computer serial interface included Ink-jet 2600 dots per second, 37 cps 12 cpi One line Yes 8.5 Friction only $699 • Seven colors • Hi-res color
Compumate 2100 Swintec Corporation Parallel and Serial Impact (daisy wheel) 20 cps 10–15 cpi Yes 256 characters Yes 14 Friction and power $649 International character sets
Commodore 1526 Commodore Business Machines Serial Impact (dot-matrix) 45 inches per minute 80 cpl Yes One line Yes 8.5 Friction and pin under $300
Comriter CR-II Comrex Parallel and serial available Impact (daisy wheel) 12 cps 10–15 cpl Yes 5K Yes 13.5 Friction standard; pin optional $649 Serial $599 Parallel
Delta 10 Star Micronics Parallel and serial standard Impact (dot-matrix) 160 cps 80–136 cpl Yes 8K standard; expandable to 16K Yes 9.5 Both friction and pin $549
  • International character sets
  • 64 special characters, 32 block shapes
DMP-120 Tandy Corporation/Radio Shack Parallel standard; TRS-80 Color Computer serial interface included Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 10–16.7 cpi Yes One line Yes 9.5 Both pin and friction $499.95 Bit-image graphics
DMP-200 Tandy Corporation/Radio Shack Parallel standard; TRS-80 Color Computer serial interface included Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 10–16.7 cpi Yes One line Yes 9.5 Both pin and friction $699 Correspondence fonts
Epson FX-80 Epson America, Inc. Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 160 cps 10–12 cpi Yes 2K (with serial) Yes 10 Friction and pin $699 International character set
Epson MX-80 Epson America, Inc. Parallel standard Impact (dot-matrix) 80 cps 80 cpl Yes One line Yes 10 Friction and pin $494
Epson RX-100 Epson America, Inc. Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 100 cps up to 136 cpl Yes 2K (with serial) Yes 15.5 Friction and pin $699
  • Dot-addressable graphics
  • International character set
Facit 4510 Facit Data Products Both parallel and serial Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 10–17 cpi Yes 2K Yes 11 Friction and pin standard $495
  • International character sets
  • Block and pin graphics
Gemini 10X Star Micronics Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 6–17 cpi Yes 4K or 8K Yes 9.5 Both friction and pin $399 32 block shapes
Gemini 15X Star Micronics Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 136–232 cpl Yes 8K standard; expandable to 16K Yes 9.5 Both friction and pin $549 88 international characters
GP 100-TI Axiom Corporation Includes cable that plugs directly into TI-99/4A Impact (dot-matrix) 30 cps 5–10 cpi Yes One line 9.5 Pin $299
GP 700 AT Axiom Corporation Plugs into serial user port on Atari Impact (dot-matrix) 30 cps 5–10 cpi Yes One line 9.5 Pin $599
IT-4010 Blue Chip Electronics Serial and parallel standard; no special interface required for Commodore 64 Thermal transfer 120 cps 10–15 cpi Yes 256 bytes Yes 9.5 Both pin and friction $399
  • International character sets
  • Seven colors
  • Will print on any paper
Image-Writer Apple Computer Apple II, III, LISA Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 36–136 cpi Yes 1K Yes 10 Friction and adjustable-width pin $675
KX-P1090 Panasonic Parallel; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 80 cps Yes 1K standard; 4K optional Yes 10 Pin and friction $399
KX-P1091 Panasonic Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps Yes 1K standard; 4K optional Yes 10 Pin and friction $499
KX-P1092 Panasonic Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 180 cps Yes 1K standard; 4K optional Yes 10 Pin and friction $599
KX-P3151 Panasonic Serial standard Impact (daisy wheel) 22 cps 10–12 cpi Yes 1K standard; 4K optional Yes 15.5 Friction only; pin optional Around $700
Legend 800/1000 Legend Peripheral Products Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) Legend 800: 80 cps Legend 1000: 100 cps 40–142 cpl Yes 1K Yes 10 Friction and pin standard 800:$349 1000:$359 Eight international character sets
M120/10 Blue Chip Electronics Serial and parallel standard; no special interface required for Commodore 64 Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 10–15 cpi Yes 256 bytes Yes 9.5 Both pin and friction $349
Microline 80 Okidata Parallel standard Impact (dot-matrix) 80 cps 80–132 cpl No None Yes 9.5 Pin and friction; tractor optional $449
Microline 82A Okidata Parallel and RS-232 serial standard; IEEE488 optional Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 80–132 cpl Yes 2K (optional with serial) Yes 9.5 Friction and pin $549
  • 64 block shapes
  • Okigraph I and II dot-addressable graphics
  • Optional paper stand, accoustical cover
Microline 92 Okidata Parallel and serial standard Impact (dot-matrix) 40–160 cps 80–136 cpl Yes Serial comes with 2K IEEE488 2 or 4K Yes 9.5 Friction and pin standard; tractor optional $699
  • International character sets
  • Optional paper stand, accoustical cover
Microprism Integral Data Systems Parallel and serial Impact (dot-matrix) 75–110 cps 10–16.8 cpi Yes 1.2K Yes 8.5 Pin and friction $649
MPS-801 Commodore Business Machines Serial Impact (dot-matrix) 50 cps 80 cpl No One line No 8.5 Pin under $300 Second serial port on back
NEC PC-6021 NEC Home Electronics (USA), Inc. Parallel standard Thermal 40 cps 40 cpl No None No 4.5 Friction $249.95
NEC PC-8023A NEC Home Electronics (USA), Inc. Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 100 cps 80–136 cpl Yes 2K Yes 10 Both pin and friction $499 Greek character set
Printelex Computer Peripherals Parallel and serial standard; interface cables available for Commodore, IBM PC, Radio Shack Impact (dot-matrix) 160 cps 40 cpl No One line No Friction only $145 40-column
PrintMate 99 Micro-Peripherals, Inc. Both parallel and serial Impact (dot-matrix) 100 cps 5–17 cpi Yes 1K standard; expandable to 2K Yes 9.5 Friction and pin standard $599
Prowriter 8510-AP C. Itoh Parallel and serial available Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 10–17 cpi, 80–136 cpl Yes 1K Yes 13 Both friction and pin Parallel: $495, serial: $755 Five additional character sets
Sprinter Micro-Peripherals, Inc. Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 160 cps 10–17 cpi Yes 4K Yes 9.5 Friction and tractor standard $695
  • Three selectable foreign fonts
  • Portable
  • Buffer expandable to 68K through Memory Mate
  • Built-in single sheet feed
Seikosha GP-100A Axiom Corporation Axiom Corporation Impact (dot-matrix) 64 cps 32 cpl No None 10 $389
Seikosha GP-250X Axiom Corporation Parallel and serial available Impact (dot-matrix) 50 cps 80 cpl No 80 bytes 10 $499
Thin-Print 80 Axnoix Corporation Parallel and serial available Thermal 40 cps 80–136 cpl Yes 2K No 8.5 Friction feed $279
  • Portable
  • Battery-operated
  • AC adapter included
Transtar 120 Silver Reed Parallel and serial versions available Impact (daisy wheel) 14 cps 10, 12, 15 cpi Yes 2K serial, none on parallel Yes 13 Friction standard; pin optional $550 Portable
Transtar 130 Silver Reed Parallel and serial versions available Impact (daisy wheel) 18–20 cps 10–20 cpi; also supports proportional spacing Yes None on parallel; 2K on serial Yes 17 Friction standard; pin optional $599
Transtar 315 Seikosha Parallel standard; serial optional Impact (dot-matrix) 38–50 cps 10–13.3 cpi No Serial: 2K standard; additional 2K optional None on parallel No 11 Both friction and pin $599 Prints seven colors, more than 30 shades
TRS-80 DMP-110 Tandy Corporation/Radio Shack Parallel standard; TRS-80 Color Computer serial interface included Impact (dot-matrix) 120 cps 10–16.7 cpi Yes One line Yes 9.5 Pin and friction $499.95
  • 32 international characters
  • Bit-image graphics
TTP-16 Fujitsu America, Inc. Parallel and serial available Thermal transfer 45 cps 80–96 cpl No None Yes 10 Friction $625
  • Single-sheet feeding
  • Four separate color ribbons
  • No special paper required
Thinkjet (HP2225) Hewlett-Packard Parallel, HP-1B, and HP-IL available Ink-jet 150 cps 40-142 cpl Yes 1000 bytes Yes 9.5 Pin and friction $495
  • Portable
  • No special paper required
  • International character sets

Major Printer Manufacturers And Distributors

If you are interested in finding out more about a particular printer, it's best to check with a local computer dealer first. If they don't have the information you need, contact the manufacturer or distributor listed here.

Alphacom, Inc.
2323 S. Bascom Ave.
Campbell, CA. 95008

Apple computer
20525 Mariani Ave.
Cupertino, CA 95014

Axiom Corporation
1014 Griswold Ave,
San Fernando, CA 91340

Axonix Corporation
417 Wakara Way
Salt Lake City. LT 84108

Blue Chip Electronics
7406 E. Butherus Dr.
Scottsdale, AZ 85260

CAL-ABCO
Legend Peripheral Products
14722 Oxnard St.
Van Nuys,
CA 91401

Cardco, Inc.
300 S. Topeka
Wichita, KS 67202

Commodore Business Machines
1200 Wilson Dr.
West Chester, PA 19380

Computer Peripherals
6400 Canoga Ave.
Suite 305
Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Comrex
3701 Skypark Dr.
Torrance, CA 90505

Epson America, Inc.
3415 Kashiwa St.
Torrance, CA 90505

Facit Data Products
235 Main Dunstable Rd.
Nashua, NH 03060

Fujitsu America, Inc.
3055 Orchard Rd.
San Jose, CA 95134

Hewlett-Packard
3000 Hanover St.
Palo Alto, CA 94304

Integral Data Systems
Milford, NH 03055

Leading Edge
225 Turnpike St.
Canton, MA 02021

Micro Peripherals, Inc.
4426 S. Century Dr.
Salt Lake City, UT 84123

NEC Home Electronics (U.S.A.), Inc.
Personal Computer Division
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

Okidata
Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054
Panasonic Company
One Panasonic Way
Secaucus, NJ 07094

Star Micronics
200 Park Ave.
Pan Am Building
New York, NY 10166

Swintec Corporation
23 Poplar St.
P.O. Box 421
East Rultherford, NJ 07073

Tandy Corporation/Radio Shack
1800 One Tandy Center
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Transtar
P.O. Box C-96975
Bellevue, WA 98009