The printer is a key component of any home or conventional office. You count on your printer to print clear, quality pages for a variety of purposes.

If you are choosing a printer for your home office or for use in a larger office, it is important to research the various types of printers and determine your printing needs before making your final selection.

There are two main types of computer printers: impact and non impact. An impact inkjet printer has a mechanism that touches the paper in order to create an image. Examples of impact printers are dot matrix printers and character printers.

With a non impact printer, it does not touch the paper when creating an image. Inkjet printers and laser printers fall into the non impact printer category.

For the purposes of this article, we have provided a brief explanation of these two popular types of computer printers to help you in your search:

Inkjet Printer • An inkjet printer is any printer that places extremely small droplets of ink onto paper to create an image. If you ever look at a piece of paper that has come out of an inkjet printer then your familiar with the following: o The dots are extremely small and not visible to the human eye. In fact, the dots are so small that they are tinier than the diameter of a human hair! o The dots can have different colour combinations to create photo quality images. o The dots on an inkjet printer are positioned precisely and you can get extremely good resolution. • The advantage of inkjet printers is that they are fairly inexpensive. They cost less than a typical black and white laser printer and far less than a colour laser printer. For this reason, they are the favourite type of printer for small offices with low printing needs and home based businesses.

Laser Printer • Just like the name suggests, a laser beam, a highly focused beam of light produces an image on a photosensitive drum. The image is transferred onto paper by a conventional xerographic printing process. o Initially, the drum is given a total positive charge and as the drum revolves, the printer shines a tiny laser beam across the surface to discharge certain points. In this way, the laser draws the letters and images to be printed as a pattern of electrical charges! o Then the printer passes the paper through the fuse, a pair of heated rollers. As the paper passes through these rollers, the loose toner powder melts, fusing with the fibres in the paper. • The main advantages of laser printers are speed, precision and economy. A laser moves very quickly, so it can ‘write’ at a much greater speed than an inkjet. Also, since the laser beam has an unvarying diameter, it can draw more precisely, without spilling any excess ink. Although they are more expensive initially, it doesn’t cost as much to keep them running.

Now that you understand the differences between these two types of printers, you’re probably ready to make your decision. Why not visit Office Shopping, the UK’s leading on-line office supply store to check out their terrific inventory of quality inkjet and laser printers.

Office Shopping has a tremendous selection to choose from at excellent prices. Along with their robust selection of products to meet all your office supply needs, they care about their customers and provide wonderful customer service.

Give them a try and you’ll see why Office Shopping is the number one choice of all types of businesses.

Amy Rodda is the leading e-commerce and marketing manager with in the UK's Office Supplies industry. Take a look at www.officeshopping.co.uk for contact details.