With almost all workers going mobile today, the laptops became a necessity, not a fad as many had thought it to be. Because the demand for laptops was high, manufacturers created new peripherals to supply the trend. So, small laser printers were constructed to compliment laptops and small offices. Wireless computers and wireless internet connections – will small laser printers be the future?

Analysis of the features of small laser printers disclosed that the features of printers previously found on the larger models are now included in compact printers. Yes – the small printers became versatile, even including wireless and the multifunction printer models. And these types of printers are in high demand because people work while on the road.

When you intend to bring your printer on working trips, the size and weight of the printer is important factor. Do you want a printer that will take up most of the space in your luggage?  When you travel, you want to travel light and this computer peripherals and printer should also be extra light.

With regards to printers, you will find today that there are small printers with the exact features present in the traditional bulk printers. Many smaller printers cost more but size really have some premium in it.

DPI (Dots Per Inch)

When you purchase a good quality small laser printer, you will find it amazing that such small units can have an output with such vivid resolution. If resolution is your concern on printer output, what you are to look for in the laser printer is the DPI (dots per inch). You should compare the DPI of the small laser printer you are considering with the DPI of some of the larger printers. This will help you judge on the quality of resolution. The higher the DPI, the better is the print quality. But as you are choosing a laser printer, this type is already of good resolution compared to the inkjet counterpart.

PPM (Prints per Minute)

But it you are more concerned on the printing speed, you have to find another benchmark. Small laser printer and printing on the road – how fast would you like your printer?  For volume of output, you have to determine the PPM (prints per minute) of the printer.  This will give you an idea on the time you will need to print certain quantities of documents. As you are printing on the road, you do not have the luxury to sit and wait for your printer to pause page after page, line after line.

Small Wireless Laser Printers

Another useful feature which may interest any worker on the go is the wireless feature. This prevents the amount of cords you have to take in the trip. Working on a wireless environment makes your work space clutter-free of cables and wires. You will just set up your small laser printer and then print from your equally small laptop computer. The introduction of wireless caused many manufacturers to shift gear from the cord to the cordless, from the wired to the wireless. It is a traveling worker who  mostly benefits from the wireless features.

With your choice of the small laser printer goes a choice for the printer’s features. There really are small laser printers available in the market that are lightweight and compact but are provided with high DPI and PPM. Many small laser printers now are wireless and are endowed with the mfp or all-in-one features.

The advent of digital cameras had made photography a common hobby of many trip setters. Instant photos are available, so gone are the times when you have to wait for photo printing from photo labs. Technology has really gone this far. And while on the road, photographs can be printed – via the small photo printers. Because laptops, digital cameras and even cellular phone cameras come handy to the world, the small photo printers became the object of innovations by many printer manufacturing companies.

There is a type of small photo printer, the 4×6 mobile photo printer,  that serves the purpose of printing photographs anywhere, anytime. These are very portable printers that you can always take along as a partner of your camera.  And owning one gives you several advantages.

Advantages of 4×6 small photo printers

Unlimited portability of mobile printers

The 4×6 photo printers are ultra compact that it can fit in any luggage you are taking along your trip. This does not give you any space problem. Its compact size allows you to take it anywhere you go – in your vacation spree or even just taking pictures while strolling in the park. It is even lightweight  – these small printers are not more than 5 pounds.

Instant Photo Print-outs

There is no wasted time waiting for the photo you have taken to be held in your hands. You do not have to spend time going to the photo labs or print shops.  Your camera can readily capture your cherished moments and seeing these photos in prints come instantly from the small photo printer you always bring along with the camera.

Affects and features of small photo printers

The photo printer does not only print conventional copies. The photo printers have some embedded software so that you can enhance and have different print outs.  A single photo taken can be printed in black & white, in sepia and in many different color tones.  Other features are frames and designs that you can incorporate on the photo. This is something you can do alone with your small photo printer. Or you can even convert the photo into an invitation or a calendar.

Built-in batteries for mobile printing

Most 4×6 photo printers have built-in lithium ion batteries. This will allow you to use the photo printer even if you are not plugged to an electrical source. This is an added feature for portability.

PC-less photo printing

The 4×6 photo printer allows you to print the photos even if not connected to a computer.  All you need is a flask disk or a memory card in which to store the photos and then print from these storage media without necessitating the use of a computer.

Photography is made easy and convenient using these small photo printers. A photographer is no longer dependent on the photo labs for print out of their hard labor. If you are a photo hobbyist, this gadget is for you – no need for a computer, just your camera and the photo printer.

Laptops are for people on the go – not only for internet surfing but in performing office tasks. And the latter use necessitates another device to complete the work. It has already been a custom of workers to bring their virtual offices wherever they go. And to complete the virtual offices are the portable printers for laptops.  You cannot maximize the use of the mobile computers if they are not partnered with portable printers for laptops. If you are to employ these devices, you have to be sure their quality is commensurate to the investment on it.

You have to know which of the many units available today in the market will be selected.  You may not know the features that are best, unless you have made an in-depth research. You would not want to fail in the choice. There are definite standards in finding the best portable printers for laptops.

The first thing you have to examine is the size of the portable printer. It should be compact and lightweight so that it will not cause a carrying burden. As it is mostly used while traveling, it should occupy just a marginal space. Determine the space availability; if it is too big for the space provision, you might not be able to bring it along. Then the purpose for buying it is defeated.

The print quality must be assessed. You should examine the clarity of the print-outs. Aside from the print quality, know about the ink cartridge – the yield and the paper capacity. These are important features because this tells you the cost you are to incur when printing is done.

The speed in printing is another feature to look for. How fast does your portable printer produce a page output.  You are working because you want things done so you would not want a printer as slow as a snail.

Paper feeds are also important to determine. Most of portable printers for laptops have built-in feeders. Know how many sheets it can hold. There are models that hold 30 sheets and there are those that have maximum of 80 sheets. It is up to you to determine your needs while on travel. Then there are units that are equipped with external feeders. If the built-in cannot sustain your printing needs, them having one with external feeder is wise choice. But if the external feeder creates a non-permissible additional weight, them may be you can be content with manual feeding.

Know the brand of the portable printer for laptops. Although it may entail additional few dollars, it is still better to buy a device manufactured by a truly tested company. Brands of printer laptops that had been proven for years of printer manufacturing are Canon, HP (Hewlett Packard) and Epson. The past few years saw into the printer market the entry of the brands Samsung, Sony, Kodak and Seiko.

And finally, you should not discount to check the price. Then compare the price with other models and brand. As the price differs, there may be some features that account for the difference in the cost. Check if the price is within your budget.

The problem of traveling workers is not only addressed by the portable printers for laptops, they serve as partners in completing a task. So if you are in dire need for a printer for your laptop, then go and buy but – do the printer examination and testing.

Next to the PC, the printer is one subject of innovation. The small business laser printer has evolved from the original dot-matrix printer. During the first years of using computer and printers, the small business laser printer was totally unknown. What mattered then was just to be able to print in any given time. But the human brain worked hard and innovations were inevitable – the result was technological changes. So the world today has the laser printer.

What are the qualities of a good laser printer?

Well, any person doing printing jobs want two good qualities in a laser printer – the speed of printing and the quality of print. Then maybe, next to the two basic qualities, a small business laser printer must also be cost efficient – both in energy consumption and ink or toner usage. More sophisticated printers have more features.

If you are running a small business, laser printer choice is important.  First consideration is choosing between a monochrome or a color laser printer. The former of course is cheaper – both in the initial investment and in maintenance. A mono laser printer will cost you less and in the process of printing, the expense on ink cartridges is also less. Instead of having four cartridges (color laser printers have) the mono laser printer needs only the black ink.

Today, small business laser printers can have many sizes. The compact models are small and handy. These are portable and are good partners of laptops. But in the office, a compact laser printer may not be the choice – a bigger one can be stationed in one area in the office and all users can do the printing.

Then it is also practical for small business to get hold of mfp laser printer. This all-in-one printer can do four functions for the office. Scanning, printing, photocopying and fax sending are multi-functions of the new generation small business laser printer.

More sophisticated laser printers can have ethernet interface feature. The printer can then be hooked to the internet. And with this comes another type of small business laser printer – the wireless printer. This is again so practical in a small business or office. All computers in the office can have their printing jobs through one laser printer.

Another feature of the later model of printer is the energy star.  Once a printer is sealed with this feature, it is understood to be very environment-friendly. Printers with the energy star consume less power so there is a corresponding savings on the part of the business.

The printer should be user-friendly. The buttons in the control panel should be comprehensible by even the most ordinary user.

And the most basic feature which every small business will look for are the speed and quality of printing. For the speed, the rate of printing output has to be determined. The faster it does the printing, the more savings go to the business. The printing speed is measured in number of pages per minute. Printed documents should be crisp on plain paper and color should be natural.

As you have found the printer with the most desirable feature, your last consideration is its price. Is the price commensurate to its features?

A small business laser printer should serve all the desired purposes – and that is the gauge to the model of printer you hope to buy – unless of course you have a particular brand in mind. With the many brands and models, you will definitely find one that fits into your budget.

There are several types of colour printers available in the market today. Their price depends upon the model, the features and the brand. But the market being very competitive, printer manufacturing companies price their colour printers almost uniformly. Thus, in buying branded printers, you will find that for the same features, the prince range of leading printer producers is almost equal. 

In the market today are 5 types of colour printers – the ink-jet printer, the laser printer, the solid ink printer, the dye sublimation printer (also called dye diffusion thermal transfer) and the color thermal printer. Depending upon the printing needs is the choice among these five. However, the most commonly used are the ink-jet and the laser printers. The main difference among the different kinds of printers is the manner in which the printer deposits the ink on the paper.  The ink jet, solid ink and some laser printers deposit ink on the paper on a single pass. Some laser and the thermal printers make multiple ink passes on the paper.

Ink jet and laser colour printers are the common choices. The inkjet printer costs less than the laser printer. But the cost of printing per page of an inkjet printer is more. The inkjet consumes more ink than a laser printer. Thus, in the long run the cost of printing with ink jet is higher. The ink-jet printer is suitable for home use where no bulk printing is done. In the office, the laser printer is recommended as it can do heavy duty printing.

The fastest of all the types of printers is the dye diffusion thermal transfer or the dye sublimation printer and the solid ink printer. Aside from speed, the printing output is very precise and clear. Precision is brought about by the continuous tone printing where it is able to control the amount and intensity of dots placed on the paper. Because of the well defined prints produced by these kinds of printer, they are preferred by graphic designers and professional digital photographers.

The color thermal printer uses heat to transfer colored waxes to the paper – from a wide ribbon. Since this printer cannot change the dot distribution intensity, the print is dithered. The output is lower in quality but are still serviceable in printing labels, receipts and other point of sale applications. Photo printers are equipped with interfaces that can be used with digital cameras and flash memory media. Then there are also the large format printers and color plotters. These type of printers are used by design professionals because they can print on big paper or rolls of paper. This printer is good in making banners and streamers.

The new generation printers are the mfp printers, which perform four functions. This type of printer can also do scanning, photo copying and fax sending, in addition to the main printing function.

To date, there are many colour printer manufacturers. Their brands are already popular. Among them are Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Kodak, Lexmar, Xerox and Canon.

Because of the variation in printing jobs, the best is still to rely on colour printers. With the digital camera and cellular phone camera, photos can be printed from the printer. The multi-functional printers are best for offices, as they perform four functions that are usually carried by any office or business.

The criteria for many in choosing a printer,  will be to compare price with function in a small business printer. Below we list a few printers for you to decide which might be the most suitable for your needs.

You will want a printer that prints on plain letter quality paper as well as the special photo, stencil, and other media applications available today. One that prints fast, with a high output and that can hold quite a good amount of paper. 

Small business printers come in various price ranges, and the well priced Dell 1720dn which has an easy to read control panel, with a very good monochrome Laser. This printer has plenty of features considering the price. This includes an automatic duplexer.  The Dell 1720dn works well in a small business environment printing 29 pages per minute. It would do well to read your manual for this printer as the flashing lights on the panel take some figuring out. The input tray could be sturdier.

In the inkjet range, Canon’s Pixma IP4500 printer cannot be beat for speed which is even faster than the laser printers. Text quality is very good, except on the more obscure fonts. The lasers are better at printing text but they do not have the capabilities of photo printing that the Pixma has. It comes with automatic duplexing and the colors are bright and very natural, yet skin tones are yellowish. The control buttons are not well placed and do not have easy to read labels, making them difficult to identify, at the price, for performance alone, this is a good buy.

This is a low cost color laser printer, the Dell 1320c prints 3.1 pictures per minute with good color high resolution quality. Although colors are a bit blue, they look natural and smooth. The speeds are not so good per cartridge output (1000 to 2000 pages) and the display panel is very hard to read. This is not the ideal for a small business printer as the cost per page with a half page of text in black costing 3 cents.  With a page using all three colors and bit of black costing 15 cents this could be costly.

Printers come in such a variety, that it might be difficult choosing the right small business printers. A few things to look out for are:  What are you going to be using the printer for. If you decide that you will mainly be doing media printing, and need good color photos and print outs, then choose the best in that line. If you need a small business  printer that you will be using mainly for printing text documents, and need an all in one with scanner and fast print then go for HP, whose initial outlay is more but the consumables cost less.

Many non-network  printers, primarily used as a local peripheral, are attached by a usb cable, or a standard printer cable (as with older models)  to a computer,  which serves as the main document source for that printer.

The most populare printer in use by the general consumer is the Inkjet printer. This process operates  by shooting  varigated sized drops of molten liquid (ink) onto various sized pages when printing. This is used in for small local printers.

The laser printer is mainly used as a network printer.  Network printers have a built in, wireless and/or Ethernet, interface which serves as a hardcopy device for users on the network. Some printers are designed to support both local and network connected users simultaneously. The modern printers, at the higher end of the market, can directly interface with media such as memory card, or memory sticks, or image capturing devices like scanners, or digital cameras.  Some (MFP) Multi Function Printers / (AIO)or All in One printers / (MFD)Multi Function Devices have a combination of fax /scanner/and photocopying functions. These are non-printing features included in the MFP’s.

Virtual printers are computer software applications, with a user interface and API that duplicates a printer driver, one that is not attached to a physical computer printer.

Network printers are used for low-volume, quick turnaround print jobs, with no set up time required to produce a document. Printers can produce up to 30 ppm, relatively fast, but this is the higher end of the market printer. The cost effective printers are very much slower, with the related costs per page being higher. So network printers are used, which helps control project management of many computers in a workplace which all use the networked printer. This saves on costs enormously as many workstations can be networked to use one printer.

Recent research indicates that laser printers emit ultrafine particles, which can be  potentially dangerous. This of course varies with age, model and design of each printer. It has to do with the amount of toner required by the laser printer. The health issue relates to emission of particles affecting respiration, which is equal to cigarettes. This can be reduced considerably with a well ventilated area around the laser printer.

Network printers are the way to go if you have a large office with more than 5 workstations, as they can save on costs, are easy to maintain once set up correctly and save on space and wastage.

They are a must have item for busy executives at meetings, sales representatives, in fact there are very few instances, where they would not be absolutely essential, except for the obvious one of the front office large printer which is used by multiple offices.

The small printer for the laptop, is portable, enabling you to take it with your laptop and has the added advantage of fitting into a laptop bag. This is extremely handy when seeing clients who need figures, printouts, invoices and statements..

Small printers for travel: is another very good use for the small printer. As you never know when you travel, whether your laptop is compatible with what is available at your destination, this makes good sense to have your printer available. At the speeds small printers have, you could zip over to Europe, laptop and small printer with you, plus adaptor plug, have your meeting, print your charts, graphs, sales presentation, final documents to clinch that deal, and then zip back with the deal nicely tied up and no loose ends, of waiting for documents to be faxed or couriered over to the client.

Canon and Hewlett Packard make very good small printers for computers, the desk-top kind. These are compact, easy to use, and come with a variety of very good features and a fast print speed.. Photo printing is one of the options of this small printer. The inkjet is a hardy little printer which can take a lot of wear and tear.

Small printers for the Apple Mac desk-top and laptop are also available.

The small printers for cameras that are available do very good printouts and have features especially designed for photo reproductions. These prints are equal to any, and sometimes better than you would get from a professional photo lab. And the beauty is you can have your photo’s printed right where you are. No need to schlep down to the nearest center to have them done at a high cost.

Because these printers are small, does not mean they have basic capabilities only. The manufacturers are geared up to the media output needed today and have designed accordingly. With the reduction in size, and technology innovations, capabilities have increased, while the size of the printer decreases. It does help to buy the best brand of small printer that you can afford, with good after sales service and make sure that the peripherals such as cartridges are available to you locally.