What do Printer Part number suffixes mean?
D Duplex means the printer can automatically print on both sides of the paper
C means a colour printer
W Wireless means the printer can connect to a wireless network
N Network printer can connect to the network with a wired connection
F Fax printer is capable of sending and receiving faxes
X Printer has multiple features - check specifications for what they are
T Printer has an additional tray for paper input (not always used)
S Printer has a stacker or stapler - (found on Enterprise printers)
SK Printer has both a stacker and stapler (like a stapler usually only found on Enterprise printers)
MFP or MFC Multifunction Printer or Multifunction Center - Printer can usually scan as well as print but may have other features
H hard disk, printer can have user profiles, as well it can save faxes to disk if the printer runs out of paper
E ePrint - HP's standard of setting an email address for the printer. This gives one the freedom to email your printer from anywhere, as well as allow guests to print without any printer setup, just give them the email address and go. If you email the printer at the set address the attached compatible document format will be printed - document styles include: standard PDF, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files, text files (.txt), and JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PNG, and GIF image files
BT Bluetooth - printer is capable of Bluetooth wireless connection
B Battery - printer is portable and can run from a battery - this designation is not often used
What are the most common printer types?
Most printers are either Ink-Jet or Laser, there are also dot matrix and solid ink printers as well.
Printers convert digital images and text into printouts. Normally "driver" software is used by the computer to know how to communicate with the printer for the best results. Text or pictures are printed using tiny dots of ink or toner. Printers have different ways of creating these dots.
In simplest terms, ink-jet printers spray the ink onto the page tiny dots of ink create either the picture or text you wanted to create. Laser printers, on the other hand, are more complicated. A laser or led is used in a conjunction with a drum - or with colour printers multiple drums. The drum is electrically charged, and then the laser or led, is used to remove the charge where the printer is required to print. Toner sticks to where the charge is not, and is repelled by the charged part. The printer is fed past the drum and the toner is fused onto the paper. Then a fuser melts the toner particles onto the paper, the printout is now complete.
Solid ink printers work in a way similar to laser printers, the ink is melted onto the page. Solid ink printers are known for creating better colour printouts.
Dot Matrix printers or Impact printers, use pins to strike a ribbon and create dots. These dots make up the image. Still used under certain circumstances these printers are capable of printing on special paper that has carbon copy it it.
What are large format printers?
Large format printers allow you to print very large media sizes, up to 100 inches and more.
They are made to last longer and be more powerful than regular printers. Large format printers can be used to print larger printouts such as:
Banners, signs, displays for retail or promotional use such as trade shows, art pieces such as wall art, photography art pieces, car and truck graphics as well as for packaging and t-shirts.
Large format printers can also print on a variety of materials such as vinyl, wood, fabric, wallpaper, coated metal, ceramic, and foam.
Besides promotional material and advertising large format printers are also often used to print blueprints and electrical diagrams.
Recently with more people working from home, Hewlett Packard has made large format printers for home office use, that are more aesthetically pleasing compared to traditional utilitarian office printers.
What is the duty cycle of a printer?
Printers are rated by the recommended number of pages they can print a month. It can be very low for consumer home use printers, or much higher for businesses that would share a printer with many employees. The duty cycle is a count of pages printed a month. The standard for duty cycle is set up by how much media the printer can hold, how fast it prints, and how long the working parts of the printer can last without maintenance.
The duty cycle is a gauge of how much of a workload a printer could handle, but it doesn't allow for factors like how long the printer is used continuously. Printers are designed to handle roughly the number of pages per month expressed in the duty cycle. As a gauge, the higher the duty cycle the more expensive a printer. Printers can range from low-cost consumer models to high-end business models designed for many users.
To get the best information reach out to the manufacturer of the printer to get detailed specifications and to see if a printer will suit your needs.