There are many types of printers on the market these days. We will cover three types:

• Dot Matrix
• Ink Jet
• Laser

Dot Matrix - These tend to be rugged, inexpensive printers. They are very quick on one- or two-page reports. Unlike the Ink Jet and Laser printers, they are capable of multiple-ply forms like registration slips and folios. One of the very best models is the Okidata Microline 320 Turbo (Epson/IBM emulation). They can be purchased from $350.00 to $390.00.

Ink Jet - The ink jet printer is very quiet (unlike the dot matrix). It is an inexpensive way to produce quality fonts and graphics at 300 dpi (dot per inch). They are the best way to go for color. Two things to watch for are that they can smear when the paper first comes out and the ink can bleed if you use a fibrous paper. Slick bond paper is the order of the day. Hewlett Packard and Canon both produce fine ink jet printers.

Laser - Nothing beats it for quality and speed when printing long documents. They tend to be slow getting out that first page, but do such a nice job. The only drawbacks are that they can't do multiple-ply forms and color is still too expensive. Hewlett Packard and Okidata both produce a fine line of printers.