Paper Handling and Connectivity of Laser Printers and Inkjet Printers

You've decided to buy a laser or inkjet printer but do not know what the paper handling facilities of a typical laser or inkjet printer are and which of these paper handling functions you will really need. Here's some information that will help you find out before buying your inkjet or laser printer.

When we talk about paper handling on laser or inkjet printers, there are many aspects such as the size and thickness of various paper, standard and optional input-output-tray capacity are involved.

Generally, all the inkjet printers and laser printers print on standard paper with letter and legal sizes. Most will except envelopes and have input and output paper trays. Most personal laser or inkjet printers come with only one paper tray. So with the personal laser or inkjet printers you can expect to add paper regularly.

On the high-end or workgroup models, you will find two or three times more paper capacity and advanced features such as duplexing (double sided printing) and printing on tabloid-size papers. Generally all inkjet and laser printers will have at least 100 sheets of paper capacity (with the exception of portable printers). In general laser printers’ paper handling capacity tend to be more than that of inkjet printers.

You will need a USB port to connect to a laser or inkjet printer. All inkjet and laser printers nowadays have a USB port. There are 2 types of USB ports; USB 1.1 and USB 2.0. USB 2.0 is faster but the two types are compatible with each other. Some laser or inkjet printers still have the older parallel port technology if you prefer.

If you will print over a network, you will need an Ethernet port. You will find that in workgroup laser printers. Some high-end models also support wireless printing through infrared or Bluetooth technology.

Most laser and inkjet printers do not come with a printer cable that connects the printer to the computer. Include printer cable cost in your budget as well.

This article is prepared by Christy Berger who writes for PrintCountry.com. A longer version of this article can be found at Inkjet Printer and Laser Printer Paper Handling & Connectivity. Main resource of this article is Discount Epson & HP Ink Cartridges.