A computer usually displays its answers on a screen. If you want the computer to copy the answers onto paper, attach the computer to a printer, which is a device that prints on paper.
The typical printer looks like a typewriter but lacks a keyboard. To feed information to the printer, you type on the computer's keyboard. The computer transmits your request through a cable of wires running from the back of the computer to the back of the printer.
A computer's advertised price usually does not include a printer and cable. The cable costs about $8; the typical printer costs several hundred dollars.
Printers are more annoying than screens. Printers are noisier, slower, cost more, consume more electricity, need repairs more often, and require you to buy paper and ink. But you'll want a printer anyway, to copy the computer's answers onto paper that you can give your computerless friends. Another reason to get a printer is that a sheet of paper is bigger than a screen and lets you see more information at once.
Printer dealers
To get a printer cheaply, phone these mail-order discount dealers:
Tri State Computer
650 6th Ave. (at 20th St.)
New York NY 10011
800-433-5199 or 212-633-2530
Harmony Computers & Electronics
1801 Flatbush Ave.
Brooklyn NY 11210
800-441-1144 or 718-692-3232
USA Flex
135 N. Brandon Dr.
Glen Ellyn IL 60139
800-USA-FLEX or 708-582-6206
Midwest Micro
6910 U.S. Route 36 East
Fletcher OH 45326
800-972-8822 or 513-368-2309
Midwest Micro offers the greatest variety of printers, a free catalog, and toll-free technical help but charges more than the other three companies. To get special attention, ask Tri State for David Rohinsky at extension 223 and tell him you're reading The Secret Guide to Computers.
To get low prices locally, walk into chains of discount superstores, such as Comp USA (which sells all kinds of computer equipment) and Staples (which sells all kinds of office supplies and some computer equipment).
Another way to get a printer cheap is to phone a printer manufacturer, Epson, at its Accessories Division (800-873-7766) and ask for a catalog of Epson printers that are factory-reconditioned (which means ``used but fixed up by the manufacturer to be like new''). They're usually older models, at reduced prices. You get a 30-day money-back guarantee and 2-year warranty. Customers who got those printers were thrilled by the fine quality at ridiculously low prices! But alas, Epson recently raised its prices for factory-reconditioned printers; now they cost just slightly less than new ones.
Three kinds of printers
Three kinds of printers are popular.
A dot-matrix printer looks like a typewriter but has no keyboard. Like a typewriter, it smashes an inked ribbon against the paper. Like a typewriter, it's cheap: it typically costs about $150.
An ink-jet printer looks like a dot-matrix printer; but instead of containing a ribbon, it contains tiny hoses that squirt ink at the paper. It prints more beautifully than a dot-matrix printer and costs more. It typically costs about $250.
A laser printer looks like a photocopier. Like a photocopier, it contains a rotating drum and inky toner. It prints even more beautifully than the other two kinds of printers. Like a photocopier, it's expensive: it typically costs about $400.
Special requirements
As you progress from a dot-matrix printer to an ink-jet printer to a laser printer, the quality tends to go up, and so does the price. But here are exceptions. . . .
Color If you need to print in color (instead of just black-and-white), get an ink-jet printer. (Dot-matrix printers produce colors too crudely and slowly. Color laser printers cost too much ___ about $8,000.) Ink-jet printers that can print in color cost about $300.
Mailing labels Although you can print mailing labels on all three kinds of printers, the easiest way to print mailing labels is on a dot-matrix printer.
Multi-part forms If you want to print on a multipart form (using carbon paper or carbonless NCR paper), you must buy a dot-matrix printer.
Old accounting software Some old accounting software requires that you buy a dot-matrix printer. It also requires that the printer be an expensive kind that can handle extra-wide paper.
Cost of consumables
After you've bought the printer and used it for a while, the ink supply will run out, so you must buy more ink.
In the typical dot-matrix printer, the inked ribbon costs about $5 and lasts about 1000 pages, so it costs about a half a penny per page. That's cheap!
In the typical ink-jet printer, the ink cartridge costs about $20 and lasts about 500 pages, so it costs about 4 cents per page. That's expensive!
In the typical laser printer, the toner cartridge costs about $80 and lasts about 4000 pages, so it costs about 2 cents per page. That's expensive, but not as expensive as the ink in an ink-jet printer.
Those prices assume you're printing black text. If you're printing graphics or color, the cost per page goes up drastically. For example, full-color graphics on an ink-jet printer cost about 50 cents per page.
For all three kinds of printers, you must also pay for the paper, which costs about 1 cent per sheet if you buy a small quantity (such as a 500 sheets), or a half a cent per sheet if you buy a large quantity (such as 5000 sheets). For low prices on paper, go to Staples. You must also pay for the electricity to run the printer; but the electricity's cost is negligible (much less than a penny per page) if you turn the printer off when you're not printing.
Warning: if you leave a laser printer on even when not printing, its total yearly electric cost can get high, since the laser printer contains a big electric heater. (You might even notice the lights in your room go dim when the heater kicks on.)
Daisy-wheel printers
Although the most popular kinds of printers are dot-matrix, ink-jet, and laser, some folks still use an older kind of printer, called a daisy-wheel printer. It's cute! Here's how it works. . . .
Like a typewriter and a dot-matrix printer, a daisy-wheel printer smashes an inked ribbon against paper. To do that, the daisy-wheel printer contains a device called a daisy wheel, which is an artificial daisy flower made of plastic or metal. On each of the daisy's petals is embossed a character: a letter, a digit, or a symbol. For example, one petal has the letter A embossed on it; another petal has B; another petal has C; etc.
Notice that each character is embossed. (The word ``embossed'' is like ``engraved'', but an ``embossed'' character is raised up from the surface instead of etched into the surface.)
To print the letter C, the printer spins the daisy wheel until the C petal is in front of the inked ribbon. Then a hammer bangs the C petal against the ribbon, which in turn hits the paper, so that an inked C appears on the paper.
The printer can print each character extra-dark or regular. To print a character extra-dark, the printer prints the character, moves to the right just 120th of an inch, and then reprints the character. Since the second printing is almost in the same place as the original character, the character looks darkened and slightly fatter. Those darkened, fattened characters are called boldfaced.
You can remove the daisy wheel from the printer and insert a different daisy wheel instead. Each daisy wheel contains a different font. For example, one daisy whee
