Now, laser printers and inkjet printers have replaced dot matrix printers. How do you choose the perfect printer for the job? Below are five of the most important qualities you should look for when choosing a printer.

The most important factor to be considered is the resolution. Resolution is the number of dots a printer prints in a square inch. Your old dot matrix printer could not print in a high resolution. Ink jet printers are perfect for this. A good quality printer with high resolution can produce 1440 by 720 dpi.
The operating cost of the printer should also be considered. The speed of the printer is very important especially if you are using it in the office. Laser printers are perfect in this respect, 80 to 100 page documents can be printed in a very short time. Laser printers are also very cost effective to operate since their cartridges are not replaced very often.

Printers that have photo lab quality are essential if you are looking for a printer that can print high-resolution images in photo paper. Those who often use printers for printing pictures should get printers of the dye-sublimation type. With this type of printer, the dots are softer, thereby making the images appear sharper.

The volume of printout per minute is essential if you are printing large numbers of documents in black and white. There are printers with a lower resolution of about 400 by 400 dpi that can print about 70 pages in black and white within a minute.

The size of the printout is also to be considered. There are certain printers that can print all sizes of documents, big or small. The usual paper size is the 8.5 by 11 but for these types of printers, you can print enveloped size to tabloid-sized documents.
To be able to select the perfect printer for your needs, you should first determine where the printer would be used. If you are keen on printing photos, then a photo printer is necessary, but if you are more interested in printing documents, then heavy duty printers with speed printing are appropriate to use. High resolution is important, however it should fit the speed, quality and price of the printout.
Keeping the above specifications in mind, you will be able to purchase the right printer that would meet your requirements.