There is some uncertainty in the legal sector over which aspects of printer performance are important, particularly when faced with the choice of technologies, power and brands now available.The buyer is spoilt for choice but making the wrong choice could lead to unsatisfactory performance, frustrated users and wasted time.Dot matrix printers work by firing a needle onto the paper whilst moving from left to right across the page.

They are generally available with nine or 24 needles which are fired to produce a character in a matrix.

Draft print offers the fastest speed, and up to 900 characters per second (cps) can be achieved on some of the larger matrix printers.

Letter quality print can also be achieved on matrix printers at slightly slower speeds.

Impact printers, such as dot matrix printers, are essential for multi-part printing.They are easy to use and can be set up on a variety of systems.

They also offer comprehensive paper handling facilities, so for users who require constant switching between different paper types, such as envelopes, labels, multi-part stationery, continuous paper or various sized single sheets, a dot matrix printer provides the most flexibility.Wider carriage matrix printers will take up to and including A3 paper.

Ideally a dual-bin paper cassette should be used to maximise paper usage and enable users to choose between paper types.Dot matrix printers are generally regarded as the workhorse of the printer world.

They range in price from £100 to over £2000.Line matrix printers use the same basic technology as the dot matrix printer, but are essentially a much larger machine with the needles being fired from a hammerbank.

They print in a shuttle mechanism.

These high volume printers can be noisy, so the decibel rating supplied by the line printer manufacturers should be compared with other types of machine.Line matrix printers are particularly suitable for fast heavy duty printing since they are quick - producing up to 1400 lines per minute.

They can handle heavy workloads of up to 250,000 pages per month.

They are fast and flexible, and are capable of producing graphics for legal documents.

They can print on a variety of paper types and sizes including labels.

Line printers start from around £4500.Laser printers are becoming widely used in all sorts of organisations for word processing output.

They typically have a short life cycle (obsolescence can set in within two years) and often incur relatively high running costs.

They lack the flexibility of matrix printers for paper handling and only accept single pages (usually A4, although there are some A3 lasers on the market albeit at high prices).

The major advantage is that the print quality is good.Laser printers work on a similar principle to photocopiers, using a laser beam to sensitise a drum with the image to be printed.

Toner is attracted to the sensitised areas and paper rolls around the drum and picks up the toner.

The toner is fused to the page as it passes the heated roller.

As both the toner and drum are consumable items, laser printers can be expensive to run.Features such as 600 dots per inch (dpi) print resolution, which improves the appearance of characters; scalable fonts, which give users greater choice in how they present their work; dual bins (additional paper input cassettes); and sorters/collators, are now widely available on laser printers.

However, in the vast majority of cases a standard entry level four or five pages per minute laser at £500 would satisfy most word-processing requirements.Laser quality print will not fade if the documents are archived suitably.

This makes lasers a suitable technology for documents which need to be kept for a long period, such as wills.It is predicted that the inkjet market will be the highest growth market for printers in the next five years.

Inkjet printers work on a similar principle to matrix printers, except that the printhead fires ink onto the paper.

Inkjet printers can produce excellent print quality, but compared to laser printers are much slower, although they do offer superior paper handling.Inkjet printers are ideal for legal sector users who have a minimal print throughput but require high quality.

Inkjet printers are relatively low cost items (starting at around £300) and many are so small they are being marketed as portable printers.

They have a print life of seven to ten years.Thermal transfer printers are more widely used for hi gh quality colour printing.

They use a special ribbon (rather like carbon ribbon) and print images by using heat to transfer from ribbon to paper.

The print quality can be excellent, but the running costs are likely to be higher due to the ribbon cartridge cost.

Like the laser printer, the print does not fade when archived suitably.The portable printing market is another growth area in line with the increasing number of solicitors and legal executives who require computing power whilst away from the office.

Portable printers mean that optimum use of mobile computing can be achieved since minutes, documents and contracts can be printed as required, speeding up the whole administration process and saving time back at the office.

In addition, customers can be provided with paperwork instantly, improving the service offered by the company.Most portable printers use inkjet or thermal transfer technologies.

The printer can therefore be smaller and more compact, making it easier to carry around and meaning that desk space can be maximised in the office or at home.Before choosing a printer define what it is to be used for.

Ask yourself:-- What is my workload now and is it likely to increase much?-- What are my paper handling requirements? (For example, do I use multi-part stationery or do I need A3 output?)-- Will it be serving a multi-user network?-- Will it therefore need a heavy workload capacity?-- Does it offer the correct interface combination? (Serial or parallel ports are available as standards and some printers can be configured to handle both.)-- Will it fit on the desk?-- Is ease of use important? (Or are features the key issue?)-- Where will it be situated - is noise a problem?-- How long do I need the print to last?-- Where will it be archived (ie will it be in contact with light)?-- What about cost?What about cost? All too often printer cost is understood as purely the unit purchase price.

An equally important consideration is the running cost: that is the cost of consumables and the availability and cost of maintenance and support.

Why? Because costs vary greatly from supplier to supplier and the last thing any busy office needs is highly paid staff twiddling their thumbs waiting for a mythical engineer.Do not sell yourself short, nor over-specify your needs.

There is no point buying a £400 matrix printer if you want to print thousands of labels every month, but equally do not buy an expensive laser printer if you only need to output the occasional letter.Most printers now have a standard warranty included in the purchase price.

This is either for one year on-site (where the engineer will visit the site and repair the printer on the spot) or return to depot (where the printer is sent back to a repair centre).

When making the choice, consider the implications of being without a printer for a few days.

Have you got a spare, or do you need an on-site arrangement?Like all major purchases, consider the options carefully.

You might need to consider:-- An upgrade from return to depot to on-site maintenance.-- Extending the warranty so that you have more than one year.-- Whether to use the third party who handles maintenance/support of all other computing equipment.Whoever sells you the printer will offer a service agreement which should, if possible, be with the supplier of the printer.

If someone else is to service the printer, make sure they have been trained to repair your particular make of printer.Although printers are often regarded as an afterthought, it is actually as important a purchase decision as that of the computer itself.

The corporate strategy paper which has taken so much effort will be dismissed if the print is unclear.

Increased processing speeds and powerful networks become less than useful if no hard copy can be produced.

So taking some time and effort now will almost inevitably reap benefits in the future.