Older technology can still have its uses
Advantages Reliable, speed of response
Disadvantages Not very flexible, no graphics support
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The OKI 380 is a dot-matrix 24 pin monochrome printer.
We make use of a number of these printers at the company I work for. They will retail for around the £250-£300 mark, depending on the supplier you use.
However, the technology although old still has its uses. The reason why dot-matrix printers have not yet gone the way of the Dodo is because for certain uses they have one distinct advantage over a laser printer. What is this advantage then, I hear you cry?
Well, a dot-matrix printer is really the only type of printer you can use if you want to print on 2 part print media. By this I mean something like a financial statement where the statement is printed on a page made from two layers, the top copy is kept by the company and the other is sent to the customer. This sort of media relies on carbon to produce the second copy and so needs a printer that impresses ink on the paper by force. As the dot-matrix printer works like a type writer and relies on force to impress the ink onto paper, this is the best type of printer to use. A laser printer will not do this as it does not forcibly impress the ink onto the paper, rather it burns it on by use of the laser technology.I hope that made sense? Anyway as our company needs to produce statements on 2 part paper, we still have dot-matrix printers in everyday use.
This dot-matrix printer can produce a fairly quick printing speed, although it can’t compare to the speed of a laser printer as it is still reliant on technology similar to that of a typewriter!
The response time for print requests is pretty quick. This is due to the fact that the printer can only deal with text only requests, so there are no large graphics for the printer’s processor to have to deal with.One major disadvantage with the dot-matrix printer is the time it takes to change paper over. With a laser printer it is just a case of opening up the paper tray and then dropping another pile of paper in, but unfortunately with the dot-matrix printer there is a slightly more involved process! The printer paper is fed from underneath the printer, through a series of rollers and then through to the top of the printer. The paper then needs to be lined up so it is in the correct place on the page for the print job to begin. This can take a while to do all of this, although you do get quicker with more practice!
Another time consuming procedure is swapping over the print ribbons. The ribbon itself needs to be threaded through two spindles on the print head, so it runs freely through the print head as the printer works. This can be a bit of a tricky process to begin with, but after a few times you can become a bit of a dab hand at it. After all this, it certainly makes you appreciate how easy it is to change toner cartridges in modern laser and desk jet printers!These OKI printers are very reliable. We have a number of these machines that have been running quite happily for the last 5 or 6 years without any problems. This may be due to the more simple technology they use, but must also be down to decent build quality.
For a specific type of job such as printing on two layered paper, I would recommend this printer; but I could not see it being of use for normal office applications as the modern laser printers provide a much superior performance.
Thanks for reading!
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footblah 20/02/2004 19:19
kepler3001 25/01/2004 03:55
TheChocolateLady 24/01/2004 09:15
Do people still buy these? Our office has a VERY old brother dot matrix printer that is very light and portable and is used to take around to the different photocopier machines to download and print out the usage (we have counter keys for our photocopiers so that copies are charged directly to a budget).
jacqui_1 24/01/2004 00:40
Great Op. I still use a dot matrix for the business. Usually for the monthly stock reports only though. Jacqui
feeble_albatross 23/01/2004 23:27
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