Dot Matrix printers once a compulsory companion in any IT environment is rapidly losing its market share to silent and smooth non impact printers. Although the usage of impact printers still exist but the buyers are more inclined towards laser, thermal or ink jet printers due to variety of reasons.
Negative Points
o The first and foremost reason is the noise pollution which is the main factor of preferring non impact printers. Areas where bulk printing is required, dot matrix or impact printers make lot of noise, disturbing office environment to a considerable extent. In some cases printer has to run the whole day for certain printing tasks that cannot be halted in the middle. Due to this reason, the printers are placed in closed or confined areas to avoid noisy office environment. Even a small nine pin printer can make noise that can reach far distance and annoy number of workers.
o The quality of output of impact printers is far less than the laser or ink jet printers. When it comes to graphical output, impact ones lags far behind in terms of quality. Furthermore, the use of ribbon leaves unwanted impressions especially when it starts losing its ink. The impact also creates engraved impressions on thick papers making it look unprofessional.
o The page per minute speed of non impact printers surpasses character per second speed of a dot matrix one. The struggling dot matrix printer takes a lot of time to give output of a fully filled page resulting in delays in office environment.
o The weight of such printer is much more than laser or inkjet due to more mechanical parts. These mechanical parts are main reason for noisy operations. Since dot matrix consume lot of electricity, due to its mechanical design, it is usually avoided where printer is needed for regular printing.
o Although EPSON, Star Micronics and IBM impact matrix printers served well for years and still maintain a greater chunk of market share, the HP and Cannon are rapidly eating up their share in offices.
Positive Points
o In recent days the maintenance and recurring cost involved with printers has increased considerably. The main reason is a printer toner cartridge of non impact ones that has replaced the noisy but less expensive ribbon of impact printers. The dot matrix printers are most cost effective in terms of printing and recurring cost. The ribbons are cheap and can print plenty of pages with very few refills.
o The dot matrix printers are ideal for receipt printing, especially when multipart printing is needed. The impression of printer head can create carbon copies up to 3 or more in number of models. This reduces printing cost and gives ease in such scenarios.
o The printer forms make life easier as there are no paper jams or skipping of lines involved. In case of printing thousands of bills or invoices, there is no replacement for dot matrix printers.
o The life of pins impression is much more than inkjet or thermal ones. Even if a paper is wet, the impression will remain there for a considerable period.
o Dot matrix is still used for filling figures in preprinted forms as this is the best option available for such task.
o Offices that need textual printing only, should prefer dot matrix as their preferred option.
The above analysis is good for those who are unable to decide whether they should go for dot matrix or inkjet / laser / thermal non impact printers.
