Epson Stylus R1800 Photo Printer (5760x1440 DPI, Color, 64KB, PC/Mac)

Inkjets Print Photos Well, And Decent Looking Text, Too

Inkjet printers like this one are commonly used in a home or student setting as well as in a small office. Printing photos is their strongest suit, although they can also print decent to good-looking plain text. For the best results, you usually need to use specially coated papers.

Inkjet printers spray ink through microscopic nozzles arrayed on a print head. Because the printhead has to move back and forth across the page, inkjets can be slow--especially when printing those nice photos.

Ink type affects print quality. Dye-based inks (color dissolved in liquid) tend to create better-looking colors, but they’re less light- and water-resistant. Pigment-based inks (solid color particles suspended in liquid) create images that are more durable but not quite as colorful. Some inkjet printers use both: a pigment-based black for crisp text quality, for instance, but dye-based colors for better-looking graphics.

Ink cartridges come in two basic designs. The colors (cyan, magenta, and yellow) can come in a unified “tricolor” cartridge or in separate cartridges. There’s always a separate black. The tricolor cartridges are more compact, but they’re also wasteful because you have to replace the entire cartridge whenever you run out of any one color. Some printers offer additional colors, such as light cyan or light magenta, to widen the color palette.

Creates a Wider Color Palette By Using a Wider Array of Ink Colors

This type of inkjet printer uses the basic four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) plus additional colors to create a wider color palette. The additional colors could be a second black (one pigment-based, one dye-based), or light cyan or light magenta, for example. Regardless of the number of inks available, differences in ink type and marking technology will affect how printed colors look.  

The first three colors come in either a unified "tricolor" cartridge or in separate cartridges. Additional colors are usually separate, and black is always separate. The unified cartridges are more compact, but they’re also wasteful because you have to replace the entire cartridge whenever you run out of any one color.

Compatible with Macintosh and other Apple systems

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers designed by Apple, meaning it has at least one appropriate connection type and also has drivers written for the Mac OS X operating system.

Compatible with Microsoft Windows Operating System

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers that use the Microsoft Windows operating system, meaning it has at least one appropriate connection type and also has drivers written for Windows.

Compatible with Both Apple and Windows Operating Systems

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers designed by Apple that run either Mac OS X; or computers that use Microsoft Windows. In addition to having at least one appropriate connection for each computer platform, it should also come with drivers written for both operating systems.

Installed Memory is Ideal for Five or Fewer Users

This printer's installed memory is sufficient for small offices or workgroups that print typical business documents, such as memos, spreadsheets, or simple Web pages. If you have more than six people using the printer or the printer handles heavy traffic, you will want more memory than this printer provides.

FireWire Connection Gives Added Throughput Speed

This printer offers a FireWire connection, Apple's version of the IEEE 1394 high-speed serial bus. FireWire is capable of faster throughput speeds than USB (another serial connection type), but for most printer applications it doesn't matter which you use.