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Dot matrix printer

dot-matrixA dot matrix is a type of printer that produces characters and illustrations by striking pins against an ink ribbon to print closely spaced dots in the appropriate shape.

 

Advantages:

  • They create carbon copies because the print head hits the paper with enough force that when carbonised paper is used the impact goes through to the second sheet.
  • Low operating costs
  • Will still work in harsh conditions such as factories or garages.

Disadvantages:

  • No longer the cheapest printer
  • Quality relatively poor and important documents are not suitable to give managers or customers
  • Very slow- slowest out of all 3 printers
  • Very noisy –you wouldn’t want this printing all day in the office

Alternatives:

These were the first type of printers to be used in schools or homes but nowadays they aren’t nearly as popular.

Instead of using these slow and noisy printers you could use laser printers to still print multiple pages.