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RETR Ro Eh a me SUCCESS INC. NEW TO MARKET $159,900. garage workshop, large treed lot. A must to view. START IN OAKWOOD! possible in-law apt. Listed at $114,900. 4 - PORT PERRY STAR - Real Estate Section - Tuesday, December 17, 1991 LPS Mr lL # ® reat location, tastefully decorated 1-1/2 storey home, 3 bedrooms, main floor laundry, heated Great starter home with 3+1 bedrooms. Finished rec room with fireplace and walkout to allow for Port Perry 985-7371 ND with 3:3 Daroom home. HWY. 7A at Water St., : BLACKSTOCK $155,400. PONTYPOOL $269,900. Fish farm potential. 2 ponds - artesian fed flowing into Pigeon River. Rustic design 3 bedroom bungalow, walkout basement. 79 acres. PORT PERRY EAST - $179,900. 0 apartment i Flee. pdm ba AE] SCUGOG ISLAND - $249,000. New condition & with lake access. Tr -- IDEAL FAMILY HOME fl Brick 3+2 bedrooms, { pool. Close to all local amenities. Motivated : Ped anch bungalow with 3 large bedrooms, family & laundry room, main floor living & dining room, 4 pc. ensuite with jacuzzi. Lower level has spacious four 3 bedroom, living room, dining room, 4pc-6pc and 2- 2pc baths. Family room & 4th bedroom down. Super family home that has. to be seen to be appreciated. WASHBURN ISLAND $149,900. Super all brick bungalow, all oak cabinetry. Must be seen to be appreciated. See it today and try your offer. ¥ 4g 54, PR + oA 5 SCUGOG ISLAND WATERFRONT $159,900. 75' waterfront lot with eastem exposure - ful walkout basement - home is priced for required finishing touches. BLUE WITH A VIEW - $168,900. Features 3+1 bedrooms, roomy attached garage at $184,900. many, many extras. LOOKING GOOD ON PAPER When personal computers first took off as a popular solution for home and business management, everyone talked about the "paperless office." Computers were going to make obsolete the need to keep paper copies since they stored everything electronically. This never happened. In fact, over the past few years the computer industry has focuss- ed extensively on the development of printing technologies. Because people are so conditioned to the printed page, we rely on computer printers to produce faster, better quality paper copies. The advent of desktop publishing is an exam- ple of a computer application that is com- pletely focussed on printed results. The type of printer you choose to use, will depend on the same factors that seem to guide all computer hardware decisions: the tasks you need to ac- complish and the amount of money you have to spend. There are currently three types of printer technologies from which you can choose: dot matrix, ink jet, and laser. One of the first printers commonly us- ed with personal computers were similar to electronic typewriters. They printed text in a similar way a player piano plays music, using a plastic typewriter wheel and typewriter ribbon. While the quality of their output was the best available at the time, they were limited in what they could print by what characters were on the print wheel. As well, they were ex- tremely slow and noisy. While you may find daisy wheel printers available in bargain basements or want ads, they represent an outdated technology that many companies no longer support. Dot matrix printers have been available to consumers for about ten years. This type of printer uses a print head that contains a number of pins. These pins are fired against a ribbon similar to that found on a typewriter. Since these pins can be fired extremely quickly, speed is a major attribute of this type of printer. It is not uncommon for a relatively inexpensive dot matrix printer to print at a speed in excess of 120 characters per second! As well, these printers print graphic characters allow- ing you to reproduce virtually anything that appears on your computer screen, depending on the software you are using. Print quality has improved drastical- ly as well over the past few years. By in- creasing the number of pins in the print heads, these printers can produce type indistinguishable from the earlier daisy wheel printers. Today you will find dot matrix printers with nine pins or 24 pins. Obviously, the latter will produce better quality. But don't dismiss nine pin printers! If budget is a concern, you can purchase an excellent nine pin printer for about $250 that will produce perfectly ac- ceptable quality output. While these printers most commonly handle con- tinuous feed paper, they can handle single sheets and envelopes as well. To do this properly, however, you may need to purchase an addition for your printer known as a sheet feeder. Check with the manufacturer to be sure this option is available. This may add a significant cost to the printer purchase. You can also buy wide carriage versions of most popular dot matrix printers. This allows you to use large envelopes or forms that are wider than 11 inches. The advantage of dot matrix printers is speed and price. While better dot matrix printers can cost thousands, you can get exceptional quali- ty by spending only a few hundred dollars. They are also inexpensive to operate and maintain. The drawbacks are that these printers are noisy and leave something to be desired if you want publication quality results. But ask to see samples of printer output when you visit a dealer. You may be surprised! Ink jet technology has been around for a few years. More recently these have eid e more affordable and can print on regular paper. Some of the earlier models required specially treated paper which limited print quality and versatility. These printers actually spray ink onto the paper to create their image. As a result, they are very quiet, if not silent. They produce graphics as well as text. Most of these printers are limited to single sheet printing although some have built-in sheet feeding mechanisms. As well, you can purchase ink jet printers that are battery operated and fit in your briefcase, making them ideal choices for "portable computing. Print quality is ex- cellent, second only to that available from laser printers. The major drawback here is speed. These printers can be pain- fully slow unless you're laying out con- siderable money. Prices range from about $400 up to $1500 depending on speed - and paper handling abilities. As well, you can add memory and type face car- tridges to some of the better printers to increase capability. Laser printers represent the royalty of personal computer printer technology. Prices have come down considerably over the past couple of years making them a viable choice even for home com- puter users. In fact, you can purchase ex- cellent laser printers for a few hundred dollars more than a good dot matrix printer. These printers use a laser beam to project an image onto a drum to create an electrically charged image. Paper wraps around the drum and heat is ap- plied to fuse a pigmented image to it. In other words, they work like copiers: The resulting image, of course, is of excep- tionally high quality. While entry level laser printers are not that fast (about four pages per minute), more money yields impressive speed. You can also control these printers to produce a multitude of publishing feats that will make others envious! You must usually purchase extra memory if you want to take full advantage of these printer's capabilities, though. As well, you can purchase cartridges that contain dif- ferent typefaces. Look for printers that are compatible with Hewlett Packard standards. This will insure the greatest compatibility with other computer pro- ducts. Toner cartridges should cost about $100-150 depending on printer model, but usually last an appreciable time. Keep this cost in mind in maintaining your printer. Prices range from about $1200 up to tens of thousands for printers capable of color printing using the Adobe Postscript language, a more versatile, but expen- sive, page description language for laser Prisons. Most of us do not need such eatures as Postscript, so be careful when purchasing not to be sold something you don't really need. You can also find, if you look, some discontinued models at exceptional prices. One example is an Okidata 400. While this model's technology is slightly different from true laser, it is an excellent printer that you may be able to find for about $800. The recently discontinued Hewlett Packard IIP is an excellent choice for home offices and should be discounted considerably. My recommendation? Buy a laser printer if you can afford one. The truth is, if you use computers seriously, you will eventually get one anyway. Other- wise, shop around for either a dot matrix or ink jet printer. Base your choice on features and print quality, not price alone. Consider only products with stan- dard, reputable names. This usually guarantees compatibility with software and availability of such things as ribbons, ink and toner cartridges, and typefaces. PLEASE NOTE: 1 would like to use future columns to respond to your com- puter questions. Please forward any: questions you have to The Star office and , I'll do my best to address your concerns right here! Sarr oag oy