Printers and Monitors

by Alden Smith

One of the nicest things about computers today is their ability to reproduce fantastic and colorful images in both the viewing and printing medium. There are on the market today hundreds of printers and monitors, and this plethora of items available makes it exceeding difficult to make the right choice. Long gone are the days of few choices. You can get a monitor at a reasonable price that is 28 inches, giving you more real estate than you can possibly use. There are printers that will do everything from making excellent photographs to batch copying of office documents. Here, we will discuss the printers and monitors currently available, give some prices, and what we think are good choices for the first time user.

Types of Monitors

The two types of monitors available today are the cathode ray tubes (CRT) and liquid crystal displays (LCD). Because the price for an LCD monitor has become so reasonable, you seldom see CRT displays much any more. They are bulky and heavy, and take up a lot of room on the desktop. An LCD, on the other hand, has a very slim profile and can even be mounted on a hanger that attaches to the desk and is moveable both up and down and sideways. Prices for these hangers run about $130.00 at online computer stores.

A good LCD 22" monitor can be had for about $300.00 - $350.00 at major online stores. I currently use a Samsung 22" monitor and have glaucoma and cataracts, a real concern for older people starting out. I have no difficulty at all with this monitor, and can see everything well. Try not to scrimp on this feature, because you will not be satisfied with color rendition or clarity with a cheapo model.

One thing to remember about monitors is that standard size text in Microsoft Windows is small and hard to read and best read at a monitor resolution of 1280 pixels by 1024 pixels. Research shows that the 19" LCD monitor displays this perfectly, and is therefore the choice of many people.

Printers

Printers today come with every bell and whistle you could ever need, and at a very affordable price. You can buy a printer that is excellent for the small home office that will copy, scan, print and fax. In my office, I use a Hewlett-Packard Officejet 5610 All-In-One that has all these features, and meets the needs of my business. The price for this printer was $99.00 at Tigerdirect.com.

There are two types of printers available today - the inkjet printer and the laser printer. An inkjet printer holds two cartridges that contain ink in black, and a cartridge for color printing. The inkjet printer is usually the cheaper of the two. Be aware, though, that if you do a lot of heavy color printing, such as photographs, that the ink cartridges will quickly run out. A black cartridge will run about $17.00 for a twin pack, and a color cartridge will run $29.99. The HP Tri-color Inkjet Print Cartridge is advertised at yielding approximately 450 pages. Although this may sound like a lot, if you are printing a lot of color photographs, it will run out before you know it. Your best bet for heavy photograph printing is a laser printer. A HP Laserjet 3600n Color Laser Printer runs about $499.00 at Tigerdirect.com, and will meet just about any need you may have. The savings in ink cartridges justifies the cost of the printer.

Many people getting their first computer want to use a printer that will produce good pictures. You begin by taking pictures with a digital camera, editing them in an image editor, and printing them to whatever size you wish. Technology has advanced so far now that it is only a matter of plugging you camera into a USB port to access you pictures. Many of today's cameras come bundled with image editing software to make sizing and editing an easy task. Some higher end printers will print poster and banner sized images.

With the variety and good prices of monitors and printer available today, you can get the one that meets your needs for just about any situation. The best deals are usually available in the online market places, such as Tigerdirect.com, whish has the reputation of not only good prices, but of excellent customer service. I have used Tigerdirect for my entire computer and related hardware purchases for the past 10 years, and have never had an issue with them. If you want something for email and casual web surfing, and want to print a few pictures of the grandkids, then you can get everything you need at a very affordable price. The one big advantage of the internet is that it is not only a competitive marketplace, but has unlimited resources.