4. Printers

Printers are another common output device. They are used to create a 'hard' copy of your work i.e. something that you can hold, hand to someone else or file away.

Most printers produce their output on paper.

However, paper isn't the only thing that you can print things onto, for example some printers are able to print directly on to CD or DVD disks with a suitable holder.

A major factor with printers is the cost of the ink. Ink-jets are good for low volume use as they produce excellent text and photo outputs, but cost-per-page can be very expensive, in which case a laser printer is the more cost-effectve choice.