To connect up with a printer physically and electronically, a computer uses a port—nothing more than (a) a plug or socket and (b) the gizmos that let your machine exchange bits and bytes with the outside world.
“The outside world” may be a modem, which connects up with a phone, or it may be simply your printer.
Two common styles of ports are serial and parallel. Data passes through serial ports a bit at a time; through parallel ports, it passes eight bits or more at once.
Serial ports commonly use an industry standard, the RS-232, which is a kind of socket together with the related electronics. As with “IBM compatibility,” this “industry standard” often can be elusive. One brand’s RS-232 may differ from another’s.
The Kaypro has both a serial and parallel port, and with the Anderson Jacobson, I had to wrestle with plugs whenever I used the modem, since it and the Anderson Jacobson both required the serial port.
In between printing one of the last drafts of this manuscript today, I’m adding another criterion—whether a printer has a buffer.
A buffer in this case is just some memory, in the printer, that lets your computer pump a letter or report into the machine in a fairly short time. Then you can return to other computer work while the printer runs. You can of course buy a buffer if your machine lacks one and you’re sadistic enough to deprive your secretary of a good excuse for a coffee break. Wait. Come to think of it, your secretary herself might appreciate a buffer if she’s trying to keep a nine to five job nine to five.
You needn’t have buffering by way of your printer. Some programs, such as Word Perfect, even let you “schedule” several printing jobs from different documents on your disk while you’re still writing.
Big Blue’s Quiet One
Do you need a quiet printer that will turn out typewriter-like work but won’t cost as much as a laser-style machine?