What is the difference between a inkjet, laser and thermal printer ? -

please help its for an assignment

Inkjet uses ink jets to spray ink on paper. Laser uses a laser on a roller to pick up toner and then quot;meltquot; it into the paper. Thermal uses wax that s heated and pressed into the paper (something like that). However, if it s for an assignment, you should google it.

Pretty simple really Inkjet printers use ink cartridges, wet liquid ink, that is shot onto the page and dries. Its a cheaper printer usually(to buy), and you will get your best photo quality prints off of a printer like this, but the ink is generally expensive. These are the types of printer most people have in their homes. Laser printers use a laser, which writes an image onto a drum assembly inside the printer. This drum picks up dry particles of toner (think copy machines) which is then transfered onto the paper. This then rolls through a fuser assembly which melts the toner onto the paper. Typically these printers are black only, but color lasers are becoming more prevalent and affordable by the day. Most times you ll see these printers in businesses or home/small businesses. The price per page is cheaper than an inkjet. Thermal printers use heat and a special paper. The paper is heat sensitive, and will change in color when heat is applied. These are most usually used in really old fax machines (the ones that take a roll of paper) or in recipt printers. Jack in the Box for example uses thermal paper in my area for all of their reciepts. You can take thermal paper, put a heat source under it, and watch the paper turn black in front of your eye. Business like these for reciepts since you don t have to mess with ribbons, toner, or ink, just put a roll of thermal paper into the unit and start printing. Hope this info helps :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_printer