Hewlett Packard Color LaserJet 550-sheet Media Tray

The size of paper that can be placed in the printer feeder and printed in the particular printer. If this index of the printer is, for example, A4 it means that this particular printer can print for sure also smaller size paper, for example, A5. This possibility has certain restrictions that can be found in the detailed specification of the printing size and type of paper supported.

The resolution of the printer determines the number of dots that the printer printing head can print horizontally and vertically. By applying various additional methods a printer can print a higher resolution result. This parameter indicates the natural resolution of the printer without using compression. A higher resolution means a higher image quality and detail.

The average index of the number of black and white pages with 5% average coverage that can be printed by this printer per minute.

The type of printing is the main criterion for selecting the princter because it determines the printer application.

Ink - this technology will be suitable for the users who want to print colour photos at high quality. The costs per print-out are quite high, also ink cartridges dry out when the printer is on stand-by for a long time.

Black and white laser - the best type of printing from the economic point of view, produces good quality print-outs of black and white documents at the lowest cost per print-out. The best buy for the home and office needs. Printers of more expensive models have considerably bigger toner cartridges which will certainly pay back if more than ten pages per day are printed.

Colour laser - this technology allows to print black and white laser print-outs at the same costs per page as with the black and white laser printer and to produce colour print-outs at comparatively low costs per print-out.

The quality of the colour printing by this technology is much lower than with the ink printing, therefore this device is worth buying only if tens of colour graphics, models, product samples photos and colour logos have to be printed every day. This technology currently is not suitable for printing photos.

The size of paper that can be placed in the printer feeder and printed in the particular printer. If this index of the printer is, for example, A4 it means that this particular printer can print for sure also smaller size paper, for example, A5. This possibility has certain restrictions that can be found in the detailed specification of the printing size and type of paper supported.

ADF means automatic document feeding. This is implemented by means of a special scanner cover where it is possible to place several pages at once, for example, a pack of copied or scanned documents.

Double-sided printing that is quite often implemented as a semi-automated function which means that the printer prints one side of the page and then the user has to put all the pack of print-outs in the feeder manually.

There can also be Duplex printers that are able to turn the page during the printing process. Prior to buying the printer you should read the detailed specification about how the Duplex function is implemented.

The number of toners or cartridges that the particular printer has. In case of ink printing a higher number of cartridges means better printing quality and more economical replacement of cartridges.

An option to place a printed document in the feeder and copy it.

A possibility to connect the device to the phone line and phone for sending and receiving fax messages.

A possibility to place a printed paper in the feeder and to receive a scanned document in the computer as a file.

A very useful function if the printer is used from various computers connected in a network. If there is LAN connection it is possible to place the printer at any place where the network and power connection is available and to produce print-outs from any computer without the necessity to connect the printer to any particular computer and to maintain this computer switched on.

This is an obsolete standard and required only in few cases when a company uses DOS software that cannot print from any other ports except LPT. This type of connection is very slow, therefore in most cases a printer with LPT has also the much faster USB or LAN connection.

The most stable, convenient and fastest connection of the printer if the printer is located close to the computer and is used for printing from one computer. The USB connection slot is available with almost all portable computers and desktop computers.

A possibility to connect this printer to the computer via the Bluetooth wireless connection. Usually this type of connection is available for portable computers of average or expensive category. Desktop computers usually do not have the Bluetooth, therefore it will be necessary to buy a low priced USB Bluetooth transmitter for being able to use this functionality.

An excellent way of connecting a computer within a wireless network if you use exclusively wireless network connection at home or at office or if the printer is placed at a location where it is not possible to connect a LAN cable.