November 1994 / BYTE Lab Product Report

92 Printers Go To Battle	The newest laser, color, ink-jet, and dot-matrix printers compete for top honors in our applications-based rankings - by Jim Kane and John Mcdonough
Interactive Printers	Some of the printers we tested take advantage of parallel interfaces that can exchange data between the computer and the printer.
The Best Printers For General Business Rankings for This Category Considered Need speed, quality, and networking ease? For budgets under $1000 Want a printer as easy to use as your Mac?	If your print jobs typically consist of text and some graphics for correspondence, reports, and other business documents, the laser printers we rank here will serve you well.
How We Tested	PERFORMANCE Our nine speed tests measure each printer's ability to print documents with dense or sparse text, graphics, and fonts in a range of styles and sizes.
Color Quality	This month, we introduce expanded color-quality evaluations with a new color print-quality test that challenges printers to produce a complex document with a variety of graphics elements, images, and fonts.
Workgroups Rankings for Best Overall Considered Rankings for High Quality Considered For the new standard in speed For the best in outp ut and performance	We evaluated 10 laser printers with engine speeds faster than 12 ppm.
CAD/DTP Rankings for This Category Considered Do you need high quality for large formats? The best large-format printer for proofs. For flat-out Mac speed	Consider one of the models ranked here if you require high-resolution printers that can handle 11- by 17-inch paper for large schematic drawings or page layouts.
High-Quality Color Rankings for Best Overall and Low Cost Considered Rankings for High Quality Considered Need the best color quality and PostScript speed? When price and quality matter Need a quality leader?	Accurate color output is a requirement for graphic arts and business presentations.
Draft Quality Rankings for Best Overall and Mac Considered Need low-cost monochrome and spot color? Want the best ink-jet for Mac applications? When quality counts	A new generation of ink-jet printers now offers monochrome output just under a laser printer's quality with prices well below $1000.
Listings And Forms Rankings for This Category Considered Does speed matter more than quality? Need high-volume printing at a low cost? The speed leader	Despite premature reports of its demise, dot-matrix technology continues to fill an important niche for those who need workhorse printers for multipart forms, large runs of labels, and oversize paper.
Roll Call Of Printers Tested

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