Printers
Printers are the most common peripherals, and could be considered part of a basic computer system. There are two types of printers commonly available: laser printers and inkjet printers. Laser printers produce only black and white output, but have several distinct advantages: they print beautiful text and gray-scale graphics; they are fast, and they cost much less to operate than inkjets. Inkjets, however, have a major advantage of their own: they produce color output. To my eye, the quality of the output of inkjet printers varies a lot from model to model. Some have great text, virtually indistinguishable from a laser; while others look a bit more jagged. Color graphics and text output is also variable. Some inkjets produce smooth, continuous, seamless colored graphics, while others produce color with some striping, or banding. Whichever inkjet you get, the cost of replenishing the ink will be far higher than the toner in a laser. Some printers use individual tanks for each ink color, so when you run out of yellow ink, you don’t have to throw away a half-full tank of magenta to replace the yellow ink. That can save money. For light printing chores, like those done in most home computer systems, the inkjet’s ability to print color still makes it the printer of choice.

The best way I have found to determine which printer meets your needs is to visit stores where lots of printers are on display and look at the sample outputs they produce. Or you could read PC Magazine’s November 21, 2000 issue, which tests 31 inkjet printers. That article reinforces my comments on the cost of operating an inkjet printer, which can run as high as 31¢ per page. Laser printers usually cost about 3¢ per page. The article also contains information on printer reliability. On a grading scale from A (best) to D (worst), here’s how they stacked up:

1. Hewlett-Packard
2. Epson
3. Brother, Lexmark, Xerox
4. Canon

It’s hard to tell how well a scanner works; or how fast it is. Most scanners are on static display in stores, not connected to a computer. Look for one with a (faster) USB connection instead of a parallel port connection. Brand names like Canon, Hewlett-Packard, UMAX, Agfa, Visioneer, and others should provide good value. PC Magazine periodically tests large groups of scanners; look up their results on the Web.

Digital cameras
Although digital still cameras have come a long way, they still don’t produce images as good as film cameras costing half as much. But they are very convenient, since they let you display an image without developing film. However, a good scanner and a modestly priced film camera will produce better images than almost any digital camera.

Digital video cameras are becoming popular. Canon models get very good reviews in the camera magazines. If you get a digital video camera (which may be very expensive), be sure both it and you computer have the IEEE 1394, or FireWire connectors to speed downloading images into your computer.

TV cameras you perch on top of your monitor are inexpensive ways to experience visual communication as well as sound or e-mail. I don’t know much about them, but for showing or viewing real-time pictures of your children, grandchildren, or pets, they can be a lot of fun. They are especially good if you have a high-speed Internet connection, which can pass motion with less jerkiness. Be sure yours has a USB connection.

Backup drives
Backup drives are used to back up the contents of your hard drive. They may use a tape cartridge, a removable high-capacity disk drive, a CD-ROM, or a magneto-optical cartridge. Preferably connecting via a USB or FireWire connection, they provide a much-needed safety net for the time when your hard drive crashes (and it will). Tape drives hold considerably more information than other media, but are slow and don’t offer random access to the information they contain. Zip drives are limited in capacity (250 MB at most) and the disks cost a lot. Large removable drives like the Orb on the iomega Jaz drive hold up to 2.2 GB, and run almost as fast as a hard drive. For frequent backups, tape drives are most convenient and the cost of tapes is reasonable.

CD-ROM recorders come in external models, usually connecting via a parallel port or a USB port. The latter is faster, but some computers may not have a USB connector. It will take several CD-R discs to hold the entire contents of your hard drive.

Peripherals make good stocking stuffers or holiday gifts. So do the consumables used by the peripherals. If your computer has a CD-RW drive, it’s almost certain that a package of blank CD-R or CD-RW discs will be a welcome gift. Ink cartridges or fancy paper could make a good printer-related gift. Drive cartridges would be welcomed by users of Zip drives or other removable media. Digital camera users would appreciate memory storage chips (SmartMedia or Compact Flash). And just about everyone could use some new floppy disks.

Have fun shopping.