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Nowadays, competition in various industries is becoming increasingly fierce, especially in the POS bill industry. From production capacity competition in previous years, to channel competition and price competition, to promotion competition, competition has penetrated into various aspects of POS marketing. When competition reaches a white hot level, the terminal becomes the last marketing tool, which is called the winning terminal. Terminal management determines the life and death of enterprises. Although everyone understands the truth, what troubles ticket printer operators is that in actual operation, terminal management is becoming increasingly difficult. This is reflected in the terminal operation
POS bill printers are widely used in various industries, such as taxation, supermarkets, convenience stores, postal services, banks, entertainment, enterprises and institutions, catering and hotels, and so on. There are many small and medium-sized printers on the market now, each with its own scope of application. There are many types of POS ticket printers, and now the concept of micro printers is relatively vague and the classification is not clear. We won't talk about micro printer modules here, only about micro printers as finished products. Let's make some rough classifications here first:
Classified by usage: specialized microprinter, universal microprinter. The so-called specialized micro printer refers to a micro printer used for special purposes, such as professional barcode micro printers, professional card micro printers, etc. These micro printers usually require professional software or driver programs for support, or can only work with one or a few special devices. General micro printers have a wide range of applications and can support the printing output of many devices. Many so-called printers are actually general micro printers.
Classified by printing methods: dot matrix micro printers, thermal micro printers, thermal transfer micro printers, etc. The printing method used by needle micro printing is to press the printing needle against the ribbon to print the ink on the printing paper. The thermal method is to heat the thermal medium coated on the printing paper to change color. Thermal transfer printing is to heat the carbon powder on the carbon ribbon to print it on the printing paper. Currently, except for barcode printers and ticket printers, it is rarely used in other fields in China. In addition, there are micro font printers, which are mostly used in taxis.
Classified by data transmission methods: wireless micro printers and wired micro printers. Wireless microphones use infrared or Bluetooth technology for data communication, while wired microphones communicate data through serial or parallel means. Of course, wireless microphones usually come with serial or parallel ports and can communicate data through wired means.
Due to the narrow range of use of special printers, it is not difficult to choose. Therefore, the following introduces the characteristics of various general-purpose micro printers as a reference for your selection.
1、 Needle micro printer: Needle micro printers are a common type of micro printer that has been produced in China for a long time using Epson print heads (printer cores). One advantage of needle printing is that the printed documents can be stored for a long time. Of course, the ink on the ribbon you choose must be of good quality, so many convenience stores use needle printing for micro printing. Moreover, because the needle print head is easy to control, a relatively inexpensive control board scheme can be used for production, making it relatively cheap. However, needle printing also has many drawbacks: high noise, slow printing speed, fast head loss, and the need to frequently replace the ribbon, which are insurmountable due to its principle.
2、 Thermal micro printer: Needle micro printer is a relatively common type of micro printer, but it came out later than needle micro printers. Thermal printers have fast printing speed, low noise, minimal mechanical damage to the print head, and do not require a ribbon, eliminating the hassle of replacing the ribbon. But it also has its drawbacks because it uses thermal paper, so it cannot be stored indefinitely. It can be stored for one to five years under dark conditions, and there are also long-lasting thermal paper that can be stored for ten years.
3、 Wireless Microprinters: Most wireless microprinters currently use IrDA technology, but due to the complexity of the IrDA protocol, it is generally not integrated into the printer. Instead, an infrared port can be used to simulate a serial port for data transmission in the physical layer. However, this also provides convenience for other infrared devices, as many infrared devices also do not integrate IrDA protocol, so these devices can communicate with the infrared microprinter through the infrared port. The biggest advantage of wireless micro printers is that they can achieve wireless printing, which is convenient, especially if you need to print outdoors. However, infrared printing also has its disadvantages, which are the accuracy of data transmission. Because it does not integrate the IrDA protocol, if the anti-interference ability of the infrared interface is poor, the accuracy of data transmission cannot be guaranteed. And now some domestic companies such as Weiye Technology have overcome the difficulties of IrDA. Their micro printers use IrCOMM (IrCOMM is a protocol in the application software layer virtual serial port of IrDA protocol), which is supported by many portable infrared devices (such as POCKET PC). With IrCOMM, users no longer have to worry about the accuracy of data transmission and other issues.
4、 Wired micro printers: Compared with wireless micro printers, their data transmission reliability is higher, but if used in mobile printing, it becomes very inconvenient.
The above introduces the advantages and disadvantages of several different printers, but there may still be many questions when choosing. Below are other things to pay attention to when choosing a printer.
1. Printing Character Set: Users may not need exactly the same character set, some only require numbers, some require English, and some require Chinese characters. When choosing, pay attention to the required character set.
2. External dimensions and weight: If the printer is placed in a fixed location, as long as there is enough space, the size and weight of the printer do not need to be considered too much. However, if it is required to be easy to carry, the external dimensions and weight must be taken into account.
3. Power supply: There are two power supply methods for micro printers nowadays. One is to use an external stabilized power supply, and the other is to use rechargeable batteries. If a stabilized power supply is used, the quality of the power supply should be high. If a rechargeable battery is used, the lifespan of the rechargeable battery, the time it can be used for one charge, and whether it can be easily disassembled should be considered. Especially for outdoor users, if the usable time for one charge is too short, the lifespan of the battery will definitely be very short. If the battery is not easy to disassemble, and the battery runs out outdoors, the printer will not be able to be used.
4. Paper roll size: If users use it frequently, they need to consider the size of the paper roll. Frequent replacement of the paper roll is a annoying thing.
5. Printing width and data volume: It is best to trace the number of characters printed per line for printing width. For example, for the same 57mm paper width, some can print 24 characters while others can only print 10 characters. This depends on the user's needs to determine which one to choose.
6. Consumables: Thermal printers and needle printers use different consumables, so for a roll of paper with the same diameter, thermal printing paper is longer but more expensive, while needle printing paper is shorter but cheaper. Based on the same amount of data printed, the consumption of printing paper for both is similar, but needle printing also consumes ribbon. Therefore, overall, thermal printers consume cheaper consumables.
7. Convenience of use: This may be a problem that many buyers overlook. Convenience of use is mainly reflected in various LED light indicators, sound prompts, button function design, and paper changing (thermal printers may have advantages in this regard. Nowadays, many thermal printers use a clamshell paper loading method, which can easily and quickly change paper, while needle printing cannot achieve this due to the limitations of the printer core principle). These all need to be experienced by users themselves.
8. Other special requirements: Some users may have some special requirements, such as the ability to print barcodes, graphics, etc., which can be selected from different product types of different manufacturers.
