Whats the difference between a dot-matrix printer and a thermal receipt printer?
Dot matrix printers use a series of very small pins that rapidly impact against a ribbon, which causes an image to be transferred to a sheet of paper. Dot matrix printers are reliable and have the lowest operating costs although they are louder than thermal printers. Thermal printers use special heat sensitive ribbons or paper and create images onto the paper. Thermal printers print faster and are quieter than dot-matrix printers and have fewer moving components. Operating costs are higher on thermal printers because of the special ribbons or thermal paper rolls they have to use. Thermal printers cannot print on multi-part forms.
