printer's memory?

[qahwah]

What does memory to do with printer? Does it affect the print speed? Is it possible to add more memory or upgrade a printer? How? And what is the good memory size for a laser printer? Thanks!

 

[Zepper]

Some laser printers have expandable memory. Allows it to process more of a complex page at a time. If it only has enough memory to process a part of a page at a time things will slow down.
Some use standard memory and others proprietary. Some can even have an internal hard disk to store forms and fonts so that all you're transfering from the computer to the printer is the fill-in data.
If you print complex graphical pages a lot, then you need more memory. If not then you can get by with less. Memory is so cheap I'd like at least 8MB and the more the merrier.
.bh.
:moon:

 

[qahwah]

Thanks.

I am comparing samsung ML-1430 with brother HL-1440, samsung has max 8M memory installed, while brother can be upgraded upto 64M. I would be printing mostly text files, the old HP 4L I am using now works just fine with most of my files, so sounds like 8M is adiquate for home use.

 

[Erasmus-X]

Certain models use proprietary memory that must be purchased through the manufacturer or some 3rd-party that happens to make compatible memory. Because of that, expect a hefty markup. But a lot of them also use standard SIMM's or DIMM's, which are obtained very cheaply.

Unless you get into the more professional-grade inkjet printers (e.g. HP Business DeskJet, etc.), you usually can't add more memory (most modern inkjets are equipped with at least 4 MB of memory anyway). The majority of laser printers have upgradeable RAM solely for the fact that most laser printer buyers intend on using the printer on a heavy duty cycle, shared with several PC's.