A receipt printer is a printer that uses heat to transfer an image onto a special type of coated paper. When a part of the heat-sensitive coated paper is heated up, that part turns black, producing the text that you see on a receipt. A receipt printer is composed of a thermal head for producing heat, a paper holder, a spring to press down on the thermal head, and a controller board which controls the receipt printer`s functions. Utilizing this technology, thermal printers print out faster than others, which makes it great for a receipt printer.

It can be used with several interfaces to connect with a computer which makes it easier for you to choose from. RS-232, parallel, USB, Ethernet, or wireless are often used to connect a receipt printer to a computer. Thermal receipt printers are also more efficient and save more resources than a dot matrix printer. Text on a receipt that is printed out using a thermal receipt printer will still be legible after 50 years, with new advances in thermal printing technology. Receipt printers using thermal technology also are quieter and smaller than most of their counterparts including many printers as well.

There are many manufacturers of thermal receipt printers. Epson, Star Micronics, HP, Citizen, and Omniprint all manufacture thermal receipt printers for business use, which would obviously require Thermal Paper. The Epson TM-T88IV two-color thermal printer supports RS-232, parallel ports, USB, Ethernet, and wireless. Its expected lifetime is around 360,000 hours, which is good for a receipt printer. The Epson TM-T88IV comes at a cost of $300 for a new machine and $180 to $200 for a fairly used one. HP sells a FK184AT thermal printer model which is connected via USB. It is one of the fastest printers on the market, as it prints at a rate of 59 lines a second. The HP FK184AT costs approximately $750 for a new machine and a used printer for around $550 to $600.

Depending on the features and speed that you require, different thermal receipt printers will vary in price. A thermal receipt printer is among the best in reliability, speed, and features which makes it a needed tool for business. They are easy to set up and connect to a computer for use. You will just need to connect a cable from the computer to the receipt printer, and install drivers from the CD that comes with it, and you are done. A long lifetime also makes it cheaper for businesses that do not want to be constantly changing their receipt printers due to trouble or failure.