I do not think that printers suffer from anxiety, but I certainly think they are carriers. Printers cause frustration, headaches and, of course, bank overdrafts.

Anxiety, because no sooner do you buy one printer but the makers abandon it for another; frustration, because you never seem to be able to get the optimum machine anyway; headaches, because some printers are not supplied with ear muffs. And bank overdrafts speak for themselves.

Today, however, I am inclined to believe that the underlying technologies used to produce our hard copies have matured into obliging desktop companions. I say this with dot matrix printers in mind, where output is gradually becoming less and less 'dotty' as more pins come into play.

At one time, all dot matrix printers used a nine pin print head. Now however, 24 pin printers are becoming increasingly popular because the more pins you have, the better the output quality.

When I came across the 28 pin Panasonic KX-P1124 I was initially attracted because it has no DIP switches and it has a strange front feeding capability.

Stylish, compact and Japanese are just three words I would use to describe the physical appearance of the KK-P1124. I say Japanese because there is definitely something linear about Japanese design.

Physically, it is 430 x 359 x 183 mm, and weighs 8.5 Kg. Unfortunately it comes with one of those manuals that gives technical writers a bad name. Not that it is bad, but for someone who is not interested in the more technical side of the printer, it can be discouraging as there is a great deal of in-depth discussion for programmers and the like.

The ribbon is compact and can be re-inked using a ballpoint pen, which is pretty convenient. According to the manual, it has a lifespan of three million characters in draft mode. But who's counting?

It has five fairly smart NLQ fonts and two draft. It can emulate both the Epson LQ-2500 and IBM Proprinter X24 and can print up to 192 cps (characters per second) draft and up to 63 cps NLQ.

When you first switch on it makes quite a clatter and beeps a bit. If you are like me, you will want to switch off the loudspeaker. Nowadays, you don't have to go disconnecting speaker leads, as manufacturers have at long fast discovered potentiometers and on/off switches.

Everything seems to be within easy reach. Placed on a desktop, you find that you do not have to leave your seat to operate it.

Fonts, letter pitch, margins and so forth are set from the EZ control panel - a kind of columnar arrangement where you select items according to rows and columns of LEDs.

As with most printers there is a self test to make sure everything is operating correctly. This is invoked by switching on while pressing the LF (line feed) button.

The NLQ fonts are quite attractive and the Script font is good for personal letters.

Besides the fact that cut sheets can be fed from the front, the KX-P1124 also accepts continuous stationary from a slot in the front or from the back. Feeding via the slot in the front is a convenient feature, as you don't get the normal mass of paper being fed in an almost figure-of-eight fashion.

The KX-P1124 is fairly inexpensive and offers solutions to many of the flaws associated with conventional printer designs.

However, there are a great many other 24 pin printers currently on the market. With stiff competition like this there can be just this advice: Look before you leap.