Q. I wish to buy a low cost printer for my Atari 800XL. Unfortunately I have seen no reviews of Atari's own printers. How do they compare with other makes?

If I want a non-Atari printer, such as the Brother M1009, how would I interface this to my computer and at what extra cost? Also, do you think that the current Atari printer range is likely to be subject to similar price reductions as the XL series of computers?

James Turner, Braunstone, Leicester

A. There is a slight problem involved in attaching a printer to an Atari computer. At the moment, there are basically three main printers for Atari machines: the 1020 colour printer plotter, the 1025 80-column dot matrix, and the 1027 letter quality printer.

The first is almost identical to Microperipherals' CCP-40, and the Tandy printer plotter - in fact all are the same machine with different cases.

The 1025 is a bog standard dot matrix printer. It is rather slow at 40 characters per second and only has a 5 by 7 dot matrix with no descenders. It will, however, print all of the Atari characters and connects directly to the computer, with no interface required.

The 1027 provides the best quality print using a barrel similar to the golfball but with a cylinder instead). The print speed is slow, at 20cps, but faster than most daisy wheels. Again, connection is direct to the computer.

The most common second choice printer for Atari users is the Epson, or an Epson lookalike (such as the Brother M-1009). Unfortunately, you will need an interface and cable costing around £150. The advantages can outweight the extra cost, as it gives increased flexibility with faster speed and better quality and the printer can be used with other machines if you ever decide to get rid of your Atari.

The prices of the current Atari printers could be forced down by the new range of cheap printers being launched with Atari's new machines.

The new XT, XM and XD will be a great deal cheaper and include dot matrix and daisy wheel models. The prices should range from £50 to £100.