Choosing the best printers for Mews POS

In a fast-paced restaurant environment, delays and missteps can negatively impact the customer experience. Mews POS connects the front-of-the-house with the kitchen and bar, creating a unified system where printers play a crucial role. However, not all printers are suitable for every purpose in a restaurant. This guide helps you choose the best printer for your needs based on printer type and connectivity.

 

Printer Type

 

Impact Printers

• Description: Impact printers also known as dot-matrix printers, use a print head with pins that strike an ink ribbon to create patterns of dots on paper.
• Best use: These printers are ideal for the kitchen due to their durability in hot and humid environments. They can print on bond paper and carbonless copy paper, allowing for multiple copies of order tickets.
• Advantages: Resistant to heat and humidity, suitable for high-noise environments and capable of creating multiple copies.
• Disadvantages: Slower and noisier compared to thermal printers.

 

Thermal Printers

• Description: Thermal printers use heat to print on thermal paper, producing clear, high-resolution images.
• Best use: Ideal for front-of-house functions such as printing customer receipts, especially where you need a quiet and fast printer.
• Advantages: Faster, quieter and generally more compact than impact printers.
• Disadvantages: Less suitable for hot and humid environments.

 

Connectivity

 

USB Printers

• Description: Provide a stable, wired connection between a single POS terminal and the printer.
• Best use: Suitable for fixed locations such as a bar till with a stationary tablet.
• Advantages: Slightly faster and more stable than Bluetooth.
• Disadvantages: Limited to a single device connection and occupies the USB port which you might need for other peripherals.

 

Bluetooth Printers

• Description: Offer wireless connectivity, providing flexibility and autonomy.
• Best use: Suitable for small to medium venues with mobile points of sale.
• Advantages: Good for short distances, for example, up to 10-15 meters.
• Disadvantages: Not ideal for larger venues due to distance and device-sharing limitations.

 

Network Printers - Ethernet and Wi-Fi

• Description: Offer the best solution for medium to large venues, providing flexibility and performance through wired or wireless connections.
• Best use: Suitable for multiple points of sale in larger venues.
• Advantages: Ethernet printers provide the greatest stability and performance. Wi-Fi printers offer similar performance without the need for cables.
• Disadvantages: Ethernet requires physical cables which may be inconvenient. Wi-Fi performance can be affected by signal strength and the number of connected devices.

 

Recommendations

• Front-of-House: Use thermal printers for their speed, quiet operation and ability to print high-resolution customer receipts.
• Kitchen: Choose impact printers due to their durability in harsh environments and ability to produce multiple copies of order tickets.
• Connectivity: Choose USB for single-device setups, Bluetooth for small to medium venues and network printers for larger venues to ensure stable and efficient operations.

 

You can learn more about supported printers for Mews POS here.