A printing device and control method that facilitates setting of waiting periods for cut-sheet paper insertion and commencement of paper transport or printing through application of waiting time control commands. By establishing a command for setting these waiting periods and incorporating apparatus in the printer for analyzing such a command, a configuration is realized in which these waiting periods are settable and adjustable by the host computer. This provides more efficient POS type printer control and allows setting of the desired time required for positioning recording paper according to operator experience. An interface unit is used to receive and interpret print data and recording paper positioning time setting commands and data from the host computer. The received commands and data are temporarily stored in a data memory, and after insertion of the recording paper is detected, used by one or more timing circuits to wait for a set amount of time before transport of or printing on the cut-sheet paper is initiated by a printing mechanism controller, during which time paper positioning is confirmed.