Inkjet Printer or Laser Printer

We field many questions along this very theme, one of the most common is, “Which is better inkjet or laser printer?”

In this article we are going to explain the difference between an inkjet and laser printer and what the advantages are of each; and why one printer may be better for any given situation.

Ink Or Toner

Inkjet printers work on fluid, ink which is sprayed onto the paper with microscopic jets, much like a larger spray can. Think of a whole bunch of spray cans working unison.
Laser printers work with a powder called toner which is electrostatically spread onto the paper in the printer and then pressed and melted into the paper by a heat process.

Advantages

Inkjet printers are exceptionally good at printing photos. The spraying process lays the ink on paper easily and especially coated photographic paper. The coating gives the photo a gloss or semi gloss depending upon the requirement.

Newer inkjet printers that provide economies in the capacity of ink cartridges can be used in the office environment and may be as economical as lasers.

Laser printers excel with crispness and quailty of print. Lasers are generally used for higher quantity of printing and presentation quality of print.
Generally, laser printers are more expensive to purchase than inkjets, lasers usually provide a longer lasting product. Lasers will print more than inkjet printers and print faster.
One important point here is that coated paper should never be used with laser printers. The heat process will damage or even destroy the (heat) fuser unit in the printer.

Laser printers have tradionally been made with colour and mono (black and white). Mono laser will provide a much cheaper printing cost than colour.
Inkjet printers have generally been produced as colour multifunction printers in the past few years. Epson is one manufacturer that has started to produce mono inkjet printers.

Uses

The main question for the purchaser is to consider is the application or where the printer will be used.
Laser excels at high volume fast mono printing as well as colour for client presentations. This is not to say that an inkjet will not do the same, however at this point the user should be considering quantity, as an inkjet will be slower at completing the task.
Essentially the use should govern the printer purchased.

Costs

Printing is a substantial cost to any business or home. Making the right choice when purchasing a printer can be critical to the overall cost to you.
If a printer has been considered to be too expensive, then maybe a laser might be the right choice. There are many considerations to be made when purchasing.
Fortunately the choices for today are more attractive.

Recent printers are far more varied and provide higher cartridge volumes, that provide more economical print costs and volumes.
The printer selection process should be carefully considered as the right printer will be a critical choice.

When considering a new printer ask yourself, “How much do i use a printer?” If its once or twice a week then a small cheaper printer might be the best choice.

If you are printing up to 100 pages per day a larger printer would definitely be a better selection. Many people persist in buying a cheap printer and print huge amounts on it, which in turn costs them far more than it should.

Consider everything in perspective, check details and capacity/yields of the cartridges. Consider how much you are printing and do a cost anaylsis over the amount of printing that you will do.

Recently inkjet printers have been introduced that feature refillable ink tanks. These style of printers are great if you are doing higher amounts of printing. If you are a small user then take care as you will be purchasing a printer for $4-500 and using only a fraction of the ink that was supplied with it. That seems a waste! Take into account how much printing you do over a period of time.

The cost of the cartridges divided by the pages printed will provide a cost per page.

There are more in depth calculations you may need to do to properly calculate total cost per page. This is most enlightening when doing the sums.

Decision

When a choice of printer is required, the right decision is that your printer does what its supposed to do, within a reasonable cost and reliability.

Tonerink stock a large range of both inkjet and laser printers and we offer over 25 years of industry experience to assist you.