How to Decide: Inkjet or Laser Printer for Your Home or Office
Inkjet vs. Laser Printer (From DigitalVersus.com)
It’s rare to find a home today, and almost unheard of to find an office, that doesn’t have a printer. Everyone, at one point or another, needs some sort of printed material from their computer. But if you are in the market for a new printer, there are a lot of choices out there and the decision can be a little overwhelming. The first place to start when looking for a new printer is to look at your expected printing needs. Be honest with yourself and make sure to take into consideration others that may be using the printer as well and what they may need it for.
The two types of printers that dominate the market today are inkjet printers and laser printers. There are some major differences between the two that you should be aware of before you make a decision to go with one or the other. Inkjet printers use, as the name implies, a jet of ink to drop small dots onto a page. A laser printer on the other hand, does not use ink; it uses a fine powder called toner which is then fixed to the page using heat and a laser beam. As you can see, the processes are quite different, and they result in different outputs as well.
Inkjet printers are wonderful for graphics and photographs. The small dots produced by the ink cartridges blend very well and can recreate a wide, smooth color range. Laser printers on the other hand are primarily used for sharp, clean text rendering. Laser printers do not handle graphics or photographs nearly as well as inkjets, but can produce very sharp, readable text more easily and consistently than an inkjet. In addition, a small, but noteworthy benefit of laser printers is that since their ink is not water based, there is no risk of smearing when handling the paper or highlighting important details.
Inkjet printers are the more common variety of printer and are generally available at a lower cost, but there are drawbacks as well. For those who print only infrequently inks can dry up and clog the printer heads which then require cleaning or replacement. Inkjet ink can also be costly, though significant savings can be found by purchasing remanufactured cartridges. Laser printers, while often more expensive upfront, get more prints relative to their inkjet counterparts for the money. They are also significantly faster as well, which may be a draw for someone printing large quantities of documents.
When choosing a printer you absolutely must assess your individual needs. If you are printing lots of photographs or documents with a lot of graphics, like webpages for example, an inkjet printer is certainly the way to go. If you print documents which are mostly text based with very simple graphics and make a lot of prints, a laser printer is more likely to give you the quality and cost-effectiveness you are looking for. Once you really think about your needs, the complicated decision of what type of printer to purchase becomes a much more manageable task. And whichever option you choose, remember, ink and toner is a large part of upkeep costs, but it is easy to keep those costs in line when you purchase remanufactured toner and ink cartridges. Happy printing!Get the best deals monthly in your email by joining to our newsletter.