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Inkjet vs Laser Printers: Which one is the right option for you?

Anyone who has been shopping around for a new printer is likely to have a few questions about which type of printer is going to be the most suitable for their needs.

The Inkjet and Laser Printers are the two types of printers most readily available, and these two varieties really couldn’t be more different.

Knowing the difference between the two as well as weighing up the pros and the cons of each, is essential when you are buying a new printer, whether it is for home or business use. Although both types of printers are more than capable of meeting the most basic of printer needs, you will more than likely find that one option is going to be far more suitable to your needs than the others.

And ultimately, the type of printer that you will go for is the one that will do what you need it to do. This guide on the Inkjet vs laser printers will help you with deciding which printer best suits your needs.

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The Difference between Inkjet and Laser Printers

The biggest difference between these two types of printers really comes down to the technology used to produce the prints. And whatever technology is being used will influence the price of the printer, with the more intricate and advanced technology costing more. The printing technology is also going to determine the cost per print.

Right off the bat, inkjet printers are cheaper to buy. But they are not always cheaper to run. These printers are great for those who are not printing often, but who do want a high-quality print when they do. The downside of an inkjet printer is that the ink is often incredibly expensive which doesn’t make it a practical option for the busy office space.

Inkjet printers are also designed to be smaller and as such, they are more compact. This smaller design does not compromise the print quality, which makes these types of printers quite perfect for the home office.

The inkjet printer is also more than suitable for printing photos. This is because these printers are capable of printing high-resolution images, using the expensive ink that the printer functions with.

On the other side, the laser printer most certainly has its benefits and should not be overlooked, especially if you are buying the printer for the office.

Laser printers are designed to work incredibly well when it comes to printing text files and documents. When you have a lot of prints to get through, these printers are more suitable for the job than an inkjet printer would be. The documents produced by a laser printer will be high quality and easy to read.

Unlike the inkjet printer, a laser printer will produce prints that cost a whole lot less per page. The toner needed to produce the copies is incredibly cheap, making printing cost less, and the cartridges won’t dry out, which means less chance of clogging.

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The Upfront Costs of Each Printer

The upfront costs of a printer are usually what will determine whether or not the printer is bought. Often, people won’t even consider the costs of running the printer at all. Their decision is almost completely determined by the amount of money paid out to bring the printer home or to have it installed in the office.

With the inkjet printer, the price to buy the printer is going to be a whole lot less than the laser printer. This is because these printers are not costly to manufacture and the components needed to put the machine together are rather cheap. This is not to say that the inkjet printer is not a quality device, it is just a cheap machine to buy. Often, inkjet printers are sold at a loss because the manufacturers know that they will more than make up their money later on, through ink sales.

Laser printers are very rarely sold at a cheap price, with even those laser printers sold at a budget price being on the more expensive side of things. This is because these printers are built with the latest technology which is certainly beneficial because it lessens the cost per print.

Print Quality

Certain types of printers are suitable for certain uses. And because each printer is likely to have a different type of ink, the quality can be compromised depending on what you are printing.

Laser printers are designed to push out loads of prints and often quality is not a factor that is pushed to the forefront. With the goal being to create many prints on a budget, the laser printer is just more suitable for basic word and excel type document printing. Minimal, usually black and white printing jobs are best done with a laser printer.

The inkjet printer is not ideal for printing numerous document type print jobs, because the ink is just so expensive. On the upside though, most home print jobs are photos or colourful prints which is precisely what the inkjet printer has been made to do.

Inkjet printers, unlike laser printers, are prone to continue drying after they have been made, which means the print is likely to smudge. Laser printers create prints which are made using a heat-transfer method and this means the print is set as it comes out of the machine. So while the quality might not be photo perfect, it is still great for office prints.

Printer Considerations

 

Some of the factors that you should look at when making your final decision includes:

  • Additional Features: you should always have a look at whether or not the printer has other multi-functional features which can help to save money and improve the kind of work that you end up doing.

 

  • Print Speed and Print Volume: When using the printer at home, you probably won’t care too much about the print speed or the print volume, but in an office setting you will want a printer that prints fast and at a high volume.

 

  • Page Sizes: If you are not just going to print in single-page size, you should opt for a printer that is able to print in more than one page size.