The differences between a laser printer and an inkjet printer are really based upon how you plan on using the printer. Unless you are planning to do quite a bit of quality color photo printing both the inkjet printer and the laser printer will work fine. There are, however, a few thoughts to consider as you go about making your decision on what your printing needs really are.
How quickly do you need it?
Pages per minute are one of the leading sales tools of the printer manufacturers. If you need a large print job now a laser printer is likely the printer for you. The laser printer needs a minute to warm up for the first page but once it does get warmed up it can crank out the pages quickly. Then again, think about how quickly you need the print job in a smaller document setting, say several times in a half hour. Do you want to wait that minute three times a half hour, with a client standing at the reception desk? Perhaps the quality can take half a step down in favor of moving that person along.
Spend now or later
Whether it is HP, Cannon, Epson or Samsung printers you can often get an inkjet printer for a song up front. You will, of course, pay as you go in ink costs. If you don't print that much who cares, an inkjet will do. If you print a bunch then possibly a laser is a better long term buy. The benefit here is that you also get better monochrome printing capabilities. Generally, if you're talking monochrome printing you'll find a $0.02 cost per page for a laser printer and $0.15 for an inkjet printer. The difference is that you pay the cost differential upfront with the laser and as you go with the inkjet.
Color
The discussion above was primarily directed at monochrome printing decisions. What if color comes into the equation? Lasers will give nice crisp images but what about their color truthfulness. When it comes to printing pictures inkjets are really the way to go. Laser devotees can chime in all they want but inkjet printers just get the job done better with their individual mixing tanks.
They are also more convenient as you are replacing individual cartridges as you go and not one size fits all. If cyan runs out all you need to do is replace cyan and not the entire cartridge. When it come right down to it, if you want it all buy both and a network card.
The most exciting feature of laser printer is its speed. It is the fastest among the printer offering full colour results as fast as 3 to 4 pages per minute and black and white output as 25 pages per minute. Rather than printing just a portion of a page like an inkjet printer, it allows one to print an entire page at a time. This makes it easier to print graphic mixed text that is designed with computer program. This printer is known for high resolution, quality print and sharp colour. The standard resolution of laser printer is 1200 dots per inch. Still there are some laser printers that have low resolution and in such printer resolution enhancement technology is used to smooth the rough edges created by this printer.
Laser printers can print on different papers sizes, types and weights. They can also handle non-traditional media like envelopes, transparencies, labels and card stock. Papers, such as iron-on transfers, are not suitable for laser printers, as the heat used in the transfer process could damage the paper and gum up the printer. Laser printer is also capable of duplex printing that is it can print on one side of the paper, then turn the paper and print on the other side. But most of the laser printer use manual duplex printing.
Laser printers are more precise and unique than any other type of printers because its laser beam transfers the image to be replicated very precisely on to the paper that also saves the spilling of extra ink. Laser printers are also the latest in the printer series and are quite energy efficient. The toner used in the laser printer is much cheaper than the cartridges used in the inkjet printers as the expensive ink cartridges are used up very quickly especially in colour printing. This printer is small and light in weight and can be accommodate on any small desk or table.
Another major benefit of laser printers is that they are easy to deal as one can easily refill or replace the toner cartridges that are filled with fine powder. This makes cleaning easier as the powder is much easily cleaned than the ink of the cartridges. Moreover toner cartridges hold more ink and have more printing capability and do not require frequent change of toner cartridge. It means that it can practically serve more people at one time if they all are working together in a same office.
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