WHAT TO KNOW WHEN BUYING A PRINTER
LASER VS INKJET
If you're buying a printer, either for work or for home, one of the choices you're likely to be faced is whether to get an inkjet printer or a laser printer. Inkjet printers use liquid ink sprayed through microscopic nozzles onto the paper, and laser printers use a toner cartridge (filled with fine powder) and a heated fuser.
The general rule of thumb, is that inkjet printers are better purposed for printing images and photos, and laser are better for documents.
As you continue to use your new printer over a period of time, you'll need to keep it supplied with appropriate consumables like paper and ink or toner. The ongoing running costs of printers are generally quoted in cents per A4 page. You can calculate this by dividing the number of pages an ink or toner cartridge can produce (this figure is provided by the manufacturer) by the price of the cartridge.
Generally inkjet printers have a more expensive price per page for both black and colour cartridges — if you intend to print only black, ongoing print costs will be almost on par with a cheap black-and-white laser printer. If you spend more on a laser printer, the cost per page generally drops.
Larger laser printers have additional ongoing costs when compared to inkjets: they often require an additional fuser cartridge or the replacement of parts with a maintenance kit. But can generally get a lot more prints per consumable than an inkjet.
WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
There are a few deciding factors, such as what you will mainly be printing, if you need to print colour or just black and white, how often you print, the ability to scan, your price range, etc.
Inkjet printers will generally be cheaper to purchase than Laser printers, but their consumables are usually more expensive per page.
Most inkjet printers come with 'starter' cartridges which aren’t as full as a new set off the shelf. This means you'll need to replace them after fewer prints than the starter toner in a laser.
For more information, please give our office a call and we’ll be happy to answer your questions and help you decide which would best suit your needs.