The Difference Between Inkjet and Laser

When you are in a quandary as to what kind of printer to buy for your computer printing needs, the first thing you should think about are features and functions between the inkjet printer and laser printer. Another factor is will the printer be used for home purposes or business type projects, evaluating what each can do and for what purpose is what this article is all about, let's get started.
Technology is moving at a very rapid pace and what use to be the "best" printer is very quickly becoming obsolete and it seems like every time you look another new unite comes along with more improvements and better features. This does not make our buying decisions very easy. One thing to always consider before buying is the end result cost or long term cost associated with each type of printer I will get into this a little more in depth in the following paragraphs and also give you a base understanding of the differences between the inkjet and laser printer. Let's start with what you should ask yourself before making a buying decision:
1. How many pages per month will you be printing? - You can easily find an inkjet printer for right about $100.00 dollars by all the major manufacturers, however these printers are not made for high volume printing, they are made more for occasional use such as 5-10 pages per day. On the lower end a laser printer can cost about $300.00 however they are made for more demanding type jobs without having many issues, If your printing about 50-150 pages per day you should be fine with this type of laser printer.
2. Do you need color or monochrome printing? - You will be hard pressed to find an inkjet that only prints in black and white; those little cartridges can get pretty expensive to replace. On the other hand you can easily find monochrome laser printers that can print up to 5,000 - 10,000 pages without needing more toner.
3. What kind of printing do you need? - I know you thought this article was going to be one sided towards the laser printer however this is where the good old inkjet shines. When photo quality is concerned you can't go wrong with the inkjet, it puts out exceptional color printing especially when they are pictures. The laser printer can do a very good job at this however when compared the inkjet the quality is not as good.
4. Maintenance? - OK remember I told you to always keep the long term cost in mind this is where the rubber hits the road. If you run across any issues with your $100.00 inkjet printer you will probably just go out and buy a new one. However a laser printer can in most cases be serviced or fixed rather inexpensively this in my opinion will cost less in the long run, how you might ask, if you purchase a new printer you have a learning curve on using the new model. Also you will have to install new software to run your new printer. Time is money, if you have to pay someone to install everything and train your people or yourself on how to use your new inkjet this comes off the bottom line of the cost.
5. Cost per page? - I touched on this point a little earlier, however it deserves repeating, almost any way you slice it your cost per page is less with the laser printer. This is because an inkjet printer cartridge holds much less than a toner cartridge does for a laser printer. When you look at the long term costs of even a penny or two it's quite substantial.