Laser Printer vs Inkjet. We have asked ourselves this question at least once. If you are looking for the best printer for you, you have probably wondered what the differences are between laser printers and inkjet printers. Although both printing technologies have their place in homes and offices, there is a good chance that one is better to meet your needs than the other.

The basic differences come down to how each technology actually prints. This, in turn, has an impact on what a printer will do well, how expensive it is to print documents and photos, and how much it will pay up front.

Laser printers are better for printing documents, while inkjet printers tend to be better for printing photos.
If you want to keep the cost per page as low as possible, laser printers are cheaper.
Inkjet printers generally take up less space than laser printers.
Basics of Laser Printer vs Inkjet technologies
While the most basic definition of printing is the same on inkjet and laser printers, putting letters and images on paper, the two methods accomplish this in very different ways.

Ink nozzles rely on liquid ink, deposited on the page through a print head that uses dozens of micro nozzles. Print by putting microscopic drops of ink on the paper. Depending on whether that ink is dye-based (Dye) or pigmented, the ink can change the color of the paper or simply dry as a deposit on the surface of the paper.

When it comes to buying a printer, the cost of the printer is a big factor in the decision. Sure, you want certain features, but your budget will often make the decision for you.

Inkjet printers tend to be much less expensive than laser printers. The technology is slightly less complex and therefore less expensive to manufacture. In addition to this, most manufacturers sell inkjet printers at a loss, knowing that they can make up the difference in ink sales in the future. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a new printer than to buy a complete set of new ink cartridges!

Laser printers, meanwhile, will rarely sell for less than an inkjet printer .

Now the cost of printing should definitely weigh in on your decision, but if you're hardly printing, or are more likely to use the printer's scan and fax features than actual printing, you may find some very affordable options, but remember, If it doesn't print in days, it may cause damage to the printer.

The specific qualities of liquid ink and toner powder also affect how suitable they are for certain types of printing.

Inkjet printers, with their dye- and pigment-based inks, perform especially well at managing color, particularly for images and photos, which are more likely to include subtle color tones. The nature of liquid ink means that these mixtures are easier to reproduce in an inkjet than in a laser printer.

Laser printers are not always designed to handle photo printing, instead they rely on halftone dots to create certain colors in documents. Even those laser printers that can handle the highest quality color for photo printing require specialized photo paper prepared for laser printers to do so, making it much more convenient to use standard photo paper in an inkjet printer.

However, laser printers tend to be better suited to printing text, offering sharper, clearer letterforms that most ink nozzles cannot match. Inkjet printing will often bleed slightly, and although the print is legible, individual letters will not be as sharp in detail when examined closely.

Ink also tends to smudge, and since inkjet prints continue to dry after printing, the potential for documents to smudge is a problem that inkjet users should anticipate. Since laser printers use a heat transfer method, the print is set to smudge proof the moment it exits the printer.

Another major difference is the cost of ink and toner. Liquid printer ink has been identified as one of the most expensive liquids on the planet for being a highly engineered product designed to provide precise flow rates, to mix and bleed with predictable consistency, and to dry quickly, all while providing colors that are visible. well. As you can see, there is a lot involved in inkjet printers. Also because the product leaves a high markup that printer owners will have to buy over and over again, printer companies keep promoting it so that users keep buying more and more. Inkjet printers vary in cost per page, but tend to fall within the same general range.

Toner, on the other hand, tends to be less expensive per page for laser printers. Although no less elaborate, the fact that toner comes in powder form makes it a much simpler substance to ship, store, and use.

While individual toner cartridges are more expensive than ink cartridges, they print hundreds of pages, far exceeding the print yields offered by inkjet printers. As a result, the costs of text printing and color printing fall below the costs of the inkjet printer .

For example, the Kyocera M2040DN / L monochrome laser printer prints at approximately 20 pesos per page with the standard 12,000-page capacity toner cartridge.

Toner also stores better in the long term. Ink cartridges can be stored for months if stored properly, but if you are an infrequent print user, the liquids that fill the ink cartridge can dry out, leaving you with a useless cartridge that has printed only a fraction of the pages. for which it was intended. Since toner is a powder, there is no need to worry about it drying out.

Another differentiating factor that printer buyers may not consider when comparing printer types is size. Obviously, printers vary in size and design, but in general, multifunction laser printers tend to be larger and heavier than their inkjet counterparts. If you have limited space on a desk or shelf, it will be easier to find an inkjet machine that fits that smaller space.

Inkjet printers have benefited from some significant advancements in miniaturization, with features like print heads built into the ink cartridge.

Laser printers, on the other hand, have to accommodate a larger printing cylinder, a laser module and a thermal element, which adds bulk. If we also add multifunctional functions like scan and copy to the list, and multifunctional laser printers tend to be quite bulky.

Laser printers are designed to meet the demands of a workplace, so they are designed to print faster (between 15 and 100 pages per minute, or ppm), while inkjet printers print slower at approximately 16 ppm. Since laser printers are faster, they can produce more documents compared to inkjet printers and therefore have a higher monthly print volume.

Laser Printer vs Inkjet: Print Volume
Print volume refers to how much your printer can print at any given time. A laser printer is considered to be the workhorse of the office due to its ability to quickly print large quantities of documents. Since inkjet printers are theoretically intended for home use, their print volume is significantly less. For comparison, let's review the volume and print speed of the Kyocera M2040DN / L alongside Canon's PIXMA TS6220 inkjet printer.

Inkjet printing is generally better suited to the home user where print speed and text quality is not important. Ink will cost more per page, but refills are cheaper than toner. Inkjet printers are also better suited for small spaces, as laser printers tend to be larger. It is also the best choice for printing images and photos, as the ink offers richer colors and fewer printing limitations.

Laser printing, on the other hand, offers the most economical way to print many pages with a lot of text. It's also faster, delivering smudge-free, finished pages in seconds. And if crisp, easy-to-read text is your priority, then go for a laser printer, which delivers better text printing every time.