Buying a printer (inkjet or laser printer) is often quite a difficult choice to make. Whether if you are a seasoned inkjet printer user and looking to switch to laser printer, or simply just want to have a read out of interest. The final choice will depend on different factors. The price usually a major role in the process of choosing the right printer, but other elements should also be considered. One deciding factor will probably be the task that the new printer has to fulfill. Is a laser printer a better choice for your home or business?
Here we focus on the advantages and disadvantages of laser printers:
Advantages:
- Output speed:
The most important factor in favour of laser printers is probably the output speed. These printers are and as always, remain faster than inkjet printers. This means that it saves you time as you don’t have to be standing around waiting for minutes for your printer to finish printing. The fast output speed is due to the laser beam of the laser printer has an unvarying diameter, which can draw more precisely, without spilling any excess ink. Companies or home office with many print jobs will unquestionably opt for a laser printer. Even home businesses or average home users nowadays are opting for laser printers as well. - Cost of print:
A further advantage is that replacing a toner in a laser printer is normally cheaper than replacing ink cartridges for inkjet printers. A standard toner cartridge usually print significantly more pages than an ink cartridge. Cost of print is even lower when using compatible toner cartridges. - Quality:
The commonly printed items in a workplace are invoices, letters, emails, spreadsheets and so on. Unlike ink cartridges used in inkjets, laser printers use toner instead. Toner is a fine powder that is directly fused onto the paper with heated rollers or also known as a fuser unit. This means you can start handling them immediately without worrying about smudging that is common with inkjet printing. The laser technology is capable for producing quality sharp and crisp document prints. - Reliability:
Laser printers are really workhorses of the workplace which also means they are built to last. You can print without worrying if the nozzles would somehow clogged up as there is no nozzles on any laser printer. The page yield of a toner cartridge can vary from around 1,500 to 60,000 pages and more depending on the printer you have.
Disadvantages:
- Printer price:
The price of a laser printer is a fair bit higher, especially when it comes to colour printers. Moreover, an inkjet printer in some cases offers more possibilities than a laser printer. It is always important to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of both printer systems. Laser printers, especially monochrome printers have become more affordable when it comes to lower-end budget laser printers that is efficient and specialised in printing text documents. - Toner price:
Sometimes original toner cartridges cost almost as much as the printer, which is some people throw the entire printer out and buy a new one after exhausting the cartridge. That is why opting for compatible toner cartridges is undoubtedly a better choice when it comes to value. - Paper choice:
Laser printers can only really print on certain kinds of paper. They can’t print on heat sensitive media like transparencies. Because laser printers print at higher speeds, also if you try to print on very cheap paper that has a high moisture content, you will experience frequent paper jams. An inkjet printer in some cases offers more possibilities than a laser printer. - Power consumption:
Keeping the fuser element hot while the printer is idle consumes power. However laser printers these days come with “power-saver” or “sleep-mode” function which saves power while idling.
Producing crisp, clean copies with a laser printer requires the drum to be undamaged and the drum cleaning mechanism to be working properly. Most laser printers do not stop when toner gets low. They continue printing faded copies until someone takes the time to refill or replace the toner cartridge.
So the question of if laser printing is a better choice for your home or business? It is for you to decide.
