Inkjet vs Laser Printer - Which One Is The Better?
Planing to buy a printer for personal use but aren't sure whether to go for an Inkjet printer or a Laser printer? Read our articles to understand the difference between two printers, know on what basis you should select either of them and which satisfies your requirements and budget.
Laser and Inkjet printers are the most common type of printer you can find in the online and offline marketplace. If you are looking to buy a new printer for your home or office then you must have heard about them already.
Both Laser and Inkjet printer has their own pros and cons, but there are few factors you should keep in mind before going for a particular type of printer. Here in this article, we discuss these important factors with you so that you can make the right decision.Inkjet vs Laser Printer
The inkjet and laser printer are used for the same purpose which is printing documents, photos, etc. But there is a difference in the way they operate, the Inkjet printer uses ink, while a Laser printer uses a toner for its operations.
Since it uses ink an Inkjet printer becomes ideal for low volume printing which makes it suitable for home purposes. On the other hand, a Laser printer suits best for the office environment due to its capabilities of high volume printing.
But with just this much amount of information, you cannot make the right decision to choose a printer for yourself. To know more about these printers you should compare them on various factors as shown here.1. Print Quality
The print quality is a very important aspect of any printer be it Inkjet or Laser. However, if you are looking for a printer to print images and photos then an Inkjet printer is what you should look at.
The reason behind that is the Inkjet printers produce vivid and high-quality printouts of a color photo. Laser printers can also produce good photos but, for that, you will require some special laser-print ready photo papers.
Laser printers are more suited to print black and white documents, as it provides crisp and clear text printing that Inkjet printers can't provide. So, overall in terms of print quality both the printers are good but it depends on whether you want a printer for photo printing or document printing.2. Cost Of Printing
Laser printers are expensive at first but they provide a lower printing cost per page and that's why a laser printer is better for high volume printing. While on the other hand, an Inkjet printer is cheaper at first but is expensive in the long run. Also, the cartridges of the Inkjet printer are required to be changed more frequently which adds up to the cost of the printer.
However, there are some inexpensive Laser Printers available online, read more about the same from SpecsTalk.
However, in the case of the Laser printer, depending upon the number of prints you take from it, there is no need for replacing the toner for months. Overall, if you're buying a printer for a heavy workload then you should go for the laser printer as it will be more economical in the longer run.3. Speed Of Printing
The amount of time it takes to print a page is called the speed of printing. The lesser the time taken to print a page the better is the speed of the printer. Generally, the Laser printers have a better speed of printing than the Inkjet printers because they are built for high workloads and hence they should take less time to print a page.
On average, a Laser printer can print somewhere around 20 to 100 pages in a minute. On the other hand, an Inkjet printer can only print 16 pages at max in one minute. It is because of the inkjet technology that takes more time to print something on a paper and then the Laser printer.4. Workload
The workload is an important factor to consider before buying a printer. As we already discussed that a laser printer is built for heavier workloads and an inkjet printer for the lesser workload.
If you have an office for which you want to buy a printer then a laser printer is what you should look at. However, if you want to buy a printer for your home then inkjet printers are not a bad option at all.
You can learn more about printers on Wikipedia.Conclusion
You must be thinking that it's better to invest in a Laser printer owing to its features. But, a good laser printer will cost you almost 2 or 3 times that of an Inkjet printer. So, you should first analyze your purpose of buying a printer and then invest in one.