An Insight on key differences between Inkjet Printers and Laser Printers

Posted by nancypetrson on September 5th, 2019

The biggest difference between inkjet printers and laser printers is that an inkjet printer uses ink, is suitable for low volume printing, and is the traditional choice for users at home. While a laser printer uses toner, is best for high volume printing, and is mostly utilized in office settings. However the need for inkjet printer or a laser printer depends on the various factors:

PRINTER TYPES COMPARISON

Inkjet printers are usually cheaper, smaller and lighter, making it ideal for a bedroom or home use, where space saving is important. They also have the versatility to print both text-based documents as well as high quality images, especially photos.

Laser printer, on the other side, can be expensive as it uses costlier toner cartridges but still offers an overall lower cost per page, faster print speeds, hence involving a lower total cost of ownership.

USAGE-BASED COMPARISON

If you’re looking for a home printer for occasional printing, inkjet printer would be the best advice. It helps you in printing small volume of documents and colored images regularly. Also, if you want to print professional high resolution photos, photo inkjet printer can do it.  This printer utilizes pigment-based ink, which is fade-resistant and works with a wide variety of art paper types as well as a range of paper sizes. This type of printer produces detailed photos with the tonal variety and deeper blacks, that photographers need. However, a common flaw with inkjet printers is that the ink dries up if you don’t use it often.

On the other hand, laser printer is more durable and can print large quantities of black and white and colored documents frequently. Unlike inkjet printer, the toner of laser printer does not dry up too often. They were originally built for office use, but now gaining its popularity as a home printer use also.

TECHNOLOGY-BASED COMPARISON

Inkjet printers spray liquid ink through microscopic nozzles onto the paper. However, smudging is more common with this type of printers, but then it depends upon the ink-type and type of paper you are using.

Laser printers consists a drum unit which fuses toner powder onto paper with heat. Where one printer type uses ink, the other uses powder.

PRINT QUALITY-BASED COMPARISON

Print quality depends upon the output you need. If you need to print vivid exhibit-quality photos, go for photo inkjet printer which produces high resolution images.

 A common perception is that inkjet printers are better with colored images, while laser printers are best for black and white. If you want a reliable printer which can keep printing sharp documents, a laser printer is the best option.

PRINT SPEED-BASED COMPARISON

Inkjet printers print documents slower at about 16 pages per minute. While laser printers are built to meet the demands of a workplace so they are engineered to print faster at about 15 to 100 pages per minute. These printers are fast, and are able to produce more documents therefore they have a higher monthly print volume.

PRINT VOLUME-BASED COMPARISON

Print volume of inkjet printer is usually smaller, which is 250 to 500 pages monthly at about 15 pages per minute because it is meant for home use. Laser printer prints about 750 to 3000 pages monthly at about 35 pages per minute as it has the capability to print many documents quickly.

Like it? Share it!


nancypetrson

About the Author

nancypetrson
Joined: August 16th, 2019
Articles Posted: 16

More by this author