To Ink Jet or to Laser Jet?

Selecting the right printer for your printing needs depends on what you want to accomplish. Do you need color? Will you print photos? Do you need crisp text for legal documents or business presentations? Do you need a fast high volume printer?

Laser Jet printers are initially more expensive and the overall price per page is less for Laser Jets. Toner cartridges are more expensive but they last longer. Laser Jet printers have come down in price in recent years also.

Ink Jet printers are initially less expensive and the cost per page is higher. Ink Jet print quality has improved over the years as well. The cartridges are less expensive but are smaller and will not last as long. Refilling Ink Jet cartridges MAY not work very well (in our experience). The refilled cartridges MAY not print as good or last as long. Stick with genuine manufacturers cartridges as they seem to be good about making sure that their cartridges are the only ones that work well in their respective printers. The cheap brands (or value brands) of cartridges usually don’t work very well or MAY NOT work at all. You also can save a little money and print faster with Ink Jets by using DRAFT or ECONOMY modes (see) $tretch that Printer Ink Cartridge dollar!

Laser Printers Pros + :

Fast printing speeds.
High quality text.
Best for LANs (computer networked environments) because of add-on capabilities and fast print speeds.
Multiple handling options, including collators and staplers.
Overall cost is lower than ink jets because of cheaper consumables.

Laser Printers Cons - :

Color Laser Jet printers are more expensive than color ink jets.
Inferior photo printing output.
Output from solid-ink printers can jam copier and scanner auto-feeders because the ink doesn’t slide smoothly over glass.

Ink Jet Printers Pros + :

Low initial cost for printers.
Highest photo quality when used with special photo paper.
Printing directly from digital cameras or media cards is feasible.

Ink Jet Printers Cons - :

The fastest ink jets print slower than laser jets.

Ink cartridges are small and do not last as long.

Higher cost per page than for most laser printers.

Ink can smear when output is fresh or gets wet.