Choosing a Home Office Printer: Inkjet Versus Laser

Your home office printer is going to be an important part of your home business. While making the right choice of printer seems like a daunting task, your major decision is going to be between an ink jet and a laser printer. Along with a different way of delivering ink to the page, these two types of printers have their own benefits and drawbacks.

The key difference between the two printers is the type of ink that they use. Ink jet printers use liquid ink and laser printers use powdered ink. Laser printers come in two varieties, monochrome (black and white) and color. Each type of printer serves different purposes.

Most businesses use monochrome laser printers because they print a lot of black and white documents. If you’re using your printer for the same reason, you may want to consider a monochrome laser printer. They have a better page output than ink jets and come at a midrange price. They are normally priced higher than ink jets, but their ink refills cost a lot less. Monochrome laser printers are perfect if you need to print lots of pages of text. The only drawback to this type of printer is that you can’t print color.

If you need any color printing done, an ink jet printer will be your least inexpensive option, at least in terms of initial cost outlay. Ink jets offer a lot power for their speed, but they are definitely slower than laser printers. The main advantage is their price and their portability. Compared to laser jet models, ink jets are very lightweight and are generally smaller. This makes them a good option if you don’t have a whole lot of space for your printer.

The major drawback to ink jet printers is the cost of their ink. Compared to laser printers, refills for ink jets cost substantially more. Even though you’re saving more at the onset, you’ll be paying a lot in the long run. The price of ink over the life of your printer can be a deterrent to getting an ink jet. But if your budget for your printer at the outset is small, then an ink jet might be your only option. They are generally cheaper than laser printers.

When it comes to quality of printing, speed of printing and overall quality, color laser printers are the best choice. All of this comes at a higher price than you’ll pay for an ink jet printer or monochrome laser printer, but it may be worth it if you need to print high quality documents. A color laser printer has ink that is relatively inexpensive compared to ink jet ink. In addition, a color laser printer will allow you to print high quality photos along with black and white documents. This can save you money on having your pictures printed, and allow you to print as many copies as you need.

Depending on the kind of business you’re in, the quality that you get from a color laser printer may well be worth the initial cost. If you have the money to spend, a color laser printer is your best bet. But if you’d rather keep those initial costs low and print color, then an ink jet printer might be the better way to go.

Laser Printer Buying Guides

If you are looking to purchase laser printer, here are some features of laser printers which would be helpful to those who are purchasing laser printer or those who need information about laser printers.

Laser printers give the highest quality text and images among the printers. Laser printers got different model. Some of them are perfect for small businesses and home offices. Some reliable low-cost models are also available that are perfect for everyday personal printing.

Some of the features of Laser Printers are

Resolution, Quality, and Color: -

The standard resolution of leaser printer is 1200 dots per inch (dpi). For everyday printing, including small DTP jobs this type of laser printer is well-suited. But still some laser printers have a resolution of 300 dpi. Resolution enhancement technology is used in such laser printer with a resolution of 300 dpi because such printer causes rough edges on the images. RET are used to smooth the rough edges.

Color laser printers are more expensive as compared to black-and-white versions and require a great deal of printer memory to produce high-resolution images

Speed: –

As far as speed is concerned Lasers printer is the fastest among the printer. One can get full-color results as fast as 3 to 4 pages per minute (ppm), and black-and-white output as fast as 25 ppm. But it needs time to warm up the fuser to operating temperature when the printer is turn on. It generally takes 5 to 30 seconds to warm up the printer. But now laser printer with “instant on” fuser is available. This instant on fusers has been design to reduce the warm up time of a printer

Paper handling, size and capacity: -

Most laser printers use letter-size, cut-sheet paper. Supplementary paper trays or feeders can be added to increase the capacity.

Laser printers can print on a variety of papers sizes, types and weights, such as transparencies, labels and card stock. They can also handle non-traditional media like envelopes. But papers, such as iron-on transfers, are not suitable for laser printers, as the heat used in the transfer process could damage the paper and gum up your printer.

A laser printer with duplex printing can print on one side of the paper, then turn the paper over and print on the other side. Most laser printers, however, use the simpler manual duplex printing.

PCL or postscript:-

PCL – “Printer command language” is the standard printer language for HP’s and most other laser printers. PCL is used for printing letters, database printouts, spreadsheets and simple graphics. A laser printer that uses only PCL can be upgraded to Postscript by installing a software driver provided by the manufacturer of the laser printer.

How Laser Printers Work

A laser printer is one of the most common printers used today, especially within businesses small and large due to its capability to rapidly produce high quality text and graphics. But while you know what a laser printer is, do you know how it actually works? There are a few basic scientific principles behind the laser printing process and they explain the great advantages to using a laser printer.

A laser printer obviously uses a laser to print, but how does it get the image on a sheet of paper? Laser printers use the process of electro photography whose primary principle at work is static electricity. Since oppositely charged atoms are attracted to each other, objects with opposite static electricity will cling together. Laser printers use a revolving drum, or photoreceptor, made out of highly photoconductive material that is discharged by light photons. The photoconductor, a photosensitive surface, is uniformly charged by a wire with an electrical current running through it, called the charge corona wire, with static electricity. The printer then beams a laser across the surface of the drum and projects an image of the page to discharge certain points. The laser is essentially “drawing” the letters and images to be printed as a pattern of electrical charges.

Afterwards, the toner, a fine powder, is spread over the surface of the drum and only adheres to the charged areas, which is how the latent design or image becomes visible. Next, the sheet of paper rolls along a belt and is given a negative charge by the corona wire. The paper is charged opposite to the toner since the toner has a positive charge. With the toner powder affixed, the drum rolls over a sheet of paper. The negative charge of the paper is strong enough to pull the toner pattern away. Also, since the paper and the drum move at the same speed, the image pattern is picked up exactly as it was “written.” In order to keep the paper from clinging to the drum, it is discharged by the detac corona wire right after picking up the toner.

To permanently fix the transferred image to the paper, the toner is fused with pressure and heat. To do this the paper is quickly passed through the fuser, which is a pair of heated rollers. The printer then cleans all of the excess toner and electrostatic charges from the photoconductor to make it ready for the next print job. The printer cleans itself through the heat actually melting loose toner powder away and by passing the paper through the discharge lamp which exposes the entire photoreceptor thereby erasing the electrical image. After these steps, the paper then rolls out onto the output tray ready for pick up.

Due to the unique method of exposition and formation, laser printers and color laser printers have many significant advantages over other types of printers. Laser printers offer the best print quality and highest resolution and have the ability to print up to 200 monochrome pages per minute. Laser printer speed depends upon the printer model and the graphic intensity of the job being printed. However, the bottom line is that laser printers are much faster than inkjet printers due to their unique process. This makes them ideal for users with heavy printing needs, whether they are monochrome text documents or multiple-page documents loaded with text, charts and images.

The first commercial implementation of a laser printer was by IBM with the model 3800 in 1976, but the first mass market laser printer was through the combined efforts of HP and Canon. While HP printers and Canon printers were first to the laser printer consumer market, Brother printers, IBM printers and others quickly followed and overtime dropped significantly in price.

The Advantages of Using a Colour Laser Printer

One of the problems that people face is not just deciding on which brand of printer to buy, but also what type of printer. Laser printers have existed for so long, but their price never fell underneath the tempting budget models of BubbleJet printers and other attractively priced units. Many people often believe that these laser printers are best for office use since they print faster, while home users would rather pay less and be patient instead. However there are various other advantages of colour laser printers over the other types available.

Less Frequent Ink Replacements

Ink replacements can not only add costs to a cheap printer, but they can also cause more inconvenience when a replacement ink cartridge is required, but not always readily available. While the installation of toners in laser printers is slightly more complex depending on the model, you will find these won’t need replacing as often.

Bigger Savings in the Long Run

Buying that inexpensive coloured printer can undoubtedly save you money compared to getting a good laser printer. But if you start using it too often, you may find yourself spending more on ink cartridges and the expenses expanding since you always need a constant supply of coloured ink for continuous printing. Laser printers will save a lot more since they can printer more pages per supply toner.

Better Image Quality

Printers that use the traditional ink cartridge usually have worse quality than the standard laser printers. High end laser printers make a very noticeable difference in terms of colour accuracy and overall quality.

Faster Printing Speeds

When hundreds of pages need to be printed, the printer needs to work constantly to get each page printed swiftly. Regular printers have to go through a lot of work getting that done which can wear down the model. Whilst, laser printers can do this with ease and the users only need to wait a fraction of the time.

Less Prone to Errors

Some laser printers can be faulty, but better models can outperform the traditional models in terms of stability. No more getting a headache with those annoying paper jams that can sometimes be difficult to fix. Leaks and spillages are also less likely since a laser is being used for printing, which can significantly lower maintenance costs as well.

Easier to Use and Setup

Placing the paper properly in a regular printer can be a time-consuming step because of the chances of paper jam. Since laser printers have a more box-like design, papers are usually fed into the printer while lying flat giving a sure chance that the page will print properly. Since there are more electronics involved in laser printers, some models have LCD screens to aid in operation making it easier for people to use.

These are just some of the common advantages that are found in most coloured printers. There are even more advantages to some of the top selling models in the market which should be worth getting, especially for people that use their printer every day.

Laser Printers Have Decreased Further Price And Increased Quality

In the case of poor quality toner in a laser printer, the black areas won’t be as dense. However, now that good quality, name brand color laser printers are much more affordable, I think it is time for their reconsideration. Enter the color laser printer, which has a relatively low toner cost and does its best quality printing on inexpensive, plain laser paper. In addition, higher quality rag-content bond papers can also be used effectively with a color laser printer. SMEs need an inexpensive laser printer that achieves quality results quickly. If you’re intent on reproducing photos, you’re better off with a good quality inkjet printer instead of a laser.

Since then, laser printers have decreased further in price and increased in quality. A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that reproduces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. Toner Cartridge Depot presents a convenient way to purchase quality office products, laser printer toners, ink cartridges and printer cartridges at competitive prices. Plus, low-end colour lasers often produce colour output quality that rivals that of much more expensive printers. Quality, resolution, and colorThe standard resolution in most laser printers today is 1200 dots per inch (dpi). – Excellent quality: The text is very clear with no dots visible anywhere – exactly what you would expect from a quality laser printer.

When it comes to quantity and quality, I use a Laser printer and if it happens to be a color laser, so be it. Color laser printers are for people who want the speed and text quality of a black-and-white laser but require color, too. However, only the most expensive color laser printers can match the true photo quality of the best photo ink jets.

While colored toner is available, color laser printers are generally much more expensive. 30% of a new product · This product is a recycled version of the used toner cartridge for laser printer. The toner is black in most cartridges, but may be cyan, magenta, and yellow in color laser printers. Inexpensive color laser printers usually ship with a starter set of toner cartridges, which generally hold about a third of a normal cartridge. Last year the answer would have been “go inkjet” because of quirks in laser printer toner technology. Color laser printers add colored toner (typically but not always cyan, yellow, and magenta

see CMYK) in three additional steps or passes. bulk toner will do but must include instructions for my minolta qms 2300 DL laser printer. Click here to save on laser printer toner. Firstly, if I went out and spent this much on a laser printer I wouldn’t expect to be shafted with a ‘starter toner pack’. When it comes to laser printers, the main consumable cost you will encounter is toner cartridge replacement. A slightly modified colour laser printer addresses these toner particles to a solid support. Because an entire page is transmitted to a drum before the toner is applied, laser printers are sometimes called page printers. In a write-black printer the laser positively charges the printed areas to attract the toner, which gives better detail than a write-white printer.

Built on an advanced print engine, this 8ppm monochrome laser printer is productive and easy to use. First, laser printer cartridges are able to print thousands of pages and are usually cheaper per page than inkjet cartridges. Dot-matrix printers can print up to 500 cps, and laser printers range from about 4 to 20 text pages per minute. Because laser printers do not use ink, they have less image smearing problems than inkjet printers and are able to print pages faster. The result is a color laser printer that is ready to print as soon as you connect it. Today a comparable laser printer that boasts more memory, a higher print speed and duplexing capability can be had for about 0.00. The fastest color laser printers can print over 60 pages per minute (3600 pages per hour).

The laser printer does not print in color, but my project didn’t require color. If you print a lot, you too may want to consider adding a laser printer to your computer set-up. So whenever I click on the print icon, the document is automatically sent to the laser printer. Most laser printers print only in monochrome. The application being used must support Postscript in order for the laser printer to print Postscript documents. A laser printer with duplex printing can print on one side of the paper, turn the paper over, and print on the other side.

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Tips on Purchasing a Laser Printer or Inkjet Printer

Once you have determined to purchase a new printer, the next question, which comes almost instantly to your mind, is whether to select an inkjet printer or a laser printer. This article is aimed at helping you to decide on a printer which suits your needs and budget to the maximum and hence to help you in making a well-informed purchase.

To start at the beginning
The first thing to consider while buying a printer is the purpose of its purchase. If the primary objective of your printer is to print your kids school projects or for your hobby of collecting hard copies of information on the internet, then it would be in your best interest to plump for a printer on the basis of low running cost.

Since it is meant for children’s use as well, it should be very easy to use. Also, since it is for use at home, one should consider a multi function inkjet printer; this is because it gives one the liberty to scan the documents and photographs back into the computer and also has the option of photo copying the documents.

Majority of the printer manufacturers have their multi function inkjet printers in the market and hence these are available at very reasonable price in the market. However, before deciding to purchase a particular printer one should have a thorough knowledge of the running cost of the product.

There is no doubt that an inkjet printer works well for homes and small offices, but if one is considering the purchase of a printer for a large office, then inkjet printers are going to prove themselves costlier than laser printers.

The Laser Printer
Laser printers are the best bet for any large office, especially now when there are colour laser printers for less than £200. The laser printers have many advantages when compared with inkjet printers as they are small foot print, have great network connectivity and give much better results because of the chemical toner used. Not only this, the laser printers are much faster than inkjet printers and also have much lower running cost than inkjet printers.

Most of the laser printers come with an integrated RAM of 128mb, and also have the option of expanding the memory up to a gigabyte of memory. This feature of the laser printer really favors the large office environments as it allows the queuing of multiple complex print jobs at the same time.

To Conclude
When compared with the inkjet printers and the laser printers, there is no doubt that the snapshot printers are the slowest of all. However, if your purchase of the printer is intended to make photographs, it is the best possible choice for you.

They are comparatively lower in price and give the buyer the convenience of printing directly from the printer. These snapshot printers can be carried easily to any place as they have integrated carrying handles as well as optional battery packs.

So, the printer which suits your needs best is the best printer for you.

Choosing a Printer – Inkjet or Laser?

Choosing a printer – inkjet or laser?

The right printer is an essential part of your home or office computer set up. The buying process can be a confusing one, not least because leading manufacturers seem to release a new model of each type almost every day, and lets not forget the huge range of ink cartridges and laser toner, which seem to change on an hourly basis!

So, what is the best choice? Well, unfortunately there is no definitive answer for this question as it really depends on your individual needs. What you can do however, is clue yourself up on the advantages of each type, and make an informed decision when purchasing.

We’ve listed the two types of printer below, and included a simple list of the pro’s and con’s of each. After all, there is no sense in us waffling on when all you’re trying to do is buy the right printer!

Inkjet Printers – Pro’s

Cheap to buy. Main brand printers retail from as little as £30 (US).

Choice. Wide range available, from specialist photo printers to all in one printer/scanner/copier devices.

Footprint. An inkjet printer generally has smaller dimensions than a laser, often making it more suitable for the home office.

Ease of use. Designed primarily for the home and small office market, inkjets tend to be simple to use and have easily accessible features.

Paper options. Just about every printer manufacturer also offers its own range of printer paper. Depending on the desired finish you can choose anything from standard inkjet copier paper, to matt or gloss photo paper specifically designed for this type of printer.

Inkjet Printers – Con’s

Cost per copy. Despite the low initial purchase price of an inkjet printer, the cost per printed page remains high when compared to laser printing due to the higher relative cost of ink cartridges vs. laser toner. This issue however is not particularly serious for home users, who print in low volumes. It becomes more of an issue the more pages you print. Buying your ink cartridges from www.accentyourpc.co.uk could help to minimise this difference even further.

Efficiency. Since inkjet printers spray ink on to the page, the result is that much of the ink cartridge is wasted through absorption when using standard paper. High quality prints often require multiple coats of ink to ensure the correct density and therefore maximum clarity.

Print speed. Inkjet printers are much slower than laser printers in general, especially when printing in colour.

Longevity. Inkjet printers tend to be produced on the cheap in order to keep retail prices down. The quality of components can be much lower than laser printers. The fact that they spray ink to the page also means that they are liable to clogging over time. An inkjet printer will rarely outlast a laser if both are subjected to equal use.

Accuracy. Spraying ink on to a page from ink cartridges is much less accurate than the precise methods of a laser printer. This results in a slight blur effect on most printed pages.

Vibration. The movement of the ink cartridges or print nozzle across the page whilst printing can often lead to a strong vibration effect if the printer is placed on a computer desk. This can prove to be an annoyance for some people.

Ink drying time. It stands to reason that the ink is sprayed on to the page wet. Consequently, pages require a little time to dry before being picked up. Ignoring the drying requirements can see smudges appearing across your printed document. Inkjet prints also do not stand up to rain very well, which whilst not normally a problem, if you print the address on an envelope with an inkjet, postal workers may have a hard time reading it on occasion!

Inkjet Printers – Summary

If you print mainly at home and in lower volumes, consider an inkjet printer. They are versatile thanks to the range of combination devices, and the cost per copy, whilst relatively high, is probably largely irrelevant to you thanks to the low purchase price. A wide choice of paper gives you a good selection of finishes for your photo prints and the quality is likely to be more than satisfactory for framing and display.

Laser Printers – Pro’s

Cost per copy. Laser technology makes very efficient use of toner when printing resulting in a low cost per copy. Whilst toner cartridges appear expensive, you can usually print somewhere in the region of 4,000 pages before replacing your laser toner cartridge. Compared to an approximate average yield of 300 pages for a typical ink cartridge costing roughly a third of the price, the long term savings are highly apparent. Laser copier paper is also generally cheaper than the equivalent paper designed for inkjet printers.

Efficiency. These printers work by attracting the laser toner (ink) on to the page using an electronic charge. Since the printer is able to calculate the precise pattern of the print, only the exact amount of laser toner required is applied. This results in very little wastage.

Print speed. Laser printers are able to print at very quick speeds, in some cases up to 35 pages per minute. Compared to approximately 10-15 pages per minute for an inkjet printer, this represents a significant advantage during large print runs, or when production time is critical.

Longevity. A properly maintained laser printer can last for many years and print in excess of a million copies during this time providing you use the recommended original laser toner cartridges.

Accuracy. The electrostatic technology behind laser printers ensures that the ink is applied to the toner in a highly precise manner. Since the ink is not sprayed but attracted to the page via an electronic charge there is little margin for error.

Print quality. Once the toner has been attracted on to the page it is then heated causing it to fuse with the paper. This produces a clean and clear finish which is water resistant and has a natural sheen. Photo paper can be used to give a gloss or matt finish to an image printed on a colour laser printer.

Networking features. Laser printers often have built in networking designed for environments where multiple users require the ability to print over a network.

No ink expiry. Whilst ink cartridges for inkjet printers can dry and be rendered useless if left unused for an extended period, laser toner does not suffer from this issue.

Laser Printers – Con’s

Expensive to buy. Traditionally, laser printers cost more to acquire than their inkjet counterparts. However, this trend is now changing with mono laser printers starting to appear on the market for as little as £100 (US0). Colour laser printers however, remain relatively expensive, priced at around the £300 (US0) for an entry level model.

Footprint. Laser printers tend to be larger in size than inkjet models, which can cause an issue for home users, yet presents less of a problem in the office environment.

Electricity requirement. Laser printers have a higher power requirement than inkjet printers which may be noticeable on your electricity bill over time.

Warm up time. If a laser printer has not been used for a while, it requires time to warm up the printing drum before a print can be output. This time varies considerably, but is extended if the printer has been switched completely off to save power.

Laser Printers – Summary

For home users who print mainly text documents a mono laser printer may be an economical choice. The initial purchase price aside, you are likely to see a better return on your investment over time. Until colour lasers reduce significantly in price, users wishing to undertake colour printing at home may be better served with an inkjet printer for the time being.

In terms of office users, the increase in print volume seen in any typical office justifies the purchase of a laser printer, colour or mono, from the outset. Choosing an inkjet for business would almost certainly be false economy unless it is required for a special task such as large format printing on paper of A3 size or above.

Don’t forget, when your cartridges do run out, visit www.accentyourpc.co.uk for the best deals on ink cartridges and laser toner.

Stay tuned for our next article!

Inkjet Printers vs. Laser Printers

For the most part, choosing a printer can be a daunting task and entails balancing price, speed, and print quality. In order to choose the right printer for you, you will have to ask yourself how much you print per month, what types of documents you will need to print, what quality print you require, whether or not you need color, and if you care more about the initial cost or cost over the printer’s lifetime. The difference between inkjet printers and laser printers is day and night, but once you understand their differences and decide which type is most suitable for your needs, you are more than half-way to finding the right printer for you.

As a rule of thumb, laser printers produce crisp, speedy text documents and decent images, while inkjet printers produce top-quality, long-lasting photos and not-so-crisp text, all at an uncomfortably-slow pace.

Inkjet printers are best if printing high-quality photos are much more important that high-quality text and graphics and if speed is not an issue for you. Their major selling point is their superior color accuracy and print resolution for vivid photos, so this does add time to printing each page. They are also best if you have light printing needs and are more concerned with the cost upfront since replacing the ink cartridges can get pricey if you start to print a lot, but you can often find a good inkjet printer for under 0 or 0.

Laser printers are best if high-quality text documents are more important than high-resolution photos and that speed is essential. Laser printers major selling point is their ability to quickly print crisp documents at a very low cost per page. Color laser printers major selling point is their ability to print documents with a mix of text, graphics and photos at a fast speed, but they do run a bit more expensive because they can “do it all.” Overall, laser printers and color laser printers cost much less to maintain and operate and have a lower cost over the printer’s lifetime, but have a higher price-tag initially.

It’s worth explaining in detail the huge difference in the cost of ownership of the two types of printers. An inkjet printer costs a lot less initially but its cost per page is much higher than a laser printer’s cost per page. In fact, companies practically give away inkjet printers because the profit for most manufacturers is in the ink cartridges, or consumables as they call them. On the other hand, a laser printer costs a lot more initially, but over time its toner will cost much less per page. For example, let’s say you print 5000 pages in two months. You would have to replace the inkjet’s ink cartridges about 25 times compared with the two times you would have to replace the laser printer’s toner cartridge. The cost of the inkjet ink cartridges would almost double the cost of the laser toner cartridges. If you print a couple hundred pages per month or a thousand pages per month, laser printers are more cost effective overall.

Conclusively, if your business’ output volume is moderate to heavy, your best bet is to go with a laser printer due to the laser printer’s total cost of ownership. If you print very infrequently, whether it’s for personal use or for your small office, then an inkjet printer would be more cost effective. At the end of the day, the types of documents you need to print may determine what printer, or printers, you select. If you’re printing mainly photos and documents for personal use, such as directions in which you don’t care about the quality, then you should get an inkjet printer. If you print a lot of text documents and are cost conscience, then a budget monochrome laser printer would be your best fit. Finally, if you print a moderate volume of text, graphics, and mixed documents, then a color laser printer would definitely best suit your needs and would be a good investment.

HP printers are great in both the inkjet printers and laser printers categories. Epson printers, Canon printers, and Kodak printers are very popular for inkjet and photo printers. Brother printers, Xerox printers, HP printers and Samsung printers are best in class for laser printers with Xerox probably the best in class for color laser printers for businesses. So figure out your printing needs and do your research and you will find the right printer for your needs at the right price.