Compare the inkjet printers to the laser printers

An inkjet printer prints by spraying tiny drops of ink onto a page in a certain pattern. This ink comes out of plastic capsules called cartridges. These cartridges are sold with all kinds of ink colors. Many printers only have the basic colors black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. But there are also inkjet printers with space for up to 9 different cartridges. That's why an inkjet printer is able to print beautiful color prints.

A laser printer uses toner instead of ink to print. Toner is a powder that's melted onto a page at a high temperature. It's sold in large toner cartridges, so you can print for a long time without having to replace it. Toner is more affordable than ink, but isn't as suitable for color prints. Laser printers are often fast and efficient, which makes them excellent for at the office. Do you print a lot at home, because you're a freelancer or teacher? The laser printer is a good choice in that case as well.

Many inkjet printers have a lower purchase price than laser printers, but they have higher printing costs. For the most affordable inkjet printers, you pay about € 55. These affordable printers can usually scan, copy, and print in color as well. An inkjet printer doesn't need to warm up, which means it uses less energy than a laser printer. But cartridges are expensive and have to be replaced often. Don't print very often? An inkjet printer is the most affordable choice.

Some inkjet printers don't get ink from a cartridge, but from an ink tank. You can refill an ink tank with ink from a bottle. With 1 bottle, you can print thousands of pages. This makes printing with ink bottles an affordable way to print. Just like with cartridges, the number of colors determines the quality of the color print. That's why there are printers with 4 or 6 ink tanks. Because an ink bottle of a specific color only fits on the tank for that color, you'll never refill the tank with the wrong ink.

An average laser printer is more expensive when you buy it, but you can print more affordably with toner cartridges. The most affordable laser printers cost about € 100. Toner is more affordable than ink, because toner cartridges last longer than other cartridges. This saves you a lot of money in the long term. With a cartridge, ink can dry up fast. This isn't the case with toner powder, and you can print more pages with a toner cartridge. Do you print a lot? A laser printer is the most affordable choice.

Inkjet printers almost always print with a better resolution and color representation than laser printers. This way, you can provide text documents with colorful images or print sharp photos. You won't see a big difference between text documents from an inkjet or a laser printer. On average, inkjet printers print more slowly than laser printers. Prints with ink aren't waterproof, and the paper may be wet with color prints. In addition, ink can dry up and the spray nozzles can get clogged. This isn't the case with laser printers.

On average, later printers print a lot faster than inkjet printers. Most models print over 25 black and white pages per minute. This means that 1 print takes about 2.4 seconds. There are also color laser printers, but they only have space for the 4 basic colors and never have a high print resolution. You can print a report with colored images, but you can't print photos in good quality. The prints from a laser printer come out both waterproof and dry.