I am often asked by friends and relatives who are in the market for a new printer on which the best type suits their needs for work-from-home, homeschooling, or even for their small businesses. My usual answer will be depending on the tasks requiring the equipment.
For many ordinary computer users, it quite often comes down to choosing between an inkjet or a laser printer — two of the most sought-after models available today. Indeed, to get the most value out of your hard-earned printer purchase, it really pays to know the difference between the two, and yes, one type of printer is not quite like the other.
Inkjet Printer vs. Laser Printer
In simple terms, an inkjet printer makes use of replaceable ink cartridges, wherein small nozzles, also known as jets, are positioned throughout the printer to spray ink droplets onto a sheet of paper. Typically, hundreds of nozzles are involved in the release of thousands of ink droplets. In fact, it takes many ink droplets to form a single printed character.
Meanwhile, for laser printers, it’s static electricity or the electric phenomenon in which charged ink particles are transferred from the machine directly to the paper, that comes into play. In this case, a laser printer cleverly manipulates static electricity to attach a laser toner, a powdered ink that’s more grain-like than regular ink, to a sheet of paper. This is the science behind laser printing technology.
The technology behind Inks and toners is not the same. Inks are used in inkjet printers while toners are used for laser printers. There are significant differences in the output of both printers and the choice between getting either an inkjet printer or a laser printer basically boils down to the needs of the user.
What Kind of Printer Should I Get?
Now that we’ve spelled out the difference between inkjet and laser printers, allow us then to further help consumers in their quest for the perfect type of printer they need.
If, for example, you need to print high-quality color images such as full-color flyers, then an inkjet printer is the way to go as they have better tonal variety and are better at blending various colors. Moreover, inkjets can also print on a variety of papers, including glossy photo paper.
But, if the main requirement involves printing high volumes of black and white documents, say manuscripts, then laser printers are better suited for the job, which can do so at a much faster rate, with more pages, at a given time, resulting in better efficiency and cost-per-page.
Don’t Be Swayed
As the printer market becomes all the more competitive, copycat, look-alike products are becoming a dime a dozen. Not only that, it’s easy to be drawn by attractive but misleading statements, with brands harping ‘Laser-like’ characteristics which are far from actual laser quality printing. So, just as you shop around for that new printer, do read up, research, study, and keep our handy guide in mind. Lastly, don’t settle for just misleading look-a-like. You deserve a reputable laser-quality printout, without spending a lot.