The Difference Between Laser Printers And Inkjet Printers

The Difference Between Laser Printers And Inkjet Printers

The home printing technology has come far since the days of the matrix printer connected to an Amiga or a Commodore computer. In fact you now have if not a thousand then several hundreds options when it comes to selecting a device to cover your home printing needs.

Besides the matrix printer, which is still around, most often at work in offices since it's great for making carbon duplicates, you have the Laser and the Inkjet printers. As the name suggest the Laser printer is the choice if you need sharp graphics or text, the Inkjet printer is considered a better choice for printing images where, when selecting the right (and expensive) kind of paper, can look almost like a photograph. Indeed the paper required for this kind of printing, with it's glossy surface and sheer weight, does leave you with an impression of quality.

Color Printer

The technology behind the laser printer is quite different from the Inkjet in that is sprays black (for monochrome printers that is) ink-dust onto the paper which is then electrically charged when rotating within the printer. The paper is then slightly heated to make the dust particles stick. You will notice that paper coming out of a laser printer is always warm. This process takes nothing but a few seconds and the laser printer is considered the choice if you are looking for speed.

The inkjet printer is based on an older technology where ink is simply sprayed directly on the paper. This technology has come far though and we are beyond the days when you should ever attempt to do any kind of repair to your home inkjet printer, except refilling the cartridges or exchanging them for new ones.

Today a popular choice for home printers is the multifunctional device that scan, copy, print and fax. Some multifunctional printers even have the ability to scan negative film and print directly on labels and even CD's - the Canon Pixma series is the preferred choice, where some models even comes with WiFi networking.

When it comes to running cost the laser printer (monochrome) is by far the cheapest, unless you opt for the color Laser printer which can prove somewhat costly when exchanging cartridges and toners. The Inkjet printer is considered to be superior to the color Laser printer when it comes to printing images, whereas the color Laser printer is good with graphics.

If you feel that you can't live without the color option or the ability to print sharp black text and you have a fair budget, a solution could be to buy cheaper monochrome laser printer and a midrange multifunctional printer, which would set you back some 300 USD.

Thanks To : Lasko 5395