The Difference Between Inkjet and Laser Printers

The Difference Between Inkjet and Laser Printers

Trying to decide whether to buy an inkjet printer or a laser printer, and can't quite make up your mind? We've all been there. Just when you feel like you've got a handle on the old technology, something new comes along and suddenly you're not sure what the best options are anymore. By keeping yourself informed in a basic sense about how the technology functions with these two printer breeds, and how that impacts the bottom line, you can shop with all due sagacity instead of ignorantly hoping you made the right choice. Despite performing the same basic function, the differences between inkjets and laser printers are pretty considerable, and you're best off knowing what they are.

Inkjet printers use, naturally, ink. This ink is super-heated and then sprayed in very small dots onto the paper. The heat sears the ink into the paper permanently, and keeps the printings from going out too wet. However, fresh inkjet prints will still be a little damp, so one must take care not to smear them. This is particularly a concern if you're printing large stacks at one time, since the accumulated weight of the paper can cause smearing on the bottom pages.

Color Printer

Just as inkjets use ink, laser printers use, intuitively enough, lasers. The laser projects the image to be printed, and a complex process takes place where the lighted areas are de-charged, allowing the charged sections to attract and fuse toner, thus creating the printing. Since toner is a purely dry form of ink, the resulting prints are themselves completely dry and won't smear.

Smearing aside, what does this mean for the bottom line? Well, it means a number of things. Laser printers are capable of printing much faster and at higher qualities than inkjet printers, although not all laser printer models take advantage of this capability. Laser printers also store the entire object to be printed in memory before printing, as opposed to inkjets that store and process small pieces at a time. This means that in some extreme cases, such as with large banners, a laser printer will be unable to print because the object exceeds the printer's memory storage. Last of all, there's price. Laser printers tend to cost much more than their inkjet cousins. However, for people who print in high volume, the expenses of replacing ink cartridges for inkjet printers will quickly grow to be a burden. To sum it all up, an inkjet printer is better for people who only print things every once in a while, while a laser printer is superior for printing large amounts frequently. Both types of printers have their uses and their disadvantages, and you should pick the one that least inconveniences you while getting done what you need to be done.

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