Inkjet or Laser: What's the Best Printer for Me?

Printing at home or in your office is part of daily life for many people. Whether you want to create professional photos or print out your novel manuscript, printers and printer accessories can help with many projects. The two major kinds of printers are inkjet and laser. Both have their pros and cons, and one might work better than the other depending on the job. This guide can help you figure out which is best for you: inkjet or laser printer?

You may wonder what the exact differences are between these two options. While they both print digital files onto paper, how they work is unique to each type. Inkjet printers have little nozzles that move side to side and spray tiny droplets of colored or black ink onto the paper. Ink cartridges insert into the printer and hold the pigment until the printer is told to use it. The tiny dots of color sprayed onto the page are too small to see with the naked eye. Thermal inkjet printers are a type of printer that vaporizes ink into bubbles with heat, then shoots the ink onto your pages. Some other types use piezoelectricity, which creates movement with the help of small crystals that spray ink.

Meanwhile, laser printers use a focused light beam to reproduce an image from your computer or camera. The image prints on the drum inside the printer like a photocopier. Then, a laser beam goes back and forth over the drum. A negatively charged cylindrical component helps the laser grab powdered ink, also called toner. The positively charged paper heats as it goes over hot rollers, then picks up the toner to create your image or text.

The best use for an inkjet printer is for bright colors and sharp images. The printer blends colors and gives sharp photo outlines, better than a laser printer can. Inkjet printers can also print onto a variety of paper types, so you can enjoy glossy photos or high-quality matte ones to frame. You can also use this printer to put images onto unconventional materials, such as vinyl or plastic.

If you want to get printing quickly, inkjet printers need very little warmup time before they get going. Additionally, they are usually more compact and lighter than laser printers, so they work well for homes with limited space. If you want to go green, you can have cartridges refilled with ink rather than getting new ones to cut down on waste. When it comes to startup costs, inkjet printers have a lower buying price than most laser options. Even the cartridges themselves generally cost less per unit than toner for a laser printer.

There are, however, a few drawbacks to inkjet printers. The ink in the cartridges is water-based, so your images may fade and become damaged with exposure to moisture. Also, inkjet cartridges hold less color than toner cartridges and need more frequent cleaning. Between ink-wasting, cleaning and the limited capacity, you must replace them often, which is an additional expense. If there is extended time between printing jobs, the cartridges may even dry out, rendering them unusable and in need of replacement.

Depending on the model, your inkjet printer may create fuzzy text on regular printer paper, rather than crisply defined letters. Plus, they may not print quickly or have high-capacity paper trays, which limits how many pages you can print in a short amount of time. 

If you want to print clear, sharp text, then laser printers are the way to go. Sure, they can handle the occasional image too, but their strength is crisp and bold lettering. Another desirable benefit is that you can quickly print many pages with these printers. Most have trays for hundreds of pages, or even thousands, in some cases. They also print more quietly, even for bigger jobs.

Toner cartridges print more pages without running out, which means you will replace them less often than ink cartridges. Toner also won't dry up, even if you don’t print for a while. Because of this, the cost per page from laser printers is usually significantly less than pages printed by inkjet models. These printers stand up well to wear and tear, even if you use them constantly for months on end. Less wear means fewer repair costs in the long run, no matter how much you print.

Most laser printers are larger and heavier than inkjets, so they don't work well for cramped settings or desks with limited surface area. Since they don't work on as many paper types, there are fewer applications beyond projects that require traditional printer paper. Any heat-sensitive paper won't work on the hot rollers. Also, laser printers take a little extra time to warm up, which leaves you waiting for a while before getting started.

When it comes to toner leaks, the clean-up involved can be extensive. A leak could even cause damage to your printer. Plus, toner cartridges are very pricey, even if they take a long time to use up. This all results in a higher initial cost compared to inkjets, sometimes by hundreds of dollars. Even then, they don't work well for clear and professional-looking photos. Simple graphics are really the only ones they create effectively.

When trying to settle the inkjet vs. laser debate, you need to consider what you'll use the printer for most. If you want to print a lot of text, a laser printer might be better. If you want clear, high-quality images, go with an inkjet. Overall, you should consider your space and money constraints, as well as other aspects like noise, whether you’ll want to use photo paper, and how much time it takes to print a job. Think over all these factors, then find a printer model that works with your specific preferences.

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