Laser Printers or Inkjet Printers – which should you buy?

by James on June 8, 2010 · View Comments

in Tech

When purchasing a new printer for your home or office, it can be difficult to decide which type to go with: inkjet or laser. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages so you will need to know these before shopping. Price varies greatly as does print speed and the quality of the print job does differ between the two styles. The best way to determine which model is right for you is to figure out exactly what your printer will be used for. This will help to narrow your choices and tell you if an inkjet or laser printer will be better for your situation.

Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers are easily found in retail stores and range in price from $40 to around $300. They are generally more user friendly than laser printers and are perfect if your main wish is to print photos as they can reproduce colors quite accurately. Ink cartridges can be refilled which may save you money over the long term also. Drawbacks of this type of printer include the slow print time as well as a lower quality of print. If you wish to increase the quality of the text, print speed will decrease considerably. Also, resolution and sharpness of the print may not be as precise. Yet, if you are in need of a compact printer for basic text and photos, this is the style for you.

For example, here is an excellent inkjet printer from Epson, the Epson WorkForce 310 All-In-One Color Inkjet Printer. It is currently on sale for just $59.95 (54% off!). This printer is on for a great price, prints in color, and doubles as a fax machine/copier.

Laser Printers

Laser printers are becoming more readily available and prices on this style of printer are decreasing somewhat. Although laser printers do cost more than their inkjet counterparts, $300 to $1,000 for a black and white printer and $1,000 to $3,000 for a color model, you can print five pages on a laser printer for every one that an inkjet model will produce. This is very helpful if you frequently print large documents. A laser printer is remarkably precise and operates at a much lower decibel level, if that is of concern. Yet, laser printers do take up more space so this needs to be taken into consideration.

Currently a great deal for a laser printer from Dell, the Dell 2330d Laser Printer is on for just $179.00, 28% off. This printer is black and white only, prints up to 35 pages per minute, and has a low cost per page based on ink usage.

It Comes Down to Your Need

Both printers are exceptionally dependable so the choice must be based on what you need your model to do. Operating costs tend to average out in the end so that should not be a major factor when purchasing. Determine what you need your printer to do and choose the appropriate type from there.

About the author: James Mowery is a computer geek that writes about technology and related topics. To read more blog posts by him, go to laptop computers.

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