Comparison of Inkjet v Laser Printers

Making a choice between inkjet and laser printers should solely depend on what the consumer plans to use the machine for. This is because inkjet printers tend to be more suited to printing occasionally whereas laser printers are more useful for industrial printing.

How do the different machines work?

Inkjet printers literally use tiny jets to squirt ink onto a page, a mechanism inside these jets changes shape and size in cohesion with the relative shape/size of the document in order to transfer it to a hard copy.

Laser printers use a laser beam which sends a digital image of the desired document onto an internal drum. That drum then collects the necessary amount of ink in the relevant areas of its face before pressing down onto the page to print the document.

Which machine is the fastest?

Laser printers win hands down when it comes to speed. The laser and drum combination allows the machine to churn out multiple documents at a rapid pace. Also, because it all works digitally, it doesn’t matter how much content is on a document, the laser printer will take the same amount of time to print any single page.

An inkjet on the other hand has to adapt to the size and colour of all the different shapes on the page, so can take a lot longer when printing a complicated image.

Which is the cheapest machine?

On face value inkjet printers cost considerably less but when considering the running costs, the scales tip. Inkjet printers go through much more ink whereas laser printers get a lot more mileage out of their cartridges.

Research suggests that an inkjet printer cartridge can give just 200 colour pages before requiring a refill and laser printers can keep working away for up to 10,000.

Which machine is the best?

In terms of printing quality, there isn’t a noticeable difference when producing everyday text documents or small images but the laser printer noses in front when it comes to detail because of its accuracy. The spurting jets of an inkjet surpass the laser beam when considering brightness and colour.

Size is a thing to consider too, as some laser printers could eclipse the light in a small office. The inkjets tend to be small hospitable machines and are easy to move about.

It purely depends on what the customer is using the printer for. Someone who only wants to print occasionally, like a student, would probably benefit from the inkjet. Someone who prints hefty amounts daily, like a secretary, would get more out of a laser printer.