When you first set out looking for a printer, you will usually find two specific kinds.
The first is an inkjet printer. These printers are more common in the home and use liquid ink together with tiny nozzles that spray onto paper, which then creates the image or text on the paper. They are much more expensive to maintain and printing will cost you more overall than the alternative, the laser printer. Here you will learn which type of printer is best for your needs.
Strangely enough, the technology used in laser printers is older than that used in inkjets. A laser printer works almost like a copy machine in that it uses a toner cartridge full of black powder, and electrically charged rollers pull the oppositely-charged powder particles to the paper. Then a heat roller fuses, or melts the toner in place so it cannot smudge or be removed. Choosing the best laser printer really depends on what you will be printing with it.
Laser printers can print over eight thousand pages with a single toner cartridge, versus an inkjet printing 170 pages with a black ink cartridge. With these facts lined up, it's obvious which is best in an office environment. If you are running reports, printing school work or literature, then this is the best laser printer for you. The downside is that a laser printer can cost $400, while you can pick up an inkjet printer for around $50. Even the ink cartridges cost more: an inkjet cartridge costs $35 while a toner cartridge costs $115. This brings up the topic of why exactly a monochrome laser printer would be better than a color inkjet.
Monochrome laser printer basics: PRICE: $150, TONER CARTRIDGE: $115, TOTAL COST: $265, PAGES THAT CAN BE PRINTED: 8,000
Inkjet, full color printer basics: PRICE: $50, COLOR AND BLACK INK: $35, TOTAL COST: $85PAGES THAT CAN BE PRINTED: 170
The big production different makes it obvious why so many large companies choose to use monochrome laser models for large printing jobs, and use a couple color inkjets for their smaller color printing tasks. The cost of printing 8,000 pages with a color inkjet printer would cost over $1,600 and take over 47 ink cartridges.
There are color laser printers on the market, but their pricing is a little more with the printer and the toner combined. Those types require four separate toners, which are all cheaper on their own but more expensive than monochrome together. And because there is less black toner in a four-color setup, you won't get the same amazing output as a monochrome laser. The color laser printer option is not at it best yet, though it is getting there. So while monochrome models are the best laser printers, color models are not quite there yet.
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Whether for home or business, there are a lot of printer choices out there. You need to find the best laser printer for your needs.
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