It is a common dilemma — your office manager is going to purchase one or more printers for the office and is struggling between two common printer technologies — laser printers and inkjet printers. While in the past the decision may have hinged more on hard-and-fast performance issues, today’s choices are more wide-ranging — and complex — than before.

For example, two decades ago most small businesses and consumers couldn’t afford a laser printer. They were huge, they required special paper and they were not able to print in colour. If you wanted colour printing, you had to turn to an inkjet printer. At the time, they were rife with issues such as streaked or smeared pages. Those stereotypes persist into today’s business mindset, even though technology has advanced considerably. Before we delve into the pros and cons of each technology as it exists today, let’s first address the most important part of your decision — where will the printer be used?

In the EU today, almost half of the workforce is now working remotely, meaning they may rely on an at-home printer for most of their printing needs. This is an important factor in determining which technology will best serve your purposes — and it definitely does depend on each usage or application case. That being said, let’s move into the comparison, beginning with inkjet printers:

The Pros and Cons of Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers rely on pigment-based inks or dyes to lay down colour and pattern on a page. They have a series of nozzles that produce ink droplets that adhere to the page. The way in which they accomplish the task of printing impacts their output and abilities:

Colour/Black and White

Inkjet printers are heralded for their ability to apply rich, brilliant colour to a page, making them perfect for printing marketing collateral and other high-impact documents. In addition, they can typically print all the way to the edge of the paper — called full-bleed in print terminology — adding another dimension of utility to their portfolio. Finally, many inkjets can print on a variety of media, including glossy photo papers, and even vinyl, for added versatility.

Print Speed

Because of the way they work, moving from side to side to imprint an image rather than applying the image all at once to the page the way laser printers do, an inkjet is typically slower than a laser printer. However, higher quality inkjets can outpace the speed of lower quality laser printers, so it is a matter of budget as well as need.

Print Volume

Offices that deal with a high volume of printing tasks might be bogged down using inkjet printers for the reasons detailed above. But a small office or a home office will find that an inkjet will fit their needs nicely.

Quality

Inkjet printers produce crisp, clear colour imaging and with today’s technology they can also produce decent black and white text as well. That being said, they can sometimes struggle to clearly imprint smaller fonts and symbols. If your office produces more black and white text, an inkjet may not be your best bet.

The Pros and Cons of Laser Printers

Laser printers rely on toner, a powdered substance to produce text and images using electrostatically charged dots that appear on a drum which is light sensitive. The drum attracts the toner powder which is transferred to the paper and fixed using a heating process.

Colour/Black and White

Today’s laser printers come in colour models which can produce brilliant colour images. However, they are limited to a few types of paper, and they cannot manage full-bleed graphics. But, they expertly deliver crisp black-and-white text, even at small font sizes for clear readability.

Print Speed

Laser printers are known for their ability to print pages fast. This is, in part, due to the way the printer works — by laying down the entire image on a page all at once rather than moving back and forth across the page one line at a time as inkjets do.

Print Volume

Have a lot of printing — especially black and white documents — to crank out during the course of a business day? Then a monochrome laser printer may be the right answer for your home or work office environment. Many laser printers can handle a larger number of prints quickly and efficiently.

Quality

Laser printers can produce typesetter-quality text in black and white. If your business is reliant on many black and white documents, a laser printer can give you the crisp, clear text you need for professional-looking, easy to read output.

Inkjet vs. Laser: The Choice is Yours

Honestly, in the past a laser printer was hands-down the best choice for a business environment, but now that depends on many factors. Keep in mind that today’s inkjet and laser printers have come a long way and to get a fair comparison you should be looking at either high end models of both, mid-range models of both, or low-end models. Your choice will depend on your budget and the application for which the printer is needed.

Saving Money on Print Costs for Both Laser and Inkjet Printers

No matter which printer you choose, you will want to get the greatest return on your investment. Fortunately, that is easier to do with access to high quality remanufactured cartridges. Clover Imaging Group’s remanufactured cartridges offer a host of benefits for the cost-conscious office, including:

• Up to 30% savings over OEM cartridges
• 100% satisfaction guarantee
• Complete indemnification against IP lawsuits
• Using 79% less new materials
• A 51% smaller impact over OEM brands
• Forty-four percent fewer natural resources are used in their manufacture
• They reduce energy usage by 48%

At Clover Imaging Group, we offer a wide range of printer consumables for all major printer brands so you can feel free to choose the right printer and brand for your needs and business goals. Want to learn more? Simply contact a Clover representative and find out how to cut printer costs with environmentally friendly remanufactured print cartridges today.