Inkjet vs laser printer - Which one?

[thanhhuy123]

I know that this topic has been around for a very long time and there has been already too many discussions out there. However, as technology has been significantly evolved, yesterday claims might not hold their correctness anymore, so let's refresh it by having this topic.

1. It was said that inkjet printers cannot handle high volume of printing:
   Maybe it's still true with SOHO level inkjet printers. However, there are inkjet printers made for the enterprise which has monthly-duty-cycle of tens of thousands of pages. For example, HP Officejet Pro X series or Enterprise series or the RISO ComColor digital duplicators. I don't know much about Epson, but I think Epson has the equivalent.
2. It was said that inkjet printers cannot print as fast as laser: HP Officejet Pro X series with HP PageWide technology can print up to 70ppm. RISO ComColor with similar page-wide piezo printhead and special ink can print up to 150ppm.
3. It was said that inkjet printers cannot print text as crisp text as laser: inkjet printers made for office use I believe, use all pigment-based ink (either water-based or oil-based like RISO printer series) for all colours and black, so the printout on paper should be crisp enough and comparable to laser.

So, for today technology, choosing inkjet vs laser printing technology might all come down to 2 criteria of consuming products: paper, and ink/toner, and 3 criteria of others: frequency of printing, volume of printing and electricity.

Here is some of the criteria combination, off the top of my head:

• If we hardly ever print, print very low to low volume (like a few pages every now and then, sometimes tens of pages, etc.) and print on plain paper only: definitely go laser!
• If we hardly ever print, print very low to low volume (like a few pages every now and then, sometimes tens of pages, etc.) but need to print on various paper types: hmm better go to a printing services and have them do it for us. Or we can go with inkjet, but need weekly nozzle-check printing (yeah, that's the price to pay for enjoying printing at home).
• If we hardly ever print, print medium to high volume and print on plain paper only: definitely go laser!
  
• If we hardly ever print, print medium to high volume but need to print on various paper types: definitely go with a printing service!
  
• If we print frequently, print very low to low volume (like a few pages every now and then, sometimes tens of pages, etc.) and print on plain paper only and you don't care about electricity consumption or power spike when a laser printer is turned on: definitely go laser!
• If we print frequently, print very low to low volume (like a few pages every now and then, sometimes tens of pages, etc.) and print on plain paper only/or various paper types, and/or you need something light on power: go with inkjet printers that have print head on the ink cartridges (Integrated Print Head - IPH, like some low-end HP/Canon)
  
• If we print frequently, print medium to high volume and print on plain paper only and you don't care about electricity consumption or power spike when a laser printer is turned on: definitely go laser!
  
• If we print frequently, print medium to high volume and print on plain paper only/or various paper types, and/or you need something light on power: go with high-end inkjet printers, like: HP Officejet Pro/ Pro X/Enterprise series.
  
• If we print frequently and with very high volume, text on plain paper only: then we might consider something more than an inkjet printer, something like digital duplicators, like RISO ComColor 9xxx.

I plan to make some kind of table or chart or something like that to visualise this so as people can look at that and make the decision, but still nothing coming out yet

Please join with me and share your ideas/opinions to correct anything wrong, improve things claimed in this post.

 

[palombian]

I have only experience with SOHO and photo inkjet printers (about 3000-5000 office pages and 500-1000 photos a year):

- not fast, except in draft
- regular use is necessary to avoid clogging or excessive ink cost due to purging, but actual printers can stay unused for more than a month
- convenience is a major argument for printing at home
- acceptable quality for office documents with graphs, charts etc is achievable on premium paper (but not the strongest point)
- for low/medium combined use of photos and office a single inkjet can do the job
- cost of the better inkjets, even with OEM ink, is competive with laser and printing services (except B/W laser)
- cost when refilling - or using 3th party cartridges as most do - are drastically lower and erase the eventual risk of losing the printer
- most people only use their smartphone and don't print anymore

 

[fotofreek]

One of the laser's conveniences is the larger volume of pages before needing to change a cartridge. much appreciated in a business setting. Also a larger bin in most laser printers for paper stock that avoids the need to keep putting in more paper during use.

 

[palombian]

One of the laser's conveniences is the larger volume of pages before needing to change a cartridge. much appreciated in a business setting. Also a larger bin in most laser printers for paper stock that avoids the need to keep putting in more paper during use.

Yep, I remember in the office when everybody was waiting for someone else to carry a box of 2500 pages