Compare the inkjet printer to ink tank and laser printers

An inkjet printer prints by spraying tiny drops of ink onto a page in a certain pattern. This ink comes out of plastic capsules called cartridges. These cartridges are sold with all kinds of ink colors. Many printers only have the basic colors black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. But there are also inkjet printers with space for up to 9 different cartridges. That's why an inkjet printer is able to print beautiful color prints.

Ink tank printers print with a special technology. These printers don't print with cartridges or toner cartridges, but with ink from bottles. You can refill this ink in the ink tank of the printer. Because the ink bottles are very affordable, you can save a lot on your printing costs with these printers. These ink bottles are much more affordable than toner cartridges or cartridges. Most printers have 5 base colors, but there are also printers with 6 to 8 colors. With these printers, you can print extra sharp photos.

A laser printer uses toner instead of ink to print. Toner is a powder that's melted onto a page at a high temperature. It's sold in large toner cartridges, so you can print for a long time without having to replace it. Toner is more affordable than ink, but isn't as suitable for color prints. Laser printers are often fast and efficient, which makes them excellent for at the office. Do you print a lot at home, because you're a freelancer or teacher? The laser printer is a good choice in that case as well.

Many inkjet printers have a lower purchase price than laser printers, but they have higher printing costs. For the most affordable inkjet printers, you pay about € 55. These affordable printers can usually scan, copy, and print in color as well. An inkjet printer doesn't need to warm up, which means it uses less energy than a laser printer. But cartridges are expensive and have to be replaced often. Don't print very often? An inkjet printer is the most affordable choice.

Some inkjet printers don't get ink from a cartridge, but from an ink tank. You can refill an ink tank with ink from a bottle. With 1 bottle, you can print thousands of pages. This makes printing with ink bottles an affordable way to print. Just like with cartridges, the number of colors determines the quality of the color print. That's why there are printers with 4 or 6 ink tanks. Because an ink bottle of a specific color only fits on the tank for that color, you'll never refill the tank with the wrong ink.

An average laser printer is more expensive when you buy it, but you can print more affordably with toner cartridges. The most affordable laser printers cost about € 100. Toner is more affordable than ink, because toner cartridges last longer than other cartridges. This saves you a lot of money in the long term. With a cartridge, ink can dry up fast. This isn't the case with toner powder, and you can print more pages with a toner cartridge. Do you print a lot? A laser printer is the most affordable choice.

Inkjet and ink tank printers almost always make prints with better resolution and color representation than laser printers. This way, you can provide text documents with colorful images or print sharp photos. You see little difference between text documents from an inkjet or laser printer. Inkjet and ink tank printers print slower than laser printers, on average. Printer ink isn't waterproof and the paper can feel wet if you print in color.

On average, later printers print a lot faster than inkjet printers. Most models print over 25 black and white pages per minute. This means that 1 print takes about 2.4 seconds. There are also color laser printers, but they only have space for the 4 basic colors and never have a high print resolution. You can print a report with colored images, but you can't print photos in good quality. The prints from a laser printer come out both waterproof and dry.