Printersare able to print both text and graphics. Over time, printing has become easier and more reliable due to the advances in printing technology. Printers are available in two main categories:

• Impact − These printers make contact with a sheet of paper to form characters and graphics. Pins and hammers are used by injecting ink into them. Impact printers include dot matrix, chain printers, band printers, line and drum printers, and daisy-wheel printers.
• Non-impact printers − These printers tend to be quieter compared to impact printers. This is because they don’t use pins or hammers to form text and graphics on paper. Non-impact printers include inkjet and laser printers.

This article focuses on the comparison of two types of non-impact office printers: inkjet printers and laser printers. If you need help choosing the best option for your office, read on.

Laser Printers

Just like a photocopy machine, a laser printer uses a mirror to create a laser beam that rebounds onto a drum. A unique ink powder known as toner coatsthe drum, and the laser beam allows for the detachment of the ink powder. The ink powder is then transferred onto the paper to create texts and graphics using a hot roller. A buffer (a memory device) is used to store pages in a laser printer for easier retrieval during printing.

ThePros and Cons of Laser Printers

Laser office printers are fast and can print a large amount of text and graphics within a short period. This saves timecompared to inkjet printers. The ink powder is also of good quality and can last for a long time as there’s no risk of it drying up.However, laser printers can be expensive to purchase outright compared to inkjet printers, and they can require high maintenance costs. Fortunately, costs can often be recouped over time due to the lower operation costs.

Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers form text and graphics through tiny nozzles which are used to spray ink. The nozzles can be injected with different ink colours which dry on the paper and forman image. The basic inkjet printer uses black ink, while a colouredinkjet printercan contain a coloured ink cartridge that allows for colour printing with cyan, yellow and magenta. Some inkjet printers can be purchased with separate ink cartridges for each colour, allowing you to only replace the specific colour that’s run out.

The Pros and Cons of Inkjet Printers

Inkjet office printers are known to be cheaper to buy upfront compared to laser printers. On the other hand, these printers can be costly to run and maintain over time considering the number of ink cartridges that you’ll need to use. There’s a higher cost involved asink is a more costly consumable than laser printer toner. The quality of output produced by inkjet printers is also lower compared to laser printers, plus you have to wait for the ink to dry on the paper to avoid smudging and fading.

Catherine Gomez