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Not long ago, I needed to buy a new printer, my old Epson WF was having problems, seems like it was always needing ink cartridges, so I looked around extensively at printers, I read about Laser jets and eventually got an HP model from Best buy. It was a great buy, around $150. and the toner cartridge it comes with is good for about 2000 pages.
The quality of print is very good too, looks nothing like the garbage Inkjet printers put out.
I was a bit concerned at first that I may not print enough to warrant a Laser jet, but as I read more, I found that really doesnt apply, the toner uses what is basically ink dust, so even if you only print 10 pages per week, you can turn the printer off when not using and nothing will go bad or deteriorate from 'not enough use'
The only catch is (if you want to call it that), Laser jet for home use is really only practical in B&W, there are color Laser jets, but they are pretty expensive for the home user, although if someone wants color, a laser jet color printer may still be worth the cost, it just depends on what you want.
The cheapest Laser jet I saw was a Canon B&W for $88.
Not long ago, I needed to buy a new printer, my old Epson WF was having problems, seems like it was always needing ink cartridges, so I looked around extensively at printers, I read about Laser jets and eventually got an HP model from Best buy. It was a great buy, around $150. and the toner cartridge it comes with is good for about 2000 pages.
The quality of print is very good too, looks nothing like the garbage Inkjet printers put out.
I was a bit concerned at first that I may not print enough to warrant a Laser jet, but as I read more, I found that really doesnt apply, the toner uses what is basically ink dust, so even if you only print 10 pages per week, you can turn the printer off when not using and nothing will go bad or deteriorate from 'not enough use'
The only catch is (if you want to call it that), Laser jet for home use is really only practical in B&W, there are color Laser jets, but they are pretty expensive for the home user, although if someone wants color, a laser jet color printer may still be worth the cost, it just depends on what you want.
The cheapest Laser jet I saw was a Canon B&W for $88.
You would quickly make up the difference in ink costs alone. Inkjet printers are better at printing photos on photo paper but for everything else, a laser wins.
PS. Amazon has some pretty good prices on generic toners.
Same with me. I quit messing with those inkjets 6 years ago. Got a HP laserjet 1018. Yeah its black and white only but like you mention quality is better. If I would ever need color just go to a copy shop and pay for copies.
Cartridge easy to change and cheap. And is very reliable.
I have several laser printers in my house, and only 1 inkjet. Once I started going to color laser it was no turning back.
What helped was in having great pictures taken on my iPhone which meant a different way of consuming them (i.e. texting to share as opposed to printing and viewing). No more big use case for ink.
You get what you pay for with both inkjet and laser printers. Each have their pros and cons. A modern inkjet can be faster and cheaper thank a laserjet -- especially for color prints. Pricing changes a bit if you are using remanufactured cartridges or refilling yourself.
For most people, a cheap laser printer will do since they don't need speed and can get away with black and white.
I think I got my first color laser back in '95 or '96. It was a used Lexmark taken from an office and refurbed. That thing was a monster. Next was an OKI N-500, which used a gloss toner that was great for making flyers and point of sale material that had impact. The latest is a Brother Laser multifunction unit. I went around to all the various places that sold printers and had test pages printed. Brother came out best, with HP a good second place. Epson and Canon just didn't make the grade. Colors were off and cost seemed high.
A big difference between laser and ink jet is that toner is generally a pigment, whereas ink is a dye. Inkjet prints will fade, and depending on the dyes used can look funky in some artificial lighting conditions. I also have a Brother ink jet multifunction printer. I get the carts from LD Products (I get toner from them as well). A trick on the Brother carts is there is a little window at the back of the cart that tells the printer if the ink is low. Take the cart that you haven't used much, shake it to coat the window and re-insert. It'll ask if you changed the cart, and you go "Why yes I did, thank you for asking!"
I used to spec the Brother basic laser printer for the reporting function of my program. Customers were almost universally pleased. I've got one of those around as well, but it is in a snit right now and about to get tossed if it doesn't start behaving.
I must have a laser printer that is 10 or 15 years old. It still prints but finding cartages could be a problem so I bought several in case the cartages ever go obsolete. A cartage can probably last me several years.
Not long ago, I needed to buy a new printer, my old Epson WF was having problems, seems like it was always needing ink cartridges, so I looked around extensively at printers, I read about Laser jets and eventually got an HP model from Best buy. It was a great buy, around $150. and the toner cartridge it comes with is good for about 2000 pages.
The quality of print is very good too, looks nothing like the garbage Inkjet printers put out.
I was a bit concerned at first that I may not print enough to warrant a Laser jet, but as I read more, I found that really doesnt apply, the toner uses what is basically ink dust, so even if you only print 10 pages per week, you can turn the printer off when not using and nothing will go bad or deteriorate from 'not enough use'
The only catch is (if you want to call it that), Laser jet for home use is really only practical in B&W, there are color Laser jets, but they are pretty expensive for the home user, although if someone wants color, a laser jet color printer may still be worth the cost, it just depends on what you want.
The cheapest Laser jet I saw was a Canon B&W for $88.
So very happy to have found your post. I have a H/P, 4620, injet, that I am still trying to learn how to operate it. The laser one sounds great to me.....thank you for your post.....
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sasie123
