Have you ever wondered what being organized was like? If you have, maybe it’s time to start thinking about getting your Christmas cards together. Better yet why not design the Christmas card itself with a printer. If you do, friends and family will be amazed and you’ll have more money for a wonderful Christmas dinner.
What to look for in a printer
To get started you need to decide whether you want to design your card with the help of the computer or by yourself. There are many card software packages that come with your computer. Fortunately, if you have the right printer its many features can get you around the need for a dedicated card software package and a computer. What you’ll need for a printer could include a scanner for importing pictures; a color option would be nice with good dots per inch (dpi) for quality images, good through put if your list is long (check for paper tray capacity), % increase/decrease for sizing and a bunch of patients to get it just right. You’ll also need premium photo papers.
What’s available?
Printers have gone through their evolution over the past many years. Combining your design ability with what has evolved will get your card done. If you need a printer for your Christmas card design project look too any manufacturer and they will have a manufacturer that offers what you need.
The Hp OfficeJet 5610 is a good place to start and you do not necessarily need a computer to use it. It has excellent reduction/enlargement functions, a scanner, fax, good through put and a 25 page paper tray. The color dpi is a bit low but ask to see a copy for your thoughts. This printer is a great dollar value.
Perhaps you would like to go in the other direction for increased quality of print and two sided print options. For a bit more money a laser printer may be for you. The Brother DCP 8025DN is a laser with great quality and the ability to turn out color and mono chrome images at 30 pages per minute. It also can reduce/enlarge from 40% to 400%.
The Epson Stylus C120 may be an option right in the middle for this type of project. Priced under $100.00 its fast, has a great color quality and reduces/enlarges. There is no scanner but there are other options to getting your family picture into the computer.
Using the right printer for the right job is the key to effective print management.
These two different types of printers achieve the same thing.They both print, but they go about it in a very different manner.There are major differences in the engines that drive them and the work they are required to do.
Laser printers are designed to be used in a heavy work load environment.The cost per print is much less expensive compared to Inkjet models.Laser printers use a dry mono-component toner cartridge and a laser that shoots the image onto a drum inside the toner cartridge.
Inkjet printers are designed for a different work load.They are designed more for a work station such as an individual’s desk or for low volume type work.The toner or ink is quite expensive.Most are slow, so using them in a high volume application would drive a person crazy waiting for a hundred page report.Let me say something about the cost of Inkjet cartridges.I read an article that said that Inkjet cartridges are more expensive per weight than imported Russian Caviar.Inkjets use a liquid ink that is sprayed onto the paper.They all have a scanner rail that goes back and forth, carrying the Ink cartridges distributing the ink.
I read a post that several people commented on.They said that Hewlett Packard has really gone down hill lately with the quality of their printers.They were commenting on the HP LaserJet 4, a very popular laser printer of the past.It is about ten to years old, but it is a very dependable printer.I still use one in my office!
They were comparing it to several new HP Inkjet Printers.These are completely different machines for completely different applications.If you want to compare this machine to another HP product use the HP laser jet 4250.You really can’t compare these either.The memory, speed and options are made for the latest printing applications.Remember that the HP LJ- 4 was built around 386 computers. By the way, my HP LJ-4 works great with XP.
The price of Inkjet printers is driven by consumers that want something cheap.You get what you pay for.It is the market that creates cheap Inkjet printers.They do work well, but if they break they are not designed to repair.They are known as disposable printers.Not all Inkjet printers are disposable printers.The Inkjet is really progressing and will continue to fill more of the market place.Speed has been an issue but now they have designed some that keep up with the speed of laser printers.HP color Inkjets also make terrific color prints.Even a person with a limited budget can make great presentations, photos and flyers.
When you purchase a printer, you should always consider the type of application that it will be used for.Don’t buy an Inkjet when you’re going to be printing hundreds of reports.Don’t buy a laser printer if you print two or three jobs a day.If you look at cost per print and monthly volume you can’t go wrong.Hewlett Packard printers are some of the best you can buy, but you need to use them in the proper application.
Epson printers have proven to be among the best inkjet printers in the world in terms of performance and economy. That being said, there are also crucial maintenance requirements to remember when using your printer.
Epson printing technology is unique, so it is helpful to understand some of the basic mechanics of the ink delivery system.
The print head built into the carriage. The carriage holds the ink cartridges and moves laterally across the paper when printing. The print head contains thousands of tiny nozzles that actually squirt the ink onto paper. The print head is the ink “control center” for the printer.
By far, the biggest issue with Epson printers is there tendency for their print heads to become clogged with ink. Since the nozzles are (depending on the model) a fraction of the size of a human hair, it is easy to see how clogging can become an issue.
I. Signs that your printer may be clogged
Full cartridge but no ink coming out on printed paper
Broken or white horizontal lines
Print becomes faint, then disappears completely on within first page but the cartridge is not empty.
Printed material comes out in one or two colors only
The first and best way to keep your Epson printer in good condition and free from clogs is to print regularly. The more you print the less problems you will have.
Printing regularly keeps the ink in the print head moving and fresh; preventing the ink from drying. Printing at least a page a week of black text and a page containing all three colors (cyan, magenta and yellow) is good for maintaining top printing performance.
The second defense against clogs is to make sure that you power down your printer using its’ power button instead of the off switch on a power strip. This is especially important if you do not print at least once a week. Turning your printer off with your power strip prevents the printers’ built in shut down process from sealing the print head.
If the print head is not sealed, the ink will slowly dry and harden in the print head. Eventually, the ink will dry and turn to the consistency of maple syrup or even putty. When this happens, the print head will partially or completely clog.
The next preventative tip is to remember to always keep a cartridge installed in the printer.
If you run out of ink, and take the empty cartridge with you to your local office supply store, make sure you replace it promptly. The ink will dry wherever exposed to the air, including in the ink-receptacle area where you just removed the cartridge from the carriage.
Try not to take a cartridge out of the carriage unless you are replacing it within a couple minutes.
If you have received this article a day late and found that you have a clog, don’t despair, there is hope.
Start with the easiest solution, try running a cleaning cycle using your printer utilities program. A few cleaning cycles (or cartridge priming cycle) will usually clear any air bubbles from a cartridge change or a small clog from the nozzles.
Select the utility tab (it might also be named “Maintenance”) and there you’ll find the head cleaning tool and nozzle check. Run the head cleaning cycle, then a nozzle check after to see the progress. Repeat these two steps 1- 4 times as until clear.
There is said to be a small chance of damaging the print head if multiple cleanings are performed consecutively without a nozzle check, so make sure to remember to do both
If no success there are still a couple of things you can try.
Option # 1. You can try using ammonia (or Windex is ok also) with a cotton swab. Basically, you’ll need to first remove the cartridge of the color that’s giving you problems. Put some ammonia in the top of the printhead (the carriage part in the printer) and let it sit overnight. Also put a little more ammonia in the printhead-resting seat. (The rubber part that seals off the printhead unit when in it’s resting position.)
You will also take an ammonia dampened cotton swab and try gently wiping off the bottom part of the printhead (the end closest to the paper)
You can also take an old, inkjet cartridge and drill a hole in it, clean it out with the ammonia, fill it back up with ammonia and seal the hole. Put the improvised cleaning back in place and then run a few cleaning cycles or a long print routine. Then replace with regular cartridge to see if any progress has been made. Be warned that this could get messy, so have paper towels nearby.
The final option to fix a stubborn clog is to use a specific cleaner called “Print Head Clog Buster” which is made specifically for this purpose.
It’s a 1 ounce bottle of cleanser that also comes with a plastic tube syringe for shooting cleaner directly through the printhead ports (works much better than a q-tip). It also comes with detailed instructions on how to use it. This is specially formulated, and works very well for stubborn clogs.
Hopefully this information will keep your Epson printing for years to come.
Remember… Print weekly, and enjoy your printer for years to come.
To get a perspective of the best printers in the market, recently PC Mag conducted the Reader’s Choice: Printer’s Survey. After all, who better than the consumer to review which printers are the best! In the Reader’s Choice survey more than 6500 printers, including color ink jets to mono lasers were analyzed.
Service levels being the new driver
According to the Reader’s Survey, the top two in the list are Canon and HP respectively. While HP has always remained the favorite, Canon has moved ahead of it this year. Product features are no longer the sole yardstick of competitive edge. The new ‘mantra’ of success is the service levels and maintenance required. That’s why overall, parts needing repair have declined from 11% to 8% over a one year span! Among printers less than a year old, the ones which stood their ground were Konica Minolta and Samsung. These printers did not need much repair as far as their units were concerned.
Service levels have not been up to readers’ expectations although the basic technical support is fine by them.
Printer type scores
As far as home printers go, Samsung seems to be the top on the list. Another interesting observation is that HP, which used to be the strong favorite, isn’t anywhere among the top 2 in the photo printers category. In fact, Epson and Canon take the top 2 slots. HP does seem to do well in the monochrome lasers category, with a good margin. Brother and Samsung lag behind HP in this segment. Konica and Lexmark are next in line.
Ink jets: The most popular ones
Ink jets, being the most widely-used printers that they are, deserve special mention. That’s why the Reader’s Choice survey chose to pick the top 6 favorites in this segment:
1. Canon: Canon tops the list in this category. With more than average ratings, multifunction ink jets, as well as photo printers, Canon has distinguished itself well. Another interesting aspect – less than 3% of Canon printers needed repair on average and their technical support is much superior than others. Even Canon’s ink is top quality with affordable rates. Canon ink cartridges cost has a score of 4.9 out of 10, with an overall rating of 5.7.
2. HP: The overall score for HP is better than average. However their technical support still remains unpopular, in spite of their Instant support utility which maps dysfunctional printers to the call centers for instant action. The root of the problem lies in HP’s support providers. HP ink is costlier and also the 3rd party ink of HP printers. Even their photopaper is costly!
3. Brother’s: The quality of ink is not as good although cost of ink does not pose a major problem with consumers. Their mono lasers require minimal maintenance and have scored well. However Brother’s ink and photos overall get a poor score.
4. Epson: Their first-year printers have received very good scores– an 8.2 rating. However since 2005, there’s been a sharp rise in repairs needed – almost 6% of the new printers needed repair – a disturbing trend for Epson.
5. Dell: While Dell as a brand commands respect and trust, when it comes to printers, it doesn’t seem to get the same level of trust. Even their web based support is below satisfactory levels.
6. Lexmark: The only saving grace for Lexmark would probably be its repair rating – a good score of 6%. Apart from this, all other aspects score poor – be it reliability, recommendation from consumers or even technical support.
It’s very easy to get blinded by science when one looks at the technological innovations of the last half a century. We now take for granted the use of many everyday things such as mobile phones, photocopiers, computers and of course printers. Whilst all these modern gadgets are invaluable an amazing number of people (including the author) don’t really understand them fully.
You can read the ‘manual’ of many electronic marvels and be none the wiser in many cases as they are usually written by scientists for other scientists, or so it seems to we ordinary mortals. The younger generation have a distinct advantage in many cases, often due to the fact that they were not even born when, for instance, mobile phones took over a large percentage of the telecommunications market from the landline, affordable printers took over from carbon paper and computers became a way of life for many. My six year old daughter knows more about how to use a mobile telephone than my parents, who still haven’t a clue after 8 years of ownership. Text’s and SMS?
Many ‘manuals’ supposedly there to enable a new user to operate whatever machine it is effectively miss out the fundamentals. If, for instance you are new to printers you are unlikely to be able to understand some of the `instructions’ because they use words you have never come across before. Frustrating for the proud possessor of a new camera, computer, printer or whatever. What is toner and why do I need it? is an often asked question for new users of printers (and photocopiers), and the ‘presumption of some specialist knowledge’ is often experienced when looking at the ‘manual’.
Epson Toner in a nutshell, is, alongside ink, one of the things you need to put into many printers to make them work properly. Think of the ink being like petrol or gas in a car with the toner being the oil necessary to make the car work without seizing. Without gas or oil a car will not work. Without toner and ink a printer will not work. OK, but what does toner do?
Toner is a powder used by laser printers to create an image on the paper. In the ‘old days’ this was a carbon powder, but with the improvement in technologies now includes a polymer. The type of polymer (or additive) varies with the manufacturer, which is why it is important to get the right type for the right printer. The toner particles (they seem just like a fine dust) are melted onto the paper by the printer and this binds the toner to the paper. Yes it is a bit like up-market carbon paper in the way it works but with ‘space age technology’.
Epson toner has been especially developed to suite the machines in which they are used and to give the very best quality to the finished product when printing. Other manufacturers use slightly different techniques for their own machines so use different types of toner to suite their own products, in the same way that Epson uses very different (scientifically) techniques from other manufacturers for its inkjet printers.
So when your printer does run out of toner, which of course depends upon how much you use it, don’t worry. You can easily find the right Epson toner in one of your local outlets, or, naturally, on the internet.
It’s actually very easy to buy the right Epson toner for your own machine. Just match your printer’s number to the recommended Epson toners available and that’s the one you
One of the constant questions we get asked here at Stinky ink towers is ‘I’m thinking of buying a new printer, what do you recommend?’ I believe
that we can give an honest opinion on this as we don’t sell printers – just the consumables, and we have loads of printers here to feed! These are
all personal opinions and in no way are intended to denigrate or damage any body’s reputation.
This is not an easy question to answer because there are so many options out there, so before we can start to answer your question we need to
ask you some questions.
What will you use the printer for, is it:
Purely for home use, kids homework etc. For printing high quality photos For small office use – mainly documents, but with some requirement for colour For office or business use – high speed documents
1. For home use
Needs to be easy to use and low cost to run, so that you can afford to print off those school projects and loads of web page information without
having to take out a second mortgage. DO NOT BUY HP, Lexmark or Dell. These manufacturers all use an ink cartridge with a built in print head,
but also use a method which puts three different colours all in one cartridge – when one color is run out the cartridge is finished. Epson, Canon
and Brother all use a technology where the print head is built into the printer, so as you finish one color you just replace that ink tank – a much
cheaper option immediately. These days, I would recommend looking for a Multi-Function device, that is a printer that is also a scanner, copier
and printer all in one. Basically one machine will print documents from your PC, but will also allow you to scan documents back into the PC again
and Photo Copy documents whenever you need them. All of the major manufacturers offer these types of machines so costs are very competitive,
the thing you need to know is the cost of owning and using them.
When you start looking at the cost of ink cartridges the immediate thing that jumps out is the price differential between original and compatible or
refilled cartridges. For home use the compatible/refilled cartridges are more than adequate for purpose. Compatible cartridges are
manufactured by third party manufacturers and are generally significantly cheaper than the Manufacturers original cartridges.
So, we need a Multi-Function printer, made by Epson, Canon or Brother and we now get down to personal preference. For ease of use and ease
availability of competitively priced ink cartridges, I personally recommend Brother products – my daughter at University has one and is delighted
with the results.
This also fulfills the requirements for No 3 – Small office/Home office use; one device in a small footprint which will fulfill three requirements – once
again Brother wins out in my opinion.
So I have covered options 1 and 3 above, next number 2 photo printing;
There are two different types of photo printers, Canon ,Samsung and Kodak produce 4 x 6? photo printers, which use a ribbon technique called
dye sublimation printing. These produce a very high quality print which is equivalent to or better than that produced by traditional silver halide
photo processing in shops etc, the drawback is that you are limited to the sizes that you can print and it can also be expensive.
Your other option is an inkjet printer. To be able to print high quality photos you must have at least six colours available, and some of the top end
printers now use up to 10 different colour cartridges. Using these inks and good quality inkjet photo paper, the output you can achieve is
breathtaking and in many cases better than traditional methods of outputting photos. Which one to choose is a really difficult question and
probably revolves more around your personal preferences and the thickness of your wallet than anything else. My own personal preference is for
the new Canon Pixma printers, results achieved with their new Chromalife 100 inks are stunning, the inks are guaranteed for up to 100 years
(with some caveats!) and they are using semiconductor manufacturing technology for the print heads which enables the printers to produce
superb output every time.
Finally number 4, office use.
With the advent of Colour Laser printers for under £200 there is no argument – go for a colour laser. These days they are small footprint, usually
networkable and the toner used is a Chemical toner which will give outstanding results. They will print faster than an inkjet printer, the cost per
page is less than an inkjet printer and they are much more robust than an inkjet printer. We also offer compatible toner cartridges for a large
range of laser toners, so the running costs are significantly reduced. The biggest issue we found using these printers here at Stinkyink Towers
was they were a bit fussy about the quality of the paper we were putting through them. We can’t get away with the very cheapest 80gsm copier
paper, but still use an 80gsm laserjet paper which goes through all of our machines very happily and causes us no problems at all. If you can
afford it look at the Multi-Function machines, again up to 4 applications in one small(ish) footprint. We have an HP MFP(Multi Function Printer)
which includes a fax, Network printer, scanner and copier all in one machine and is reasonable to run
In summary then, for home/small office use get hold of a Brother Multi Function inkjet printer, cheap and easy to use and run. For High Quality
Photo Printing you won’t go far wrong with one of the new Canon Pixma Photo printers and finally for Office use a colour laser or MFP device
Buying a printer can be a complicated business, there are more shapes, sizes and types of printers available to the home and small business user than ever before. Printers have also become specialised for their intended purpose.
It is no longer a case of “a printer is a printer”. Printers are now designed to be good in a particular area rather than a “Jack-of-all trades”, which will do everything.
An often overlooked issue, is the very serious consideration of cost of ownership, which is all about of how much it will cost to keep your printer running (see below). So making that decision on which printer to go for can be a seriously arduous task, especially if you are keen to buy a printer that is not only affordable to buy but also cheap to run.
So here is the information that you need to know and consider, but no one tells you! We have not expanded on which printer is the best at any given time because models constantly change and you can find that information in any current glossy PC magazine off the shelf. Instead, here you will find the good, bad and ugly bits from the different types of printers available so you can make an informed decision yourself. Inkjet Technology
Inkjet printers form images by spraying tiny droplets of liquid ink onto paper. The size and precision of the dots of ink and the type and quality of the ink itself govern how good the print quality is. A quality inkjet printer can produce very near photo-quality images using specialist photo coated paper. In general there are two types of inkjet printers, those with the printhead built into the printer like Epson, Brother etc and those where the printhead is actually on the ink cartridge like HP and Lexmark. There are many arguments for and against both technologies, but in our experience we have found both to be very good, the major difference seems to be that the cost of running a printer using the “printhead” type ink cartridge is usually higher. Inkjet ink is specially formulated for specific printer models and their purpose, much technology is involved in the development of these inks to improve print quality, longevity, drying speeds and printing speeds etc. Most inkjet ink is produced using dye based ink which can flow easily through the tiny nozzles of the printhead, this type of ink is good for photos and colour shades but not so good for longevity or solid vibrant colour, think of it like a water colour painting. In recent years pigment ink technology has advanced considerably to enable use in inkjet printing. Previously ink pigments were too large and would block up the nozzles. This type of ink is good for solid colours and longevity, think of it like an oil painting.
Manufacturers like Epson, HP and Jet Tec are now increasingly using a fusion of dye based and pigmented inks to create superb quality photo printing with vibrant colours and longevity too. Inkjet printers use anything between two and eight ink cartridges to do their job. Generally speaking the entry-level machines use two cartridges, good all round machines use four and specialist photo printers use six or more. The two cartridge system works fine though can be a bit wasteful on the colour ink, so go for a four-cartridge system where possible especially if you do colour printing. The six or more cartridge systems produce outstanding photos, but can be costly and a pain to keep changing cartridges (printer does not work if any one cartridge is empty).
Inkjet printers are the best solution for most people and are usually the most cost effective way to print – unless you are printing large volumes.
Portable Inkjet Printers These printers are small, lightweight and ideal for people on the move. Although the printing of high quality photographs is usually beyond this type of printer, basic colour printing is of good quality and the quality of text print is mostly outstanding considering the size of these tiny portable A4 printers. These printers are not suitable for high volume printing.
Inkjet Printers The Inkjet Printer is the most commonly used type of printer among home and small business users. With excellent all round printing capabilities, from black & white text print and good colour prints through to very hi-resolution, high quality photographs using Inkjet Photo Printers. Inkjet printers are available from cheap entry level to high-end business use machines and can print from photo size prints to massive A2 and bigger sizes, there are models for occasional use and others for high volume print jobs too. One of the many great things about Inkjet printers is that you can use a wide variety of media to print on, including standard paper, photo paper, card, t-shirt transfers, canvas, projector film etc, achieving different looks and textures for your prints and print for different purposes. Most Inkjet printers are USB connections and not suitable for networks, although models are also available for networks and with parallel connections.
Multi-Function Inkjet Printers Multi-Function Inkjet Printers have been built to meet the needs of home offices and small businesses. These excellent value machines provide multiple solutions in one compact and easy to use machine i.e. printing, scanning, copying and some also have built in fax machines too. Not only are these machines great for saving space on your desk, but they are also very good for printing too using the same technology as standard inkjet printers. The only thing you should be aware of is that you can only use one function at a time and if anything goes wrong with an “All-in-one” machine, you may lose the all the functions at once!
Laser Printers
Laser printers work in a similar way to photocopiers, except they use a laser instead of a bright light to scan with. They work by creating an electrostatic image of the page onto a charged photoreceptor, which in turn attracts toner in the shape of an electrostatic charge. Toner is the material used to make the image (as ink is in an inkjet printer) and is a very fine powder, so laser printers use toner cartridges instead of ink cartridges. Laser Printers have traditionally been the best printing solution for heavy office users as they produce a very high quality black text finish and offer relatively low running costs. However, laser printers have advanced a great deal recently and their prices have steadily dropped, as a result there are now compact laser printers, multi-function and colour laser printers all at very affordable prices. Laser printers make sense if you need to do a lot of high quality black or colour prints, not photos. The great thing about a colour laser printer is that they can print a very good quality colour image on standard copier paper, so you do not need to use expensive photo paper for large jobs. Do check the prices of the consumables before you buy the printer as these can be very expensive for colour laser printers.
Laser printers are the best solution for people who are printing in large volumes, that is, in 100′s of pages at a time or 1000′s of pages per month. Colour lasers also take quite a while to warm up, so are not ideal for printing single pages.
Solid Ink Printers
Solid ink printers use solid wax ink sticks in a “phase-change” process, they work by liquefying wax ink sticks into reservoirs and then squirting the ink onto a transfer drum from where it is cold-fused onto the paper in a single pass. Solid ink printers are marketed almost exclusively by Tektronix / Xerox and are aimed at larger businesses and high volume colour printing. Solid ink printers used to be cheaper to purchase than similarly specified colour lasers and fairly economical to run owing to a low component usage, today it is not necessarily any cheaper than a colour laser printer. Output quality is good but generally not as good as the best colour lasers for text and graphics or the best inkjets for photographs. Print speeds are not as fast as most colour lasers. Dye-Sublimation Printers
Dye-Sublimation printers use heat and solid colour dyes to produce lab-quality photographic images. Dye-Sub printers contain a roll of transparent film made up of page-sized panels of colour, with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black dye embedded in the film. Print head heating elements vaporize the inks, which adhere to a specially coated paper, as the ink cools it re-solidifies on the paper. Colour intensity is controlled by precise variations in temperature.
Dye-sublimation printers lay down color in continuous tones one color at a time instead of dots of ink like an inkjet, because the colour is absorbed into the paper rather than sitting on the surface, the output is more photo-realistic, more durable and less vulnerable to fading than other ink technologies.
The downside of Dye-Sub printers is that they are generally more expensive to buy and run, usually limited to photo sized prints only and can only print onto one type of specialised paper as well as being quite slow to print.
Dye-Sublimation printers are best for those who want to link up their digital camera to a purpose built printer and print out the finest quality photos at home without fuss.
Dot Matrix Printers
Dot matrix printers are relatively old fashioned technology today with poor quality print, slow and very noisy output. This type of printer is no longer used unless you wish to create invoices using the continuous paper with holes on both sides. The good thing is that they are very cheap to run!
Cost of Ownership
Many printers today are very cheap to buy, but people are sometimes shocked to discover the cost of replacing the consumables (ink or laser cartridges, imaging drums, fuser, oils, specialist papers etc). The cost of replacing the ink can sometimes cost more than the printer itself! This is one of the most commonly overlooked factors when printers are reviewed and yet one of the most important things to consider before handing over your hard earned cash. Tests run in 2003 by Which? magazine famously compared the cost of HP’s ink with vintage 1985 Dom Perignon.
A Sheffield City Council report aimed at helping schools decide on the best-value printers to buy, calculated total cost of ownership over the lifetime of a printer (not sure how long that is!). Adding up all the running costs, ink or toner, paper, maintenance and even electricity, SCC worked out that a colour inkjet costs approx 38p per page to run compared to a colour laser which costs approx 7p per page. Sheffield City Council advised its schools that if they printed more than three colour pages a day (assuming a 40-week academic year) they should buy a laser.
These figures cannot be taken hard and fast due to the many variables involved, but it is generally accepted that the cost per print of a laser printer is cheaper than that of an inkjet, which is in turn cheaper than that of a sub-dye printer. However, you would have to do a fair amount of colour printing to take advantage of the economy offered by a laser printer.
Summary
When buying a printer, firstly carefully consider its use, is it mostly general printing or for photographs, is it for occasional use or high volumes, will it be a stand alone device or connected to a network? Then using the guideline information above you will be able to decide on which type of printer is most suitable for you at the time.
