What does a printer serve? Choosing a printer, which is better, laser or inkjet? Which color printer, laser or inkjet, which is better?

Good day, my dear subscribers and new readers! Today I want to talk to you about a very important and relevant topic for our time. Digital technologies have become so firmly entrenched in our lives that even in everyday life we ​​can’t imagine ourselves without them.

And today, just as we cannot live without an iron, microwave or vacuum cleaner in the house, it is difficult for us to imagine our life without a printer. And in this article I will tell you how to choose the right printer for home use so that it serves you well and for a long time.

Why do you need a printer at home?

This is exactly the question everyone reading this article must be asking themselves right now. After all, if you need to print out any document, you can contact a special office, of which there are many today in large and small cities. Such office equipment is necessary only for offices or offices where they work with documentation. And, indeed, we can agree with this: it seems that the average person does not often need printing services.

But in fact, a person needs this service much more often than he thinks. So, we need a printer at home for printouts:

  • photos
  • coloring books, puzzles, puzzles and others educational materials for children
  • various recipes for housewives
  • any useful information
  • electronic checks, tickets
  • work information if you work from home
  • documents needed at school, hospital, traffic police or at work

As you can see, the range of uses of this type of office equipment at home is quite wide.

I think those who have not yet purchased such equipment are seriously thinking about buying it.

But, in order not to make a mistake and choose a good machine, think about the purposes for which you need it, what format of documents you will print, how often you will print.

Is it worth spending money on something that will just take up space in your home and collect dust?

Overview of types of printers for home use

Manifold various types office equipment and equipment in stores can be confusing common man who does not understand these issues. I think there is no need to explain that managers in service centers are aimed, first of all, at pushing away the product, and the one that is more expensive.

And for home use you don't need expensive equipment, with some exceptions, of course. Here are examples of types of printers that are quite suitable for home use:

  • Inkjet – suitable for printing small text documents and photos high quality;
  • Laser – capable of printing text and graphic files;
  • An MFP is a multifunctional device designed for printing, as well as copying and scanning; MFPs are most often used in offices.

After we have listed all the types of printers, let's check detailed review each of them, so that each of you determines for yourself which model is right for you. And, of course, you have the right to know not only about the advantages of these printers, but also the disadvantages that they have.

  • Jet

The advantages of an inkjet printer include its low cost and the highest print quality. Photos printed on it sometimes turn out better than professional ones.

The disadvantage of this model is that the ink in the cartridges does not last long, only 200 sheets. Inkjet cartridges are replaceable, and refilling them is expensive. In addition, the paint in them dries quickly if the equipment is not used, so I would recommend printing at least two sheets a week so that the device does not stand idle.

You don’t need any special skills to refill cartridges; you can do it yourself with a syringe. So, if you have the opportunity to buy paint somewhere cheaper, for example, through friends, then a device such as an inkjet will suit you.

  • Laser

This printer comes in black and white and color. There are many advantages to this type of technology. It has a high printing speed; the cartridge is refilled not with ink, but with powder, which prevents it from drying out.

One refill is enough to print up to 2000 A4 sheets.

The cartridge is refilled in specialized workshops, but if you get used to it, you can do it yourself at home.

Both refilling from a specialist and buying a can of powder are inexpensive.

In addition, if the need arises to change the cartridge, its cost is acceptable. The only drawback of these printers is their high cost. But, since equipment maintenance is cheap, the technology justifies itself.

Here, of course we'll talk about technology on a completely different level.

By the way, interesting fact: when MFPs first appeared on the market, they were popularly called “harvesters.”

The main advantage of an MFP is its versatility; it can print, make copies and scan. Most often, MFPs are used in offices due to the variety of functions and wide capabilities. The disadvantage of MFPs is their high cost. If you don't use it to its full potential, then you don't need it.

Choosing a printer for your home

How to choose the right printing equipment for your home? What points should you pay attention to when choosing? Firstly, of course, the cost of the device.

Remember that quality will never be cheap. This always happens. Have you ever bought cheap shoes? How long did it last you? Cheap sneakers fall apart after the first rain. It’s the same with a printer: it’s better not to waste money, but the device will serve you for many years without repair.

Purchase equipment in specialized stores where it is provided warranty service. Please note the manufacturer. The following brands, which are among the top 5 companies, have proven themselves positively in the office equipment market:

  • Xerox
  • Hewlett-Packard (HP)
  • Canon
  • Epson
  • Samsung

Let's take a closer look at each of these brands.

Xerox

For many years, this company has occupied a leading position in the world market. All inventions and innovations in the field laser technology belong to this company. The brand focuses on users who use wide possibilities printing equipment. MFP.

Interesting fact: Many people even express themselves this way when they want to say copy :) please make a photocopy of this document :)

Xerox are distinguished by high quality and speed of printing, ease of maintenance, and affordability. There is also ColorQube technology (printing without a cartridge).

Hewlett-Packard (HP)

IN 1975 That brand released the first LaserJet laser models, which, of course, we still use in an improved form.

Without exaggeration, Hewlett-Packard (HP) can be called a giant in the office equipment market. The brand’s assortment constantly includes more than 150 models of printing equipment: from powerful MFPs to simple lasers and inkjet printers.

Canon

In 1988, this company released a model "Canon BJC-440", marking the beginning of color printing.

The company is known for the variety of equipment it produces: Canon produces cameras, video cameras, copying machines, as well as medical equipment.

Epson

It was this company that released the first inkjet model in 1964 and continues to develop inkjet and laser printing technologies to this day.

The Japanese manufacturer produces printers with continuous ink supply technology. That is, the problem that the ink is printed unevenly on the sheet will never affect you - the ink level is adjusted itself in accordance with the settings.

Samsung

The Korean company successfully adapts the best practices of global manufacturers, introducing latest technologies. The equipment produced by this company is designed for the average person, that is, for ordinary people with average income.

Therefore the cost is inexpensive. But I would like to say the quality is at a high level.

Which model to choose for home use

When choosing a printer specifically for your home, pay attention to the tasks it will perform. For example, if you only want to print photos, then an inkjet photo printer is perfect for this purpose. If you are in large volume will print it out text files, then buy a laser one. An MFP with all its capabilities is suitable for working at home or studying.

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Which printer is better, laser or inkjet? Many people ask this question. How to figure out what type of printing device you need?

First of all, you need to determine what you need the printer for. There aren't many options:

For home printing (printing documents, books, magazines, newspapers);
- for office work;
- for photo printing;
- for educational purposes (printing of abstracts, coursework, tests, laboratories, etc.)

Having decided on the main printing tasks, we have already done half the work. Now let's choose which device in the best possible way will meet our expectations. To do this it is necessary to determine difference between a laser printer and an inkjet printer.

Inkjet printing


MFPs, inkjet printers and plotters are widely used in design agencies, photo studios and when creating large-format advertising products . They are also necessary in enterprises that develop CAD and GIS projects. They can print high-quality computer graphics and colorful photographs.

Inkjet devices are also suitable for home use.

Inkjet technology successfully implements high quality and resolution of color printing up to 9600x2400 (dpi), and this is the key to excellent image detail.

With devices of this type, you don’t have to worry too much about where to place the printing device. When comparing desktop models, equipment based on string technology is much more compact and does not take up much space on the desktop.


In terms of price, ink jets are definitely a winner. As a rule, inkjet MFPs and printers are an order of magnitude cheaper than laser devices.

The cost of an inkjet device directly depends on the number of colors it contains. IN modern models The four primary colors most often used are Magenta, Cyan, Yellow and Key Color. This set is quite sufficient for printing documents.

There are six-, nine-, and twelve-color printers for printing photographs. With their help you can get maximum quality color rendition. Liquid ink mixes well with each other. This provides smooth transitions shades and accurate color reproduction.


The main disadvantage of inkjet printing technology is high cost consumables and comparatively low speed print. If the device is idle for a long time, the ink may dry out in the print head, which entails serious repairs.

From all of the above we will make list of advantages and disadvantages inkjet printing devices.

Advantages jetnikov:
- high resolution printing;
- reasonable price;
- excellent photo printing;
- small size.

Flaws inkjet printer:
- high cost of consumables;
- the risk of the print head drying out quickly when not in use.

Laser printing

Color laser or inkjet printer: what's the difference? Let's take a closer look laser printing.

Laser printing technology is widely applicable to text printout. You can use this type of printer both at home and in the office. The excellent quality/speed ratio makes laser devices indispensable in large and medium-sized workgroups.

Prints made using a laser are clear and resistant to light and water. Print speed laser devices an order of magnitude higher than that of jet fighters. In addition, laser multifunctional devices and the printers are quieter than inkjet printers.


IN laser technology printing is used powder toner. Therefore, the cartridges do not dry out. Thanks to this, the device can easily endure periods of downtime.

Laser photographers don't take very good photographs. Color toner mixes quite poorly, which does not allow you to get bright and saturated photos. At the same time, the color laser costs twice as much than a machine for monochrome prints.

The main disadvantages of this technology are increased energy consumption, high cost of the device and cartridges for it, and ozone generation. Lasers are quite large in size.

Let's highlight main pros and cons laser devices.

Advantages:
- high speed printing;
- resistance of prints to light and water;
- silent printing.

Flaws laser printers and MFPs:
- increased energy consumption;
- high cost;
- large dimensions;
- ozone generation during printing.

Inkjet and laser printers: comparison

We have combined all the criteria for evaluating a printing device into one table.

For comparison we used three types of printing devices: inkjet, laser and inkjet + CISS. We assigned each technology the corresponding ratings on a 3-point scale.

CriterionInkjet devicesLaser devicesInkjet devices with CISS
Print text 2 3 2
Photo printing 3 2 3
Print speed 2 3 2
Device price 3 1 3
Printing cost 2 3 3
Cartridge volume 1 3 3
Weight and dimensions 3 2 3
Noise 2 3 2
Resistance of consumables to downtime 1 3 2
Energy consumption 3 1 3
Print durability 3 3 2
Health safety 3 0 3
Bottom line 28 27 31

Obviously, the most profitable purchase will be an inkjet printing device with CISS. Laser printers They are clearly lagging behind when it comes to prices and photo printing. But if you only need to print monochrome text documents in very high quality, then a laser printer is what you need.

Are you looking for a printing device that can print both photos and text in good quality and at the same time be accessible? price category? Struynik is best choice for you.

When it comes to color rendering, inkjet printing devices have no equal. True, the cost of consumables in this case is very high. But there is a way out. Easily compensates for the problem of high cost of consumables continuous ink supply system. With an inkjet printer you can print both text documents and photographs.

This question is also asked by managers of small offices when choosing office equipment for printing documentation. Today, manufacturers have so saturated the market printing devices It can be very difficult to decide which is better for printing documents - an inkjet or a laser printer; to do this, you first need to study all the advantages and disadvantages of different models.

Many users do not know the differences between these products. To quickly sort out all the ambiguities, we suggest you carefully read this article, where you will find answers to numerous questions.

Before choosing a device for printing documents, you need to understand their operating principle:

  1. A laser device is based on transferring content from cartridges to a sheet of paper. First, a magnetized roller applies toner to the main drum, and then the design is transferred to paper, where it firmly adheres to the surface when exposed to instantaneous heating in a special device. The whole process happens quite quickly.
  2. The inkjet analogue works on special ink that gets to the right place through capillary nozzles, creating text or a complex image. The printing speed is noticeably lower, but the quality is much higher.

When comparing, it is necessary to take into account all indicators, and not just the positive and negative qualities inherent in each type. For example, the laser version is characterized by the following advantages:

  • easy to use;
  • quite high printing speed;
  • Duplex printing possible;
  • long operation;
  • low printing cost.

His opponent has his advantages:

  • fairly low sound impact on others;
  • high quality color printing;
  • low power consumption;
  • budget price of the product.

As a result: the choice of device remains purely individual, because for the office you need a fast and inexpensive to maintain option, such as a laser, and in a home environment, an inkjet, and even with CISS, will be a much higher priority.

Features, pros and cons of each

On a laser device, the surface of the drum is charged with a plus sign, and the coloring powder spills out of the cartridge during rotation, focusing on the plus points - as a result, the desired pattern is created. Then a quick, specific treatment fixes it to paper.

Advantages:

  • low cost per printed page;
  • high speed of drawing;
  • you can print voluminous text materials;
  • not afraid of increased loads;
  • no need to refill cartridges frequently;
  • prints are resistant to moisture;
  • Prints on any paper without loss of quality.

Negative qualities:

  • very high cost;
  • high energy consumption;
  • Cartridges cannot be refilled at home;
  • Toner is very harmful to health, you need to ventilate the room after printing.

The inkjet counterpart uses an ink head instead of needles, like a matrix printer, and the image is created using a set of dots.

Advantages:

  • low price compared to the laser option;
  • low consumption electrical energy- more than 10 times;
  • all models are equipped with a card reader that allows printing directly from the camera, without a PC, and some models can receive images via Wi-Fi;
  • excellent color printing quality;
  • supports various digital media;
  • ink is not harmful to health;
  • wide range of models;
  • compact sizes.
  • high cost of printing each page;
  • frequent replacement of cartridges during intensive use;
  • it is necessary to use the device frequently, otherwise the ink will dry out;
  • quite high sensitivity to print settings and the quality of paper used;
  • slow speed;
  • If exposed to moisture, the printed material will be damaged.

Based on the data provided, each user decides for himself which office equipment to buy for his needs.


Which one is more effective for black and white printing?

Printers come in various modifications, so choose best option for the home is a rather complicated matter; it is even more difficult to buy such a device for the office, where quality, speed, and most importantly, print clarity play a paramount role. The requirements for office equipment are improving and increasing every year.

Experts assure that laser analogues have a fairly high resolution, unique contrast and high brightness. To test these judgments, you need to print a document with different fonts in the text, for example, the main one is 12, and the small one is size six. The inkjet version will merge small text together, and the laser version, which belongs to electrographic technologies, will print all the text clearly, preserving all the smallest details.

Laser printing technology is based on xerography technology, which was founded in the late 30s of the last century. The main emphasis was placed on the individual properties of the photosensitive material. Go into technical nuances we will not, because there are too many specific terms that will not be clear to all readers.

The laser ensures ultra-high-speed movement of the carriage, and the resulting text is highly accurate and has a fairly high resolution, so you can print graphics and small explanatory text simultaneously on the page. An individual PostScript programming language has been specially developed for laser devices.

The language for describing pages (Postscript) is recognized by operational Windows systems and Linux, but American company Hewlett-Packard (HP) has created its own separate development language for managing PCL printers, which gives you more options for printing unique texts. Therefore, devices from HP are different best quality and reliability among a galaxy of laser products.

Color printing - what products are needed for it

Here, inkjet printing devices with CISS are undoubtedly the leaders; laser analogues in price and photo printing are far behind. If you are looking for a printer to print color photographs, simple text, so that the price is low, then you should choose the inkjet option, because in matters of color reproduction it has no equal.

To really save on very expensive ink, install CISS, after which you can safely print any documents and color photos. The Epson XP-420 MFP is suitable for working at home with text documents, and the multifunctional XP-620 model is ideal for photo prints.

For office work suitable MFP Epson WorkForce WF-7610 or WF-7110 with a maximum print format of A3+. For professional photographers, the Epson 1500W, Stylus Photo R2000 or R3000 models are needed.

Which MFP is better - color or laser?

Experts in this complex field of activity give the following recommendations:

  1. If you have a small office, then you should purchase the Ricoh SP 3600SF model; it also scans documents well.
  2. The Ricoh MP 305+SP is a little worse at digitizing documents; it is a fairly advanced laser printer, but it cannot print color copies.
  3. If you need a laser unit for black and white printing at home, then the Brother DCP-L2520DWR is what schoolchildren, students, and those who work on the Internet remotely need.
  4. To place an MFP-class color product in a large office, you will need the OKI MC853dn model - it uses LED-type printing.
  5. Color OKI printer MC342dnw with a Wi-Fi text reception system would be suitable for installation in a small office.
  6. HP Color Laser Jet Pro MFP The M177fw is suitable for home and small office work, but it is not recommended to heavily load it.

Each manager or user makes their own decision, we only suggest considering best models for different uses.

How to make a choice

The basic selection criteria are the same, no matter which type of printer you like best:

  1. Choose a product proven over years of use trademark, which has long proven itself on the international market only on the positive side.
  2. Carefully read the manufacturer’s warranties, and also find your city in the list of service centers so as not to travel far away if the equipment fails during the warranty period.
  3. Find out the cost of spare parts and consumables so that it is not burdensome for your financial capabilities.
  4. Manufacturers indicate on the packaging maximum quantity impressions within a month, so it’s quite easy to navigate when purchasing, for example, if you need about 6 thousand pages per month, then purchase a device with a maximum of up to 7 thousand to create the necessary supply.
  5. Functionality. You should buy a device only with those functions that you will use regularly, so as not to overpay for unnecessary options.
  6. Service. There is no need to constantly spend money on refilling cartridges or purchasing them; buy models where you can change them yourself or install CISS right away.

No one can answer your question for sure which printer is better - laser or inkjet: it depends only on personal preferences and the characteristics of the product.

Conclusions

If you want to choose an excellent printer, then first decide what you need it for printing: if only black and white options, then feel free to take the laser option, and for color photographs - only an inkjet unit with high print quality.

As can be seen from the above points, the choice of copying equipment depends on the needs of its potential buyer. It is worth noting that a laser black and white printer is also a good option for the home, but only if the user is not interested in printing a variety of images.

2. Which color printer, laser or inkjet, which is better?

Color laser copiers do an excellent job with text documents and regular images; printing is faster than with inkjet counterparts, which will definitely satisfy the needs of most people. office organizations. Inkjet printers are a very good option for those who like to print high-quality photographs, given their more low cost, we can conclude that such a device will be excellent and useful view office equipment in its owner's home.

Traditionally, inkjet printers are considered classic version for everyday use at home, however, during their use, you should not forget about periodically replacing color cartridges. Regarding monochrome text printing, this type of copier demonstrates decent results in brightness and quality. The user of an inkjet printer must understand that although the device itself is not as expensive as its laser counterpart, replaceable ink cartridges quickly compensate starting price equipment. To the disadvantages inkjet printers They also include their need to print on high quality paper. Otherwise, the printer may become clogged, which will lead to inevitable problems.

Printing on a laser printer does not require constant replacement of cartridges; the toner of such a device requires long term service without additional charge. Laser printers can produce equally high-quality printing on quite a variety of types of paper media. A significant disadvantage of such copying equipment, especially the color version, is the price. The initial cost will require serious investments, but in the future long-term operation, the costs will cover themselves.

Analyzing the specific needs of customers, the following conclusions can be drawn:

  • An inkjet printer is great for printing photos.
  • In case of rather rare printing needs small volumes text documents, you can purchase an inkjet printer.
  • When the user needs to print large number text, it is wiser to choose a laser printer.
  • If the buyer is interested in saving in the future and is willing to invest a larger amount initially, it is worth purchasing a laser printer.