What's The Difference Between Ink Jet And Laser Printers?

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There are two basic types of printers out there on the market; ink jet printers and laser printers. Both have the capability of printing out clear and very nice black and white documents as well as color images but there are some very specific differences that make an ink jet a better choice over a laser jet and vice versa, depending on your needs.

Ink Jet Printers

You may be surprised to learn that ink jet technology was actually conceived back in the late to middle 1800's and was used for medical printing purposes. This technology creates a reproduction of a digital image as the printer deposits tiny drops of ink onto the paper in a specific pattern. The ink passes through an electrically charged plate and it is that technology that causes it to appear on the page in a seamless manner.

Ink jet printing, because of the heavier use of ink truly shines when it comes to printing color pictures on photographic paper. Because they are so very vibrant, ink jet printers tend to go through ink faster than other printers due to their high ink usage. This makes them ideal for photograph printing but not nearly as ...
... effective for office use.

Laser Printers

These printers are very common and are designed to rapidly print out a lot of documents in a short period of time. Laser printers are the printers you see in large offices, government offices and other places where a lot of black and white documentation needs to be printed. While they are capable of printing images in great quality, they are not designed to be a photograph printing printer.

The ink in a laser printer is not liquid ink but a type of powder that reacts when hit with a laser on a coated drum. The drum deposits the charged ink onto the page through heat and pressure actually bonding the ink to the paper as opposed to printing on top of the page. The text or image that appears has bonded and become part of the paper. These also come with the options to copy other documents, scan and, sometimes even fax directly from the machine.

When you are looking for a printer you need to take into account how you will be using it and how much you will be using it. If you plan on needing to print pictures as well as a lot of documents, you may want to invest in both types of printers. If you want to consolidate features into one device, look for an All-in-One model.

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