Most people, who look for a printer for home or office, often deal with confusion between two types of printers – ink tank printer and laser printer.
Sometimes we do the wrong choices because we do not have an accurate idea about the features of these two types of printers.
In this article, we are going to resolve all the confusions people meet with while choosing between a laser and an ink tank printer. Let’s go through the article carefully!
Ink Tank Printer vs Laser Printer Detailed Comparison
What Is An Ink Tank Printer?
Most people do not have accurate knowledge of ink tank printers. They often think that an ink tank is just a synonym for an ink cartridge. But it is a misconception.
Ink tank printers are those printers that do not contain any inbuilt print head. Rather they contain individual ink tanks consisting of different colours of ink bottles. These ink bottles directly supply ink during the process of printing.
Ink tank printers are cheap. So you can easily afford one. These printers are absolutely great for long run use as they are able to deliver high-quality prints as well as high page yield. Also, ink tank printers have less risk of drying up of ink in case you do not print for some days.
What Is A Laser Printer?
Laser printers are printing machines that use toner powder for printing. They melt toner powder onto a paper. They make use of a beam of light for printing which is called Laser Technology and through some acts of this beam of light and toner powder, an image on the paper is created.
Though laser printers use expensive toner cartridges, they are able to reduce cost per print and deliver outputs with very high speed. Laser printers can print the whole page at once and This is why these printers are also called Page Printers.
Difference Between Ink Tank Printers And Laser Printers
- Though laser printers are able to deliver prints with professional quality, the graphics you will get may not be sharp as you expect. These printers can provide resolution only up to 300 dpi.
On the other hand, ink tank printers are able to deliver each print with a very high print resolution of up to 2400 dpi. They can provide vibrant colours and sharp texts.
- Laser printers can print documents with high efficiency. But when it comes to print a photo, these printers become quite inefficient.
On the other hand, ink tank printers are capable to print documents as well as photographs. Some high-quality ink tank printers are also able to print borderless photos up to 4R. Moreover, these printers can efficiently print flyers and posters which are important for small businesses.
- The printing technology for an ink tank printer and a laser printer is also different. Ink tank printers do not use inbuilt print head as we have already mentioned. They have different ink bottles which supply different colours of ink through an airtight tube to the printer. Thus, images are created on a paper.
On the other hand, a laser printer completely depends on toner for printing. This toner is kind of a powder that is transferred to the paper when an electrostatic charge is generated by the laser. Then images are created on the paper and finally, it is heated to make the print permanent.
- The laser printers available in the market are mostly monochrome laser printers though colour laser printers are also available. But a colour laser printer is more costly than a monochrome laser printer.
Ink tank printers are always colour printers. These printers contain 4 ink bottles of different colours of ink. The colours are – black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. In spite of being colour printers, ink tank printers come at a very affordable price.
- Laser printers use dry toner. So the printed outputs you will get from a laser printer need no time to be dried up.
On the other hand, ink tank printers use ink that is wet. So there might be a risk for the printed papers to get smeared if they do not get time to be dried up.
- The size of an ink tank printer is smaller while compared to that of a laser printer. It is because ink tank printers have integrated ink tanks that make them compact. So these printers are suitable for small spaces.
On the other hand, laser printers are quite larger than ink tank printers. So you need a spacious area to place a laser printer.
Ink Tank Printer vs Laser Printer– Which One is Better
We hope, by the end of this article, you have understood the differences between ink tank printers and laser printers. Both kinds of printers have some advantages and disadvantages as we have seen through the article.
If you want to choose anyone between an ink tank printer and a laser printer, it will completely depend on your printing demands. After reading this article, if you come across any confusion, do drop it in the comment box below.
Prabir Mandal is the editor-in-chief of Printer Guru. He is in love with productivity devices, especially printers. His love for printers has made him open this blog where he can share all his knowledge about printers and the experiences he has gathered while using them.
