Choosing and computer and printer for your family's needs is an important decision. Cost, quality, life and other factors come together to determine which style and brand of printer and printer accessories is right for your particular situation. One of these such considerations is whether to choose an inkjet printer or a laser printer.

How Printer Ink Cartridges Work

Printer ink, used by inkjet printers, functions much like writing with a pen. Each ink cartridge has a hole through which the ink is distributed. This ink is pressed into the paper with pressure from the printer. This pressure causes the ink to adhere to the paper.

How Printer Toner Cartridges Work

Toner cartridges do not use ink. These cartridges, used by laser printers, are filled with a carbon-based powder. As the powder is distributed in the specified shapes the laser within the printer activates it, effectively "burning" the powder into the paper and developing its color.

The Benefits of Ink

For some families, an inkjet printer is the most appropriate choice for a home computer and printer.

• Inkjet printers are available at a much lower cost than laser printers.
• The ink cartridges used with inkjet printers are also much less expensive than toner cartridges. The cost to produce a document is approximately 5 to 10 cents per page, which is ideal for a family or small business.
• Inkjet printers create high quality documents with images and text. The colors and black are crisp and well-differentiated.
• Ink cartridges are easily replaceable and the printers themselves are very easy to use.
• There are many generic ink cartridges available that further reduce the cost of printing needs.

The Benefits of Toner

For others, particularly large families or businesses, a laser printer is a more applicable choice.

• Laser printers function at a high rate of speed and can produce a large number of document pages quickly and efficiently.
• Text and images printed with toner are dry and will not run.
• Text and images printed with a laser printer are very crisp and clear.
• A toner cartridge is very large. One cartridge will run an average of 5,000 document pages.
• There are some generic versions of toner cartridges which lowers your printing costs.

The Disadvantages of Ink

With any decision there are downsides that should be considered.

• Documents printed with ink come out wet and are prone to running and smearing. This can be disastrous if you aren't careful when taking pages out of the printer.
• Inkjet printers do not work as quickly as laser printers, making them a less efficient choice for a business environment.
• The noise level with inkjets is higher than with laser printers.

The Disadvantages of Toner

Laser printers are not appropriate for every situation, either.

• Laser printers and the printing accessories used with them are higher in price than inkjet counterparts.
• Laser printers are not as easy to use, and the cartridges are larger and more difficult to change.
• The particles associated with toner are not as well distributed with large images or text, meaning that these documents may appear blurred or pixelated.

Choosing the right printer and cartridge type is different for each family or business. If you expect to run a large number of documents with efficiency being a high priority, a laser printer may be more appropriate for you. If, however, your printer will be used for small or moderate projects and you do not need exceptionally fast production, the lower cost and user-friendliness of an inkjet may be more appealing.