It’s no secret that inkjet printer manufacturers adopted the razor blade business model by selling very cheap printers knowing they would make a lot more money through the ongoing purchase of ink. Have questions about Apple's AirTags? Here are some helpful answers Cartridge vs. If precision color is important, stick to an inkjet. Laser printers use halftone dots to represent various colors in most cases. If you want to print a lot of high-resolution images, the color blending technology in an inkjet printer allows them to be more precise, resulting in better-printed images. Text on a laser printer tends to be sharper, and the cost per page can be drastically cheaper. If you primarily use the printer to generate text-based documents, a laser printer that only uses black toner can save you money upfront and over the long haul as you’ll only ever replace one cartridge.Ĭolor printers will generally require you to replace at least 4 different cartridges at varying intervals. When it comes to choosing the right printer, understanding what you are most likely to print on a regular basis is helpful. In general, the cheapest electronic gadget in any given category tends not to be the best overall value, because it’s manufactured with cheaper parts and less sophistication in order to keep the price low. With printers, there’s the additional factor of the long-term cost of ink or toner. QUESTION: I need to replace my old inkjet printer and can’t figure out if a laser or inkjet makes more sense for me. I don’t really print much, so the cheaper the better.ĪNSWER: As with most technology decisions, your personal needs will determine what is the best choice.