Ink vs. Toner

There's a lot of talk about laser printers and inkjet printers in our industry, and though I think most people IN the industry know the differences and pro's and con's, there are probably a lot of everyday consumers who don't.

Traditionally (meaning since the beginning of the boom in "personal computers" and word processing), most people used inkjet printers in their homes and offices. Many people still do. I remember finding a perfectly good printer at K-Mart for 50 or 60 bucks in my freshman year of college. Of course I bought it, figuring there's no way I'd find a better deal. Little did I know I was just a pawn in Lexmark's marketing strategy.

Perhaps Jeremy Shulman, vice president of Reink Technology in Tempe, Az., which makes re-manufactured ink cartridges under the Vibrantink brand name, put it best: "The general rule of thumb is that the cheaper the printer, the more expensive the disposable costs for refills and so on." (Full article)

Maybe you've had the same problem. You buy a cheap printer and then find out it costs more money to refill the ink cartridges than it did to buy the printer (and ironically, the printer came with ink cartridges when you bought it).

In this sense, laser printing is much cheaper. Rather than using traditional ink, laser printers use toner. Toner is a dry powder composed of carbon and polymers that, when heated, bind with the paper, essentially acting like ink. What's the catch? It's much faster and cheaper than ink and generally matches or beats the quality. The laser printers cost quite a bit more than inkjets. But your overall cost is much, much less.

For more information on the relationship between ink and toner, check out this article.


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