February 28, 2012

Buy a color laser printer?

QUESTION

Hi Kim. I'm looking for a laser printer/copier for heavy home use. My wife likes to make cards and needs a color printer for that. Should we buy a color laser printer or keep our inkjet as a second printer? What are your thoughts? Thanks for your help and time.
-David of Greencastle, PA, listens to my national radio show on WEEO 103.7 FM.

ANSWER

Excellent question, David. The answer depends on how your wife plans to use your printer.

If she's making photo greeting cards and postcards on premium paper stock, you should definitely keep that inkjet printer. Even the best color laser printers struggle to print convincing photos, and you don't want your photos to look sloppy.

If you want to avoid the clutter of two printers in your home office, she could farm out her projects to an online printing service, such as Shutterfly. You'll have great-quality prints without the hassle and cost of maintaining a second printer.

For non-photo color graphics on standard paper, a color laser printer works fine. However, the unit will cost you more than double what a black-and-white, or monochrome, model will cost.

Another downside to color lasers is that they're large and heavy. That's because they need four toner cartridges. If you have to buy four times the amount of ink or toner, you can be sure you won't necessarily save money over the standard inkjet printer.

From your description, you're better off buying a monochrome laser printer and keeping your current inkjet as the color backup. But how do you choose the laser printer?

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