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Which Are Better, Laser Printers or Inkjet Printers?

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This is one of the most frequent questions to come my way, especially from small accounting practices where every technology dollar counts.

My previous answer made for a very short article: For many years I have advised accountants to only use laser printers. Before providing what my answer is today, here's why I used to recommend the laser alternative.

The Argument for Laser Printers

Why did I recommend laser printers? Longevity.

Laser-printed documents have a much longer shelf life generally than inkjet-printed documents. This is because a Laser literally burns the toner into the ink fibers. Inkjet printers "spray" the ink onto the paper. Over time, based on conditions such as humidity and other physical conditions, the sprayed ink will dissipate (begin to disappear.)

This conclusion assumes that same grade and quality of paper is used for both types of printers.

The Question of Paper

Of course, not all papers are created equal. For documents that are to be maintained for long periods of time, archival-quality paper should be used. In practice, this means a paper that meets the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard for permanent paper.

Among other things, this standard requires the paper to have a pH of 7.5 or above and a calcium carbonate content of over 2% calcium carbonate. Many papers on the market today meet the standard. A toner with a stable pigment, such as carbon black, should be used, and the printer should be regularly maintained and serviced.

With this said, as accounting professionals, we will most likely go to Office Depot or Staples and we buy the cheapest box of paper we can find! This seems fine to us, as paper looks like paper and we do not know enough to discern a difference, and so we tend to buy on price.

In the long run, buying the least expensive paper may not be the best idea for accounting professionals. However, buying the most expensive may be overkill as well.

ColorLok

Hewlett Packard and other printer manufacturers are recommending paper using newer ColorLok technology.

For more information on ColorLok paper, go to www.colorlok.com, and look for the ColorLok logo when buying paper. From my research on quality and pricing, the bottom line is that the ColorLok technology produces quality printed documents at roughly the same cost of other paper.

The Growing Inkjet Advantage

But we still haven't fully answered the question yet. I believe that the market is moving toward Inkjet printers in general, and this tips my current answer to the question much closer to inkjet technology.

As inkjet printers improve, we may in fact move away from laser printers altogether.

Why? Inkjets are much cheaper, in most cases faster, and the print cartridges are generally less expensive.

(Personal Example: When I have to replace toner cartridges in my HP Color Laser 2605, I have to shell out as much as $375 at one time, or around $90 per color. When I replace cartridges in my HP OfficeJet L7500, it cost less than $70 total. If I, like a lot of you, am looking at immediate out-of-pocket costs, this is a big deal.)

Ink on Paper

The important difference for accountants is the longevity of the ink on the paper.

Toner vs. Ink. As we mentioned above, laser printers use toner, much as a copy machine does - mostly because a laser printer uses the same basic print engine as a copier. However, inkjet printers may use a variety of inks, and that is where having a little more knowledge is a good thing.

Quick Primer on Inkjet Inks

The quality and longevity of inkjet inks varies widely.

• Basic Dye Inks. Most Inkjet printers ship with these basic dye Inks. While colorful, these fade rapidly and documents have a shorter shelf life.
• Pigmented Inks. Up one level from basic dye inks, pigmented inks are bright and have a slightly longer shelf life on printed documents. These are fine for most of the documents that accounting professionals print. However, they are not preferred for printing pictures or graphic documents as the ink often mottles (smears) and does not absorb into glossy papers well.
• Pigment Inks. This category sounds the same as pigmented inks but there is a difference. Pigment inks are the newest archival ink and are made from 100% pigment; hence the name pigment ink, rather than pigmented. Pigment inks may not be as bright and colorful as dye inks - but they are best for black ink printing, they last longer, and therefore are best for accountants.

Only One Printer?

If you can afford only one printer, and you want to use it for both documents with text (tax returns and financial statements) and pictures, then a quality Inkjet printer using pigment inks are good bets. The HP OfficeJet Pro models, the L7500 or 8500 series, which use separate cartridges for color making it easier to replace the colors you use the most often, are good examples.

When I am replacing ink for a printer with separate color cartridges, I can save by buying only the cartridges I need.

HP claims that when using HP OfficeJet ink cartridges, you can print professional grade color documents for up to 50% less cost per page and energy use than color laser printers. These printers also support the types of inks described above, so make sure you do spend a few dollars more for high-quality ink - or be prepared to explain to the IRS why the tax return has disappeared.

Single Purpose vs. All-in-One: Documents vs. Photos

Many of the manufacturers have what they consider are office grade devices. Many are all-in-one, which means they include scanning, faxing, and multiple network options, such as wired or wireless (be sure to read the options list,) as well as a photo quality grade line.

Can an accounting professional use a photo grade printer for printing Profit and Loss statements, as well as a picture of Aunt Susie?

Absolutely, but follow the suggestions above about quality of inks and paper.

Two Kinds of Black. Also, if you are planning to use the printer for personal, as well as business use, you might consider one of the new models that utilize both matte black and photo black as well as color cartridges. These printers, such as the HP Photosmart Pro B9180, are a good example. These printers give you two black cartridge options, one for documents and one for photo grade black printing. This is much more cost effective, as the photo black ink is more costly than the matte black ink for documents.

Bottom Line

Shop wisely today and purchasing a quality all-in-one or personal inkjet printer may produce as good quality documents as you need at a much lower cost than laser printers.

To further reduce the cost of inks, and wear and tear on the printer, use the right paper. Using slightly better paper will give a better appearing document on a much lower resolution setting and provide a longer archival life to the documents you print.

Buying inkjet printers with two black cartridges, one for black and white document printing and another glossy black ink for photos also saves you big dollars over the life of the printer.

For More Printing Tips

We've added more tips from Dr. Bob in the Accountant Forum in Intuit Community. Check out his additional advice here.

Dr. Bob Spencer is an internationally recognized writer, lecturer and consultant. You may e-mail him drbob@tsif.com, or visit him at Twenty Seconds In the Future.

Last Updated: 07/10/2009