Why are laser printers expensive?

[ShawnD1]

Seriously, why are laser printers so expensive? If you compare an ink printer to a laser printer by straight numbers, it doesn't make any sense.
An Epson C82 costs about $70 but a cheap laser (any brand) costs like $200?
-the C82 prints faster
-the C82 prints in higher resolution
-the C82 prints in color


There must be something I'm missing here. Does anybody here actually own a laser printer and have some valid reason of why they are expensive or better than normal ink printers?

[VHockey86]

The entire process in which they apply color to paper is different. Laser printers if im not mistaken more or less heat up tonor on certain locations as the page passes through... ink jet printers simply apply ink onto a page with the cartridge on millions of little points

[ShawnD1]

Ok well aside form the nice warm paper feel against my face, is there any other reason to get a laser printer?

[VHockey86]

Its alot faster...

[Renesis]

Cleaner print... Toner costs less than ink.

I am certianly not giving up my commercial HP LaserJet for a inkjet anytime soon. Typically a laser printer offers better print control and print speed than ink printers.

Most laser printers also feature intelligent processors to offload various printing tasks from software to hardware, plus many models have the ability to be directly interfaced to networks.

I recommend stopping by OfficeMax (or similar) to check out a decent quality Laser printer ($400+) from HP, Canon, etc.

You will find the construction quality alone to be well worth the difference, plus make sure to print a few tests pages on both laser and inkjet printers at the same dpi. The laser printer will definitely win out for text, and if combined with a decent color match system, it should excel past most ink printers in all areas except perhaps photography-based printing.

Robert Richmond

[ShawnD1]

Ok, right on. Thanks for the info.

[Tomteriffic]

I think you'd find that, assuming you use the printer a fair amount, that the TCO (total cost of ownership) over about 18 months is about the same.

Fact is, the cost to manufacture really isn't that different. Some, but not a lot. It's primarily due to the fact that the manufacturers figure a laser printer is more likely to get used in an office situation and they have to build it to stand up to heavier use, or lose their shorts on warranty work.

But an inkjet goes through far more by way of consumables, namely ink. There's a lot more competition for inkjet printers in the marketplace, and so the printer guys have resorted to the strategy of practically giving away the printer and then killing you on the ink cartridges, which are almost pure profit.

Sure, the refill guys are always around, but the printer manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to thwart them, by making it difficult or impossible to use anything but their own high-priced spread.

By the same token, in that year and a half, you may still be using the original toner cartridge from the laser printer, and a "remanufactured" one for a lot of the popular models doesn't cost much more than the arm and a leg ink cartidges for an inkjet, and gets about 10 to 20 times as many pages.

Now, print this 500 times for future reference

[Pat2641]

I think it is just because of the construction. Ink jet use small piezo electric crysalls and literally a current is applied to contract the crystal and the ink is squirted onto the page. Laser is a whole different kettle of fish and much more complicated. see below
How laser printers work . They are less likely to give poor quality due to dirt, dust etc. and print much faster. Good for a libraary or large office but if you just want to write the odd letter, print some stuff of the internet etc the get a cheap epsom. I got the C42 UX for £30.

[ShawnD1]

I can't print it 500 times. My C82 guzzles ink more than you can imagine (it takes a lot of ink to get 5760 x 1440).