What is the Difference between Inkjet and Laser Printers? What is the Difference between Ink and Toner?

Planning to buy a printer? You may have asked yourself the questions above.

The difference between inkjet and laser printers is its printing mechanism. Another difference is the content of their cartridges -ink and toner. The difference between ink and toner is that ink is liquid form while toner is polyester powder and pigments.

Laser Printers

Laser printers melt and fuse toner powder into paper to form print. 

Another difference between inkjet and laser printers are printer speed and page yield.

Laser printers have a faster printing speed and its toner cartridges have a higher page yield. These make laser printers suited for printing large volumes of text and images (that don't need photo quality).

Laser printers have an average lifespan of 5 years.

You may have heard the term "laserjet printer" which raises the question what is the difference between inkjet and laserjet printers. Laserjet printers refers to HP laser printers.

In short, the difference between inkjet and laserjet printers is that a laserjet printer is an HP brand. 

Inkjet Printers

An inkjet printer sprays ink through microscopic nozzles to form prints. Due to the liquidity of ink, it gives better photo quality with vivid colors and softer gradients.

Their ink cartridges have lower page yields, making them more expensive than toner cartridges in the long run. While office inkjet printers are used for better professional prints, there are also inkjet models that are designed to be photo printers. 

Inkjet printers have an average life span of 4 years.

The term "deskjet printers" is also popular. The difference between inkjet and deskjet printers is that deskjet printers are simply HP inkjet printers.

In short, the only difference between inkjet and deskjet is also a brand.

There are also ink tank printers. These are inkjet printers with higher supplies of ink. By buying ink by bulk, it gives greater cost efficiency than buying cartridge after cartridge.

Looking for cheap ink cartridges? Feel free to check our brand printer pages for remanufactured HP toner and ink, Epson ink and toner, Brother ink and toner, Canon ink and toner, Lexmark ink and toner or other cheap printer ink cartridges and search for your printer model through the list provided.