To choose the right printer, you have to think honestly about what you'll print and how frequently you'll print it. The type of printing determines the quality you need. How often you print dictates how fast the printer must be and how much you're prepared to spend on each job.

If you print a lot of text, such as letters and other business documents, a laser printer is likely your best bet. They're fast and produce good-looking documents at only a few cents per page.

For office documents containing color charts and other graphics, consider a color laser printer. Color laser prices have dropped so much in recent years as to become affordable for even the smallest office. They often produce black-and-white pages at a cost per page similar to monochrome lasers. And they print color photos that are adequate for plain-paper documents that mix text and pictures, such as newsletters and marketing brochures.
You'll get top photo quality from an inkjet printer. The choice becomes more complicated if you print a mix of photos and text documents. If you're a home user who prints digital camera photos, text documents for your own use (such as driving directions or product recommendations from a Web site), and maybe a few letters a month, an inkjet printer offers a good compromise between quality and speed and asks for less maintenance and printer support. You'll need a variety of papers, and you'll have to learn your way around the printer's driver settings. You can reduce how often you swap paper types by purchasing a model with two separate paper trays.

In the past, almost all inkjets offered the same features: one paper tray for 100 or 150 sheets and ten envelopes, minimal buffer memory, and no networking option. These days, however, vendors are increasingly adding a variety of features--such as larger displays or touch screens, Bluetooth wireless or Wi-Fi, and increased paper management options--to differentiate their products. Makers of business-oriented inkjets are also offering higher capacities, optional paper trays, ethernet network connectivity, and more memory.
Laser printers generally have more features and options than inkjets do. Monochrome lasers hold from 150 to 900 sheets, with corporate models frequently holding around 500 sheets as standard; color lasers hold from about 200 to 1250 sheets. You can also add trays that hold as much as 5000 sheets.

Most high-end lasers include at least 64MB of RAM, with expansion options permitting a few hundred megabytes of memory for queuing multiple print jobs at once (for a busy office, equip your laser with at least 64MB to 128MB of memory); some offer optional hard drives that you can use to save complex forms and other preprocessed images or to store passwords for confidential print jobs, and they all have standard or optional ethernet adapters. Some more-recent lasers also have features such as the ability to print directly from a USB flash drive.

Laser printers are likely the best printers that you regularly use.  They are also complicated and often misunderstood by end users when problems begin to arise.  Follow these simple tips and you will eliminate many problems and reduce frustration levels...

1.  It's probably the toner cartridge.  If you are having problems with print quality, replace the toner cartridge.  Many times, this is the cause of streaks, light spots, ghosting, and other problems.

 
2.  Don't blow canned air inside a dirty printer!  Loose toner can find its way onto laser lenses causing worse problems.

 
3.  Use quality supplies.  This includes Maintenance Kits, Paper, and Toner Cartridges.  Third party products and "refurbs" often fail faster than manufacturers original parts.

 
4.  Be careful printing on anything other than normal paper.  Envelopes, labels, or transparencies can instantly ruin a fuser by melting and contaminating the fuser roller.

 
5.  Check your connections.  A loose printer cable can present confusing symptoms.  Some printers (like HPs) will display a printer error, leading you to believe the problem is in the printer!

-And ALWAYS unplug a laser printer while working with it.  There are high voltage wires and very hot surfaces inside that can cause injury. 

Long an essential tool for businesses, laser printers are becoming more and more popular with home users because of their speed, accuracy and precision. Laser printers are increasingly affordable, too. If you're contemplating buying a laser printer, here are the answers to the common questions about the all-important subject of laser toner cartridges.

How Long Do Laser Toner Cartridges Last?

Laser printer toner cartridge life is measured in terms of yield. This measurement has two numbers, the first is the number of pages that can be printed with that cartridge. The second is a percentage which refers to the ratio of the page that is printed on. For example, a yield of "35000 pages, 5%", indicates that the cartridge will print 3500 average quality pages with text that covers five percent of each page.

One good thing about laser printers is that not using the machine doesn't result in reduced cartridge life. This is because laser toner is powder. So unlike the liquid ink in inkjet cartridges, it doesn't dry up if unused for a long time.

What Are My Options For Replacement Cartridges?

Your first option is to get what are called OEM cartridges. These are made by the printer manufacturer and tend to be very expensive. This is because the printers themselves are sold as loss leaders. So the manufacturers need to make up their profit on the sale of replacement toner cartridges. With your laser printer having a life of around five years, you'll probably spend up to seven times the cost of the unit on replacement OEM cartridges.

An alternative is to get what are called "compatible cartridges". These are new toner cartridges but manufactured by a third party. As they are made to the specification of the manufacturer, the quality is generally very high, especially with the application of ISO 9001 in recent years. However, they are much cheaper. The price of these compatible cartridges are usually less than half that the OEM item. These are your best option.

You can also find what are called remanufactured cartridges. These are different from compatible cartridges in that they are used OEM cartridges that have been refilled. Good remanufactured cartridges consist of more than simply filling a used cartridge with ink or toner, though. Reputable manufacturers also clean and quality check the cartridges, too.

One good thing about remanufactured laser toner cartridges is that they're environmentally-friendly. Just think, UK users alone throw away over two million printer cartridges each year. In fact, many organizations now pay you for returning used laser cartridges.

Where's The Best Place To Buy Replacement Cartridges?

You have a number of options here. Your high street discount chain will have a wide selection but prices tend to be very high. Likewise for the office supply chains. Then there's ordering from an online supplier which offers many benefits. For one thing, as these online dealers don't have the expense of maintaining a shop or showroom, they can offer you very attractive prices.
(Better still, they're not caught in the loss leader trap so they don't need to mark up their prices so much). What's more, reputable suppliers will have online catalogues so you can browse conveniently and order from the comfort of your home. Plus, delivery is very fast. Orders are usually shipped within 48 hours.

But not all online suppliers are created equal so there are a number of caveats. Firstly, you should be wary of companies that offer their laser toner cartridges at well below market prices. Check, too, to make sure that the supplier guarantees that their compatible cartridges match the life and print quality of the OEM items.

Laser printing is becoming increasingly popular and by judicious shopping you can make it very affordable. By shopping online for your laser toner cartridges, you can get the fastest, quality printing done at prices that don't break the bank.