Choosing a home printer: inkjet, laser or ink tank?
The cheapest printer is rarely the cheapest to own. How to pick the right type for how much — and what — you print.
Printers are easy to buy and easy to regret. The price on the box matters less than what each page costs over the printer's life.
Inkjet (cartridge)
- Cheap to buy, good for colour and photos
- Cartridges can be expensive per page
- Ink can dry out if you print rarely
Best for: occasional printing, especially photos.
Ink tank
Refillable tanks filled from bottles instead of cartridges.
- Higher purchase price
- Very low cost per page, bottles last a long time
- Good colour quality
Best for: families and students who print regularly, including colour.
Laser
Uses toner powder rather than liquid ink.
- Fast, sharp text, reliable even after weeks unused
- Toner lasts a long time; black-and-white laser printers are very economical
- Colour lasers cost more and are less suited to photos
Best for: documents, forms and home offices.
Features worth having
- Duplex (double-sided) printing to save paper
- Wi-Fi and mobile printing from phones
- A scanner/copier if you handle paperwork
- An automatic document feeder for multi-page scans
Check before buying
Look up the price of replacement ink or toner and its page yield. That tells you the true cost of ownership far better than the printer's price.
The bottom line
Rarely print? A basic inkjet or mono laser. Print a lot of colour? An ink tank. Mostly documents? A mono laser will serve you for years.