4. Laser Printers

Laser printers are used in many workplaces because they are quiet, they print a large number of sheets very quickly and they produce high quality documents. Also the cost-per-page of the inks are lower than other types of printer.

They print in the same way as photocopiers. Powdered ink, called 'Toner', is fused onto paper by heat and pressure.

You can purchase a laser printer which prints black and white copies only or you can pick a colour laser printer.

Black and white versions are relatively cheap to purchase and you only need to buy black toner (which is also expensive).

Colour laser printers offer good quality for work such as flyers or other commercial material.

Advantages

• High quality printouts - better than ink-jet or dot-matrix
• Fast printouts - faster than ink-jet or dot-matrix
• Prints very quietly - quieter than ink-jet or dot-matrix
• Cost per page is low - cheaper than ink-jet or dot-matrix

Disadvantages

• Most expensive printer type to buy, especially colour lasers
• Toner is more expensive than ink-jet cartridges
• Expensive to repair - lots of complex equipment inside
• Fairly bulky - larger than ink-jet printers
• Can't use continuous or multi-part stationary to create carbon copies like you can with a dot-matrix printer