Most of us have refrained from buying printers, fearing the high cost but as it turns out, they are affordable. You can easily setup a laser, inkjet or an ink tank printer at home without spending much. Home printers are inexpensive, but we often overlook the printing cost. Printers run on different types of inks. For example, laser printers use a powder, called toner while Inkjet printers use a dye-based liquid ink. Understanding the types of cartridges help you use them efficiently, thereby reducing printing cost. It can even help you choose the right printer for your needs.
Here is how to get started.
What is a toner cartridge?
Laser printers use toner cartridges, also known as printer toner, which is a powder-based ink. It is made of fine plastic particles, carbon black and other colouring agents. Toner is transferred to the paper using an electrostatically charged drum and it is fused on the paper by heated rollers.
Laser printers were commonly used in offices, but many home users are considering them for their cost-effectiveness. These cartridges are affordable to refill, and some laser printers even print colour. A toner cartridge has two main components, the drum and the roller. These components are expected to run smoothly up to 3 toner replacements. The printing quality degrades once these parts wear out, but they are replaceable. Many generic brands also offer toner cartridges at affordable prices. The toner ink also doesn’t dry out even if the printer isn’t used for a while. This makes running a laser printer a lot cheaper than inkjet printers.
Laser printers are largely used for printing black and white documents. They are expected to print nearly 1,500 pages on a single cartridge. These printers deliver cleaner results as the toner doesn’t wet the page during the printing process. Colour laser printers produce less tonal gamut than most modern inkjet and ink tank printers. They use four toner colours – cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
What is an Inkjet cartridge?
An inkjet cartridge is made of a dye-based ink dissolved in water or glycol. These cartridges spray liquid onto a paper as tiny precise drops from the nozzle. The inkjet cartridges come with inbuilt microchips that control the ink spray for accurate printing. These cartridges use thick ink that is good for printing documents and photographs at home. A single cartridge can print nearly 300 to 400 pages. These printers can print on all types of pages including high-gloss pages, and even fabrics.
Inkjet printers are compact, and cost way lesser than laser and ink tank printers. However, inkjet cartridges are very expensive. In some cases, cartridges can cost you more than the price of the printer. These cartridges have a sealed design, and most of them don’t support refilling. Inkjet cartridges thick ink can dry after months, making them useless. All this together can make using an inkjet printer comparatively expensive if unused.
What is an Ink tank cartridge?
Ink tank printers are refillable ink printers with an inbuilt printhead. These printers have integrated ink tanks that continuously supplies ink to the printer nozzle. Most ink tank printers use silicon-based elements to rapidly heat and vaporise small amounts of ink. The vaporised ink expands and it pushes the tiny ink droplets through the nozzle on the printhead. The liquid ink is then dispensed onto the paper in the form of microscopic ink droplets to print images and documents.
Ink tank printers eliminate the hassle of replacing cartridges. Ink tank printers use pigment-based ink which is thinner than inkjet’s dye-based ink. The liquid-based ink doesn’t dry up easily. These printers offer the flexibility of refilling the printer tank as per your printing requirements. The average price of a 70 ml ink tank refill can be around Rs. 600. These printers are designed to churn out 1,000 prints or more, depending on the capacity of the ink tank.
Ink tank printers can print on most paper. However, the liquid-based ink takes time to dry and these printers are not ideal for printing photos on glossy papers. Ink tank printers are better suited for mixed purposes such as printing documents, projects as well as and posters.
A printer with the right cartridge can lower printing costs. However, choosing the right printer depends on your usage and priorities. Laser printers are great for printing lots of black and white documents. Some models support colour printing and they are good for printing graphs and low-resolution images. Inkjet is still considered great for printing high-resolution photos. Ink tank printers can be a balance of both. They are good for printing black and white as well as coloured printouts. They can be a great choice for printing posters, school projects and documents occasionally. You can explore a great assortment of printers at www.reliancedigital.in and at your nearest Reliance Digital store.
