5 ms·

Home inkjet printers are only ideal for a niche usecase where you print lots of photos regularly (to the point where you need your own printer over a photo prin

Home inkjet printers are only ideal for a niche usecase where you print lots of photos regularly (to the point where you need your own printer over a photo printing service). Their only advantage over laser printers is higher image quality. If you don't print frequently, the ink nozzles clog up (and you inevitably use a bunch of ink trying to fix them). For infrequent document printing, a laser printer will Just Print whether it's been sitting unused for an hour or a month. If you occasionally need some photos printed, using one of the myriad services will be better than replacing the inevitably gunked up ink cartridges. If you print a lot of documents, the laser printer easily outstrips the speed of an inkjet. You'll also run up huge ink fees since the cost per page of ink tends to be higher than toner. Therefore, the only reason you should get an inkjet printer is if you often need high quality colour prints (photos).

merry_flame 3y ago
As others have noted, some printers (for instance Epson EcoTank) have printing costs that are pretty much on par with laser printers and almost no clogging issues. People usually don't take into account energy costs when buying laser printers (toner is typically kept warm from instant, no-preheating printing) and, crucially, laser printers are terrible for indoor air quality. I therefore reached the opposite conclusion as you…
ptero 3y ago
I think the "occasional printing will clog up nozzles" affects some printer models more than the others. As a single data point, I used a Canon i9990 for many years. It had a very irregular use -- I would print a few 13x19 photos or a tiled panorama, or an occasional school picture of kids for the relatives. Then it would sit unused for days to months until the next job. And even with this supposedly abusive cycle it ran like new until it completely died one day. I personally had worse luck with image printing services. Maybe the machines are off, maybe the fellow who runs it does not care, but more often than not there is something subtly wrong: either the color is off, or there is a smudge at the edge or some minor artifact. My 2c.
treflop 3y ago
You’re posting on an article about other things inkjet is used for and then you say the only thing you need a home inkjet printer for is for photos? ???? Photos is the last thing I’d buy an inkjet printer for. I’d be using a home inkjet to make circuit boards, temporary shirts, screen printing masks, transparencies, stickers, etc.
- itishappy 3y ago
  > Photos is the last thing I’d buy an inkjet printer for. Huh. Printing photos is one of the main areas where inkjets still blow lasers out of the water.
- bogantech 3y ago
  > I’d be using a home inkjet to make circuit boards I've heard of using Laser printers for this but not InkJet
  - 4gotunameagain 3y ago
    Laser printers are used for the toner transfer method, where you print your etching mask on a glossy paper and then transfer it to a PCB with heat (laminator, or clothes iron) Inkjet printers are used in a direct print to PCB (remember those inkjet printers that could print on CDs back in the day?)
- getwiththeprog 3y ago
  Oh, did you read the article :) "Agilent developed a way to print strands of DNA from the four nucleic acid bases—cytosine (C), guanine (G), adenine (A), and thymine (T)." "Inkjet systems are particularly suited for printing drugs in the form of thin films, such as transdermal patches to be applied to the skin and buccal films to be held in the cheek, where drugs can pass directly to the bloodstream without first going through the digestive system." These applications are from dedicated machines, not available at BestBuy. Though I would like to see a supplier selling conductive inks for circuit board prototyping, and just maybe a home system could be filled with DNA or medicines?? The article also gave an interesting overview of the micro-dosing technology using for example piezo-electrics.
frognumber 3y ago
I have an Epson inkjet, similar to this model: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/epson-workforce-pro-wf-7840-wireless-wide-format-all-in-one-printer/6426725.p?skuId=6426725 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/epson-workforce-pro-wf-7840-wir... 1) Surprisingly, the running costs, with generic ink, are the same as a laser. 2) The text quality is fine. The image quality is better than a laser. Photos are great. 3) It can do larger formats (up to 13x19), copies, duplex, etc. The cost is literally a fraction of a similar laser. A large format laser is $$$. This one is $250 right now. 4) The speed is similar to a basic laser, but slower than a nice laser. It's rated at 12PPM color and 25PPM mono. It's slower, but it's fast enough. I used to share your opinion, but ink has come a long ways. Something like this is super-versatile, since it does literally everything for $250. Just don't get HP.
- syncbehind 3y ago
  > Just don't get HP. The real pro-tips are always in the comments.
  - harshaxnim 3y ago
    Actually not a pro tip anymore.
  - helsinkiandrew 3y ago
    > Just don't get HP. I've had a cheapish HP Smart Tank for several years, filled it with 3rd party ink, it goes weeks without use and had no problems.
    - prox 3y ago
      Just as an overview I recently researched for a new printer but of all the reviews, HP comes out last by a mile. I think the smartprint was mentioned a lot, then Canon (especially the low budget ones) , Epson/Brother are kind of tiered.
- Errsher 3y ago
  I had an Epson inkjet and I only used it maybe once a month, and I had to change the ink cartridges every other time I used it, despite attempts at maintenance. I've now a laser printer for a couple years and am now only just running low on toner. Don't buy inkjet.
userbinator 3y ago
This is true if you're in a dry/mostly-dry climate. In Southeast Asia, a humid tropical climate, they have problems with toner clumping instead of ink drying, and I've noticed that inkjets (invariably with CIS/bulk ink systems installed) are far more popular than lasers.
- stephenr 3y ago
  I can confirm; in 11 years I haven't had a single issue with ink drying out, with very sporadic use of our printer. I have also noticed lots of government offices that print a bunch of stuff all put an inkjet on almost every (rather than shared laser printers I'd been expecting to see), and I wondered why. Your explanation may be the key to that too.
thayne 3y ago
> Their only advantage over laser printers is higher image quality. There is also the significantly lower price. Although,if you print a lot, you'll eventually make up the price difference in toner. If, like me, you only need to print rarely, it's probably better just to print at a library or FedEx or UPS store when needed. But there is probably somewhere in the middle where a decent inkjet is more economical, especially if you can get one that works with third party ink cartridges.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
kmarc 3y ago
> If you don't print frequently, the ink nozzles clog up Not sure about other printers, but I use HP InkJet for a decade, never clogged up, sometimes sits unused for a month or more.
bayindirh 3y ago
> If you don't print frequently, the ink nozzles clog up... This was true before, but my 10 year old Deskjet 4515 doesn't do that, even if you don't print for a couple of months. Being an InkAdvantage(TM) printer, cartridges are not expensive either, and while its color inks are dye based (not pigmented), the colors hold up very well even when they are not stored properly (frame the photo up and leave it there). B&W laser printers are nice, and they're cheap on the long run, but color laser printers polish the paper a lot (4 drums + baking), and reading long papers on that shiny copy is not very comfortable. Pens' handling on that paper also changes after that much heat and processing. Inkjets and B&W lasers doesn't have that problem. I use my B&W laser for more disposable documents, but for code and papers which contains graphics, I prefer my Inkjet very much. Lastly, people think that ink is just colored water. It's not. Same is true for toner. They're complex technologies. Yes, cartridges sent for some markup, but ink and toner quality varies. Esp. if you want archival prints.
petee 3y ago
Unless you print a ton, cost is definitely an issue. I was excited when I got a free color laser that was fairly new, but it was over $200 just to replace the black; my inkjet and a dozen replacements is still cheaper than refilling the all the laser cartridges

merry_flame 3y ago

As others have noted, some printers (for instance Epson EcoTank) have printing costs that are pretty much on par with laser printers and almost no clogging issues. People usually don't take into account energy costs when buying laser printers (toner is typically kept warm from instant, no-preheating printing) and, crucially, laser printers are terrible for indoor air quality. I therefore reached the opposite conclusion as you…

ptero 3y ago

I think the "occasional printing will clog up nozzles" affects some printer models more than the others. As a single data point, I used a Canon i9990 for many years. It had a very irregular use -- I would print a few 13x19 photos or a tiled panorama, or an occasional school picture of kids for the relatives. Then it would sit unused for days to months until the next job. And even with this supposedly abusive cycle it ran like new until it completely died one day. I personally had worse luck with image printing services. Maybe the machines are off, maybe the fellow who runs it does not care, but more often than not there is something subtly wrong: either the color is off, or there is a smudge at the edge or some minor artifact. My 2c.

treflop 3y ago

You’re posting on an article about other things inkjet is used for and then you say the only thing you need a home inkjet printer for is for photos? ???? Photos is the last thing I’d buy an inkjet printer for. I’d be using a home inkjet to make circuit boards, temporary shirts, screen printing masks, transparencies, stickers, etc.

itishappy 3y ago
> Photos is the last thing I’d buy an inkjet printer for. Huh. Printing photos is one of the main areas where inkjets still blow lasers out of the water.
bogantech 3y ago
> I’d be using a home inkjet to make circuit boards I've heard of using Laser printers for this but not InkJet
- 4gotunameagain 3y ago
  Laser printers are used for the toner transfer method, where you print your etching mask on a glossy paper and then transfer it to a PCB with heat (laminator, or clothes iron) Inkjet printers are used in a direct print to PCB (remember those inkjet printers that could print on CDs back in the day?)
getwiththeprog 3y ago
Oh, did you read the article :) "Agilent developed a way to print strands of DNA from the four nucleic acid bases—cytosine (C), guanine (G), adenine (A), and thymine (T)." "Inkjet systems are particularly suited for printing drugs in the form of thin films, such as transdermal patches to be applied to the skin and buccal films to be held in the cheek, where drugs can pass directly to the bloodstream without first going through the digestive system." These applications are from dedicated machines, not available at BestBuy. Though I would like to see a supplier selling conductive inks for circuit board prototyping, and just maybe a home system could be filled with DNA or medicines?? The article also gave an interesting overview of the micro-dosing technology using for example piezo-electrics.

frognumber 3y ago

I have an Epson inkjet, similar to this model: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/epson-workforce-pro-wf-7840-wireless-wide-format-all-in-one-printer/6426725.p?skuId=6426725 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/epson-workforce-pro-wf-7840-wir... 1) Surprisingly, the running costs, with generic ink, are the same as a laser. 2) The text quality is fine. The image quality is better than a laser. Photos are great. 3) It can do larger formats (up to 13x19), copies, duplex, etc. The cost is literally a fraction of a similar laser. A large format laser is $$$. This one is $250 right now. 4) The speed is similar to a basic laser, but slower than a nice laser. It's rated at 12PPM color and 25PPM mono. It's slower, but it's fast enough. I used to share your opinion, but ink has come a long ways. Something like this is super-versatile, since it does literally everything for $250. Just don't get HP.

syncbehind 3y ago
> Just don't get HP. The real pro-tips are always in the comments.
- harshaxnim 3y ago
  Actually not a pro tip anymore.
- helsinkiandrew 3y ago
  > Just don't get HP. I've had a cheapish HP Smart Tank for several years, filled it with 3rd party ink, it goes weeks without use and had no problems.
  - prox 3y ago
    Just as an overview I recently researched for a new printer but of all the reviews, HP comes out last by a mile. I think the smartprint was mentioned a lot, then Canon (especially the low budget ones) , Epson/Brother are kind of tiered.
Errsher 3y ago
I had an Epson inkjet and I only used it maybe once a month, and I had to change the ink cartridges every other time I used it, despite attempts at maintenance. I've now a laser printer for a couple years and am now only just running low on toner. Don't buy inkjet.

userbinator 3y ago

This is true if you're in a dry/mostly-dry climate. In Southeast Asia, a humid tropical climate, they have problems with toner clumping instead of ink drying, and I've noticed that inkjets (invariably with CIS/bulk ink systems installed) are far more popular than lasers.

stephenr 3y ago
I can confirm; in 11 years I haven't had a single issue with ink drying out, with very sporadic use of our printer. I have also noticed lots of government offices that print a bunch of stuff all put an inkjet on almost every (rather than shared laser printers I'd been expecting to see), and I wondered why. Your explanation may be the key to that too.

thayne 3y ago

> Their only advantage over laser printers is higher image quality. There is also the significantly lower price. Although,if you print a lot, you'll eventually make up the price difference in toner. If, like me, you only need to print rarely, it's probably better just to print at a library or FedEx or UPS store when needed. But there is probably somewhere in the middle where a decent inkjet is more economical, especially if you can get one that works with third party ink cartridges.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

kmarc 3y ago

> If you don't print frequently, the ink nozzles clog up Not sure about other printers, but I use HP InkJet for a decade, never clogged up, sometimes sits unused for a month or more.

bayindirh 3y ago

> If you don't print frequently, the ink nozzles clog up... This was true before, but my 10 year old Deskjet 4515 doesn't do that, even if you don't print for a couple of months. Being an InkAdvantage(TM) printer, cartridges are not expensive either, and while its color inks are dye based (not pigmented), the colors hold up very well even when they are not stored properly (frame the photo up and leave it there). B&W laser printers are nice, and they're cheap on the long run, but color laser printers polish the paper a lot (4 drums + baking), and reading long papers on that shiny copy is not very comfortable. Pens' handling on that paper also changes after that much heat and processing. Inkjets and B&W lasers doesn't have that problem. I use my B&W laser for more disposable documents, but for code and papers which contains graphics, I prefer my Inkjet very much. Lastly, people think that ink is just colored water. It's not. Same is true for toner. They're complex technologies. Yes, cartridges sent for some markup, but ink and toner quality varies. Esp. if you want archival prints.

petee 3y ago

Unless you print a ton, cost is definitely an issue. I was excited when I got a free color laser that was fairly new, but it was over $200 just to replace the black; my inkjet and a dozen replacements is still cheaper than refilling the all the laser cartridges