Are inkjet printers yet as stable as laser color printers?

Question

Looking to purchase a color wide carriage printer(min. 11") and considering both laser and inkjet, but do not want inkjet if they smear if wet.

Answer 1

Looking at the answers above there are some good points, but some really wrong answers as well...
Feeman states inkjets smear, which was critical to your question,
and remains true - there is no inkjet on the common market that does not smear when wet - that is how the ink dries in the first place. You would have to use a special ink with a fixative to prevent water damage.
Sam D, states that inkjets are good for black and white, and color is best with laser ? ? ? huh? in everyday use, it is the opposite. In years of using both, I have not seen a laser yet, even ones costing $50,000, that can come anywhere near the ordinary, off the shelf, injet in terms of photo quality - as someone else states the multi-color PHOTO inkjets will give you finest quality, and this is because the inkjets use UNvisible dots in pico-litre deposition sizes. The older printers had visible dots, with huge amounts of ink sprayed on the paper in huge dots, which, when looked at with the naked eye, were clearly visible, and up close, skin tones in photographs looked like chicken pox on the face.
UN visible, as opposed to INvisible dots, are pico-liter dots that are so fine that the human eye cannot see them on paper. If you take these pico-liter colors and ADD the photo ink of light blue and light red, for even finer blends, then you get quality that looks like photographic reproductions. In lasers today, the size of the dots is no-where near pico-liters, and although you get " nice" photos, compared side by side with PHOTO quality inkjets, they do not compare well .... However, a good quality INKJET which uses pico liter dots and puts multiple layers of color dots, covered with black dots, can be totally indistiguishable from a laser, if not better - are there lasers that can print 4800 or more dots per inch in pico- liter dot sizes ? It is true that lasers, once the print has started, are generally faster - the rollers just move forward in a straight through motion, with no printer head moving sideways from side to side. This is the reason that they are called "laser", since in the early years of production, they used a laser beam shining on a square of spinning mirrored glass. ( if you go to a grocery store you might see the spinning mirror in a bar code reader ). The spinning cube of mirror pointed the beam of laser light from the left to right across the polymer coated drum that rotates through the toner power. Since the spinning cube moves the laser from left to right at very high speed, ( as opposed to having mechanical print head move left to right ) a laser can move the paper out in one continuous motion. (( Anywhere the light hits the coated roller, it charges the roller at just that spot, so that as the laser goes across the page from side to side, it flashes dots. Anywhere there is a dot, the toner powder sticks to the drum, rolls upwards to the top, where the paper is rolling across the top, under a very hot, red heating wire. The hot paper melts the toner to the paper. A static brush removes all charges from the roller as it rolls down towards the pool of toner powder on the bottom tray, and again, just before it gets there, the laser shines a dotted beam across it, which will electrosatically pick up toner dots, and rolls up -- in one continuous motion . With newer models, the complicated spinning mirrors and multi layered reflective focusing lenses can be replaced with a single row of tiny LEDs that produce dots of lights on some of the lower priced models. ))
Higher end INKJETs for office use are available with multiple print heads, so that each print head only has to travel part of the way across the sheet of paper, effectively cutting the time in half ( for 2 printheads, etc. ) or 1/4, ( with four printheads on the same line ). etc.
Professional INKJETS also have microtubing ink supplies connected to huge bottles of liquid ink, fastened to the back of the printer. In high- volume printing applications, this solves many typical inkjet problems, since - you never run out of ink ( for a long long time compared to teeny little injet " home " cartridges ), and since the volume of ink is always going thru the printhead, the liquid ink is constantly cleaning the print nozzels with fresh liquid.
These machines would not be listed or available in typical retail outlets, so you would have to search the manufacturers websites for more information- look under OFFICE or Corporate Sales or Business, as opposed to Home or Small Office .
**&&** states another point - clogged injets. A HUGE problem that is actually getting worse with every new generation of ink printer, since the holes in the printhead are microscopic, and the ink used is deliberately formulated to dry blazing fast, this means that the head itself clogs very fast at the least provocation...
My old printers, like the HP 500 and 600 series would print sheets of paper that take a few MINUTES to dry, and you had to remove each sheet and set it separately to dry if you did full page prints with heavy colours. Todays printers have sheets that are dry by the time the page comes out.
There is no good cleaning system that I have seen on ANY new printer, and they are actually getting worse, not better... The only way to keep typical injet printers from drying out the printheads in typical applications, is to print a few times everyday, and in large offices, there is often a software program that prints a cleaning page on all printers on a 24 hour basis, throughout the office building...
Sadman gives what I think is a better analysis, that high quality is best left ( at the moment ) to inkjets, that lasers are faster, and won't clog, but not quite at the same the quality..
Here is the information that people are not mentoning --

COST - although you have a higher investment in the beginning for laser, the printed pages are CHEAPER - a LOT less expensive if you do a lot of printing. The powder in the laser is like hot melt glue in fine powder, and is melted onto the paper with a long, red hot filament, almost the same as that used in an ordinary toaster. This means that until heated, the powder just sits there - dry, waiting to be used, and if the laser is turned off when not needed, it will last a LONG time.
**(( Leaving a laser on 24 hours a day burns out the red-hot element,and wears out the gears etc. since most lasers will automatically roll the rollers and parts around on a standby basis to prevent the roller parts from getting flat spots, and the continual HEAT generated from all the parts will wear out the delicate rubber and polymer drum coatings, used or not used, many lasers also, in an office environment, heat up the element to be ready to print on a moments notice, without the usual notification before a print " Warming Up Printer", which can take 30 seconds to 1 minute of wasted time. This is great in a busy Office environment, but if you have this " feature" running 24 hours a day for a month or two when you are NOT using the printer, you are just burning out the machine for no reason - turn it off ! )).
Turning off a bubble jet for weeks or months at a time will NOT save you anything or lessen problems, since with a bubble jet, the ink, no matter what you do, will dry out if unused. The parking head pads and cleaning wipers and blotters under the parking area will eventually goo up on inkjets as well, smearing goo the consistancy of offset press paint, ( like peanut butter ) on the heads, and accelerating the drying of the heads - unless they are periodically cleaned - something that is usually beyond the technical ability of most home users .
You are worried about the print smearing with water - but be aware that laser prints smear as well, not with water but with heat - a laser print in your wallet in your pocket will smear to garble on a hot day ! I do not know where you want to USE these prints that are WIDE format, but be aware that in the hot sun or in a warm place ( like a wallet ) laser prints smear if touched or rubbed. Keeping in mind that the PAPER you are printing on is going to turn to mush if it gets too damp or wet, BOTH laser and inkjet will not protect your work from being damaged in the rain or other " wet " locations ! Finally, you can purchase MATT ( dull finish ) or shiny spray on coatings in ART stores that are not water based, and will water proof ordinary inkjet inks from water.
Inkjets are better quality photo machines, less expensive to purchase initially, but... more water suseptible to damage. There are lines of PHOTO injet inks that are deliberately formulated to resist FADE and UV deterioration - much like laser, so this factor can be eliminated if you research the correct manufacturers and inks.
Lasers are a LOT more expensive to purchase, not photo quality,
but faster, cheaper per page in large quantities, can sit dormant, and are more resistant to moisture at " room" temperature, but suseptible to heat smearing. Since most laser toner melts to a glossy finish, you get the appearance of a photo print on medium quality business paper, without having to purchase higher end, clay coated or gloss finish photo papers.

You are the only one who knows what you are using the printing for, and under what conditions the prints will be used.
Getting WIDE printers is a specialized " BUSINESS " office type of product with limited production maufacturing lines, so that you will pay HUGE amounts more for both inkjet and laser, just to get this feature.

Finally, no one mentioned another new and exciting " feature" on BOTH inkjet and laser TONER refills - a tiny green circuit board with a glob of die-bonded chip covered in epoxy, that is on the side of the plastic refill container. Epson started this on its refills, and this chip is programmed by the printer to " estimate" how much ink is left. When it guesses that the container is near empty, it dissables the printer completely until you put in a new refill. You CAN NOT refill the cart itself, since it has a serial number on the chip, and even if refilled to full, the printer is DEAD until you put in another container with a new serial number.
NOW, unfortuneatley, the laser manufacturers have started this, so that you can't just open the laser toner cart, and pour in plastic dust refill - you have to buy the ENTIRE assembly from the manufacturer - at whatever price they demand - since this " new and improved" feature arrived on lasers, the price of lasers has dropped to half the normal price, since the manufacturers can now guarantee you will buy new carts at vastly inflated prices - the lasers are given at cost, the new toner assemblies are incredibley over priced, and you will soon pay more in carts than the cost of the laser ! To make things worse, many lasers now have a very large replacement with the printing rollers and heater parts WITH the toner, so that you replace EVERYTHING, not just the powder, and while this means that you get new, clean, high quality printing parts, you get them whether or not you Need them or want them. Check around for different " features" before you buy one, and check on the prices of the REFILLS ! ! - you may find a printer that costs you " LESS " but ends up costing much, much more in a short time on just ink or toner replacements !!


hope that this helps you make your decision ...

PS you can browse over other my other ANSWERS on various printer issues listed here as well...


robin

Answer 2

It depends what work you want to do. You say 'wide carriage' so I am presuming that you mean A3+.

If it's colour graphics work (brochures, cards and so on which may include photos), then a colour laser will definitely be your best choice.

If it's for printing large photos for exhibition, then I think that colour laser will not give you the quality you require. A seven colour inkjet will probably be the best option. The latest Epson wide carriage printer has been getting excellent reviews in the photographic press. The inks for it are archive quality, so they are supposed to last 80-100 years without fading.

Inkjet prints are made with a water-soluble ink, so they can be damaged by damp unless protected.

Answer 3

Definitely inkjet is the way to go. Laser printers are not designed to print on photo paper and do not provide the full range color gamut that inkjet does. I have a Kodak inkjet printer and I find the results are excellent, really lab quality prints. The good part is when you need more ink, as it is about half the cost of competing models. Their ink is pigmented btw, so it has much better fade resistance (permanence)

Answer 4

Laser printers are better for printing in color and print much faster than inkjet. It all really depends on what you will be printing on and your intended purpose.

Inkjet printers can be much cheaper but yes, they will smear when wet. Good luck deciding.

Answer 5

Ink jet vs. laser

Laser printers use toner and silicone oils to set them up along with heat. The initial cost of printer and toner cartridges are higher but price per print is cheaper. Laser prints are colour fast, meaning they resist smugs/smears from handling and light wetting. Laser printers are faster and the colour does not fade as fast as ink jet. Laser prints will hold colour just as long as a developed photo when exposed to high light or sun. Paper for printing images for laser printers is cheaper as well. When printing B/W documents you get clear crisp prints.

Hint: if printing B/W documents you can use regular paper, but need smooth laser paper for images.

Ink jets printers are cheaper to buy and cheaper for ink re-fills but cost more per-print. The inks are made out of water based dyes and are not colour fast, and they fade more and faster. They can smug and smear with handling and definitely with moisture. For photo/image printing on ink jet you need photo paper which is costly.

I have work in the print business for over 12 years now and the perffered method of printing regular size documents and photos is laser. So ask your self what is important too you and what kind of prints do you want and what are the uses of prints.

Answer 6

Yes inkjet printers smear when wet.
Also, Laserjet printers are MUCH faster printing.

Answer 7

Inkjsts are great for black and white printing; but if you are going to do a lot of printing in color, laser printers will give you the best color quality and speed.

Answer 8

well i think inkjet is much better than laser in case of black and white printing with no problems and u can check some info overhere
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=printer%20ink%201630220019

Answer 9

They not only smear, they have lots of problem with getting clogged. Go with laser.