To estimate the cost of ownership and operation of a laser printer, we looked at the current street price for toner, as well as an estimated number of pages that any given cartridge would produce, and calculated the cost to print one single page.
To determine the cost of a printer per page, divide a printer’s page output by its cost of toner.
This comparison of the printer cost per page helps us determine which cartridge offers the lowest cost per page. The inexpensive laser printers discussed above took page output into account when finding the best cost per page.
While the laser printer cartridges are more expensive, laser printers are considerably cheaper to run per page than inkjets, especially if you are looking to print heavily in black-and-white.
You can also get really cheap prints out of an inkjet printer with a cartridge, and itas less messy when it comes to replacing the ink.
Its cost-per-print is very low, consequently, although replacing three colored cartridges can get pricey, particularly if you have to mostly print in color.
Its cartridge system is outstanding, producing plenty of pages of both black and color before needing replacement.
This ultra-efficient printer produces thousands of pages from its high-capacity ink cartridges before needing to be replaced. Its high-capacity ink cartridges, which.
This printer is designed to produce a lot of prints without having to replace ink all the time, and it keeps running costs among the lowest of all printers.
This machine offers lower running costs for a home or office user who only needs black printing, and as with all laser printers mentioned on this page, toner cartridges do not run dry if the printer is left unattended for long periods.
Made for smaller office uses, our favorite overall laser printer has a 15,000-page monthly duty cycle, handles pages fast and cheaply, has some of the best print speeds we have seen, and printing costs are only 2.7 cents a page.
This printer might cost a little more upfront, but the Brother MFC-L2750DW has the best mix of print quality, speed, and value we have seen from a laser printer, so it is our Editors Choice.
When you also factor in the lower upfront costs for the printer, the Brother MFC-J805 is certainly the more effective, best-value home office printer.
The initial cost of the monochrome printer-only unit may look steep, but in reality, this compact unit is quite cheap to operate, and its consistently great printing quality justifies its price.
With print speeds of 55 pages per minute and space for an entire paper tray onboard, this compact unit can consistently keep a large working group printing — more than justifies its spot among the best laser printers out there.
Our favorite overall laser printer is not only convenient at the time of purchase; it is also low-cost at operation, at a cost of 3.7 cents per page using standard-capacity toner cartridges, or only 2.7 cents using the higher-capacity variety.
One of the best ways to cut your printing costs is by using a laser printer that uses a high-capacity toner cartridge, and ensuring that your per-print costs are lower; a toner that has a lower sticker price is not necessarily more economical.
Traditionally, lasers compensate for higher upfront costs by having higher cartridge efficiencies — i.e., lower print costs per page.
All-in-one color lasers, such as the M479FDW, are pricier to buy and operate than comparable-spec Inkjets but deliver higher-quality prints, copies, and color scanning faster than cheaper models.
Laser printers, and the toners they use, have higher up-front costs; if you do not print much, you could get away with a cheaper inkjet–some are only $30 or so–and likely need to wait a while for its higher operating costs to match up to the higher upfront costs of the laser.
In addition to printing faster, you will save money in the long run, thanks to the lower cost of ink for each print than you would pay for an inkjet cartridge.