Hewlett-Packard, Konica-Minolta, and Xerox: Toner or Solid Ink
If you own a printer then you know how expensive the replacement cartridges can be, Xerox and HP toner refills can cost upwards of 75 dollars apiece, and you are probably looking for a viable alternative. For the past several years inkjet and laser printers have been the only options available, which has brought about a debate over what method is more efficient and cost-effective. Laser printers have taken over the majority of the small commercial markets, proving that they are the better investment for people with a large demand for printing.
However, with the introduction of Xerox’s solid ink printer that has changed the future prospects of the market in numerous ways. Companies that sell inkjet and Laser printers rely on their replacement cartridges in order to bolster profits. They subsidize their printers with the extra money, because they know that you will have to buy their proprietary consumables if you own their hardware. On the other hand, solid ink printers require a large initial investment because the ink costs do not make them much money.
To choose between them you have to gauge your printer usage and find the solution that best fits you: consider the volume you print in a month, whether you require photo-quality images, the length of time you will have the printer running at any given point, and how much of your work must be done in color. Once you have this in mind you can then look into different printers to find the one you need, whether it be an HP 5700, a Magicolor 2400 toner printer, or a Phaser 8560.
Knowing that a company like Xerox has both laser and solid ink printing makes it an ideal place to start comparing the different methods of printing because you know that they are going to try to sell you on either product, which makes their comments less likely to contain negative claims about the other printing methods. Use this relative objectivity to compare Xerox Toner cartridge costs with their solid ink sticks in order to find out which has a lower printing cost (per page). Once you have done that you should examine the initial investments in each machine and try to figure out how your printing will affect the way they operate. The final objective in such an examination is to figure out if it is worthwhile for you to invest in an expensive solid ink printer, rather than a less expensive laser printer that requires more money for toner.
