Genius Advice

•  A laser printer requires no ink. Laser printers use toner, which is plastic and iron particles which melt to the paper with special heated rollers called a fuser unit. No ink means nothing to "dry up". With a laser printer, you can take that vacation knowing that you will have a working printer when you get back. You won't need a new set of cartridges when you come back because they dried up during your absence.* Laser printers are far cheaper to operate. It is a well known fact that vendors give inkjet printers away knowing that they will make lots of money on the ink. Laser printers may cost more up front, but the cost per page is a little as a tenth of what it is for inkjet printers.

•  Laser printers offer waterproof printing. Ever had the ink smear when it got wet? Doesn't happen with a laser printer - plastic is melted to the sheet and is completely water-proof.

• Print quality is better. You can "feel" and see the difference. Laser printers are the standard for professionally printed letters. Ever notice how nice that letter is that you got from your doctor or lawyer's office? It was printed on a laser printer. You can really feel the difference.

2. Be aware that the consumables (toner) for the laser printer last a long, long time. It is common to be able to print several thousand sheets on a single toner cartridge. The bigger the model of printer, the more you can print per cartridge and lower cost per page. Average laser printers cost around 3 cents per page.
3. Be price savvy. Laser printers can offer outstanding color at reasonable prices. Color laser printers are widely available to the masses for as little as USD$200. Expect to have a larger printer then the inkjet, but the benefits are well worth it.
4. Expect reliability. Laser printers tend to be far more reliable. Many laser printers are rated for 30,000 pages a month or more! HP Laser printers are legendary for their service life. Some people have had experience of HP Laserjets that are still working fine after 15 years of daily use
5. Expect minor repairs. Most repairs are just a matter of changing parts available in a standard "maintenance kit".

Tips
* Look for a model that has a built in ethernet adapter for networking if you have more then one computer.
* Good makes include: HP, Lexmark and Konica-Minolta. The clear advantage of buying one of these brands is the availability of maintenance kits and additional accessories to "pimp" your printer.
* For printing photos, inkjet printers will offer a better overall look than laser printers, so get your photos printed at Wal-mart or Costco if you don't own both.

Warnings
* Many laser printers are heavy. Avoid lifting them if you have back trouble - get a friend to help you.
* Laser printers take a lot of power to initialize - if your electrical circuits are weak, you might want to avoid a laser printer (that is if you already trip breakers from running too many things on that circuit).