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LU lukas_stern CH 🔍 Enthusiast 💬 27 answers ⚑

I'd really look into this closely before you buy anything. with 200 pages a month, the math isn't as straightforward as a lot of people think. inkjet printers do have lower upfront costs, but the ink cartridges are ridiculously expensive and often don't last as long as they claim. what's really annoying is the ink drying out when you don't print for a while - and in a home office that happens pretty quick. i looked at a ton of reviews on this and loads of people complain about exactly that. with lasers you pay more upfront (usually 150-400€) but the toner cost per page is way cheaper and lasts forever. plus you don't have problems with dried-out nozzles.

for your volume i'd say: laser makes sense. roughly calculate 2-3 cents per page with ink versus 0.5-1 cent with laser, if you factor everything in. over a year that's 2400 pages and it's already a real difference. on top of that laser printers are just more reliable and you don't get constant hassle with nozzle cleaning. i'm skeptical about this stuff and looked at several test series beforehand - the result was clear cut.

a smaller laser printer in monochrome (black and white) does the job perfectly fine for letters and invoices and doesn't cost the earth. if you later realize you actually need color more often you can always switch later. my tip: don't just look at the upfront costs but calculate it over 3-5 years. the picture becomes clearer then.

Wanderer DE 📗 Student 💬 14 answers ⚑

With 200 pages a month I'd recommend getting a laser printer.

Yeah, it costs more upfront, but your cost per page is way lower and the prints last forever without fading.

With inkjet printers, the cartridge dries out if you don't print for a while - and that's annoying in a home office when you've got sporadic print jobs. From my experience with different setups at the office and at home, the laser pays for itself pretty quick, and you've got less hassle with maintenance.

WO wolfgang1994 DE 🌱 Newbie 💬 8 answers ⚑

Do you have the space for that kind of device and do you really never want to change ink cartridges again? Based on your print volume, I'd lean toward laser, but with one caveat: if you only print really rarely (like some weeks nothing at all), inkjets can still be annoying because the heads dry out and then you have to run cleaning cycles that waste ink. Laser doesn't have that problem - they just sit there and are ready when you need them. That's exactly why I switched to laser at home, and I pay significantly less per page for my print volume - only the first toner was expensive, after that it gets cheaper.

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