Why I Stopped Fighting with Inkjet Printers (A Laser Conversion Story)

The Day I Decided Enough Was Enough

It was a Tuesday in March 2022. I was standing in front of our M&R screen printing machine—which, by the way, is a beast and never gives me trouble—when my phone buzzed. The VP of operations had sent a photo of a half-printed label from our ‘F1 laser engraver’ that had smudged in transit. Our client had rejected the shipment.

I stared at the photo for a solid minute. Then I looked over at the stack of inkjet printer cartridges on my shelf that I’d bought just three weeks prior. Three hundred dollars worth of ink, sitting there, drying out. And I thought: There has to be a better way.

The Backstory: How We Ended Up with a Printer Problem

When I took over purchasing in 2020, our office had three different printers for different tasks: a color inkjet for marketing materials, a black-and-white laser for documents, and a large-format M&R screen printing machine for custom merchandise. The M&R was a champ. The laser was quiet and reliable. The inkjet was the problem child.

Printing labels, tags, and small graphics for our packaging line required speed and precision. The inkjet was slow, and cartridges kept running dry mid-run. I assumed (assumption_failure) that buying more expensive OEM cartridges would fix the issue. Didn’t verify. Turned out the real issue was the printer’s nozzle design—it clogged every time we used it after a weekend idle.

I learned never to assume ‘higher price’ equals ‘better performance’ after spending $600 on premium cartridges in a single quarter.

What I Actually Compared: Laser Jets vs Inkjets

I spent two weeks researching. I looked at laser jet printers (which are basically laser printers, but some vendors call them ‘laser jets’ to confuse you—surprise, surprise) and compared them with inkjets.

Here’s what I found (based on USPS business mail dimensions and my own order data):

• Speed: A typical office laser printer outputs 28–35 pages per minute (ppm) vs an inkjet at 12–15 ppm. For our daily average of 150 label prints, the time difference was huge.
• Cost per page: Laser toner cartridges run about 2–3 cents per page (black) vs inkjet at 8–12 cents per page for similar quality. Our printing volume meant the laser would save us roughly $1,200 annually in consumables alone.
• Reliability: Laser printers don’t have ink that dries up over weekends. We had zero downtime after switching, compared to the weekly ‘unclog the printhead’ ritual with the inkjet.
• Maintenance: The laser required an occasional toner replacement (once every 4,000 pages) vs inkjet cartridges that needed changing every 300–500 pages. Less fuss, fewer orders.

As of January 2025, USPS pricing for a First-Class Mail letter (1 oz) is $0.73. For large envelopes (like the ones our labels go on), it’s $1.50 plus $0.28 per additional ounce. Speed and clarity matter—especially when a smudged label costs you a customer.

The Unexpected Hurdle (Process Gap)

We didn’t have a formal vendor evaluation process for office printers. Cost us when I ordered a budget laser model without checking its warranty terms. The third time the paper tray jammed, I finally created a standard procurement checklist. Should have done it after the first jam.

I have mixed feelings about the switch, honestly (ambivalence). On one hand, the laser printer is faster, cheaper per page, and way more reliable. On the other hand, for the occasional color photo or glossy brochure, we still have to outsource that to a print shop. But for 90% of our needs—labels, forms, tags, shipping docs—the laser is unbeatable.

What I’d Recommend (Honest Limitation)

If your office prints mostly text documents, labels, or forms, I recommend a laser printer. For high-volume runs (like our packaging line), it’s basically a no-brainer.

But if you’re doing high-quality photos, art prints, or anything glossy, an inkjet (especially a photo-grade model) will give better results. And if you’re in a very small office that prints only 20 pages a month, an inkjet’s lower up-front cost might make sense.

Just don’t assume the inkjet is cheaper in the long run. I’ve made that mistake. It wasn’t.

Bottom Line

Per FTC advertising guidelines (ftc.gov), claims must be truthful and substantiated. So I’ll say it plainly: laser printers are better for most B2B office environments—especially for label and document printing. But they’re not perfect for everything, and that’s okay.

If you’ve been fighting with an inkjet for the last year like I did, consider switching. Your sanity (and your procurement budget) will thank you.