For twenty years the answer was laser, and inkjet meant the thing at home that dried out. That is
no longer true at the business end of the market, and the reason is worth understanding before you
compare two machines on speed.

The Fuser Is the Whole Argument

A laser printer works by melting toner onto paper. That requires a fuser, and a fuser has to reach
temperature before the first page of a job can come out. Manufacturers quote a warm-up time and most
buyers skim past it.

Here is why it matters more than it appears. Offices do not print in one long run. They print in
short bursts through the day — six pages here, a contract there, someone’s scan-to-print at
eleven. The warm-up is not paid once. It is paid every single time the machine has gone idle, which
in a normal office is most of the day.

Business inkjet has no fuser. There is nothing to heat, so there is no warm-up. The machine starts
printing when you press print.

What Else Follows From That

Power. Heating is where a laser spends its electricity. Epson rates its Heat-Free
machines at up to 60 percent lower consumption than a comparable laser. If you run several devices,
or you report on energy use, that shows up.

Fewer parts that fail. The fuser is the single most common reason a laser machine
dies outright. Removing it removes that failure mode, along with the heat those components generate.

Quiet. Less mechanism and no heating cycle. It matters in an open-plan office
more than people expect until the machine moves in.

Where Laser Still Wins

We sell both, so we have no reason to pretend otherwise.

Laser still has the edge on very high mono volumes at the top end, on certain finishing options,
and on specific media handling. Some organizations also have standardized on a laser fleet and have
good reasons not to run two consumable supply chains. And the very fastest production machines remain
laser.

If your volume is mono-heavy and enormous, look hard at both. If it is a normal office printing in
bursts, the arithmetic favors inkjet more often than most buyers expect.

What We Lease

Epson’s Heat-Free range covers both: the
AM-M5500 at 55 ppm for mono-heavy work from $149 a month,
the AM-C400 and
AM-C550 for A4 color from $169, and the
AM-C6000 at 60 ppm for A3 color from $209.

On the laser side we are an authorized Ricoh and
Brother dealer, with A3 multifunctions from $149 and
Brother business machines from $49 a month.

Compare Them Properly

Do not compare on rated pages per minute alone. Ask what the first page out time is from idle,
what the recommended monthly volume is, and what the running cost per page looks like at your color
share. We will put both in front of you with the numbers filled in.

Call (888) 242-4242 or request a quote.