Ink cartridges, toner cartridges, printers. If you cannot wrap your head around, you have come to the right place. We will help you understand the simple difference and determine the right type of cartridge for you. Our handy guide will give you all the information you need to know about all things printer cartridges.
At the end of the day, if you’re buying a printer it’s quite easy to determine which is right for you.
Ink vs toner cartridges
What are ink cartridges?
Ink cartridges, unsurprisingly, contain ink inside of its plastic outer shell which houses the inner foiled compartment. It is this ink which is then utilised by your printer to create the markings on your piece of paper.
These ink-holding cartridges are then placed in the printer head of your machine. The printer has a number of small nozzles that draw the ink out and dispense it onto the paper being printed on.
By moving back and forth across the paper, the nozzles create the shapes, images, words and signs you’ve commanded through your computer. Different models of printers use differing technologies to control the ink dispensation. For example, some use thermal bubbles (think heat) while others use piezoelectricity (think vibrations and electric charges) to dispense the ink.
What are toner cartridges?
Toner cartridges do not contain ink. They contain–yup, you guessed it–toner! Toner is made from a mix of plastic resin and iron oxide.
Toner cartridges are used in laser printers and the process is slightly more complex compared to ink cartridges. The technology of toner cartridges is older, so you’d expect it to lag a little behind on the technological front.
The toner in your cartridge is not dispensed directly onto the piece of paper. Instead, there’s an internal photosensitive drum unit that rotates and gives off either a positive or negative charge. When you send a printing job to your printer, the image, writing, or colours are imprinted as an electrostatic image onto this metal drum that is opposingly charged. Once this is done, that same visual is then coated by the toner on the drum and turns over the charge at the specified regions. Then the toner becomes attracted to the opposite charge on the drum, the rest of the toner falls away, and the print is formed when the toner is attached to the magnetically-charged pieces of paper.
What does all this mambo jumbo mean? Basically, there is a complicated process of electric-charges that convert your image into a toner print.
Pros and cons
So which kind of cartridge–inkjet vs toner–is right for you?
Price
When it comes to the cost, toner tends to be more expensive to buy replacements. However, toner cartridges do tend to have a higher print capacity than ink cartridges.
Quality
In terms of quality, toner is known to provide a better picture print than ink cartridges. It is important to note that this may depend on the model of printer as well though.
Speed
Despite the complicated printing process, laser/toner printers are generally quicker to print than inkjets.
Smudges
On the other side, ink cartridges tend to be less susceptible to smudging as the printing mechanism is more stable. Again, this does depend on the model and quality of the printer itself.
Which one is right for you?
If you’re still not sure which type of printing cartridge–ink or toner–is right for you, just give your pals at Inkpal a call. We’d be more than happy to help you with all your needs.
