Laser and inkjet color printers both offer different benefits; an ink jet printer is likely to have a lower initial cost and take up less space, while lsr. units are capable of printing at much greater speeds. Inkjet printers are also more prone to smearing than laser (or dot matrix) models. This can be a problem if there isn't time to the let paper dry, or it must be placed in an area that might be exposed to moisture.

Generally, a laser printer is probably the best choice if you need to produce large quantities of color printing, especially if it is necessary to do this in a limited amount of time. On the other hand, an ink jet model may be preferable for infrequent printing. Owning a color inkjet unit and a separate B/W laser or dot matrix printer might be the best choice if you print large quantities of monochrome text along with the occasional color photo, graph, or document.

Printer Type	Print Speed	Initial Price	Reliability
Inkjet	Slow	Minimal	Fair
Laser	Fast	High	Good