Recently, I got a new color laser printer. The arrival of my brand spanky new laser does not mean I’m getting rid of the black and white laser printer I already have, however. Black and white laser printers are generally a lot less expensive to purchase, but more importantly, they are also a lot less expensive to operate. To print color, the printer layers four colors on the page. That means four toner cartridges or inkjets spewing color. Not surprisingly, printing four colors is more complex and costs more than printing one color (i.e., black).
Amid the excitement of buying new hardware, people often forget about the cost of running a printer over time. The cost of consumables, such as ink or toner, adds up. People are slowly starting to clue in that printing things yourself can be a lot more expensive than it appears. In response to this level of annoyance, many magazines now cite a "cost per page" statistic when comparing printers. This number is how much it costs you in consumables to print a given page. For example, it costs about 10 cents to print a page off my new color printer. In contrast, it only costs about 2 cents to print a page off the old black and white laser. (For junky draft printouts, take a guess which printer I’ll use.)
Toner and ink varies in price and that affects the cost per page statistic. So when you buy a printer, it’s good to find one that has less expensive toner cartridges or ink. When you think about getting one of those "photo printer" inkjets, check the cost per page statistic before you buy. Some inkjets have ridiculously high consumable costs and getting your digital photos output at a photo center can actually be less expensive.
While you’re looking at consumables, also look for "high-capacity" toner cartridges. For example, my new color laser comes with toner cartridges that can print 1,500 copies. Those cartridges costs about $80. When they run out, I’m going to get high-capacity cartridges, which can print 4,500 copies. Those cartridges cost about $120.
Getting high-capacity cartridges lowers your cost per page. If I bought the regular cartridges, it costs 20 cents/page, whereas with the high-capacity ones the price drops to about .10/page. That’s a big difference.
For optimal printer performance, you also should keep your printer drivers updated. Many times, it’s easy to just let Windows figure out what printer driver you need and use that one. The trouble is that the Windows version of the printer driver often isn’t as good as one from the vendor. Even if Windows has a driver for your printer, check the vendor’s web site. You might find a better driver that can help you get the most out of your printer.