Laser vs Inkjet?

[KalessinDB]

It's time to finally start printing my own covers rather than relying on a print shop.  I plan on doing about 200 once I get my grubby little hands on Shadowfox's NES case.

So I hear a lot of you guys (who certainly have experience) are suggesting a high-end inkjet rather than a color laser?  Is there a reason (other than the cost of toner) I should know about?  I always assumed a laser would get better colors.

Also, recommendations of printers please.  I have no problem spending a couple hundred.  Scanner/Copier not necessary, though not a downside if it's included.  I would however like it to be network connected directly (wired or wireless -- though I feel damn near every printer is network connected at this point), and would prefer it to support Google Cloud Print because of my Chromebook and Android devices.

Thanks for your help.

[TDIRunner]

I think most people will agree that some laser printers will look better than ink jet, but the cost will be significantly more.  Ink jet will give you the best quality for your dollar.  My Cannon MG5420 works great and prints excellent quality covers.  It also has a good scanner.  I don't get many complaints on my scans.  The scanner has a small dead zone around the edges as all seem to do for some reason, but I get around that with a home made edge guard.  It think it runs about $100.  It also has wireless printing.  Meaning that anything with a wireless internet connection can print to the printer. 

[wiggy]

A good inkjet print will be better than any laser print, period.

Laser is good for medium volume production, and as a result of it's increased print speed over inkjet, it gives up some quality.

Inkjet is the slowest process of the bunch, but NOTHING can beat its quality. If you really want to see what inkjet is capable of, google "Giclée".

And at the opposite end of the spectrum, you have offset printing, which is the fastest by far, but the absolute lowest quality (it's not a process that any of us can/will employ, but I just wanted to toss it out there to help better exemplify the quality-to-speed ratio of each).

We have a $15K Konica digital press (laser printer) and I can still get equally good if not better prints from a $400 inkjet (and the paper options are far more plentiful).

If you're doing 200 or so covers, go inkjet. If you wanna do 500+ at once, then laser would be the way to go IMO.  The common misconception seems to be that laser printers produce better quality prints since they tend to be more expensive on average than inkjet.  You're not paying for quality. You're paying for efficiency and the tech required to make it happen.

[KalessinDB]

Interesting.  You were one of the ones I was specifically targeting with this thread, wiggy.  Any suggestions of brands/models?  Couple hundred bucks (call it... $250 shipped or less?), either something I can get in person from Best Buy (or I guess Walmart/Target -- no Fry's near me) or online from Newegg or what have you.

[Dr.Agon]

dammit, i wish i could show photographic proof of my belief that laser is superior to inkjet, but i tossed out the "old" prints when i re-printed, oh well...



laser FTW!

[X68000]

As Wiggy mentioned, color lasers can't do as good of a job of printing photos/covers as inkjets can, plus color laser printers are far more expensive than a good inkjet.

[KalessinDB]

Anyone have a specific model to recommend?  Or even brand?  Brother, Epson, Canon, what do you guys recommend I go for?  Inkjets in my mind are (fairly or not, just based on my experience) just kinda blah and rip through ink like crazy, so I'm looking for first-hand knowledge of a good printer for doing covers here.

[TDIRunner]

I use the Cannon MG5420.  I'm happy with it.  If you end up getting one or one that uses the same type of ink, make sure you buy the XL ink cartridges.  They cost about 50% more, but they last about 3 times as long.

[KalessinDB]

Nice, that looks about price range I was thinking for a decent inkjet.  Suggestions for paper?  I'm not looking to go too crazy here, but if possible I'd like to approach the quality I was getting from a local print shop.

[TDIRunner]

Nice, that looks about price range I was thinking for a decent inkjet.  Suggestions for paper?  I'm not looking to go too crazy here, but if possible I'd like to approach the quality I was getting from a local print shop.

As I normally say, you can ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers (and they will all probably be good choices).  With that said, this is what I use.

Red River Paper 50lb. Premium Matte Double Sided 8.5x14

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/category/85x14_inkjet_photo_paper.html

I'm extremely happy with this paper.  Obviously it isn't glossy (which works for me), so if you are wanting something matte, I would recommend this.  If you want to go a glossy route, you will have to get some suggestions from some of the others.

[KalessinDB]

Oh absolutely on the 10 ppl/10 ans thing... and I am completely looking for matte.  I'm basically just looking for someone who's had firsthand experience to save me a little bit of trial and error.  Not to say I'll use this forever, but something to start with.  Thanks for the suggestions!

[wiggy]

This is what I've been using forever.

http://mobile.adorama.com/IESS041605.html

You'll likely need to cut it down to 8.5x13 (depending on what printer you end up with). That'll give you 200 covers for $60, or 300 DS case covers for the same price (cut into three strips of 6x13).

[FritzWhite]

I recently upgraded my covers from cheap paper to the Red River Paper 50lb. Premium Matte Double Sided 8.5x14. I don't know how it compares to what Wiggy recommends, but it's a heck of a lot better than the cheap stuff I was using before. I also bought fresh OEM XL ink cartridges to print the covers. I'm done with the 3rd party ink.







Before



After

[TDIRunner]

I'm done with the 3rd party ink.

I didn't mention avoiding third party ink, but hopefully that goes without saying.   

AVOID THIRD PARTY INK.

Oh, and Fritz, I had very similar results comparing my Red River paper to my origina copy paper.  The difference is truly amazing. 

[sheep2001]

I use third party ink in my printer.  Original ink is just too pricy.