How to Calculate Cost Per Page for Laser and Inkjet Printers

Here's some information on the prices of different laser and inkjet printers, their cost per page and what to expect when planning your budget.

The price of a typical inkjet printer will be between $40 to $150. Photo-printing inkjet printers will start from $200. You will also find a few high-performance inkjet printer models in the $300-$1000 price range. In general, inkjet printers are cheaper than laser printers but as inkjet cartridges need more frequent replacement, laser printers may be less costly in the long run.

Laser printers are often much more expensive to purchase compared to inkjet printers. Monochrome laser printers start at around $200 and may go up to $2000 and color laser printers start at $1000 and may go up to $5500. Workgroup laser printers start at around $400 (for monochrome).
The MFD’s (Multifunction Devices) cost between $100 to $800 and portable laser printer prices vary between $200 to $350.

Most printers do not come with a printer cable that connects the printer to the computer. Include printer cable cost in your budget as well.
One of the major factors to consider when buying a printer is the cost per page as you will regularly need to purchase ink cartridges for your printer. Generally, laser printers’ cost per page is lower than inkjet printers (even with monochrome lasers) as ink cartridges used for inkjet printers need frequent replacement.

Typical cost of ink cartridge replacement for inexpensive inkjet printers varies between $20 to $50 and between $20 to $75 for high-end inkjet printers. So the cost per page will generally be lower with the expensive printers as they hold bigger ink cartridges that do not require frequent replacement. Before you buy a printer, you should calculate the printing cost per page by dividing the ink cartridge price by the yield. Yield is the number of pages that can be printed with one particular inkjet cartridge or toner. For example, if the price of an inkjet cartridge is $33.99 and its yield is 800 pages, then its cost per page will be $33.99/800=$0.042 (4.2 cents per page).

This article is prepared by Christy Berger that writes for PrintCountry.com. A longer version of this article can be found at Calculating True Cost of Inkjet and Laser Printing. Main idea and resources of this article is taken from PrintCountry Recycle Printer Ink Cartridges.