14/06/2026
Before You Buy a Printer, Understand What You Are Really Paying For.
Many printer buyers experience buyer’s remorse not because the printer is bad, but because they misunderstood the specifications before buying.
At Laser Charge Limited, we believe the right printer is not simply the cheapest one. It is the printer that fits your workload, budget, and long-term printing needs.
1. Purchase Price vs Cost of Ownership
A printer may be cheap to buy, but expensive to run.
Before buying, consider the cost of ink or toner, cartridge yield, maintenance parts, availability of supplies, and the number of pages you expect to print every month.
The real question is not only:
“How much is the printer?”
The better question is:
“How much will this printer cost me to use over time?”
2. Recommended Monthly Volume vs Maximum Monthly Volume
Many buyers confuse these two.
Maximum monthly volume is the highest number of pages a printer can handle occasionally. It is not the number you should print every month.
Recommended monthly volume is the more important figure. It tells you the workload the printer is actually designed to handle comfortably and reliably.
Buying based only on maximum monthly volume can lead to slow performance, breakdowns, and unnecessary maintenance costs.
3. Printer Speed: PPM vs IPM
Printer speed can also be misunderstood.
Laser printers usually show speed in PPM, meaning pages per minute. This is because laser printers work more like page engines, printing complete pages at a steady rate.
Inkjet printers often show speed in IPM, meaning images per minute. This is usually based on more standardised testing of real office documents, because older inkjet speed claims could be misleading when based on draft mode.
In simple terms:
PPM = how many pages per minute.
IPM = how many printed page images per minute.
For one-sided printing, the two may look similar. But in real life, speed depends on what you print: black text, colour documents, graphics, photos, duplex pages, or high-quality prints.
So don’t just ask:
“How fast is it?”
Ask:
“How fast is it for the type of work I actually print?”
The bottom line:
A good printer purchase is not just about today’s price. It is about total cost of ownership, proper workload matching, realistic speed, and long-term reliability.
At Laser Charge Limited, we help you choose wisely before you buy.
Laser Charge Limited
Products You Can Trust, Service You Can Rely On.
📞 Contact us for printer sales, supplies, advice, and support.
