When introduced for the mass market in 1984 laser printers were quite expensive. The recent 10 years the price gap between Ink jet printers and Laser printers has been reduced dramatically. In short and generally speaking the Laser printer is faster and little more expensive than Ink jet printers. The toners (color cartridges) are more expensive to buy then ink jet cartridges. On the other hand you the laser printer toners lasts longer than ink jet cartridges and often the price per page is lower if you use Laser printer. Laser printers are best for printing text and not so advanced graphics. When it comes to photography Ink jet printers normally would be the better option.