Toner-based printers are called as such because of the use of toners for printing. Toners are a kind of powder that is made out of either carbon or synthetic polymers. Originally, toner-based printers are only able to print text and images in black and white. It was only recently that colored toners have been manufactured allowing these printers to print text and images in black and white and colored.

How do Toner-Based Printers Work?

An electrostatic charge is distributed evenly around a light-sensitive device in the printer called a drum. The image or text that is to be printed on the paper or board is then projected on the drum through some form of light source. This light source keeps the static charge on the drum to stay on the drum. Any portion of the drum that is not lighted will loose the electrostatic charge that was distributed when the printer was started. The paper or board is then fed. The toner, being in powder form, is immediately caught on the drum and then transferred onto the paper.

There are two kinds of toner-based printers that are available in the market today. The most common is the laser printer. These use laser beams that precisely lights the drum surface during the printing process. Because of this, it is able to produce high quality text and images.

The other kind of toner-based printer is the LED printer. The only difference between this kind of printer and a laser printer is the light source. Instead of using laser beams, these printers use LED light to project the image and text onto the light-sensitive drum.

Common Brands of Toner-Based Printers

The most common brands of toner-based printers used today are:

Hewlett-Packard

Canon

Epson

Brother

Lexmark

Advantages of Toner-Based Printers

One of the advantages of using toner-based printers is their ability to print on both pages of the paper, allowing many users to cut their paper usage by half. This ability has also lessened the bulkiness of the end printing materials like reports and manuals.

Another advantage of toner-based printers is that they are not prone to water damage that is normally experienced by users of liquid inkjet printers.

Disadvantages of Toner-Based Printers

Many health experts have stated that using toner-based printers can cause a number of health problems which is not experienced by those that use other kinds of printers. This is because these printers use toners which are made of extremely fine particles.

Another disadvantage is the cost. Although these printers are able to provide high quality printed text and images, the initial cost of buying these kinds of printers are higher than other kinds of printers. Even the toner cartridges, especially colored toner cartridges, are more expensive than inkjet cartridges.