Advantages
and Disadvantages of Solid Ink
Advantages of Solid Ink:
Print
quality
Solid ink produces
vibrant colors and remarkable print quality on a wide range of media such
as cardstock, envelopes, transparencies, recycled paper.
Safe to
handle
Solid ink sticks are safe
to use and handle. They are made of non-toxic vegetable oils and they
won’t melt in your hands. Unlike inkjet or laser cartridges, they won’t
leak or spill.
Environmentally friendly
When the solid ink sticks
are used up, there is no empty cartridge left. Xerox claims that solid
ink produces 90% less waste compared to toner cartridges. After 100,000
prints, a color laser can produce 157 pounds of waste while a solid ink
printer produces only 5 pounds.
Easy ink
loading
Xerox makes solid ink
sticks in different shapes so the color sticks only go to the right slot.
The ink slots are placed on the top of the printer, you can replace the
ink at any time, even during printing.
Compact
design
A solid ink printer only
consists of 3 main assemblies: the print head, the print drum and the
controller. There are fewer parts to maintain and repair. The printer is
more compact and takes up less space than a color laser printer.
Fast print
speed
Solid ink printer has
fast “throughput” – the time between clicking the “print” button and
seeing the print job come out. When warmed up, solid ink has one of the
fastest first-page-out times. In general, solid ink printers can print up
to 30 pages per minute.
Affordability
Solid ink printers and
their consumables are more affordable than color laser printers and color
toner cartridges.
Disadvantages of Solid Ink:
Warm up
time
It may take a few minutes
to warm up the printer.
Permanence
The solid ink prints are
sensitive to UV light and color may fade under sunlight over time.
Power
consumption
Compared to laser
printer, solid ink printers consume more power to heat up the inks and
keep them at the melting point.
Print surface
The solid
ink wax paints on the surface of print media, creating a slight raised
surface. It is difficult to highlight or write on the printed text or
images.
Volume printing
Solid ink
printers are better used for high volume printing. If the printer is
turned off, it will take several minutes to warm up again. If left idle
for a long time, the printer will keep burning ink.
Advantages and disadvantages of solid ink
Solid ink vs color inkjet vs color laser
