When you’re printing shipping labels, simpler is usually better, so thermal printers are likely best for most needs, though both methods can be used successfully.
When you’re considering shipping label printers, it’s a good idea to look beyond the purchase price at all the other costs you’re likely to incur over the lifetime of the printer.
While printers can vary wildly in cost based on features, brand names, and other variables, typically you won’t find significant differences between thermal and laser printers in upfront cost.
Laser printers are more complicated—and that means more wear and tear as well as more supplies. You’ll need to replace toner cartridges from time to time, and while you won’t need special paper, laser printers really weren’t built for adhesive-backed sheets. That means the adhesive bleeds out into the guts of your printer over time, so you’ll have to hire a pro to clean it out now and then or risk constant jams and other productivity killers.
Thermal printers, on the other hand, are about as simple as it gets—and that means fewer worries over the long run. You will need to get special thermal label paper, but it costs about the same as label paper for other printers, and often less. Better still, the simplicity of thermal printers means that they last longer, with less maintenance, than laser printers. This can add up to hundreds of dollars over the lifetime of the printer and usually tips the scales toward thermal printing for shipping labels for most businesses.
Thermal printing is almost always faster than laser printing. The process is much simpler for thermal printing, and while print times can vary widely between models, you should still see 5-6x faster speeds with thermal printers.
Also, laser printers require a short warm-up time before they can start. The more runs you need to perform, the more this will affect your time per label. That is, if you’re just running one big job per day, this wont really be much of an issue, but it can still add up.
It’s hard to say definitively, because every model is different and every user is different. Still, if you’re looking for something that will last, thermal printers are the safest bet. Printer lifespan depends on two primary factors:
Yes, eventually. All moving parts eventually give out, but you are more likely to see problems with the thermal print head than with the motor that runs your labels over it. Proper maintenance can help preserve the print head for many years. This means using the right labels, keeping the machine and its environment clean and temperature-controlled, and following the maintenance procedures recommended by your manufacturer. If you do everything right, you should get many years of service from your thermal printer.
That depends on how many labels you’re printing. Expect several thousand sheets of stickers per cartridge, so if you’re just printing a dozen per day, one cartridge could last a couple of years. But as you scale up, you may find that you need to replace cartridges every few months.
Technically yes—but you’ll end up with all-black pages because the fuser will activate the thermal paper at the final stage. It may be good for practical jokes, but not much else.
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