@DanielEriksson @arclight @ifixcoinops I have started and stopped this reply 3 times now - and I'm thinking this would make a fairly interesting nerdy blog post. I'd love to dig into to which parts of printing are "scams", and which parts seem-like-scams-but-really-aren't. Most importantly, what to look for in a printer for a work-from-home or consumer environment.

The main difference on the inkjet front is the obvious one - the cost of ink. In very fluffy numbers, commercial customers pay roughly 1% $/vol compared to buying cartridges at office stores or online. This alone changes the game.

But, more importantly, I don't think anyone should own one of sub-$200 inkjet printers. At an engineering level, there's not enough support systems in that box. You solve every problem by replacing the printhead. The TCOP (total cost of print) is outrageous. On the commercial side, there are cleaning/vacuuming/wiping systems, image inspection, adjacent nozzle correction, all sorts of fun stuff. Unless you are printing 5 days a week, try hard to not buy inkjet - the printhead won't stay healthy.

Compare that to the toner world, where for $500 or less, you can buy a printer which is like a full miniature copy of the commercial ones. Toner is environmentally gross (both pollution and power required), but the device works better in home / small office environments.

I've serviced and supported 7-figure commercial systems my whole career, both inkjet and toner. I should write more about it.