What the difference in digital and laser printers?

What is the difference in ink jet and laser printers as in quality speed and sound?

• Answer:

  Ink jet printers operate by spraying tiny amounts of ink directly to the paper as ink cartridges are passed repeatedly from one side of the platen to the other. In Laser printers, powdered "toner" is collected on special drums using controlled static electricity. The toner is then transferred directly to the paper where heat is used to permanently fuse the toner to the paper. In general, most laser printers will be faster and quieter than ink jets as well as much cheaper to operate for black and white text. Ink jet printers may be initially cheaper, but the cartridges are quite expensive and although a toner cartridge for a laser printer costs more than an ink cartridge, note that the toner will print many times more pages than an ink cartridge. Color laser printers are still quite expensive to operate and purchase.