If all you need to print is black and white, laser is fine. Very inexpensive and cost to operate is way lower than ink jet. But if you want to print color pictures lasers are not as good at that.

I can tell they're not photo quality (though I haven't tried to print on photo paper), but they come out decently on standard paper. For the difference, I personally wouldn't pay the premium for an inkjet.

$140 to $700+, while toner costs vary but offer a lower cost-per-page, with monochrome cartridges often yielding thousands of pages for $40-$100+, and color toner costing more, making them cheaper long-term for high-volume printing despite higher initial costs than inkjet, especially if you use third-party brands.
Laser Printer Costs (Upfront)

Basic Monochrome: Around $140 - $200 (e.g., Brother HL-L2405W).
Mid-Range/Color All-in-One: $250 - $400+ (e.g., Canon imageCLASS, Brother MFC).

The toner doesn't "expire", and you get many more pages out of a cartridge. My first laser printer worked almost 20 years before I had to upgrade with a newer system (new PCs don't have parallel ports.) In that 20 years, I went through a grand total of three toner cartridges, counting the one that came with it, which lasted five years.

A couple years ago, I upgraded to a very basic color laser printer. The original three color cartridges have lasted almost that long (they were sorta light-duty ones)--I've replaced two, and the third is almost due for replacement. I bought the higher-capacity replacements, and together they actually cost more than the printer did. But I think they'll be lasting a good long time.

Yes, a laser printer is, IMHO, a much better solution.

unless you traditionally need to produce a lot of color copies. We transitioned from a color printer to the laser years ago and don't miss it at all. At the very least, the savings realized from toner cartridges versus the insanely expensive ink is worth sacrificing the ability to print in color.

I don't know what brand of inkjet printer you're currently using. But I'll share my recent experiences and you can decide what works for you. For many years I've used Canon inkjet printers that are easy to find in the office supply stores as well as Walmart and other Big Box stores. Canon inkjet printers don't cost much because they get you when you buy the color ink toners. (!!!)

However they do make nice quality color prints, if you don't print much and it's mainly photos of the grandkids etc. where color is important. Replacing those Canon inkjet toner cartridges is a snap and I found it to be rather easy. I never needed a service guy to do it for me, just take out the old empty cartridge and pop in a new one. Boom, you're ready to go.

My problems with inkjet became evident when I became the librarian for my choir and I had to print many copies of sheet music (black and white only) every month for our singers. Suddenly the replacement ink costs spiraled out of control with the inkjet printer. I had to replace my old Canon printer, and that was when I spent around $250 and bought a HP laser printer.

It's much less expensive per-sheet to print with laser, I'd estimate the laser costs about $.03 per copy vs. the inkjet that's more like $.10 per copy. The laser cartridges are easy to replace, they cost less, and they yield many more copies than my old inkjet printers did. (One thing I learned is that laser printers can overheat quickly, unlike the inkjets that never had that problem.)

If you are printing high volumes of copies like I am, yes definitely get a laser printer. If you don't print much but you want high quality printing with options in colorized printing, stick with the inkjet. BUT some home inkjet printers (Canon is one but there are several others) are very easy to replace the cartridges when the time comes.

Maybe ask your technical guy who is already familiar with your current printer ... he can probably give you good advice on which inkjets have easier toner replacements.

Mr. Noodle and I are old folks too, and find it suits our needs. There were times we wanted color and the black and white laser we had previously just fell short. We'd had color ink jet but it was breaking us to pay for the ink. Laser cartridges are a little more, but last a very long time. Unlike some others here we find the color to be great but we don't often print photos, so can't speak to that.

Printed many reams of paper on both sides very fast for local Democratic Party meetings.

Color printers may suffered from not being used enough. Only used for color charts precinct maps and color photo printing.

Felt like I spent more time cleaning than printing.

Will soon be buying another color printer.

I'm retired but I used to do tech support for biz and home users.
Good Lasers ARE more expensive but they are worth it.

They always outlast ink jet printers.
They tend to be much more reliable.
The cartridges print many more copies than you would get from a ink jet cartridge.
And the printing is generally higher quality for both black and white and color despite what some here are saying about color prints.
For proof of that go into any business that specializes in printing color and I guarantee they won't be using an ink jet printer.

The problem for someone who is not involved with technology is finding and buying a laser printer at a reasonable price and setting it up. They tend to be larger than home ink jets and may involve a bit of technical know how to get integrated into your home environment. For instance mine are network capable and I have them installed to be shared as stand alone network printers.

I have two, one HP black and white, and another HP color. I haven't used the color for quite a while. It still works. I just didn't use it all that often and to save space I've stored it in my garage. The black and white was obtained for free many years ago and has worked flawlessly ever since I installed it. I've changed the cartridge a couple times over more than 10 years. The HP color printer came from an office account I used to have. They were upgrading to a larger capacity printer and I bought it for $50. Both work over a network and are business class printers.

In my experience Ink Jet printers tend to fail frequently and the little ink cartridges cost a fortune.

If you have someone who can help you get and setup a good laser printer its the better way to go. If you don't have such a person handy, you, like most users will have to go with the more easy to obtain Ink Jet type.

Just my 2 bits. Good luck.