CD laser printers are quite expensive, so it’s only right that you shop around before deciding on a brand. But watch out – price is not everything. A CD laser printer with a cheap price tag may cost you more money in the long run.

Budget printers are cheap for one major reason – they come with very few pages of toner. Most low-cost printers have only 2,000 pages or less, meaning that you have to replace the toner more often than you would in a more expensive brand. Toners can cost as much as $800. If you buy a cheap CD laser printer for $600 and then pay $800 for additional toner pages, you are really spending $1,400. So if you expect to print a large volume regularly, investing in a high-end printer with more toner pages and lower running cost per page may be more sensible.

Budget CD laser printers typically have less built-in memory, so they may have a harder time printing heavier images (or worse, be unable to print them). If you have to print high-resolution designs, go for CD laser printers that have around 320 MB. Such printers can easily process difficult images without missing a dot and even print watermark images. They’re very useful not just for CD printing, but also for professional-looking posters and flyers. Many CD laser printers feature two-sided monochrome printing – if you need such a feature, expect to pay a little more. Also check if it can be adapted to allow sharing via Ethernet connection. This is very important if multiple users share the unit.

CD laser printers for office and commercial use need to have hardwearing casing if they are to last years of use and abuse. They should have a manual paper feed, so that they can be used if the auto feeder breaks.