my point was Lasers do not have to go through head cleaning cycles and alignments... A laser can sit for a month and probably still print as good as it did a month ago a ink jet you are probably going to have to go through cleaning cycles cause at least one of the print heads has probably dried out at that time
one of the best things I did 10 years ago or more was buy my first laser and I have not looked back.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that your experiences with inkjets were with either much older inkjet models or the ultra-cheap giveaway units that many retailers try to bundle free with a PC purchase. Generally speaking, if one prints anything to the inkjet printer at least every 2-3 weeks printhead cleaning should be a real rarity (such has been my experience for 17 years).
The alignment (also called calibration or registration) procedure is common to ALL color printers, whether they be inkjet, laser, offset printers, etc. Alignment is specific to printhead nozzle (or laser drum) offsets and is only required whenever a new printhead (or laser drum) is installed, thus altering the previously stored alignment. With inkjets that use remote ink tanks, alignment/registration is only required the very first time you power up the printer and whenever the printhead unit itself is replaced (no matter how many ink tanks are used in the meantime). With laser printers, the laser drum is often incorporated into the toner cartridge so alignment/registration must be performed whenever a toner cartridge is replaced.
In older color printers (all types), and many of the ultra-cheap inkjets, it was common for the alignment procedure to be entirely manual. The user would have to manually print the alignment test sheet, then use a magnifying lense to identify the optimal offset value for each color, both vertically and horizontally. Nowadays most laser and better-quality (midrange and above) inkjet printers include internal optical sensors that will automatically perform this alignment/registration chore automagically. In the case of inkjet printers they will automatically print a test/alignment page whenever needed and then optically scan it for the necessary alignment adjustment and then spit out the page (which can then be tossed). With most color laser printers these days, the alignment/registration test pattern is printed directly onto the internal belt unit, optically scanned off the belt, then the waste toner is dumped off the belt and into the internal waste toner bin without even wasting a sheet of paper.
So, nowadays the alignment chore is mostly limited to the ultra-cheap color inkjet printers and really only becomes a headache because they tend to have very small ink reservoirs with integral printheads -- so every change of every miniscule ink cartridge requires another alignment. Since the optical sensor is often left out of these ultra-cheap inkjets this chore is left to the user and can be a hassle. However, to me the ridiculous expense of replacing these miniscule ink cartridges is a much greater headache. Even accepting one of these printers as a 'free' gift is, in my humble opinion, just throwing good money after bad. You will be much happier and save quite a lot of money over the life of the printer -- and the printer will likely have a much longer service life -- if you invest in a quality mid-range consumer or business class color inkjet printer. These better printers have much larger ink cartridges/tanks yet you pay nearly the same amount for these larger ink cartridges/tanks as you would have for the miniscule ink cartridges! These better printers are also much less prone to self-destruction upon paper jams and other anomolies since they incorporate additional sensors that detect the paper jam or servo overload and stop the printer before damage occurs.
My family has donated a number of computer systems to low-income families over the years. I have never given a low income family one of these cheap color inkjets -- even though they are often free -- because that is just asking a low income family to waste precious money senselessly on ink, which just does not sit well with me! It is cheaper to purchase an ounce of precious gold than it is an ounce of ink.
With respect to laser printers, I, too, love laser printers for most things. B&W lasers are great for a cheap business text and/or dedicated check printer (you can even install a MICR toner cartridge with magnetic toner for dedicated DIY check printing). Color lasers are great for just about anything OTHER than photo printing (photo printing is passable, but not great). We purchased our first laser printer (an HP LaserJet Series II) back in 1988, so I can certainly vouch for them.
