Solid Ink printers are very good, but in a very focused way, they are not for the typical user, and sadly, were not sold as such. They were sold as better, and in general, they weren't/aren't. They have their place for sure, but their place isn't in an office that does spreadsheets.
They were designed to be green, considerably less waste was the goal, and they do so, the toxicity is vastly lower, the waste that comes out is essentially solid plastic/wax, and it is sold in solid chunks, there is no container of plastic and electronics to be disposed of. they don't use solvents so they are in general theory healthier for the environment. They were never meant to be considered cheaper to operate, but some people did say that, because you are not paying for the added ink packaging, and didn't have to pay disposal fees. But they were/are not cheaper than toner based devices really, just ink based, which they never competed against.
Primarily they should be used for graphics and photos, preferably ones that won't be handled, because as you mentioned, they can be scratched relatively easy (The first generation inks scratched when you slid 2 pieces of paper together.
But the primary disadvantage is the low melt point, they become liquid at a low temp to make it cheaper and use less energy, but that means they can't be run through a laser printer without melting the ink on the page
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Joe Arseneau
