Printer advice

[Viena]

Hi,

I'm in need of replacing my printer in order to reduce my printing costs, I should have done this long ago but I never find the time nor the resources to find out what I'm looking for. Now that Christmas is upon us, and I could probably end up getting it as a present, I should figure out what is right for me.

I usually should print between 300 to 500 pages per month (mostly text, often with some diagrams), and with my crappy HP ink printer I end up spending about a cartridge a month, which cost me 24€. My guess is that there are much cheaper solutions around.

I would be interested in finding a printer that could get this job done in a cost efficient way. I don't really care about its initial cost, I'm looking at how much it'll cost me in the long run, and from what I've seen so far, that's not something easy to figure out.

There are a lot of cheap printers, even cheap laser ones, but that usually makes their replacements quite expensive. Usually people claim that laser printers are cheaper in the long run, some ink printers claim otherwise. Many manufacturers refuse to show the page yield of their replacements in their package. This market is so diverse as it's confusing.

I don't really know anyone I could ask advice for this, so I ended up asking here. Aside from what I've already described, it should also require to be network capable, as a good printer will probably be way more bulkier than my current one and won't fit in the room where I usually work. Color is not a requirement, but it would be a happy bonus.

If someone can point me in the right direction, I'll be thankful.

[fishstix]

With ink printer cartridges being the same price as the printer themselves these days (printer usually comes with free ink) I'd go with laser, idk anything about them though :3

About ink printers, I've gone through probably 7 in the past 10 years, with my newest one lasting about 3 years now, Epson Stylus CX4200

[toonces]

I don't know expertly about New Ink cartridges VS Laser.

But, I would go Laser, and buy your laser cartridges refurb (or refill them yourself if you don't care much of the quality, it just printing for notes and personal stuff)...

PS: I think if you refill them though, don't get greedy and only do it 3 times.. i think there is a side effect for overdoing it that can damage the printer.

[viperlasson]

+1 for laser. All my ink jet printers fail after a year or so on me. Get your toner from monoprice.com too to save some $$$.

[Isiolia]

If you take away the lowest end laser printers, you should get something that's rated for 2500-3000+ pages per black n' white toner. Some offer high capacity toner that'll last a bit longer.

Color doesn't cost that much more anymore. An extra $50-100 really. However, the costs for toners there can be ridiculous (often almost as much as black per). It's nice to have, but IMO, if your main goal is hundreds of pages of crisp text on a budget, just go with a B&W laser. For the occasional full color print, go to a print shop, or use your inkjet. Don't go to Kinko's, or whatever devil-spawn chains you have there, find a smaller shop - they'll both work with you, and cost less.

You may want to consider something like this http://www.brother-usa.com/Printer/M...uctID=hl5370dw

+

High capacity toner when the initial wears out ($120ish it looks like), which is rated for 8000 pages. The included one is rated for 3000 pages.

You'd be well into 2010 before needing to replace the toner, and the high capacity could well last you over a year.

[SephYuyX]

Go laser, and go B&W; unless you have to do color and youll die without it, stay away from color as much as possible, such a huge money drain.

Go Brother, or HP, any other brand is trash.

Do you want to scan things too? Fax, duplex, staple, etc? Or just print?

Here are some that fit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Order=REVIEWS and http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=...rnid=107433011

If you want to scan (but not fax and such) I suggest Brother 7040, if you just want printing I suggest Brother 2170W, If you need to pump out fast prints, I suggest going HP, and looking at the 200~300$ types.

With those two Brothers, you can get high yield 2500 print referbs toner for about 20$

[Pikarya]

2 posts before mine are dead on.

If you have an Office Depot nearby. They have Brother (monochrome) lasers on sale for 69.99 (usually 100).

[orinthia]

If you like ink printers more, you could invest in a continuous ink system. I have one myself for an epson cx8400 printer/scanner and it's been pretty nice. The ink tanks hold quite a bit of ink and replacement ink is really cheap.

Main problems are setting up the thing and ensuring the ink cable doesn't get jammed or obstructs the printer head as it whizzes back and forth. There are install videos on youtube that help. I got mine from cisinks.com, and it was the price of a new set of cartridges pretty much.

Just throwing that out there as it is another way to keep ink costs down, but ultimately I think either a wonderful dot matrix (jk, but they do print for-freaking-ever), or a laser printer would be less upkeep in the long run. Home laser printers are getting much cheaper nowadays as well, even in color ($200-$300 for color ones I see on google). Unfortunately I have no recommendation for a laser printer, but it wouldn't be too hard to find reviews and hopefully (refurb)toner costs.

[Isiolia]

One possible caveat with some of the cheaper lasers is that the drum units aren't rated for as long a life either. For example, the 2170W has a drum rated for 12000 pages, the one I linked to is rated for 25000 pages. Granted though, the difference in initial purchase price about makes up for the first replacement.

We've had very few complaints with the Brothers we have around though, and they're pretty cheap to boot.
Some of the cheap HPs use a very annoying driver/firmware model where the firmware is uploaded to the printer, making it very OS-dependent compared to others. If you want something compatible with multiple platforms I'd stay away from those.

[guartz]

Go laser, and go B&W; unless you have to do color and youll die without it, stay away from color as much as possible, such a huge money drain.

Go Brother, or HP, any other brand is trash.

I dunno, Samsung lasers are okay.

Speaking of Okay, Oki's printers are okay too.

[Caiyuo]

Also suggesting using a B&W laser with a color inkjet as a suitable replacement. I swapped over about a year ago and have spent a drastically lower amount on ink/toner now. The toner that shipped with the printer lasted about 3 months and am still on the first replacement purchased for it.

I believe some brands (maybe most by now?) sell the roller and toner as one for B/W lasers which helps with keeping track of replacements as well as chopping off a little on the end price.

[Viena]

Thank you for all the replies so far!

I'm still quite undecided on this, and I also a few more questions...

How long would a decently priced laser printer would last me?

Does toner dry out/become unusable if it doesn't print for a while or is stored for long? Basically I would like to know if I can benefit from those high capacity ones, as at 400 pages per month they should last me for about 2 years. Also, if I were to go the color laser way, 9000 pages color toners should last me way more than that.

Is there any way to figure which models/manufacturers use those chips that mark the toners as depleted and make the printer refuse to print even if they aren't? I'm aware that an almost depleted toner can still print albeit with faded out results, I would like being able to do that if for some reason I didn't have replacements immediately available.

I have been getting advice from some classmates at university, and right now I have three candidates for the three paths I could choose, with some research on their costs:

- Inkjet (could probably fit where I have my current printer, saves space)
HP claims that it's more cost effective than a laser printer:
HP Officejet Pro 8000 (150€)
Black cartridges: 26€/2200 pages
Color cartridges: 17€(x3)/1700 pages
B&W printing: 0.0118€/page
Color printing: 0.0482€/page

- Laser for B&W, Inkjet for color (this solution occupies space in two of my rooms, will need to maintain two printers but it's probably the most cost effective solution)
I would be considering this:
Brother HL-5350DN (255€)
Black toner: 105.56€/8000 pages
Drum: 126.42€/25000 pages
B&W printing: 0.0183€/page
Color printing: 0.0861€/page (with my current printer)

- Color laser (the only advantages of this would be saving space by getting rid of my current printer and not having to maintain the two)
I've been recommended this huge and relatively expensive printer as it offers cheaper B&W printing than most color laser printers, it's intended for small offices:
Dell 3130cn (407€)
Black cartridges: 114.84€/9000 pages
Color cartridges: 198.36€(x3)/9000 pages
B&W printing: 0.0128€/page
Color printing: 0.0789€/page

I hope I did the math correctly.

I'm totally uncertain on which path I should end up taking. Actually, HP's offer sounds like a good deal, but I'm unsure if for that price I'll end up getting a printer that will last far less than with any of the more expensive choices. Regardless, what are your thoughts for each of the three choices?

Also, having never owned a laser printer yet, is there anything important I should know about them that I'm not aware of?

Keep in mind that I'm less concerned about the initial cost of the printer than I am about the overall cost of ownership, but that's only true if the printer itself is built to last for several years.

God, I sometimes hate being a value minded person.

Thank you everyone, again.

[SephYuyX]

Laser tone lasts a very long time, ink can get a bit clogged, but a shake and a clean should do. But laser will be better.

I really do advise not getting a color printer unless you must, I also strongly suggest never getting a Dell printer. I <3 me some Dell when it comes to PCs, but their printers are absolute trash and a hassle.