New Laser Printer options

Rozmataz

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
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Fingerlakes Region of NYS
My 3 year old laser printer has been "acting up" and I thought it died last night, but it made a quick recovery - by some miracle. I don't think it will last, so rather than wait or purchase "in a panic" does anyone recommend a particular model... I somehow prefer HP but am open to other lines.

I have a b/w laser (would love a color laser printer, but don't think I can spend that much)..

Do alot of my own printing for ads, graphics, signs in the store, cards, letters, etc - so the printer definitely gets a workout!

Thanks
 
We've had our HP Laserjet5000 for 5 years and it has been very reliable. We've gone through quite a few inkjets over the years before we bought the laser printer. We've also had one inexpensive laser printer quit on us after only 3 years. The 5000 is an expensive printer, but worth the cost for the amount of paper we've put through. We also do all our own printing. We've probably spent more on cheap printers that didn't last than we did on the HP.

We also have a Xerox Phaser color printer that we lease. Instead of toner, it uses colored wax, which we have to buy. The quality of the printing is quit good, the lease program isn't. We have to print a minimum 2000 pages a month or get charged an underusage fee. We fax the report in once a month and if it is late we also get assess a fee. Problem is, even when we fax it in on time, it sometimes gets recorded for the wrong date and we get charged. Then I have to make an irrate phone call to them and get the charges dropped.
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Go to PC Mag and check out their product reviews. They break it down by upfront cost, and long term costs. It doesn't matter for example that you can buy a color printer for $60 if it will eat ink and cost you $300 and year "to feed".

I bought a color ink jet a few years ago on their recommendation. It cost around $100 but it was the best and the cheapest to run over time.

I just went to their site PC Mag.com and it was even easier to check out the reviews than I remembered! I have always relied on their suggestions, and haven't been let down yet!
 
OOH --- Here's a good Color Laser for around $400 - $500!
Also saw $100 - $200 B&W Lasers on their site! Now you got me drooling because my ink jet is out of ink, and hmmm, <small>could get one of these for the cost of another year's worth of ink....<small> **** where's my Visa????,</small></small>
 
I cannot resist the plug…….about my favourite company….

You could do worse than look at the Dell options for Laser Printers…….by all counts Dell are now a major player for printers and are taking that part of there business very seriously.

Have a look http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/laser?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

I have one of the first P1500 (new model is 1700)(I'm getting a 3000 soon) that arrived in Europe and I have not had a moments trouble with it…….and their delivery on ink cartridges is superb ………I needed a cartridge two weeks ago, I ordered it online at Dell's Irish site at 3.05pm on a Thursday at 3.45pm the following day the courier arrived (DHL in Ireland) the cartridge had been shipped from the UK…..this was just unbelievable by the standard of delivery we can expect generally (not just Dell) in Ireland …..why you may ask do I have such precise details of the transaction …….Jean my wife had asked me to monitor it as she wanted to give some feed back to the Director at Dell who has responsibility for the operation of this part of Dell.

BTW in the US most Dell printer consumables will ship out of the new warehouse/hub I think it is Ohio ….it is the Mid West in any case where the new consumable hub is located…….and Dell includes free (UPS at present in the US) shipping to return the exhausted cartridge for recycling or safe disposable ..

And some more good news in the US which includes printers......
.....Dell Home Customers: Get free ground (3-5 day) shipping on peripheral items over $79
Expires Thursday, March 03, 2005

Good luck

Dermot
 
Step into the speed and reliability for a heck of a lot cheaper.... go inkjet at a "small business" level... I'll never go back to laser.
 
Laser printers are what I personally suggest for a POS. The cost per page is a fraction of inkjet, with a much higher resolution and quicker speed. Reliability will be better. Most low end lasers will print about 15-20 pages per minute.

These days you can find laser printers as low as $80 at places like www.techbargains.net or www.spoofee.com, INCLUDING a toner cart. If it breaks, toss it out and get another


We use a brother multi-function unit in our shop, which has a laser. (also contains the store fax, scanner, etc) We couldn't be happier with its reliability or performance in the past 3 years. As a backup, we have an old HP LaserJet 6 that sits in a closet. We use that once in a while for mailings, because it handles postcards well. Our brother is a MFC device but is based on their 1440 laser engine.

If you do spring for a new one, maybe the old printer can be kept nearby in case of an emergency/breakdown. (since it still works) Just an idea.

Happy hunting!
Mike
 
We have used a Brother 1440 for the last few years. We set the default to draft, 50% toner and 300dpi for POS printed and change it manually for higher quality needs. The toner cartridge lasts for 12-18 months; unlike inkjet cartridges which last only weeks. It feeds postcards relatively well also.

OfficeMax has them every few weeks for less than $100.

Our Dell inkjet is a pain in the butt because cartridges only come from Dell and seem to be much more expensive that others; not to mention the lack of convenience when you run out of ink on the weekend.
 
Originally posted by Rick Bergeron - CPF:

Our Dell inkjet cartridges only come from Dell and seem to be much more expensive that others;
Rick

This is not accurate or true, in fact like Lexmark inkjet cartridges, Dell Cartridges have more ink in them and last longer than most of their competitors, hence the “feeling” that Dell cartridges are more expensive than some of the other makes…………

Rgs

Dermot
 
We do alot of printing and literally burned out an inkjet printer a year from the amount of printing we did with it. Our laser printers have lasted alot longer. Gary's brother repairs printers and copy machines and says it's not worht fixing most inkjets, if they even can be fixed. He refurbished old laser printers and resells them, but not old inkjets. We found that with inkjets, even the best ones, quickly develop banding problems that are bothersome if you want to have a good quality to your printing. The only inkjet we currently have is an Epson 1280 that is used with archival inks to print black and white. It's very fussy and needs frequent tweaking to print properly. My HP Laserjet has been a real work horse and other than changing cartridges, has needed little maintence. It does occasionally "eat" a sheet of paper, but that's never a real problem.
 
Unless you want a very high volume printer, buy a mid level HP laser. The low end ones don't last as long as they should, but I have been very happy with HP when I have bought the next tier up. I have 2 hp2100 printers that are a few years old and have no problems at all. I also have an hp Laser jet 3200 that is a fax/scanner/printer that has been wonderful for about three years.
 
I completely agree

HP's newest low end stuff is really bad. Their mid and high end line will last years.

I have multiple jobs. At one of my other offices we still have 7 HP LaserJet IIIs, which have been in 24/7 operation since 1987 or so. I'm sure they'll easily pass 20 years of reliable service.
 
I have had an email and from its content, I gather that I may have given the impression in an earlier post that the Lexmark cartridges would fit some of the Dell printers, this is not the case, Dell cartridges are for Dell branded printers and Lexmark are for Lexmark branded printers.

There are some similarities in appearances of some products as Dell use Lexmark to build some of their printer products lines including some of the cartridges.

Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

Regards

Dermot
 
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