Printing

[JoeyGee]

First and foremost, let me say that I HATE printing. I hate anything to do with paper, and I cannot wait until this becomes a truly paperless world.

We are not there yet, and I am still in school, so I need a printer. I am fed up with paying ridiculous amounts for ink, and the cheap disposable quality of many inkjet printers. If you try to conserve it, it dries up.

Every stinking model has it's own cartridge--a nice little designed non-compete tool, there. I am not one for conspiracy theories, but there is no reason ink should cost as much as it does. It's a racket. I've gone so far as to buy refurbed Dell printers that come with ink instead of buying just the ink. It's often cheaper.

I have gone the refill route, and have never been happy. I am intrigued by Kodak's cheap ink approach, but those printer's ratings are poor at best.

Anyway, I am looking for a decent color laser. I don't print much, but toner will last a lot longer than ink if it's not used. I would like a MFD just for the copy aspect (I don't fax on principle--it's antiquated) but its not necessary.

Anyone have one they like at a decent cost?

[pelligrini]

It is a Racket!

From what I've seen a decent Color MFP is going to run around $500 or more. Do you really need color?

I have a 15 y.o. HP Laserjet, a 2100SE. It still works like a charm. The majority of my printing is B/W. I picked up an HP inkjet for the occasional color, but like you know the cartridge is usually empty. (or dried up)

I can't really recommend anything for home use, as I have no experience. We have a couple color lasers here at the office, but they aren't really home use machines. I know the replacement toner cartridges on the older HP laserjet we have are $100 each for the 4 colors.

[radhak]

I have a inkjet (Canon MP530) for the occasional color printout, but I also got the Brother 2170W Laser for all my other prints, and I love it so much I could kiss it! It has the original cartridge even though I bought it second-hand, and after a year of usage I have yet to replace it; and they said the original print far less than the replacement cartridges.

So you are on the right track - lasers are the way to go. But I'd not go for the Multi-function. That jacks up the price for something that I never use. The Mp530 has all of it, and I've only copied a couple of pages in 2 years, and never faxed anything. But the scanner is useful, but you might be better off buying a scanner separately, and you don't need the 'copier'!

Btw, Staples was offering the 2170 for round $79 sometime ago. Thanksgiving is a good time to hunt.

[phrog]

I cannot tell you how many printers I went through before I got a Canon IP 4000. I have had it for four or five years and love it. It uses five different ink cartridges; so when one color runs out you don't throw out the other colors that are not empty as you do with printers that have only one color cartridge. The cartridges are about $13 or $14 each. Unfortunately, this particular model is no longer available but I think that Canon still makes some models that use separate cartridges rather than one color and one black. I also have an HP Laser B&W that I use only occasionally. I use the Canon to print B&W also most of the time.

[sparkeyjames]

First and foremost, let me say that I HATE printing. I hate anything to do with paper, and I cannot wait until this becomes a truly paperless world.

We are not there yet, and I am still in school, so I need a printer. I am fed up with paying ridiculous amounts for ink, and the cheap disposable quality of many inkjet printers. If you try to conserve it, it dries up.

Every stinking model has it's own cartridge--a nice little designed non-compete tool, there. I am not one for conspiracy theories, but there is no reason ink should cost as much as it does. It's a racket. I've gone so far as to buy refurbed Dell printers that come with ink instead of buying just the ink. It's often cheaper.

I have gone the refill route, and have never been happy. I am intrigued by Kodak's cheap ink approach, but those printer's ratings are poor at best.

Anyway, I am looking for a decent color laser. I don't print much, but toner will last a lot longer than ink if it's not used. I would like a MFD just for the copy aspect (I don't fax on principle--it's antiquated) but its not necessary.

Anyone have one they like at a decent cost?

If you can do without color then get a black only laser printer. The cartridge on mine is good for 6500 sheets at 20% coverage. Been a laser user for the last 6 years or so. Your not going to escape the high cost if you want color. Gave up color when a full set of cartridges for my inkjet cost me $20 for a black cartridge and $35 for a combined 3 color cartridge (cyan magenta yellow) and I only got a couple of hundred sheets out of it. To say the least I was not happy.
The self cleaning of the heads by the inkjet printers chews up so much ink it's not funny. A 6500 sheet cartridge for my black only laser printer runs $70 do the math. Got used to not having color on the printouts and I must say I don't miss it at all.

Not sure if I have my old inkjet or not but I heard about a cool project that turns old inkjets into circuit board printers.
If I can find it I may give it a go.

[JoeyGee]

It is a Racket!

From what I've seen a decent Color MFP is going to run around $500 or more. Do you really need color?

I have a 15 y.o. HP Laserjet, a 2100SE. It still works like a charm. The majority of my printing is B/W. I picked up an HP inkjet for the occasional color, but like you know the cartridge is usually empty. (or dried up)

I can't really recommend anything for home use, as I have no experience. We have a couple color lasers here at the office, but they aren't really home use machines. I know the replacement toner cartridges on the older HP laserjet we have are $100 each for the 4 colors.

Unfortunately, I have kids that do a lot of projects for school or other activities, so color is needed. I would love to have a laser B&W as a workhorse, and keep a color inkjet MFD for occasional use, but again, the ink would dry out if it sits .

Years ago I worked at a place that was dumping all their LJ4's. I wish I would have snagged a couple with all the unopened toner. Those things are tanks that last forever.

[cwsmith]

I was using an Epson C80 Ink Jet, which was relatively inexpensive and uses separate color cartridges (black, yellow, magenta, cyan). It was ideal and the color cartridges were about $17 per color. But, I now have to order cartridges through the internet, which I don't like.

I agree that an inexpensive black HP laser would be great and I think a replacement cartridge is around $75, but it's been awhile since I priced those, so I may well be wrong. But even that can get expensive, considering the "cost" at the time. While it may last a long time, I'm not so sure I can afford to layout that kind of money at the time I may need it. (Heck, I was finding it difficult to justify the $17 for a new color replacement... how is $75 to $100 going to sit?)

I have learned to "print" very little. Hey, we live in a very modern age... with E-mail and electronically Fax, I see very few times to print anything. A single package of paper will literally last me three or four years. The secret of course is to question why you need a "printed" copy of anything.

I find sending a PDF or similar digital copy is often sufficient for most "printed" demands. (I bought the Adobe software years ago, for less than price of a printer, and it still serves me quite well.)

The other paper saver that I employ weekly, is my little Visioneer flatbed scanner, which came with PaperPort software (I bought that scanner for about $35 at the time.). Anything I need copies of are scanned and electronically filed and kept on my hard drive, with a CD backup. They are a lot easier to file, find, and PDF or FAX to anyone needing a "copy".

You no longer have to buy Adobe, as I believe it's capabilities are part of the Open Office package.

I hope this helps,

CWS

[herb fellows]

I also have a Canon mp500 inkjet.
The cost of ink drove me crazy! They should be giving away the printers for free, the jnk is where all the profit is!

After 2 years, I finally found a outside supplier for cartridges that actually work! 2 years, no problems. Out of 15 cartridges, I still have 9 left!
Canon ink = $12-15 per cartridge
My replacement cartridges = - $ 3.00 a cartridge with free shipping.
Not only are they 1/4 to 1/5th the price, they seem to last longer on top of that! I know, it sounds too good to be true.

The Canons have a chip on them and these do also, they have worked flawlessly for me.

Seller is inkmarts on ebay; 15 cartridges for $ 37.50, same price it was 2 years ago!

Here's a link if interested, then go to his store to see if he has what you need

http://cgi.ebay.com/PGI-5-CLI-8-Prin...item3ef820adc1

[cabinetman]

On one desktop we have a Lexmark that takes 2 cartridges. If the printer isn't used for a while, there must be a date/used notation to render the cartridge inactive, even though there may still be ink in them. It's a racket.

LOML got a HP Photosmart C6180 All-In-One. It takes 6 cartridges for color and black. There is a message when one needs replacing. They cost about $9.95 each.
.

[sparkeyjames]

(Heck, I was finding it difficult to justify the $17 for a new color replacement... how is $75 to $100 going to sit?)

CWS

You have to remember that your not going to replace that 60-70 dollar laser cartridge but once every few years or longer. My first 3500 page cartridge (it came with the printer) made it through almost 6 years. I'll probably still be using the 6500 page cartridge, I just put in 8 months ago, 5 or more years from now. At one and one half cents per page I can live with that.

[LinuxRandal]

I have a Brother HL-1440 that was bought sometime between 04 and 06. I believe it came out in 2003 and I got it towards the end of them being readily available for $100 after rebate. The first toner cartridge (the one that ships with them) is traditionally not a full toner cartridge. I replaced it 13 months later with a new high capacity cartridge. This summer, I finally bought cartridge number 3 and I went to the refill toner store.
I would like color, but honestly, partially filled cartridges and my limited use make me just go use my parents inkjet, or one of those printing stores/picture machines.

A kid I know, had to buy a USB key for schoolwork, so you might even look into something like that if the kids are old enough to have keys (print what is needed as school, or turn it in electronically).

SO what I am blathering is could you buy a black laser, teach the kids to use it for text etc. and keep your old one for the occasional school project?

[radhak]

The effective cost of printing with Laser is way lower than the cost on Inkjet. We don't print much at home, but I still had to buy the 4 ink cartridges for the Canon at least twice a year. At around $15 non-OEM (or $25 OEM) for each, that's half the printer cost annually. The toner cartridge will only cost me around $40 OEM online, or $25 non-OEM, and will last many years.

But if you don't have any printer and will definitely want color, I guess you could justify getting single color laser instead of a bw laser and a color inkjet. I've had my eye on the Brother HL-4070CDW and it seems to be well liked, or its lesser sibling HL-4040CN.

Remember, the size and weight of the color laser is much more than the b/w or the inkjet. You might want to check it out in a store and mark out a place for it at home first (I can assure you that what looks reasonable at the store will feel gigantic at home!). For me, the size would be a deal breaker.

Also, generally the black text on a color laser is less sharp than on a b/w, unless you are buying the top of the line like at your office. But unless you are a perfectionist, you may not mind.

If you want to check out a MFD, you could check out the MFC-9320CW at staples; it is around the same price and footprint. Just remember, with more functionality, the price should go up; if not, the quality suffers.

Do use pricegrabber or something to check prices for these and others, or wait till Thanksgiving; or do what I do : troll your craigslist listings !

[jziegler]

Seeing as I have a b&w laser, a color laser, and a color multifunction inkjet at home, I guess I should answer this. B&W laser is the best value and by far the lowest cost per page if b&w is all you need. In fact, if you are mostly printing b&w with a little color, get a b&w laser plus a cheaper color inkjet and only use the inkjet when you need color.

We got the color laser recently for marketing materials for a new business my wife has started. We got a Konica-Minolta 1600W, which sells for around $120 when on sale. Output quality is good, the price was good. It gets good reviews. The downside is that the toner cartridges that it includes are "starter" toner cartridges only good for around 500 pages. The full capacity replacements (5000 pages, I think) cost a bit over $300 for a set of 4. Price per page is still much lower than a typical inkjet, and for business graphics, the output quality is better. Inkjets are much better for photos. The b&w laser is still getting used for b&w printing, as it is really cheap to run.

Best pricing I found on genuine konica-minolta cartridges for that printer were from B&H photo-video. We've only had the printer a month or so, but the heavy printing of marketing materials has depleted the small starter toner quickly, but for more moderate use, it would last several months to a year.

[LinuxRandal]

Some of you guys have money. I have never seen, let alone can I afford a black and WHITE laser printer. I bet that white toner is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[sscherin]

Forget ink.. go with a laser printer.. get a used flat bed scanner off Ebay if you need to "copy" anything..

I have a Oki C5200N Color laser.. I think the new model is the C330DN
It's a single pass color laser with 3 color toners and a black toner..

The Oki is cool because the toner cartridges are separate pieces from the imaging drums
The black is cheep.. $30-$50 depending on where you get it.
I can get refilled color toner packs for $120..

The original set of demo toner it came with new lasted us 3 years..about 2000 pages..
The refill set should be good for 5000-6000 pages depending on how we use it.

You can get the C330DN for $350
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...px?EDC=2129014

Read the review here
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardw...le.php/3907266
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...px?EDC=2129014