Laser Printers for Home ...Who Makes the most economical with decent printing?

[Michigan Badger]

I'm sick of inkjet printers. Not only does ink suck but the cartridges are sky high and those print heads love to plug up.

This is for home use and I don't need a big commercial job.

Any suggestions?

 

[The Beep Goes On]

I have an HP color laser (CM1415fnw) that works well. Inkjets are better for photos, though.

 

[mikeofaustin]

Incidentally, I went through the entire 'print invoices on ink jet and get sick of it'. Because the ink is very expensive and you have to keep it running or it'll dry up and clog...

Today, lasersjets are very cheap. I got one off of craigslist... for 80 bucks. the only bad part about it was that it is very, very heavy. But, it's a industrial machine, but the toner will last a LOT longer than ink. And, the print quality appears just sooo much more proffesional than ink jet. The machine I got (looking now) 'color laserjet 4500dn'. IT's a beast... probably a couple hundred pounds. But the print quality is pro quality. Be forwarned though, I had to update various parts in the unit becuase the past owner ignored it and got very bad quality prints... but, the parts are on ebay. In fact, I 'rebuilt' my entire unit for under 50 bucks.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Thanks guys, these comments are helpful.

According to what others have told me, the two best brands seem to be HP and Brother (for small home size units).

Many have told me the older machines were just as good as the newer models (B&W print quality) and some were cheaper to maintain.

Badger

 

[The Beep Goes On]

It really depends on your priorities. I wanted more than a printer and fewer devices hanging off my cpu. It is wireless and prints, scans, copies and faxes. I've put 220g/m2 paper through without a problem. These types are called 'hydras' since they are multifunction. For printing capability alone, it depends on how fast you need it to be (assuming similar mfr quality) as to how much you'll pay, in general. Also duplex capability. I have to flip my paper manually to print on both sides, Mike's will do duplex natively, I think.

 

[Frankn]

Well, here's the scoop. I worked in the industry for a while. Laser referres to the method of moving the image. It can be used with ink jets or xerographic transfer methods. The xerographic machines are much heavier, use a dry toner and a drum or belt to produce an image which is plastic melted into the paper with heat or pressure. They also require a cleaning system and regular maintenance. The ink jets are much simpler and only require cartridge and sometimes head replacement. Only get an inkjet copier that has individual ink cartridges. This will save you big bucks in ink purchasing. I have 2 Ink jet printers, an HP 130 design jet which is a commercial 24" printer and a Cannon i900D 11" printer for pictures. Both use 6 ink cartridges. I have one cheap,$35 new dell copier It was truly cheap, but they make it on the ink. By the way! copiers copy on the glass and usually from a computer and/or camera. Printers don't copy from a glass surface.
The latest thing is Wi Fi copying, ie no wires. I am presently converting over to Wi Fi . I have a unit that fits in the palm of my hand that can hook up 6 devices like computer, printer, external hard drive, card readers, etc. Two of my computers work on the hot spot device and any new equipment will also. The hot spot device is 4Glte which is fast. The new HP copiers really look good. Hope this helped. Frank

 

[jerseyben]

I own this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110798234292

Got great reviews and you cannot beat the price either.
Good luck!

 

[George (MN)]

We've only used ink jet printers. My only regret with the Brother MF240C is it can't do printing on both sides to save on paper & make documents half as thick. I see some now that print on both sides for $90 or so.

The worst trick some inkjet mfrs play is you get your inkjet printer almost free, but they somehow designed the cartridge area so only their ink will work. Before buying a printer, I look on a website that sells cheap generic cartridges & see if they have some that works for the printer I'm considering. Paid about $2-3 each for ink cartridges last time. I just type in search box to find the cheapest suppliers.

There is a deep cleaning in the machine process for taking care of bad print, but it might use up about half a cartridge. If that doesn't work, the typeset face can be removed on some models anyway, but I forgot what someone told me to use to clean it.

I don't know if lasers printers require mfrs brand only of toner. I guess good places to research are Amazon, CNet & likely many more sites. Some of the places that call themselves office supply stores employ knowledgeable people. Maybe Microcenter computer store, too, but they only have 23 stores & website. Best wishes, George (MN)

 

[Frankn]

George, Here's a few notes. The cheap ink is OK for a temporary copy, but it FADES. If the cartridge stops up don't use deep cleaning, just remove the cartridge and set it on a bounty paper towel and move it around WITHOUT applying any pressure. This will usually clean the printhead. Most mfgr. sell 1/2 full and full cartridges, get the full ones. LASERS is a term often missused. It can actually have a laser scanning head on a copier or a laser printing head. All the new xerographic "dry" copiers and printers use laser technology to move the image. The toner or dry ink is a plastic powder that is melted into the paper. This technology requires regular maintenance. All inkjets will 2 side copy, just turn the paper over and put it back in. Frank

 

[stefen]

I own this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110798234292

Got great reviews and you cannot beat the price either.
Good luck!

So do i

 

[Michigan Badger]

I own this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110798234292

Got great reviews and you cannot beat the price either.
Good luck!

WOW!

Thanks a bunch for this link!

 

[Frankn]

It's just black and white ! Don't you do any pictures? I got the DELL V313 for $35 new and it copies from the glass, from my computer and it scans docs into computer It enlarges/reduces and more. Frank

 

[stefen]

Depending on your needs, I find that the black ink ~ Brother HL-2240 Standard Laser Printer is an instant hit in our household.

We have several Hp color printers/fax/copier that are a total waste and find that the toner replacement is exceedingly costly. The only reason we are keeping the Hp's is for foto copies...other than that B & W is more than adequate.

The Brother printer was up and working in about 5 minutes...more than I can say about the Hp's. In addition, it prints at about 22 ppm and holds about 250 sheets of paper...wheras the Hp's hold about 20 sheets and are exceedingly slow...I mean snoring slow

 

[Frankn]

The up and running speed of a new printer is much faster. They more or less have built in drivers and recent computers just about know them instantly. The older copiers had optical pickup so they had to scan the original for each copy . This is one reason they were slow. The newer copiers use laser scanners so they only have to scan once and make the copies from memory. A much faster system.
The latest is WiFi hookups" no wires ". I am getting a mobile hotspot that connects up to 6 units like computers,printers, etc. They go for about $40 a month for up to 5 Gigs of internet traffic. They are portable, battery operated and fit in the palm of your hand. Frank

 

[mikeofaustin]

I beg to differ with all the inkjet lovers here. You see, ink costs more than gold. In some cases, you can buy another brand new printer with ink already installed for lower than the price of replacement ink. Laser is the way to go. sure, it's big, but instead, buy a used one. I've migrated to color lazer a long time ago and have never regreted it. Also, does the term "CLogged Nozzles" ring a bell? sure it does. You won't have that with laser. I absolutely hate ink jet printers and will never go back.

 

[Frankn]

Well Mike, You talk about the price of ink now lets talk about the cost of a dry powder imager machines. That powder isn't cheap either plus there's the cost of the drum module or belt which is quite high. then there's the maintance which has to be done on a repeated time cycle or the machine cakes up. Then there's the high ozone output which most don't mention. There is the heat outptin the summer. I can clean a clogged ink spray nozzle in about 5 minutes, but that high voltage arc in the dry machines can be costly. Frank

 

[mikeofaustin]

Well Mike, You talk about the price of ink now lets talk about the cost of a dry powder imager machines. That powder isn't cheap either plus there's the cost of the drum module or belt which is quite high. then there's the maintance which has to be done on a repeated time cycle or the machine cakes up. Then there's the high ozone output which most don't mention. There is the heat outptin the summer. I can clean a clogged ink spray nozzle in about 5 minutes, but that high voltage arc in the dry machines can be costly. Frank

Actually, you are wrong. There's a 'heater' or 'fuser' that melts the powder onto the paper, but no high voltage, and it's only one when you print. Now, the toner cost... I can buy all 4 colors off of ebay for about 15 a peice, and they'll last forever (or, a couple thousand sheets). The drum? the recommended replacement on it is 100K pages. So, lets be real about my own purchase of a color laser.... I bought a used one for 80 bucks. Now normally, you'd get a good unit for that price, but mine needed all the 'service' parts replaced becuase the guy actually scammed me. But, I didn't mind that much because I simply replaced all of those peices, and essentially got a brand new machine, for less than 100 bucks. AND, it will be fine for probably tens of thousands of color prints. Now, ink jet... you print 100 copies with little color, and you already need to buy another cartriage for 40 bucks. and that's probably only one color.