Posted: 2/27/2004 2:35:47 PM EDT
| Any recommendations for a reasonably priced, yet fairly decent laser printer? This will be for home/light business use. Is 1200x1200 going to handle most need? I would like it to handle envelopes and different sizes of paper. Currently looking at about $300, but am willing to spend a little more for a good quality printer. Of course, cheaper is always better. Thanks for the input. |
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You might consider a used model. Many of the office/workgroup printers will print millions of pages between overhauls, and repair/maintenance kits for them are still available. I strongly recommend any laser printer built around the Canon EX print engine (the ones in bold are the most popular): Acom MC5812 Anzac 3008/3010/3012 [b]Apple LaserWriter 16/600, Pro 600/630[/b] Brother 960/1260, HL-1260 DX/NE Canon 1260/P-270 Canon 8 MARK IV/860/1260/EX Canon LBP-1260/P-270 Canon LBP-8 MARK IV/LBP-860/LBP-1260/LBP-EX Genicom 7612/7612 I/9080 [b]Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4/4 Plus, 4M/4M Plus Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5/5M/5SE/5N[/b] DEC Declaser 5100 DEC LN-09 Decision Data IS-682-4C Lee Data IS-682 Printerm Master Check MICR 12 Plus Siemens Highprint 4821-P10/P15 Tandem 5575 Troy 508 MICR/512 MICR Troy 512 Plus Xante Accel-A-Writer 812 Xerox 6R903 Xylostome XLP820 These printers now routinely sell for well under $100 apiece, often with ethernet card, Postscript and extra memory. The toner cartridges can be had for under $40 on ebay – VERY cheap cost of operation (prints about 6000 pages per cartridge). Another nice feature of the EX engine is that cartridge contains just about everything that affects print quality, so it's almost like getting a new printer every time you replace the cartridge. |
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Quoted: Where's a good place to look for reconditioned laser printers? An ethernet adapter would be a big plus. [url=http://www.printerworks.com]PrinterWorks[/url] has plenty of HP printers, backed by a 1-year warranty. They also carry just about every conceivable repair part, along with service diagrams. However, they're quite a bit more expensive than buying from someplace like ebay. A few ebay regulars refurbish printers as a profession, and have decent prices. Also, there are service shops in most larger cities that specialize in laser printer repairs; some of these companies also sell refurbished printers. |
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So long as you avoid vertical-feed models, anything that says HP on it is a safe bet. There's also some Samsung models that start well under $200 new, like [url=http://www.compusa.com/products/products.asp?N=200014+10&Ne=500000&CusaNe=200013]these[/url]. If the printer you find doesn't have on-board ethernet, you can usually find a [url=http://www.compusa.com/products/products.asp?Ntt=print+server&N=8&Ne=500000&Ntk=All]print server[/url] for cheap, which will give you ethernet functionality. I also recommend checking [url]www.overstock.com[/url] for good deals on refurbished printers. Their selection varys by the day, though. The biggest plus with them is cheap shipping, which can be a killer with laser printers. |
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I like the Brother laser printers. I have replaced all of the Okidatas with Brothers. They get very high ratings in all of the mags, the have I thing the lowest cost per page output, the drivers are stable, and I can pick up toner via the net or from the local Staples, Compusa, etc... For a network one I have the 1270N that works fine and for personal I have the 1440HL models. If you need/want more details just email. If you have old software they all emulate HP IV lasers. |
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Be wary of the "personal" models – they aren't built to anywhere near the same mechanical/electrical standards as the office/workgroup models; parts, service and technical documentation are hard to find (essentially, they're throwaway designs); and the toner cartridges only have a fraction of the capacity (while still costing roughly the same). Bear in mind that the printer's purchase cost is often just a fraction of its total operating cost. Consumables and maintenance/repairs can really add a lot of extra expense. Ideally, you want a commercial-quality product that was produced in huge quantities (so that parts and cartridges are readily available at near-commodity prices). Also, consider that rebuilt cartridges are commonplace for office/workgroup printers – but not nearly as much so for the personal models. |
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I've had several Lexmark laser printers (5 or 6 I think). I think they are the best out there for the money, especially on the higher end. How fast do you need? Check eBay for good deals too. I bought my last 40 page per minute printer for under $1000 a couple years ago. Print cartridges can be pricey, but the high yield carts will last 30,000 pages. |
| Another vote for HP... Though I do think most of their printers are very flimsy, they do work. If you can afford it I recommend a model that supports PostScript. It is slightly easier to get drivers set up with a PostScript printer. (since you don't actually need a vendor-specific driver to get the thing working) |
| One final thought: Lexmark is now embedding a chip in its laser printer toner cartridges (link to story [url=http://www.arstechnica.com/archive/news/1067455401.html]here[/url]) that makes it more difficult to use anything other than Lexmark-branded replacement cartridges. IMO, this is yet another reason to stick with a printer that is built around a commonly-used, non-proprietary print engine. |
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Which of these is going to give me the best life? [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3465463304[/url] [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3464059977[/url] [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3465053769[/url] [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3465973052[/url] |
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The last Laserjet V you listed looks god for the price. 57k is probably within the monthly duty cycle of the LJ V. That thing's seen really light use. Most of the V's I've seen recently had closer to 500k on them. The V is a real workhorse, so you'll probably be pretty well off with one for quite some time. Depending on what you want to spend, you can probably find 6l's out there for $20-50. Most of them will pull multiple sheets, but that can be easily fixed with a free retrofit kit from HP. Of course, they don't have built-in ethernet, so the V is probably a better bet four you. |
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Quoted: Okidata make great printers. I have NEVER heard, or seen a bad experience with HP laser printers. I have seen 3 with well over 100,000 pages printed. And they still keep going. TXL I've seen at least two dozen (includeing a IVsi that had near 1 million prints on it) Not all of them were operational, but all could have been with a minimun of effort. HP makes one hell of a laser, especially if you stay away from the cheeper models. |
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3465469565&category=16188 Crap, man, THERE you go. Talk about a beast of a printer. For the $300 you'd spend on this baby, you can't beat it! Oh, and it HUGE, too, so it can pull double duty as an end table too. I 'bout killed myself moving one of these monsters once... |
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1st one: 80K pages isn't even well broken in yet! Has Postscript, which is a nice plus if you plan on printing lots of graphics (almost essential on a Mac computer). Buy It Now option includes ethernet card, which is VERY nice. Shipping is kind of pricey.... BTW, I'm pretty sure that these printers use the same 72-pin SIMMs as the HP-4 series, which are dirt-cheap. 6 MB installed means that there's probably one blank memory slot still available. 2nd one: Not much to recommend it. As previously mentioned, memory is dirt-cheap, and this one doesn't include anything else. 3rd one: Avoids mentioning the page count ("light"? WTF does that mean?) Doesn't include toner or any other options. 4th one: Includes ethernet and toner. Shipping is reasonable. 57K page count is good. In my experience, deals that throw in a used toner cartridge are well worth considering. I've bought 3 used EX printers with the cartridge, and the cartridges have all delivered excellent service. Not having to buy a new cartridge saves you at least $40 up front - a significant savings on a printer that only costs around $100 to begin with. EDIT: [b]tep0583[/b]'s 5si also looks like a good deal, although I'd definitely check the toner cartridge pricing and availability first. |