Laserjet Printers?

[Kestrel_909]

Hello ,

I've become more and more annoyed at my current printer, Lexmark Z33 which is about as fast as an asmatic ant with some heavy shopping. By the time one page is printed you can type another, plus with ink only lasting a matter of weeks even when I control myself with what I print and then running out to the shops to spend another £50 on ink!

So, laserjet printers. How good are they? Friend told me that with one black cartridge you could print about 3000pages b/w, and despite the higher costs per catridge it still works out a lot lot cheaper in the long term. Is this true? My print load is increasing and want a new laserjet printer.

Any points to look out for in one, or suggestions in what to buy?

Thanks!

[Dee747]

HP LaserJet printers are the best you can buy, by a long way. Look at the HP LaserJet 1300 series for persoanl printing, or if you need something a bit bigger, faster and expensive, check out the HP LaserJet 4200 series. For home use though the 1300 series will more than suffice. It will cost less than £150 in most locations and you'll get more than 3000 pages per cartridge.

I see you're in N.Ireland - exactly where? I'm in Donaghadee.

[Kestrel_909]

Hi Dee,

Thanks for the reply. I'm in country Antrim not that far from the big shopping centre hihi.

Not sure if we've talked before or not?

[Dee747]

Kestrel,

No, I've just signed up today, though I've been following things on the various forums for some time. Have you a 'proper' aviation background, or do you fall into the 'enthusiast' category?

[AppleMacster]

My Samsung Laser Printer, which has only used two toner cartridges since I bought it eight years suddenly gave up the ghost when a cog, which turned out to be the only thing you can't replace, broke. I looked on eBay and got my best bargain yet: an A3 Hp laserjet for £125, and it works! The toner cartridge can be bought for as little as £70 and lasts 15,000 copies.

AppleMacster

[Kestrel_909]

Thanks Apple. 15,000 pages, I only buy 500 at a time and that lasts for a few months :)

:p

Dee,

I don't have a proper aviation background, more of an enthusiast background so far. The reason I asked is I see another of your hobbies is same as mine, and wonder if we have crossed paths on any groups online.
Drop me a mail if you fancy a chat, either via the buttons above this post or you can get my address on my website linked.

Look foreward to hearing from you.

Back on topic, had a look 1300 and 4200. I think I'll go for something along the lines of the 1300, no need for 1400. Some quick browsing online I see the 1300 for $399. So can you get me it locally for £150?:E

[FJJP]

I've had an Brother 1450 at home for several years now (and we have 7 of them at work). They are very reliable, and will take card and envelopes. You can also buy an extra paper tray, so you can put A4 in one and A5 in the other (if you have that need). You can get cartridges for 4000 or 6000 pages.

Once you've owned and used a laser, you won't turn back! I use my old injet (also an Epson) for colour. Don't even bother looking at colour lasers, unless you win the lottery!

It's worthwhile searching around the net for write-ups and bargains...

[Kestrel_909]

Thanks FJJP.
Colour, I could live with still using lexmark snail, but would always need to be there.
Majority of things are black and white, with tints of grey like this forum colour. Could it print that?

[Feline]

I have just sprung for an HP 1010 - 12ppm at about $220 - and very pleased with it so far. It's a real entry level model - no parallel port input, only USB.

I might add that I looked at other makes (Lexmark (which I am told uses the same print engine as Samsung), Canon, and a couple of others) but went for the HP after talking to my cartridge refiller who pointed out that filling an HP cartridge was about 50 - 60% the cost of the others. And spares are pretty readily available too.

Only thing is - if an HP printer gives you trouble after the warranty has expired, it's worth trying to find an independent fixer - HP charge a fixed amount for fixing anything which is usually about 50% of buying a new one. And after a goodly number of pages, the sheet separator packs up.

My elderly HP 6L Laserjet is now in semi retirement - don't know how many pages it has printed, but I have been through somewhere in the region of twenty cartridges - and that's a l-o-t of pages!

[P.Pilcher]

Just one more thought: Your ink cartridges sound horrendously expensive. Ever tried refilling the old ones? I have refilled my Epson ones loads of times now, and I am waiting for the inkjets on my wife's HP unit to fail. So far her black cartridge is on its fourth refill and it still works perfectly!

P.P.

[Kestrel_909]

Hi P.Pilcher

I toyed with refilling with old old printer with previous PC, and made a nice mess of the carpert :E

What 'kit' or package do you use to refill yours?

[FJJP]

Kestrel_909 - yes, all shades of grey printable. Very sharp printing it is too. And fast...

Incidentally, no-one has yet mentioned that laser printers need another consumable cartridge unit - the drum. This, I believe, is is the gadget that puts the powder from the laser cartridge onto the paper. They do last a long time, but it's another thing you have to buy occasionally (about £80-ish); they will probably last for 5 or 6 powder cartridges. (That's guesswork, by the way, but it gives you the idea).

[AppleMacster]

Or you can go completely ridiculous with an Epson 7600 and pay £60 per ink cartridge - and there are seven of them... Looks good, though...

[Kestrel_909]

Charlie,
Interestingly enough I was talking to a friend yesterday evening about it, and he suggested going down Epson route, as he has, rather than laserjet, and with the cheaper refills of about £5 or £6, compared with my normal almost £50 a time for black and colour. I was looking at the R200, 300 and 500? lastnight from them, that print onto CD/DVD, the 300 having a card reader so no PC needed for printing digital photos, and 500 having a small preview screen.

FJJP,
He also mentioned the drum but I didn't think of it as another consumable catridge.

Hmmm now from a decision to buy a laserjet I'm swinging towards a cheaper cartridge option in the R300/200 mentioned above.:confused:

[FJJP]

Or, you can consider a good quality colour inkjet. The Epson Stylus Photo 1290 is outstanding for photographs when you use photo quality glossy film - just like the photos you get processed at Boots, etc...

[amanoffewwords]

mmmm, I got my eye on one of them HP 1500L Colour Laser (http://www.dabs.com/uk/productView.htm?quicklinx=2FV5) printers - £400 incl VAT (take away the VAT cause I'm registered) - good price - enough ink for 5000 pages - should last me 4-5 years at my printing rate...:ok:

Still looking for a catch/gotcha...

[Binoculars]

Horses for courses it seems. I've used the cheapest available inkjet and compatible cartridges for a few years. Have no need for photo quality printing, in fact it's only the kids' school assignments that mean I need colour at all.

I found a place that sold good quality cheap compatible cartridges for my Canon S100SP, bought four at a time, black and colour. Then right on cue, 18 days after warranty expired, Canon died. Hey, I know the ropes; throw it away and buy another. Office Works had the Canon S200SP for very little, and I stupidly assumed it would use the same cartridges as the 100... wrong!

So now after the supplied cartridge runs out (after three weeks and about 100 pages) I've had enough. El cheapo laser printer coming up for all except essential colour work, for which I'll have to continue paying Canon about $1000 a litre.

So, the question is which one? Choices in my neck of the woods for the right price appear to be Lexmark E210, Canon LBP1120 or Samsung ML1710.

If anybody has any comments on any of them I'd appreciate it.

Repeat; the cheapest inkjet provides sufficient quality for my printing needs, so will the cheapest laser, so the question is not about quality of printing.

[Binoculars]

Since trusty 8 week old bubblejet had run out of ink, Binos made a snap decision and bought the cheapest Laser he could find in town; Samsung 1510 (now superseded by 1710). Initial impressions favourable. Will follow up if anybody is interested.

[DOME]

I have a mini size Lexmark WinWriter laser printer - bought it about 6 years ago. With 4 in the family (2 at Uni) it gets some heavy use, but is only now on its second toner.

The printer was expensive at the time - I think around AUD300; and the toner is not cheap - at least AUD100.

Interestingly is basically only a W95 printer. With 98SE I had to tell the OS that it is a HPIII to get it to work. Have had the usual Canon b/jet go belly up and had to replace it but the colour option is only for assignements and the occasional photo anyway.