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GoodbyeOrb
Self-SacrificingPotency Tester



Registered: 04/09/07
Posts: 5,182
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Printer Help...
#8587143 - 07/02/08 09:47 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Bossman riding my ass about getting a printer with kickass print quality cheap, since our office machine just won't cut it. Been looking at the inventory from Sam's Club, can anyone recommend the best route from their selection, or other options? Thanks
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 3 months, 8 days
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: GoodbyeOrb]
#8587176 - 07/02/08 09:58 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Color or mono Pages per day Networked Duplex (print to both sides of a page) Max paper size Multiple paper trays (letter & legal, for example)
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Ythan
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ



Registered: 08/08/97
Posts: 18,840
Loc: NY/MA/VT Borderlands
Last seen: 10 hours, 43 minutes
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: GoodbyeOrb]
#8587192 - 07/02/08 10:03 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Seuss is right, you need to decide on some specs, then check out http://dealspl.us/Printers_deals. I've been eyeing this color laser for $100 myself.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 3 months, 8 days
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: Ythan]
#8587227 - 07/02/08 10:17 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Ouch... 4ppm (pages per minute) is damn slow. (They always quote the fastest speed, so that will be for mono text... add images and color and you are probably looking at 2ppm or less.) Plus, it is going to cost you about $230 every 1000 pages printed for toner.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Annom
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Registered: 12/22/02
Posts: 6,367
Loc: Europe
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: Seuss]
#8587371 - 07/02/08 10:59 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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I bought a cheap bw laser printer a year ago, Brother HL2030. It has been an amazing experience after years of cheap HP inkjet printer usage. It always works, prints 12000 pages with one toner, never jams, is cheaper, faster and better quality. No more printer bashing and feeling raped by HP.
That's just for personal use though. I think you are looking for something better, but you have to tell us what you want it to do.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 3 months, 8 days
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: Annom]
#8587687 - 07/02/08 12:40 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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> prints 12000 pages with one toner
This is where most printer manufacturers snag you. Always check to see how expensive the toners are and how many pages they will print. Then, find the fine print that defines what a page is, because it is never a full page. Also, look to see how long the fuser/fixer is going to last and how expensive it is going to be to replace. Same thing for image drums and transfer belts. (Not all printers have these parts.)
Also, always look at maximum pages per minute. They will always quote speeds for printing black and white text. Expect images to double the time and color to triple the time.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Ythan
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ



Registered: 08/08/97
Posts: 18,840
Loc: NY/MA/VT Borderlands
Last seen: 10 hours, 43 minutes
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: Seuss]
#8587691 - 07/02/08 12:42 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Yeah I have really really low printing volume though, actually that's the problem, with my inkjet the ink always dries out before I've even used like 1/3 of the tank and it's a big waste. I didn't want to give up color printing but maybe I'm better off with a monochrome laser, $.23/page is a little steep...
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Annom
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Registered: 12/22/02
Posts: 6,367
Loc: Europe
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: Ythan]
#8587795 - 07/02/08 01:16 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Yes, that's what you need to check! I have already printed 2000 pages with the ink that came free with the $90 printer. That's $0.045 per normal text page, printer itself included. Claimed "12000" page toners are $60, which makes it $0.01 if it prints 6000 pages.
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supra
computerEnthusiast
Registered: 10/26/03
Posts: 6,446
Loc: TEXAS
Last seen: 13 years, 1 month
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: Seuss]
#8588497 - 07/02/08 05:05 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Seuss said: > prints 12000 pages with one toner
This is where most printer manufacturers snag you. Always check to see how expensive the toners are and how many pages they will print. Then, find the fine print that defines what a page is, because it is never a full page. Also, look to see how long the fuser/fixer is going to last and how expensive it is going to be to replace. Same thing for image drums and transfer belts. (Not all printers have these parts.)
Also, always look at maximum pages per minute. They will always quote speeds for printing black and white text. Expect images to double the time and color to triple the time.
i used to sell that printer, the cartridges are usually cheaper on the brother printers. They also say a page is 5% coverage, which is probably close to right if you double space 12pt text...
peace
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 3 months, 8 days
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: supra]
#8590465 - 07/03/08 04:18 AM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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> They also say a page is 5% coverage, which is probably close to right if you double space 12pt text...
Exactly! So if you are printing full color pictures, such as flyers, then those cartridges that get "1000 pages" will only print a couple hundred completely full pages before dying. My experience is that most cheap printers are designed to profit from toner/ink sales. There are a few printer models that are cheap and print a ton on a single cartridge, but these gems are rare and hard to identify. You really have to read the fine print and do the math to figure out how much you are going to be paying per page printed.
I also call into "tech support" and ask the overworked repair tech what printers he likes and dislikes. He will know which ones are hard to fix and which ones break a lot and which ones are cheap vs expensive to fix when they break, etc.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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supra
computerEnthusiast
Registered: 10/26/03
Posts: 6,446
Loc: TEXAS
Last seen: 13 years, 1 month
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: Seuss]
#8592385 - 07/03/08 05:08 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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When I sold the them brother black only lasers people loved them. They had the lowest return rate of any of our printers, even HP inkjets...this could play into the fact that no many of them were sold, because many don't know the name. we also used one in the office for over 5 years, and never had a problem with it. Fast, clear, and cheap to maintain. Now color ont he other hand, is always expensive, especially the HP color lasers. They may have come down now, as I was still working when affordable laser color printers were still not very common.
peace
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daytripper05
Psychonaut




Registered: 10/30/06
Posts: 6,962
Loc: In my garden
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Re: Printer Help... [Re: supra]
#8592403 - 07/03/08 05:12 PM (15 years, 10 months ago) |
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Great choice. I did the exact same thing with a customer of mine several months ago. Works great.
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