Cheap Laser Printer Recommendations?

[Will Rickards WT]

I was looking at the Samsung ML1710 as it was 199.99 - $100MIR = $99.99.
But they no longer have that at Best Buy.
I belive it was replaced by the ML1740 model which is $149.99, no rebate.

And in the paper this week I see the Brother HL1440 for
$179.99 - $30IR - $50 MIR = $99.99.

So I am looking for recommendations.
I need to replace a dead HP Deskjet 710C.
I don't need color anymore.
If I want to print photos I use ofoto.com or my local CVS/Walgreens/etc.
I print maybe one page a week. Very low usage.
I figure a laser printer cartridge should last me like a year or more.

I also researched the Okidata LED laser printers. But they all seemed a little expensive, $250 for the B4200. I'm wondering if any of this technology is in the low end printers above?

 

[e_dawg]

There were a few good laser printer threads on either here or SR during the past couple years you may want to check out for reference. In lieu of that, here are a couple quick comments:

1. Beware of brother drums. I used to love the separate brother toner/drum configuration because I could change the fairly cheap toner cartridges (less than half the price of an HP integrated toner-drum cartridge for almost the same number of pages), but then I saw the nightmare that is brother drums. They are supposed to be rated for something like 10-15,000 pages, which equates to 3-5 toner cartridges. And they should be. They're ridiculously expensive at $150 USD. No problem if they last that long, however, that is rarely the case. Sometimes, we had to replace our brother drums after only 3,000 pages printed. That's 1-2 toner cartridges. We ended up spending twice as much on toner and drums than we expected.

2. Beware of vertical (gravity) feed paper trays. For some reason, they are more prone to picking up multiple pages after a while. HP learned their lesson with vertical trays on the HP LaserJet 5L, 6L, and 3100, and haven't used them since. The horizontal paper trays on the bottom of the printer are usually preferable. I also like it when you can replace the pickup roller and separation pad yourself and order the parts easily, as with HP.

In light of these factors, I would recommend getting an HP LaserJet 1300 if you don't mind spending a bit more (~$300 US). PostScript capability with a fast 133 MHz processor onboard, 16 MB RAM, 8 second first page time, single-page feeder slot, horizontal paper tray, user-replaceable separation pad & pickup roller, integrated toner-drum cartridge, and upgradeable with JetDirect print server card.

I have an HP LaserJet 1000 and 1200, which have been pleasant experiences after 2 brothers and an HP LaserJet 6L.

If you are on a budget, then I believe the Samsung ML-1710/40 is the better choice. It looks like it has a horizontal paper tray and an integrated toner-drum cartridge.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

Yes I'm on a budget. The reasoning behind the purchase goes like this:
It will cost me at least $50 to replace the cartridges in my HP 710C just to see if it is the cartridges. For that price I can go out an buy another inkjet (lexmark at Target). But I'm tired of wasting ink in the ink cartridges as they seem to dry up rather than empty. So I thought a non liquid ink type printer, like a laser would better fit my usage.

I've seen the other threads and I think the samsung 1710 was recommended. I just want a printer that will last a long time with a consumable cost that is worth it for me.

 

[e_dawg]

Yeah, inkjets are pieces of sh*t. Either you use them often to keep the print heads from drying out or you keep buying new cartridges. Either way you end up spending a fortune on consumables. With the Epsons you couldn't even do that because the print heads were not on the cartridge, but on the printer itself -- and they were not user-replaceable!

Most lasers with the characteristics I mentioned above will serve you well into the future. They are much more reliable and maintenance-free than inkjets and have the reasonable consumable cost you are looking for.

I can't speak to the photo quality of the Samsung, but the HP is good enough as a B&W photo printer if you lighten the pics a bit before you print.

 

[Buck]

Brother is good too.

 

[sechs]

If you can find one in your price range, Xerox has the best laser printers that I've ever used.

Barring that, you can still find the Samsung printer at less reputable Internet retailers.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

RE: Brother Lasers

The drum issues on the brothers is the only concern I have. Various people on the internet have reported drum problems (lines in output) after very little usage. Some people report no problems.

Also where do you dispose of the empty cartridges?
I think here at work we send the used HP ones back.

 

[Buck]

Re: RE: Brother Lasers

The drum issues on the brothers is the only concern I have. Various people on the internet have reported drum problems (lines in output) after very little usage. Some people report no problems.

Yes, I know a person who used to work in the Brother technical support department and he answered those calls. They have a cleaning kit for that issue, however, the techs are told to sell customers new drums.[/u]

 

[Mercutio]

Bother - I mean Brother - is not my favorite company in the laser printer world. They're actually somewhere near the bottom of my list.

I've no experience with Samsung, but at that price point, I can't see how they'd be good printers.

HOWEVER, I suggest you ignore everyone else's perfectly good advice, and sally forth to your nearest Off-Lease Reseller, for to purchase the indestructible might of the HP Laserjet 2/3/4. Remember when HP was a company that made good products? Well, these were the best of the best. The toner and service kits for those things are still WIDELY available, because those printers just won't stop printing.

 

[Pradeep]

I have a secondhand Lexmark OptraS 1625, got it on eBay for around $150 shipped. I think the page count was around the 80,000 mark. Has duplexer, integrated 10/100. 1200 true dpi, PS etc. Only downside is the toner carts, fortunately I got a 7000 page count cart from JamesW for a fantastic price. They also have extended 14,000 page count carts. However at one print per week I think the 7000 cart should keep you going for many years to come.

 

[Fushigi]

Seconding Merc's recommendation, I'd go with a use HP LJ4/4M/4V. Solid, dependable, and should be cheap. I'd avoid the 'p' personal lineup. I would probably also avoid an LJ2 since they only did 300dpi. I don't recall what LJ3s did.

I still hammer away on a 5Si here at work. While most of the office has moved to Xerox DocuCenter things, the 5Si just keeps cranking away.

 

[Pradeep]

Perhaps a new Dell printer?

http://theinquirer.net/?article=16132

 

[P5-133XL]

I'd 3rd Merc's recomendation except I'd add a LJ5 to the mix. Any business LJ more recent than a LJ5 will probably outside your budget. Avoid the HP personal LJ's like the plague.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

I just can't seem to bring myself to consider buying a used printer, especially from ebay. I know from personal experience the whine/quality issues associated with those HP laserjets after they've been in use for a while. Maybe they just need to be cleaned or serviced or something but I don't know the first thing about doing that.

I'd also prefer a printer with a USB option.

I think I'm going to really analyze the cost of consumables with the three remaining choices:
Brother HL1440 $100
Samsung ML1740 $150
Okidata B4200 $250

I like the tech in and the cost of consumables of the Oki but I'm not sure 250 for a printer is going to go over well with my wife. Especially since the usage is so low. I'm content to stay without a printer but my wife says we need a printer. I'm bouncing between just taking a chance on the brother or trying to make a case for the $250 of the okidata.

 

[Fushigi]

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2791

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=832

 

[Buck]

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2791

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=832

Good find Fushigi.

 

[timwhit]

I bought a HP LJ5 for about $140 2 years ago. It had about a 7,000 page count at the time. Works perfectly. Highly reccommended.

The only gripe I have is the warmup time, which takes about 45 seconds.

 

[e_dawg]

I'm curious, Will... why no love for the Samsung?

 

[Will Rickards WT]

Mostly lack of places I could find the toner at.
And it costs a lot for 3000pg life.
Somewhere around $80-100 dollars.
While I can buy the printer at best buy they don't seem to have the toner.
And staples wants something like $110 dollars.

I realize the drum and toner are one in the samsung so I'm paying for that but for my use the consumable cost is like buying the printer again each time.

Here is the results of my consumable research:

Printer Brother HL1440   Samsung ML-1740   Okidata B4200
Toner   TN-430           ML-1710D3/XAA     42103001
Pages   3000             3000              2500
Cost    @45              @95               @35

Printer Brother HL1440   Samsung ML-1740   Okidata B4200
Drum    DR-400           ML-1710D3/XAA     42102801
Pages   20000            3000              25000
Cost    @150             0                 @150

The way I figure it, it will probably be a couple years before I need a new drum unless I'm unlucky and get a sucky drum.

I'm really leaning towards the Okidata. I can pallete a $35 toner cartridge cost every 6 months.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

So now that I've bumped the range of cost to $250, are there any other alternatives in that range I should consider?

 

[timwhit]

Check out toner prices on eBay. I can get toner for like a quarter the price that Office Max or Best Buy want to charge. Never had a problem with the toner from eBay either.

 

[Tea]

Xerox and Kyocera both offer 3 year warranties. To my way of thinking, that makes it very difficult to even consider any of the 12-month warraty brands.

But I do have my eye on a Canon model that retails for AU$500: only 12-months warranty but Canon are an OK company and it has a flatbed copier included. And note: no crappy fax/phone/kitchen sink garbage. Just the printer and the copier.

Seeing as my old $1900 photocopier just died, I'm tempted.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

Well I just took the plunge and bought the Okidata B4200 from newegg.
I'm was a sucker for technology marketing and I love the low cost of the consumables.

Now, to plot the destruction of my old HP 710C.
I was thinking baseball bat but that has been done.
Maybe put a board over it and run over the board with my car?
Or maybe I'll just toss it in the trash because I don't want to clean up the mess.

 

[Buck]

Tie it to someones bumper.

 

[The JoJo]

Any explosives available?
I've always been a sucker for something that goes BANG!

Make it loud. Make it big. Vaporize it!

 

[Will Rickards WT]

Hmm fireworks... 4th of july coming up...
No place safe that I can think of to do that around here though.
I don't want to have to get the fire department involved.

 

[Tea]

I just had a look at the Canon printer/copier. Not to see running (it was for a customer and we didn't take it out of the box) but enough to get the point that it's a well-finished, solid-looking thing and inspires confidence.

 

[mangyDOG]

I just sold my first Samsung 1450 printer last week, good solid construction similar to my Xerox or old HP printers, toner is fairly inexpensive and with a 3 year onsite warranty its hard to fault.