Best brand for home office printer?

[jihanemo]

Firstly, I'm not sure if I should be using a ink-jet or laser printer (I've read that ink-jets printer better quality in color and lasers are better for just b&w - is this true?). Secondly, which would be the best brand? I've owned 3 HP printers and none of them have lasted for more than 2 1/2 or 3 years each. My family uses them with me, so that may be the problem. I need to buy another printer but I'm not sure if I should just buy a new HP or (and keep it for myself) or buy a new brand.

 

[brendo]

go grab a canon ip4300 or ip5300, you wont be dissapointed.

Yes its true that lasers are more economical, faster, and produce better quality black documents such as text. But for photos, inkjet is the way to go.

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

Firstly, I'm not sure if I should be using a ink-jet or laser printer (I've read that ink-jets printer better quality in color and lasers are better for just b&w - is this true?). Secondly, which would be the best brand? I've owned 3 HP printers and none of them have lasted for more than 2 1/2 or 3 years each. My family uses them with me, so that may be the problem. I need to buy another printer but I'm not sure if I should just buy a new HP or (and keep it for myself) or buy a new brand.

My last HP was the first in a series of Carly printers. It was the PSC 950. It was kind of in service but the scanner went kapaut. I believe this was the white alignment strip becoming yellow. This is the reason why my microtek scanners failed. HP build quality suffered 2001 or so.

Inkjet printers are not what you buy if you want it to last. 3 years is a semi decent run for an inkjet.

I went with Canon because of the ease of refilling and CD printing support, but the newest generation takes newer chips, and enabling the CD printing feature depends on telling the printer it's not a US printer. They now have separate European and US chips. Also, they have decreased the size of their tanks and increased the cost per page. On the other hand, their $120 AIO printer, the mp620 comes with wifi.

http://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=2353&seite=6&t=test_hp_photosmart_d5460
This is a review of the latest HP printing system. There is an AIO version of their D5460.

I have more experience with recent canon models, specifically the mp830.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=mp610&x=0&y=0

The mp610 is down in price to $80, but don't expect it to last at this price. It's last years model, no wifi, but the tanks are easy to refill and CD printing can be enabled.


I don't know what you need, I'm just tossing model numbers of units that I know the price of.

 

[jihanemo]

Thank you, both! That was very very helpful. It's such a toss-up - I don't know what to do. I guess I should just resort to using a laser printer. I hardly ever print with color anymore, anyway. I print mainly for my business - invoices and such. Let me know if you have anymore thoughts!!!

It sounds like most printers usually break down after 3 yrs. anyway. Maybe I should just go back to HP? And what do you guys think about Brother and Leximark? (if you've ever used it)

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

Thank you, both! That was very very helpful. It's such a toss-up - I don't know what to do. I guess I should just resort to using a laser printer. I hardly ever print with color anymore, anyway. I print mainly for my business - invoices and such. Let me know if you have anymore thoughts!!!

It sounds like most printers usually break down after 3 yrs. anyway. Maybe I should just go back to HP? And what do you guys think about Brother and Leximark? (if you've ever used it)

Well I "would" say buy a laser for your daily printing and buy a photo printer for the odd photograph, but the simple fact of the matter is AIO inkjets are as cost effective, if not cheaper, than just the printer. Often they take different cartridges so you do have to be careful what you buy, but the mp510 sited for $80 from amazon.com takes the full sized cartridges and is actually cheaper to operate than a new ip4600. It's based on the older ip4500, which actually performs better with less noise. In terms of cost, inkjets make sense as the cost of the printer is only slightly more than the cost of the ink.

But if you don't need color, go laser. Canons are only rated at about 10,000 pages. Obviously you can print more on them, but that's the official rating. They are not bad printers, and I can reasonably expect 20,000 or more, just the service manual states 10,000 is end of life. This is roughly equal to 10 cartridge changes of all the tanks.

The last time I looked at Brother laser printers they offered units with a very reasonable cost per page. I don't remember the exact model numbers, but I remember that units that cost only $50 more had separate OCP drums, and or OCP drums rated at a longer life. This effectively reduced the cost per page by 1/2 cent to 1cent IIRC. That's a savings of $5/$10 per 1000 pages.

Canon mp510 inkjet from Amazon.com $90 today = pgi5-bk 525p $16 3.05c/page
Printhead qy6-0075 $50 or so. About .5-1c/page presuming 5000-10000p used
3.55-4c/page
+color spent in cleaning cycles
Note: It's hard to accurately meter print head life. Color use depends on your habits, but on older models it's normal for people who don't use the color to spend a set of tanks/year. Greyscale printing using color

HL-2170W $90 from office max Toner = TN360 2600 pages (iso 19752) $67.99 2.62c/page
Drum = DR360 12,000 pages $75 amazon.com +.625/page
3.245c/page
Wifi enabled


HL-5240 $120 from officemax Toner = TN580 7000p @ 5% coverage $103 1.47c/page
Drum DR520 25,000 pages $125 Amazon.com + .5/page
1.97c/page
NOT wifi enabled


Difference in base cost = $30
Difference per page 1.275/page $12.75/1000p $63.75/5000p $127.50/10,000p
Break even point = 2353 pages

One doesn't actually "need" a photo printer at home. One can get prints made at any time, and it tends to be cheaper this way unless you use bulk ink and cheap paper.

 

[jihanemo]

Wow. Your findings are pretty deep. It's going to take me a little bit of time to decipher that info. But thanks for your reply again. Have you every listened to this computer show on 99.5 FM? It's a public radio station based in NY. I think the show airs once a week. I'm not sure if the show is exactly dedicated to printer talk, but I did listen to one episode in which they talked about computer printers entirely. If you can, you should listen some time! (unless you already do).

 

[IGExpandingPanda]

Wow. Your findings are pretty deep. It's going to take me a little bit of time to decipher that info. But thanks for your reply again. Have you every listened to this computer show on 99.5 FM? It's a public radio station based in NY. I think the show airs once a week. I'm not sure if the show is exactly dedicated to printer talk, but I did listen to one episode in which they talked about computer printers entirely. If you can, you should listen some time! (unless you already do).

in very simple terms

Brother offers two printers. One is $30 cheaper, but spending $30 extra will result in lower long term costs resulting in a net savings of $30 after 2353 pages @ about 5% coverage. But if you are willing to spend less from the get go and an extra 1.275 cents/page, you get wifi. You can get WIFI externally for the more expensive printer.

The canon mp610 inkjet does offer reasonable cost per page for an inkjet at about 3-3.5c/page. The heads cost about $50 and do burn out eventually, so the end cost is about 3.5 - 4c/page or so. Color is also wasted if you don't use it.

Oh, I should add that the Brother HL-5240 doesn't offer duplex printing. you have to go Brother HL-5250DN for that feature.
If you want duplex and network, that'll bump your price up to $190 from Amazon.com $ 239.97 from Officemax . $180 after rebate from officedepot. The 5250DNT offers an extra tray
D=duplex
N=Network
T=extra tray
Toner is the same as the HL-5240 AFAIK.

Obviously it would take longer to make up a $100-$140 price difference, but if you want duplex, you want duplex and extra trays, you don't have a choice.

I'm not familiar with the radioshow you speak of, but I'm sure they would have covered ink/toner economics.

Vs the canon mp610 which does offer duplex and dual feeds, rear and front. Duplex mode isn't anything to speak about IMHO as it slows down printing and affects print quality. Dual trays is handy. Envelopes in the rear, paper in the front. Even manual duplex is not a strong point of the canon as they use a high volume of ink/page which can bleed through papers under 20lb. Even regular 20lb paper you can notice it to a degree.


Oh, one should also consider aftermarket cartridges. Lasermonks carries the TN580 for $52.95 (.782c/page). I expect best price for a refill to be about $40 (.571c/page)
Lasermonks doesn't carry the HL-2170W, but I expect you'll be able to find one for about $30 (1.153c/page)

Obviously there is a minimal labor charge (about $20-$30), toner ($5-10) and developer if needed ($5-10). These are numbers I pulled out of the air, and are at best vague approximations.

 

[jihanemo]

Thanks for your reply again. A few questions...

1. Can a laser printer handle sheets of labels? I often print on Avery labels but I'm worried that the sheet may get jammed inside the printer since it's a little thick.

2. Are there any other components I need to buy after I buy a new printer? Such a a drum? Toner? Cartridge? Or are they already included?

 

[Froggy]

Thanks for your reply again. A few questions...

1. Can a laser printer handle sheets of labels? I often print on Avery labels but I'm worried that the sheet may get jammed inside the printer since it's a little thick.

2. Are there any other components I need to buy after I buy a new printer? Such a a drum? Toner? Cartridge? Or are they already included?

Hi, I'm jumping in here, I have some friends who bought an (old) model Brother Laser years ago, and it's still churning out the pages.

I've checked the info Brother Laser Jets mentioned and yes, they will print labels. The 5250 goes up to 160gsm paper. At work I've used Avery / elcheapo labels on a number of HP lasers and, touch wood, to date never yet had a problem. All you need to do is to remember which side up you need to put the label sheets in, especially if the printer can do duplex.

Oh, and get a duplex capable printer, you will only wish you had if you had not. It's worth the extra cash.

No other components required, the printer will come with a toner cart (standard yield). You will need a USB cable I guess.

 

[jihanemo]

What is "duplex" printing?