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In the wretched, sadistic hive of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black [Printers]

ZxerolZxerol for the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered User regular
I fucking hate desktop printers.

There, I said it. I hate every single fucking one of them. As far as I'm concerned, the consumer printing manufacturers are the closet thing the computing industry has to legitimate con artists, from printers that become "obsolete" after thirty minutes on the market, horrific support and drivers from printers that are still current, and the scam that are inkjet cartridges. And the only reason I tolerate the motherfucking things is because I have to get this motherfucking document from my motherfucking screen to some motherfucking paper.

But this thread isn't about the above bullshit. My HP printer decided it wants to commit silicon sepukku now, and I'm not stopping it from doing so. But now I have to replace it. And unfortunately, I don't really know a goddamn thing about the latest printer market. Because I don't keep up with it. Because, fuck them.

Is it worth it worth it going laser over inkjet? (I'd like color if possible, but if monochrome laser is that much better then I won't miss it.) Something network-capable would be baller, but not particularly essential as I already have a print server set up. Finally, it has to be a reasonable price. Because I am not rich. And even if I am, I'm not spending $Texas on a motherfucking desktop printer.

So, ladies and gents of Moe's, would you kindly recommend me some decent printers that won't make me rip my balls out and make frappé with them? Or I'm trying to find a unicorn to threeway with?

Zxerol on

Posts

  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Yes. Whilst the toner for color is a premium at cost, you'll probably save money. Unfortunately laser printers are usually, with good reason, more expensive than inkjet printers. You're looking at probably $300 for a color laser printer. Probably $150-200 for a monochrome one.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Have a look at Ricoh and see if there is anything in your price range in their lineup. They are professional printers and will not let you down. They tend to be pricey though.

    There are some Xerox Phasers that would probably be good options for you though, and in your price range.

    Avoid like the plague: Lexmark, Canon, Epson, HP, Dell, and anyone else that focusses on making cheap inkjet printers. They are awful, and they will charge you out the ass for ink cartridges because thats where they make their money, the build quality of their laser printers isn't much better.

    If you buy a laser you pay more now, but get better quality prints and pay less later. Toner gets a lot more pages for your money than inkjet does.

    Wezoin on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Ah there are always cheap alternatives to toner though.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    bowen wrote: »
    Ah there are always cheap alternatives to toner though.

    Sorry, used the wrong word. It's fixed now.

    I meant to say ink cartridges.

    Wezoin on
  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    :^:

    I've had good success with the higher end HPs, but the $150 ones usually break after a couple thousand pages.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Brother makes cheap laser printers that work well enough. If you go low-end consumer laser it's "networkability" is going to be reliant upon the printer-sharing facilities of the OS on the machine to which it's connected.

    For color picture prints, you can get them printed at Walmart for like 1/5th the price of printing your own; they'll look better too.

    Djeet on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I freaking love laser printers. After using them for a few years at work I'll never go back to inkjet. We'd regularly put 100,000+ pages on our HP laserjets before they would break.

    The cartridges ARE more expensive, but you can get refurbed cartridges just like you can with inkjets.

    webguy20 on
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  • ZxerolZxerol for the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't do so i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Avoid like the plague: Lexmark, Canon, Epson, HP, Dell, and anyone else that focusses on making cheap inkjet printers. They are awful, and they will charge you out the ass for ink cartridges because thats where they make their money, the build quality of their laser printers isn't much better.

    Good advice, and one I'll take to heart most definitely.

    Can you fellows indulge my supreme laziness and recommend some specific laser models? Because laser sounds scifi awesome and stuff.

    Zxerol on
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Zxerol wrote: »
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Avoid like the plague: Lexmark, Canon, Epson, HP, Dell, and anyone else that focusses on making cheap inkjet printers. They are awful, and they will charge you out the ass for ink cartridges because thats where they make their money, the build quality of their laser printers isn't much better.

    Good advice, and one I'll take to heart most definitely.

    Can you fellows indulge my supreme laziness and recommend some specific laser models? Because laser sounds scifi awesome and stuff.

    If you just need a plain colour laser printer: Ricoh C220N would be awesome - I don't know that buyer but its a pretty sweet price (most Ricoh printers are much more expensive) and Amazon marketplace is usually a pretty safe bet.

    If you want a multifunction and can afford it: Ricoh C220S (EDIT: Actually, if you go marketplace this can be had fairly cheap - $360)

    NOTE: I've never used either of these specific models before, but I do use massive Ricoh units in both of the print shops I've worked at. Ricoh makes a solid copier. One of the machines I use is at something like 6million pages printed, and at the bigger shop I worked at all four of them were at about 10million. Admittedly, those machines were very expensive and get serviced regularly (read: at least every 3 days), but it'll still beat the hell out of any Lexmark or Canon you can buy.

    Wezoin on
  • SpudgeSpudge Witty comments go next to this blue dot thingyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Okidata consumer laser printers are the dog's bollocks

    The C3400N is an obvious step up from inkjets without paying out the ass. The carts are rated anywhere from 1k to 2.5k sheets per cart, and I've seen K carts in these print more than 3k sheets before needing to be replaced. Compare that to HP's leading inkjet, at about 200 sheets per cart. A Laser printer will pay for it relatively quickly, as long as you print from time to time. Another good thing is laser toner has a much longer shelf life than inkjet, ensuring you can print if you haven't touched it in some time.

    (Disclaimer: I work for HP in R&D, but not on the printer side of the company)

    Spudge on
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  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Okidata is still a thing?

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • SpudgeSpudge Witty comments go next to this blue dot thingyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Oh yeah. I'd been servicing their units for years and between Oki, HP and Canon they are the best, lowest maintenance color Laser printers I ever came across

    Spudge on
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  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I do remember my bubblejet printer from back in the day. That thing lasted fucking forever. They stopped making that ink before I had to ever fix it.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Djeet wrote: »
    Brother makes cheap laser printers that work well enough. If you go low-end consumer laser it's "networkability" is going to be reliant upon the printer-sharing facilities of the OS on the machine to which it's connected.

    For color picture prints, you can get them printed at Walmart for like 1/5th the price of printing your own; they'll look better too.

    I have a brother HL-1430 (mono laser) that I bought at least ten years ago that is still going strong.

    A toner refill for a 6000 page capacity cartridge costs about £20.

    I don't think I've ever come across something I really needed to print in colour that I wasn't better off taking to a print shop anyway. YMMV.

    japan on
  • Torso BoyTorso Boy Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    So is Brother usually a good bet? I've never had a printer that didn't have something wrong with it, and I keep promising myself (and, more importantly, my mom) the next purchase will break this trend.

    Torso Boy on
  • maximumzeromaximumzero I...wait, what? New Orleans, LARegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Bought a Brother Wireless Monochrome Laser printer last April for $99 at Officemax. Since then I've replaced the toner only once at a cost of like $45.

    As much as I and my father use it it's a goddamn deal, as he used to have to buy costly color cartridges for the old Epson every time a Cyan, Magenta, or Yellow got low. I still have the Epson around for Photo prints, but those are few and far between.

    Moral of the story: If you don't need color, go Monochrome Laser. You'll save a bit of money and headaches.

    maximumzero on
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  • Alistair HuttonAlistair Hutton Dr EdinburghRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010

    Moral of the story: If you don't need color, go Monochrome Laser. You'll save a bit of money and headaches.

    And if you do need colour then ask yourself this, "Are you realllllly sure?".

    There are so many good mono lasers out there at bargain prices. I priced up a HP1020 few years ago for £50 new, it is great.

    Alistair Hutton on
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  • maximumzeromaximumzero I...wait, what? New Orleans, LARegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Zxerol wrote: »
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Avoid like the plague: Lexmark, Canon, Epson, HP, Dell, and anyone else that focusses on making cheap inkjet printers. They are awful, and they will charge you out the ass for ink cartridges because thats where they make their money, the build quality of their laser printers isn't much better.

    Good advice, and one I'll take to heart most definitely.

    Can you fellows indulge my supreme laziness and recommend some specific laser models? Because laser sounds scifi awesome and stuff.

    I use the Brother 2170W. It's on my wireless network and I can print from my iMac in OS X and my father uses a 8-year old Dell PC with Windows XP, also with no issue.

    It looks like it's been replaced by a new model, the 2270W, so I'm gonna recommend this one.

    maximumzero on
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  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I don't think I've needed to print color in 15 years. The only time was because I was bored and wanted to print out a picture of Link and boy did that eat through my ink.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • Casually HardcoreCasually Hardcore Once an Asshole. Trying to be better. Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I went through 5 inkjet printers until I finally gotten a $100ish laser printer.

    Take my advice, don't ever get an inkjet printer. If you need to print something nice out in color, take it to Kinkos or Wal-Mart.

    Casually Hardcore on
  • Akilae729Akilae729 Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Zxerol wrote: »
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Avoid like the plague: Lexmark, Canon, Epson, HP, Dell, and anyone else that focusses on making cheap inkjet printers. They are awful, and they will charge you out the ass for ink cartridges because thats where they make their money, the build quality of their laser printers isn't much better.

    Good advice, and one I'll take to heart most definitely.

    Can you fellows indulge my supreme laziness and recommend some specific laser models? Because laser sounds scifi awesome and stuff.

    I use the Brother 2170W. It's on my wireless network and I can print from my iMac in OS X and my father uses a 8-year old Dell PC with Windows XP, also with no issue.

    It looks like it's been replaced by a new model, the 2270W, so I'm gonna recommend this one.

    I got the non-networking model of this printer about 3 years ago and it is still on it's second toner cart (the first being the sub-scale one that ships with the unit).

    I don't miss color printing at all. (Plus if I need to print color, I can just do it at work)

    Akilae729 on
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  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I've been using a Brother monochrome laser (actually a copier/scanner/fax/printer dealie, though I never use the fax) for about 6 months; no problems yet, prints and scans fine from Macs and PCs (I really like the Mac scanning interface). I got a third-party/refurbed toner cartridge with it that hasn't given me any trouble yet.

    KalTorak on
  • maximumzeromaximumzero I...wait, what? New Orleans, LARegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I'm a bit nervous about third-party toner cartridges, and even at $47, considering how long it lasts, I have no problem sticking with the official product.

    $47 would be a full set of CMYK inks from Epson anyway.

    maximumzero on
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  • Dark MoonDark Moon Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Akilae729 wrote: »
    Zxerol wrote: »
    Wezoin wrote: »
    Avoid like the plague: Lexmark, Canon, Epson, HP, Dell, and anyone else that focusses on making cheap inkjet printers. They are awful, and they will charge you out the ass for ink cartridges because thats where they make their money, the build quality of their laser printers isn't much better.

    Good advice, and one I'll take to heart most definitely.

    Can you fellows indulge my supreme laziness and recommend some specific laser models? Because laser sounds scifi awesome and stuff.

    I use the Brother 2170W. It's on my wireless network and I can print from my iMac in OS X and my father uses a 8-year old Dell PC with Windows XP, also with no issue.

    It looks like it's been replaced by a new model, the 2270W, so I'm gonna recommend this one.

    I got the non-networking model of this printer about 3 years ago and it is still on it's second toner cart (the first being the sub-scale one that ships with the unit).

    I don't miss color printing at all. (Plus if I need to print color, I can just do it at work)

    Another hat in the ring for the Brother 2170W. If you cover two little points on the toner holder, you can pull another 1000 pages out of your toner cartridges. Besides this extremely conservative "Low Ink Warning" (requiring you put in another cartridge before continuing to print) which I bypassed using two pieces of tape I love the hell out of this printer. Several thousand pages and not a single issue.

    Dark Moon on
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  • maximumzeromaximumzero I...wait, what? New Orleans, LARegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    maximumzero on
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  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited January 2011
    Zxerol wrote: »
    Is it worth it worth it going laser over inkjet? (I'd like color if possible, but if monochrome laser is that much better then I won't miss it.) Something network-capable would be baller, but not particularly essential as I already have a print server set up. Finally, it has to be a reasonable price. Because I am not rich. And even if I am, I'm not spending $Texas on a motherfucking desktop printer.

    So, ladies and gents of Moe's, would you kindly recommend me some decent printers that won't make me rip my balls out and make frappé with them? Or I'm trying to find a unicorn to threeway with?
    Back in September I picked up a Samsung ML-1665 to print class notes. It cost me $69.99 at the time, but right now I'm seeing numbers like $39.99. The 1500-page toner/drum cartridge costs around $65. It's cheap, compact, and totally basic, but it does the job and it does it well. Over the semester I printed around 2000 pages, and on a per-page basis this is probably 4-5 times as economical as the cheapo Canon inkjet I was using before.

    If you mainly print text and simple graphics (ie google maps), mono laser is the way to go. As you have no doubt discovered, inkjets are ridiculously expensive to maintain due to the fact that printer ink costs more than human blood. They are also painfully slow for long jobs, and they break more easily due to all the fragile mechanical parts inside. Unless you're printing detailed colour graphics and photos there's just no justifiable reason to use an inkjet.

    Azio on
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