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Picking a laser printer, because inkjets are a fuckin' scam
Pheezer
Registered User, ClubPA regular
Registered User, ClubPA regular
So I was looking at printer ink so as to print an essay for class tomorrow and oh what do I find
Forty-six fucking dollars, just for the black ink.
Hello people I am not paying nearly $50 for a cartridge that'll do maybe a few hundred pages when an $80 toner cartridge will do 3000. Fuckers.
So I went and did some research, and my selection is mostly limited to what Best Buy offers in Canada (check www.bestbuy.ca to see what I mean) because I already have credit there (long story, but I assure you it's plenty stupid) and I might spend a lot of money on a printer and would like to do that on a not fuckin' paying right away plan.
Anyhow, I've more or less narrowed it down to the Brother DCP-7020 or the Canon MF4150. They're in the same price range and offer competitive feature sets, and both are generally well liked by the googling I did, so I'll probably pick the one with the cheapest replacement toner cartridge.
BUT BEFORE I PULL THE TRIGGER
Can anyone offer any compelling advice? Like "I had a Brother DCP-7020 and it burnt down my house and ate my garbage so maybe don't get that one"? Or "Just spend $1100 and get a totally sweet colour laser printer you knob"?
I looked at the sub-$500 colour laser options and all of them seem to suck one way or the other. None of them are particularly fast, even in monochrome mode, and none of them offer particularly good looking prints because they're low end. It seems that if I want high accuracy colour prints I'm just better off taking it to a printer if I'm not willing to break into the four digit price range. Can anyone testify to that conclusion?
Anyhow, I also should note that I do like the multifunction aspects of these devices. Scanning mostly, would be really nice. Would I be better though, to buy a dedicated scanner and a single purpose monochrome laser printer? I won't be using the fax capabilities I don't think (pretty damned sure I won't be, actually). If so, what are some good recommendations in that area? I do have limited office space though, so the multi-function has that allure.
Forty-six fucking dollars, just for the black ink.
Hello people I am not paying nearly $50 for a cartridge that'll do maybe a few hundred pages when an $80 toner cartridge will do 3000. Fuckers.
So I went and did some research, and my selection is mostly limited to what Best Buy offers in Canada (check www.bestbuy.ca to see what I mean) because I already have credit there (long story, but I assure you it's plenty stupid) and I might spend a lot of money on a printer and would like to do that on a not fuckin' paying right away plan.
Anyhow, I've more or less narrowed it down to the Brother DCP-7020 or the Canon MF4150. They're in the same price range and offer competitive feature sets, and both are generally well liked by the googling I did, so I'll probably pick the one with the cheapest replacement toner cartridge.
BUT BEFORE I PULL THE TRIGGER
Can anyone offer any compelling advice? Like "I had a Brother DCP-7020 and it burnt down my house and ate my garbage so maybe don't get that one"? Or "Just spend $1100 and get a totally sweet colour laser printer you knob"?
I looked at the sub-$500 colour laser options and all of them seem to suck one way or the other. None of them are particularly fast, even in monochrome mode, and none of them offer particularly good looking prints because they're low end. It seems that if I want high accuracy colour prints I'm just better off taking it to a printer if I'm not willing to break into the four digit price range. Can anyone testify to that conclusion?
Anyhow, I also should note that I do like the multifunction aspects of these devices. Scanning mostly, would be really nice. Would I be better though, to buy a dedicated scanner and a single purpose monochrome laser printer? I won't be using the fax capabilities I don't think (pretty damned sure I won't be, actually). If so, what are some good recommendations in that area? I do have limited office space though, so the multi-function has that allure.
IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Pheezer on
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BestBuy US has them on sale for $305.
While it is not the fastest laser in the world, it is not slow either, the print quality once you get the color spaces dialed in is pretty damn good (My profession is Art Director, I deal with a lot of prints, and the 2600 is good enough for most proofing work IMO, better than most inkjets on the right paper).
Also, a bonus with these is that they have both USB and Network connections, handy if you need to hook it up to a LAN.
The black cartridge is $75, the three colors are around $100 each. It also ships with full toner cartridges, which is a big bonus. As you can see it is cheaper to replace the whole unit than replace the toner. So there is still the over pricing going on with toner, but not even remotely close to the rip off ink prices. and the price per page is significantly less by a major factor, and the toner lasts a long long time, so no more rushing out to buy ink every other week.
I recommend it as a solid purchase, would buy again (and will when the colors run dry) A++++AAA+A!!!! and so on.
EDIT: just check the stats on the printer:
B/W pages printed = 1527
Color pages printed = 1082
Cyan toner is at 61%
Magenta toner is at 59%
Yellow toner is at 61%
Black toner is at 8%
I'll keep replacing the black toner (the one in there is the original) until the colors run out, then get a new one.
Why are toners and inks so expensive?
For the same reason razor blade cartridges are so expensive. Once you have the hardware, just about everyone will continue buying replacements despite being ripoff expensive.
People have told me toner is actually expensive to produce, though.
Dunno how true it is, that's just what a couple of advertising majors have told me.
it's a good rule to follow.
Proprietary formats allow monopoly pricing on all toner replacements.
I've heard the same thing from non advertising people, so I think you can believe it. It could be a giant toner conspiracy.
it is.
JWFokker is correct, it's the same reason razor blades cost so much. And it is, in fact, called exactly that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_and_blades_business_model
The Razor and Blades business model, invented by Gillette himself.
Another great example is cellphones (that's why they give away phones... on a two year contract).
That's not to say they're completely swindling you. True to what the inkjet manufacturers say, their ink really isn't just "plain ink" and adheres better, dries faster, has less impurities, has more saturated colours and darker blacks, lasts far longer, and is more waterproof than dollar store ink refills.
But yes, that is exactly the business model in play here.
I'M A TWITTER SHITTER
The replacement, the FS-1030D looks just as solid, and adds duplexing support.
It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.
They are extremely small, and pump out pages. Not color; though, color is for nancys
I have an Epson Aculaser C1100 which I think is just lovely. I don't have much experience with laser printers, but this one has been great.
I just bought a Oki C3400N for $400 (w/ $100MIR - $300) and it's very nice! Our secretary who prints a lot loves it, and it quite fast (20ppm black, 15ppm color) for home use. Warm up time is pretty short too, so you don't sit and wait for your printouts.
Toner is a bit more expensive for the Oki compared to some of the other brands, but it's still not bad and very good compared to ink.
The nicest thing about color laserjet printing is toner comes in 3 different cartridges, unlike MOST inkjets that make you buy a single cartridge even if you are only out of blue. (cyan)
I bought it because I really wanted a printer to replace my ancient Epson Stylus Color II (10 minutes per page in "high quality" mode -- 720dpi ... could not simultaneously do CMY and K, had to switch print heads and feed the paper back through if you wanted all four colors).
Anyhow, the Samsung has been absolutely fantastic. Only downside is that it consumes a fuckton of power when it's running. In fact, it consumes 300 Watts running. It has a power-save mode that kicks in after 20 minutes, so unless you're printing 1 sheet every 19 minutes, it'll be off most of the time. But when it turns on, it makes my lights dim.
If you live with a bunch of people and you're feeling generous you can get the CLP300N, which is the same printer but with an ethernet port. Put it in the living room, plug it in to the network and anybody can connect to it and print. (I'm not that generous, though :P )
EDIT: also I picked this over the comparable HP because the toner cartridges are like $10 cheaper.
Its a Continuous Ink Supply System and each of those tubs holds about 10 cartridges worth of ink and is much, much cheaper as refilling all of the tubs costs around £10. Thats £10 for like 60 cartridges worth of ink.