As I mentioned in the other thread I'm having issues trying to get my son's Windows 11 laptop to talk to my trusty old HP mono laser printer via my home network.

I'm partly inclined to look at upgrading it anyway as I got it in 2006, and was looking at a copy centre/colour laser combination thing. HP has really proven its worth to me, so I was considering something like this:

https://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/W2658660.html

One of these would suit all my needs however I was blown away to see the cost of replacing the toner - almost as much as the device itself! 😮 It's like they're (quite literally) printing money off the cost of the toner cartridges.

Looking around all the ink suppliers - even using aftermarket toners - there's not a lot of price difference (for example: https://www.tonerink.co.nz/HP206A)

So my query is: is this normal? Are all colour laser printers saddled with ridiculously expensive toner cartridges, regardless of brand? At that price point I get the feeling they're more geared towards a small office situation as opposed to a home user.

Should I look at another brand (Brother?) or just scrap the colour laser printer idea and look at a mono laser copy centre combination instead, a la this?

https://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/W2786893.html