cheap color laser printer, ideas?

Forums › Desktop computing › cheap color laser printer, ideas?

nakedmolerat

4453 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 843

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Topic # 161823 21-Jan-2015 06:46

can someone please recommend me a cheap (maintenance wise) and reliable laser printer?

preferably with scanner and network option, ability to print both side.

let say budget no more than $400.

Geektastic

11906 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3858

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1218841 21-Jan-2015 09:31

Brother.

I have a DCP-7065DN which does all that and cost just over $200. It's worked faultlessly for the last 18 months or so that I have had it.

nakedmolerat

4453 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 843

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1218843 21-Jan-2015 09:35

Geektastic: Brother.

I have a DCP-7065DN which does all that and cost just over $200. It's worked faultlessly for the last 18 months or so that I have had it.

it is not color?

sbiddle

27065 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6509

Moderator

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1218876 21-Jan-2015 10:08

The problem with low to mid range laser printers is the consumable costs (and therefore cost per page) are exceptionally high. It certainly pays to carefully look at these costs for any particular model you're looking at, as they can vary considerably.

jonb

1449 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 324

Trusted

Reply # 1218878 21-Jan-2015 10:11

I have a Brother HL-3150CDN, which has been trouble free so far. No scanner, but goes for ~100 if you wait for a good cashback deal and a PB Tech sale.

Geektastic

11906 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3858

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1218886 21-Jan-2015 10:17

nakedmolerat:
Geektastic: Brother.

I have a DCP-7065DN which does all that and cost just over $200. It's worked faultlessly for the last 18 months or so that I have had it.

it is not color?

Sorry - I missed the word 'color' and had to look it up...! ;-)

No, it's not colour - but I posted it more as a suggestion of which brand you could consider.

I find it cheaper (much!) to print B&W for 95% of my requirements and then outsource colour printing as required.

Consumables for my laser are about $100 per toner and I use about 1.5 per annum.

nakedmolerat

4453 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 843

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1218932 21-Jan-2015 11:26

Any comment on HP?

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=PTRHPL0476&name=HP-Laserjet-Pro-400-M476dw-Colour-laser-MFP-%28$200-

timmmay

14150 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2546

Trusted

Subscriber

Reply # 1219084 21-Jan-2015 13:46

Brother is working great for me - only 3-6 months old. MFC9140CDN.

Check this thread.

AWS Certified Solution Architect Professional, Sysop Administrator Associate, and Developer Associate
TOGAF certified enterprise architect
Professional photographer

ajobbins

Awesome
4810 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1062

Trusted

Subscriber

Reply # 1219105 21-Jan-2015 13:52

I've got a Brother HL-3045CN that cost me AU$99 over a year ago. Don't do a HUGE amount of printing, but have done a fair bit and still on the toners that came with it.

Page counts from the web admin page:
Device Status
Total Page Count
456
Color Page Count
409
Monochrome Page Count
47
Image Count Total
1583
Image Count Cyan (C)
390
Image Count Magenta (M)
394
Image Count Yellow (Y)
343
Image Count Black (K)
456

Edit: That's on the 'starter' consumables that have a considerably lower yield than the replacement ones. Aftermarket toners apparently work really well and are much cheaper. Not like the old aftermarket inkjet cartridges which were terrible.

Twitter: ajobbins

ubergeeknz

3343 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1089

Trusted

Vocus

Reply # 1219109 21-Jan-2015 13:54

+1 for Brother, despite the low price they are pretty reliable and consumables are relatively cheap.