Colour laser printers

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quickymart

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#311889 23-Feb-2024 22:04

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

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#3199318 23-Feb-2024 22:07

Do you need a laser printer?

Why not a tank inkjet?

These are so much better regarding ink costs than cartridges or lasers.

quickymart

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#3199326 23-Feb-2024 22:20

Didn't even know about those, thanks very much. Will do some research on them.

Scott3

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#3199339 23-Feb-2024 23:12

We have a brother color laser (MFC-L3770CDW). Full set of genuine high yield toners runs at about $730 (3000 yeild on black, 2,300 on the colors). Yeah, so looking 32c / colour page on toner alone. Printer was purchased for a business we were running from home, so the cost was carried by the business which made it a bit more tolerable. Now we have shut the business down (printer is rarely used now), we couldn't justify the cost of replacing the color toners. Ultimately we just told the printer we had via a service menu, and it is still happily printing with color showing they 50% remaining (i.e. 150% utilized).

We needed laser, not inkjet for important long life documents (i.e. wills) produces by the business.

Plan when we brought it was to primarily use B+W, but to retain the ability to print color when required, and our home office is quite small, so it was preferable to have it in one unit, rather than the setup we were running a while back with a B+W laser printer and a colour inkjet.

This is out second brother colour laser. The prior one we ran 3rd party toners, but sadly were never happy with them. When we were running out of life on the drum, we made the decision to upgrade (gaining features like duplex scan), rather than replacing the drum.

Above point is a bit sad with the brother laser printers. Our current printer is at 15,000 pages, with the drum lifespan of 18,000 pages. Doesn't really make sense to spend $270 on a genuine drum kit, when for around double that you can get a completely new printer with fresh warranty, all new consumables, incl the starter (around 700 - 1000 page yield) toners. So yeah, our printer will likely end up in the trash, once we have consumed one more 3000 page yield black toner.

I like our color laser printer, but frankly you need to be a fairly wealthy household (or using it commercially) to justify having one. Frankly I think most households would be best suited with a mono laser, or if they really want color ability, one of those high capacity tank inkjets.

freitasm

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#3199343 23-Feb-2024 23:32

quickymart:
Didn't even know about those, thanks very much. Will do some research on them.

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=26938

timmmay

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#3199352 24-Feb-2024 06:57

I gave up on Inkjet about a decade ago. They may have improved, but I got tired of blocked nozzles and things generally going wrong, which may be partly because they're so cheap.

I'm on my second Brother color laser. After about 5 years the first needed a part that was $150 that should've lasted longer, plus a toner cartridge, and I wanted double sized scanning, so I sold it and purchased the MFC-L3770CDW. It works well. I expect it to last at least 5 years, probably more.

andrew75

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#3199356 24-Feb-2024 07:34

Beware HP, they have a decidedly anti consumer attitude - especially if you intend to use third party toner. I have a HP Multifunction Colour Laser. Works well and I'm happy with what it does and produces.

But one day a couple of years back they pushed out a firmware update, and with it they disabled my (brand new at the time) third party toner cartridges. Unfortunately this is a regular practice for them. Fortunately I managed to find some instructions on the web somewhere how roll back the firmware and have since disabled auto-updates. They also do crap like when your ink or toner runs out on a multifunction device they disable the scanner.

When my HP dies I'm not sure what the next brand I get will be, but it wont be HP.

freitasm

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#3199357 24-Feb-2024 07:44

That's the thing with eco tank printers: you only refill. There is no parts replacement for years.

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nzkc

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#3199360 24-Feb-2024 08:09

freitasm: That's the thing with eco tank printers: you only refill. There is no parts replacement for years.

Like Timmmay I switched to a colour laser because whenever I went to print something the ink jets were a bit clogged so had always be cleaning and recalibrating. Think most of the ink went towards that rather than actual printing! I dont print often which is half the problem.

Wondering if this is still the case - even with refillables or has the tech improved a lot?

Have had my Brother colour laser printer for over a decade. Been far cheaper to run than an inkjet.

I've bought toner from Computer Food and have used non official replacements. All been good (for me) and a lot cheaper than official spares.

old3eyes

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#3199555 24-Feb-2024 17:49

freitasm: That's the thing with eco tank printers: you only refill. There is no parts replacement for years.

Yes ink tank printers are cheap to run but do they have the same issues as normal inkjets that you have to pint a test page5at least once a week to stop the heads blocking.

Regards,

Old3eyes

rscole86

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#3199559 24-Feb-2024 18:07

I think MF is referring to the Ecotank by Epsom? They don't do the hundred test pages that ink jets are known for.

Jase2985

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#3199562 24-Feb-2024 18:20

had an HP deskjet here and it only needs to do a nozzle clean when i change the carts, so maybe once a year, never had an issue with blocked jets or anything like that.

freitasm

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#3199564 24-Feb-2024 18:43

old3eyes:
freitasm: That's the thing with eco tank printers: you only refill. There is no parts replacement for years.

Yes ink tank printers are cheap to run but do they have the same issues as normal inkjets that you have to pint a test page5at least once a week to stop the heads blocking.

I have had Epson EcoTank inkjet here and have a HP Smart Tank.

I never had to print a test page to prevent blockage. We just use the printers. Sometimes a few pages a week, sometimes a few of weeks without printing anything. Never had a problem.

Perhaps you are thinking of inkjets from fifteen years ago?

marpada

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#3200007 26-Feb-2024 01:37

I would not buy a printer that it's no a laser Brother.

quickymart

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#3200022 26-Feb-2024 08:52

Huh?

xpd

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#3200041 26-Feb-2024 09:06

Think they mean they won't touch anything except Brother.

I've not used anything except Brother and HP's in a home/small office environment in the past 10 years, and I'd avoid HP now. Their drivers/software are a nightmare to work with, and as others have mentioned, they pretty much block 3rd party supplies.

Our Brother (MFC B+W) at home is getting on in age but keeps on going and is cheap to keep running.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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