Recommend a Laser Printer

[qi0qplk1al]

Hi Everyone,

We are a small convenience store and currently use an inkjet printer (Epson Stylus DX8450) for all our printing (wage slips, letters, reports, invoices etc) but would like to move to a more cost-efficient method since the Epson ink is costing HUGE amounts of money.

Can anyone recommend a good laser printer that is not too big (don't mind if it is a MFPD) with the ability to print quickly in both colour and mono without needing a replacement toner every month or so - we are printing around 1000 sheets per month of various forms but this can increase to around 3000 at Christmas time.

Look forward to hearing positives and negatives of each as there will always be drawbacks and we'd rather balance these out against the positives.

Thanks in advance.

 

[anon154650]

If you need to print around 1000 sheets per month, I would recommend you look at the larger biz-grade printers that can take high-yield toner cartridges (typically 5000 sheet printing capacity), and allow you to change the transfer belt(s) and fuser unit as and when they wear out. Most printers ship with cartridges that feature "shipping toner", and these usually have about 25% of a normal cartridge. Once these are empty, it is often better to spend the little bit extra for high-yield toners.

I would also look out for models with built-in networking and avoid those which use the words "host controlled", as this implies the print-processing is rendered on the PC instead of inside the printer. Host-controlled printers can be very hard to use/share to other systems, i.e. MacOS and Linux.

I personally use a Samsung CLP-620ND (duplex and network) and have found it very reliable, although I do not print all that much. Here is my printer's MFP cousin (as an example): http://www.ebuyer.com/390053-samsung-clx-6260nd-colour-laser-printer-clx-6260nd-see

HTH

 

[qi0qplk1al]

Whoops!!!!

My over zealous typing - I should have said 100 per month not 1000 and 300 not 3000 - too many zeros - the kind of thing I hope for on the till reports!

 

[anon154650]

In my experience, it is worth looking at biz-grade printers, even if you are only printing between 100 and 300 pages per month. The cost-per-page of toner and replacement parts should work out cheaper, even though the initial outlay is higher than an inkjet.

 

[Jim2k]

We love our Ricoh SP-C231n - quick and when you buy the high volume toner cartridges fairly cheap to run.

HTH

 

[TOKN]

Good value in the Samsung CLP 3xx series. I've had a 365w and a 325w, both are wireless CMYK print and easy to network with through Ethernet or wi-fi.

In my experience the 325w is actually a better quality machine but I've been told the cartridges are smaller.

325w is also an older model, far better value but they're like gold dust now. If you get hold of a 365w you'd be happy with the spend.

 

[amich]

the Epson ink is costing HUGE amounts of money.

Do you already use or would you consider using remanufactured ink cartridges? They are available for your printer for around 10 quid for a full set of inks and encourage reuse which should be good for the environment.

 

[Dan_Kesher]

I used to have a HP Laserjet 1020. It was very small for a laser printer so doesnt take up too much space. I needed a colour printer and fax so I gave the laserjet to my brother-in-law.

Here is the latest version of the 1020:
http://www.misco.co.uk/product/Q233993/HP-Laserjet-P1102-Mono-Laser-Printer

 

100 sheets per month? I'm confused as to how this is expensive to print....are you printing everything 'photo quality' or something?

100 sheets per month would be classed as very low printer useage, and in my humble opinion a laser would be way overkill for such a quantity.

Just remember one thing - laser printing has a much higher basic cost per annum than an inkjet...mainly because it uses image drums and other parts which are quite expensive to replace.

I have an Oki colour laser, if I buy the original cartridges (4 of) then they can cost me around £45 each (max 1200 pages they say but I do get a fair bit more). If I use compatibles, from a reputable source, I can cut these to about £20 each and get a similar return pages-wise.

The toner is not the problem though - every 3-4 toner cartridges that are replaced, and I need then to replace the image drum (again 4 of) at a cost of about £55 each. A lot of the lasers out there have a single image drum (Epson and HP tend to) and these can cost about £150-200 each....making it almost cheaper to buy a new printer every time they're needed).

There is also a feed belt, which a lot of lasers use, which costs about £60 to replace on mine, I've done this once in 2 years.

Be careful that if you don't look at the long-term ownership of a laser, you end up running yourself into a large bill for a small print quantity.

I also have an Epson SX125 inkjet, which I use for my day-to-day printing, putting maybe 500 pages a month through it - I buy my cartidges at a cost of about £2 each and they never last any real amount of time, but it's still very very cheap printing. Again, a reputable compatible cartridge is required, as there are some shockers out there.

Maybe you just need to check your printer settings on your PC...make sure you're not printing too high a quality, also check that you are not paying way over the odds for your cartridges......you might be able to sort this all out quickly and cheaply.

It must be something in the air tonight...I'm talking someone out of spending on IT...... oh yeah, it's my birthday

 

[kulture]

I know you said laser, and I understand why, but consider epson wp-4535. It is inkjet, so it does colour easily, and it has HUGE ink cartridges. Print cost is comparable to the cheapest lasers when you factor in the usage, drums, transfer belts, etc.

 

[visagephoto]

Do you already use or would you consider using remanufactured ink cartridges? They are available for your printer for around 10 quid for a full set of inks and encourage reuse which should be good for the environment.

The compatibles I use in my Epson R320 cost me £21.00 for 5 sets (30) of cartridges, the same company supplies 6 sets (24) of compatible cartridges for the Epson DX8400 (same cartridges??) for only £19.90 inclusive of vat and Uk delivery.

 

[british steve]

Another one for Samsung printers! Easy to set up and use.

 

[qi0qplk1al]

thanks for the replies so far everyone - will have a good look at your suggestions.

 

[amphis software]

I've got a wireless HP LaserJet P1102w which costs about £85 and works fine.

Tom