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Laser Printer costs

morgan2476
Grafter
Posts: 284
Registered: ‎13-08-2007

Laser Printer costs

Hi folks. I am thinking about purchasing a lasewr printer.  What is the most cost effective per page?  It will be used at home.  Thanks
14 REPLIES 14
Lurker
Grafter
Posts: 1,867
Registered: ‎23-10-2008

Re: Laser Printer costs

You didn't say how many pages you are going to be printing.
You also didn't say what size paper, and whether you need mono (Black and White), Colour capable (like most colour laser printers) or full Colour (which is marginally better at colour prints than 'colour capable' machines)
Do you need duplex printing?
Do you want any other functions? Fax? Copy? Scan?
HPsauce
Pro
Posts: 6,998
Thanks: 146
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Registered: ‎02-02-2008

Re: Laser Printer costs

They're so much cheaper than inkjets that consumable cost isn't really an issue unless you're in a high-volume office environment.
Personally I like the Samsung range, both B&W and colour.
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
Fixes: 65
Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Laser Printer costs

I have not read ALL the review on this site, but it may interest you, and give you some more ideas about what you need/want regarding initial cost and running costs....
http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/compare/2152826/group-test-budget-colour-laser
here is a quote from the first page......
Quote

As is always the case with printers, the cost of running them can be of vital importance, especially if you're planning on printing large volumes of output or charging a customer per print.
It's no coincidence that the printer which is cheapest to buy is also the most expensive to run. It also requires far more user intervention as its lower-capacity cartridges will need replacing more frequently.
Make sure you look at the price and capacities of all consumable items, not just toner, when deciding what to buy. We also cover this more in the Real cost of printing .

so worth going on to read the next few pages as well....... Wink

Interestingly this is the "closing paragraph".......
Our Editor's Choice printer delivers very low running costs, a large paper capacity, superb print quality and Postscript capability.
These are all features you'd expect from premium workgroup printers, but Dell's 3100cn delivers them and more in a product costing just shy of £340. Its high-capacity toner cartridges undercut the competition by a huge margin and, fortunately, it's these that you'll find shipped with the printer.

However, I decided to "google" on a bit further, to find this .......
http://www.stinkyinkshop.co.uk/acatalog/Dell_3100cn_Colour_Laser_Printer.html?utm_source=googlebase&...
where a pack of three colour toners is "only".....   £176.20 inc VAT   especially in light of the above in blue !
Lurker
Grafter
Posts: 1,867
Registered: ‎23-10-2008

Re: Laser Printer costs

Not many years ago I passed over responsibility for our print fleet to the purchasing department.
They decided that leasing machines on a cost-per-copy basis was silly and 'purchasing' was a better idea (see my mistake there, the purchasing dept somehow thought that purchasing was the best option for every situation...)
They bought a Dell 3100cn for their office (around 6 people, relatively low print volumes)
After a year we skipped it, moved print responsibility back to the IT dept, and leased them a proper machine instead.
YMMV, but I wouldn't recommend anything without know what is required.
As Shutter has already pointed out, a full set of toners is not cheap, and in common with inkjet printers, our Dell 3100cn was shipped with lower capacity toner cartridges (not high capacity ones as stated in the article above), so your first set of replacements will come sooner than subsequent sets.
The feed conveyor is linked to a counter, which will prevent you from running the machine once it decides it is time for replacement. (not a cheap part!)
Lurker
Grafter
Posts: 1,867
Registered: ‎23-10-2008

Re: Laser Printer costs

Hmm - reviews are also mentioning people getting anywhere between 2000 and 5000 prints from an imaging drum before the printer requests a new one - again, without knowing intended volumes this might be a useful observation, or it might be completely irrelevant.
MauriceC
Resting Legend
Posts: 4,085
Thanks: 929
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Laser Printer costs

Just a quick 'sideways' observation?  I still have a 20 (odd) year old HP Laserjet 3 in full functional working order and regularly used on the original drum.  Toner does about 3000 copies @£55.  This and the slightly later Laserjet 4 models were solidly built pre the built 'Intelligence' that monitors usage.  Quite an active second user market in spares / repairs, so if all you want is a really good quality A4 Black & White printer it may be worth a look.
By comparison:  At work we have replaced later HP 1300 and 1100 series printers as they just fell apart after 3 - 5 years.
If going for new - then like HP sauce, I favour the Samsung range
Maurice

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

Lurker
Grafter
Posts: 1,867
Registered: ‎23-10-2008

Re: Laser Printer costs

I would recommend printers of that vintage too - we kept our LJ3/4/5's going for years (but our manufacturing/warehousing environment is not too kind on electronics, so eventually they had to be replaced)
pimpernel
Grafter
Posts: 84
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎20-09-2007

Re: Laser Printer costs

I got a QMS/Konica Minolta 2300W in October 2003 and it's still using the original CMY-3 colour cartidges that came with it. I refilled the black a couple of years ago. And the original cartridges were only ½-full.
Admittedly I have "adjusted" the switches on the toner cartridges that give screen nags when they reckon the cartidges are nearly empty, but that was several years ago.
If I were to be buying a replacement now I would certainly give the Magicolor 1650EN serious consideration - it's only about £120 or so.
That's less than a refill for the 3 colours on my 2300W.
shutter
Community Veteran
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Laser Printer costs


Just done another quick "google"..... this a copy of the first page of "finds"
Quote

Shopping results for Magicolor 1650EN

Konica Minolta magicolor 1650EN Colour Laser printer - 20 ppm - 200 sheets
£94 new - 54 stores
Konica Minolta magicolor 1650EN-d Colour Laser printer - 20 ppm - 200 ...
£257 new - 62 stores
Konica Minolta Magicolor 1650EN Colour Laser Printer(256MB ...
£384.45 new - Amazon.co.uk

so depends whether you want a new one for £94 or £384.45p !  Cheesy
MrC
Grafter
Posts: 525
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎17-07-2008

Re: Laser Printer costs

Quote from: shutter
so depends whether you want a new one for £94 or £384.45p !   Cheesy
There's three different versions of this printer so that shows how misleading price comparison websites can be  Roll_eyes
See :-
http://www.konicaminolta.co.uk/business-solutions/products/laser-printers/colour/magicolor-1650en/in...
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
Fixes: 65
Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Laser Printer costs

Nope!..... that was not from a "comparison site".... it was straight from google`s mouth...... the first entry after clicking on "search"......
MrC
Grafter
Posts: 525
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎17-07-2008

Re: Laser Printer costs

Um - Google is a price comparison site and gives similar results as all the others (dealtime, kelkoo, et al) Smiley
Unfortunately there's no easy way to tell exactly which model they're quoting prices for when asking for just the 1650EN. Even trying "Magicolor 1650EN -1650EN-d -1650EN-dt" still throws up some dubious prices.
The duplex model (1650EN-d) looks a nice little printer but it's quite a bit more expensive.
morgan2476
Grafter
Posts: 284
Registered: ‎13-08-2007

Re: Laser Printer costs

Thanks to all who replied.  It is a black laser printer i am after.  As for printing colour photos online services are definately better.
I have looked at various manufacturers and I think I will go for a Samsung.
HPsauce
Pro
Posts: 6,998
Thanks: 146
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎02-02-2008

Re: Laser Printer costs

I've got a Samsung ML-1510 which may no longer be current.
Cheap as chips and very good quality and reliable.
I think mine is NOT actually a laser as such, they use a slightly different technology with very similar behaviour.
Current equivalent appears to be the ML-1640. £60-£70.