A question on printers

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Hi,

I couldn't find a section dedicated to printers so i thought i would ask here.

I am thinking about geting a small printer for home use. Obviously there are inkjet printers available but what about a colour laser printer instead?

I notice thses can be had for about £100 now which doesn't seem too bad. But i'd like to know a bit more about them.

It may be a daft question but do I need to top up any kind of toner in one of these?

And if so, how much are they and how long would they last?

Cheers
 
I'm not sure about laser printers, but if you're going for a home printer I'd strongly recommend looking into Continuous Ink Supply Systems for inkjet printers. The money you save is beyond crazy.
 
PC Pro did a review of "budget" colour lasers in the May 2011 issue.

All prices they quoted are exc. VAT.

Toner life is based on 5% coverage, I think, so an A4 colour picture would use 20 pages worth of toner.

The cheapest one they tested was the Samsung CLP-325 at £96.

It ships with starter toners for black (1,000 pages) and colour (700 pages).

A 1,500 page black toner is £30.

1,000 page colour toners are £28 each for cyan, magenta & yellow.

The imaging unit needs replacing after 6,000 pages at £88 (you might as well buy another printer!).

The waste toner cartridge needs replacing after 2,500 pages at £7.

What needs replacing and when depends on the different makes.

Hopefully this gives you some idea of what they cost to run.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for information.

I was actually expeting it to be far worse than the figures you have quoted.

How does this compare to current inkjet printers?
 
As for a inkjet printer Canon are very good, my ip4300 is 2yrs old still prints like new still, compateable ink cartridges are about £5 a full set, as they are all seperate.

Have a look at the ip4850 it prints DVD or CD disc's as well as photos + doc's, l know compatables are avialable for the ip850.

Surveyer and Sida, have given you food for thought as regards Lasors and ink for a inkjet.
 
I much prefer lasers, and have a Samsung CLP-315 for the very little colour that I do. Its better quality, prints faster, and as long as compatible carts are available, then its cheap to run. It depends what you want it for tbh!
The waste toner cart can usually be emtied of course ;). Just be careful as it gets everywhere.
 
DuncanK said:
How does this compare to current inkjet printers?
Click to expand...

No idea so that I'll leave to someone else to answer.

Is suppose the thing with inkjets is that they're cheaper to buy, don't tend to require maintenance other than ink and there is a greater chance of being able to buy compatible inks, continuous ink systems etc.

I don't know how long a colour laser would last but most inkjets these days seem to be knackered after a couple of years.
 
Get a laser if
You print infrequently - does not clog up
You want cheaper per print costs
You print mostly text web pages etc


Get an cheap inkjet (£20)if you need:
A really cheap printer to print say a hundred pages /photos etc
Good quality photo printing

get an expensive inkjet with a continuoous ink system if
You need top quality prints and are willing to calibrate and test papers inks and settings
You print dozens of prints at a time
You print frequently
 
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