Laser printer recommendations

[whatknot]

I got thoroughly fed up with ink jet printers and having to replace cartridges seemingly every time I wanted to use it, so bought a Samsung ML 1665 mono laser printer back in 2010, it has worked faultlessly each and every time I needed to print something, during that time I have replaced one toner cartridge and had another spare just in case

But yesterday I went to switch it on and get a very quick flash of light from the switches but it will not turn on, I found no obvious fix for the problem after a google session

I rarely need colour but the facility would be useful, it all comes down to cost

Can anyone recommend either a reasonably priced mono or colour laser printer, I do not want one that forces the user to only buy OE toner etc, I gather some also require the drum changing when you change the toner which I would like to avoid

Any thoughts please?

 

[J-G]

Can anyone recommend either a reasonably priced mono or colour laser printer, I do not want one that forces the user to only buy OE toner etc, I gather some also require the drum changing when you change the toner which I would like to avoid

ALL laser printer consumables have a 'life' ! The 'Drum' has the longest with many (most?) being in excess of 100k prints. I don't know of any that need a drum change at the same time as the toner - that would be 'silly'.

Although I always recommend Genuine Epson Inkjet consumables, all other manufacturers - and Laser consumables - are OK with 'compatible' product.

Being 'forced' to buy OE Toner is usually only during the first iteration of a new product. Once the toner package has been available for a month or so, there is usually a 'compatible' version available.

 

[Ollie78]

I have a Xerox 6510 colour and it prints brilliantly.
After you have sworn at it for 10 minutes, re started everything and other associated nonsense. My wife hates it.

To be fair this is not an uncommon problem with all printers in my experience.
I have owned inkjets from Canon, Epson, kodak etc . The life of most of them was 2 years.
I would always need to run an unclog cycle as I wouldn't use them often enough. Hence why I went laser. I have not had to replace any toner yet after a year or so. Would have been on about 3 or 4 ink refills at least by now.

We can do great technological feats as a species but I have yet to encounter a printer that will just print what I want, when I want.

My advice at this point is they are all a nightmare in one way or another.

Ollie

 

[niemeyjt]

Whatever brand you buy (I use HP) make sure you can buy toner etc outright and not as part of some monthly subscription.

 

[Droogs]

Have a read of this thread over on the other side before deciding what to get. My recommendation is still to get one of the Brother models

Edit to change make as first version was a brainfart typo

 

[Pedronicus]

I have a Brother HL-3140CW. Great machine and works very well. I always buy Brother toner refills though as a friend thought he would use the cheapo ones to save money and ended up having to buy a new printer. I'm sure some will say they have never had any problems with cheap ones but I prefer not to go down that route.

 

[niemeyjt]

I have to say I have a Brother p-touch label printer and it is very good - so if their lasers are of similar quality then certainly worth considering.

I also use genuine HP toner cartridges in my HP printers - an M451 and an M252 from 2014 and 2016 respectively.

 

[whatknot]

I appreciate all printer consumables have a life, but never had to change a drum yet, the ones that were mentioned that require it, were I think HP printers they also try to tie up purchasers into using their products, so would avoid HP

ALL laser printer consumables have a 'life' ! The 'Drum' has the longest with many (most?) being in excess of 100k prints. I don't know of any that need a drum change at the same time as the toner - that would be 'silly'.

Although I always recommend Genuine Epson Inkjet consumables, all other manufacturers - and Laser consumables - are OK with 'compatible' product.

Being 'forced' to buy OE Toner is usually only during the first iteration of a new product. Once the toner package has been available for a month or so, there is usually a 'compatible' version available.

 

[whatknot]

Thanks for yours, I found no difference at all between the overpriced OE ink cartridges and after market types or even refilling them when I used to use them, they all blocked up without constant use

I wouldn't want to be cornered into OE only for any printer

I have a Brother HL-3140CW. Great machine and works very well. I always buy Brother toner refills though as a friend thought he would use the cheapo ones to save money and ended up having to buy a new printer. I'm sure some will say they have never had any problems with cheap ones but I prefer not to go down that route.

 

[whatknot]

This is exactly what I wanted to avoid when I gave up with ink jet printers

Since 2010 buying this fairly basic Samsung ML 1665 it has never let me down, always printed first time, every time, and in all that time have only had to replace one toner cartridge

Granted I am not a heavy user but I need it to work when I want it to

I suppose 12 years in this day and age is pretty good for a printer, I know that none of the ink jets I have had over the years have got anywhere near that and cost an arm & a leg to keep running, not to mention the aggravation of head cleaning etc as you mention

I have a Xerox 510 colour and it prints brilliantly.
After you have sworn at it for 10 minutes, re started everything and other associated nonsense. My wife hates it.

To be fair this is not an uncommon problem with all printers in my experience.
I have owned inkjets from Canon, Epson, kodak etc . The life of most of them was 2 years.
I would always need to run an unclog cycle as I wouldn't use them often enough. Hence why I went laser. I have not had to replace any toner yet after a year or so. Would have been on about 3 or 4 ink refills at least by now.

We can do great technological feats as a species but I have yet to encounter a printer that will just print what I want, when I want.

My advice at this point is they are all a nightmare in one way or another.

Ollie

 

[whatknot]

As in the HP type of practice and something I would avoid

Whatever brand you buy (I use HP) make sure you can buy toner etc outright and not as part of some monthly subscription.

 

[whatknot]

Thanks for yours, I read through the posts and will keep them in mind but found nothing conclusive there

I was rather surprised to find when I looked for a manual for my Samsung to be redirected to HP, who I assume are churning out what were Samsung printers

Amazon said the Samsung ML 1665 which I paid £50 for, was not available (no great shock there) and that there was a newer model available at £499!!!!

Certainly the Brother printers seem to come out on top

More homework needed I fear

Have a read of this thread over on the other side before deciding what to get. My recommendation is still to get one of the Brother models

Edit to change make as first version was a brainfart typo

 

[ian33a]

I guess it depends upon what you want to use it for.

When we ran our business we used HP inkjets but with after market cartridges. We printed a lot, they were quick and reasonably cheap to run.

Having retired, the last one finally died and I bought an Epson ET-3750 ink tank model. It isn't as fast as the HP but we don't print as much and the time between refilling the tanks has been ages and the refills aren't that expensive.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Printer companies sell sophisticated complex engineering barely covering the factory cost of production. The strategy is to tie you in to their high margin consumables for many years. They reinforce these behaviours with error messages and dire warnings about equipment damage and print quality

They are actually just exploiting human frailty and short termism. Manufacturers know that most when faced with purchase will choose the machine (of similar specification) with the lowest price tag.

They also know that when buying consumables, the choice is between a replacement machine or some cartridges at a slightly lower cost.

I know all this - yet still fall for their ploys!!

 

[AES]

Short and to the point:
Another +1 for Brother laser here.

More:
When I was running my own business I printed quite a lot, often with colour, and on-site a lot, so portable needed. Sometimes A3 needed too. Result was I used mainly HP, ink jet, 1 small portable, 1 big office machine, A4/A3 capable. Output variable, but probably 1,000 sheets per week, average.

Now I'm retired I print much less, mainly B&W, but sometimes colour photos or docs.

For B&W only I now use a Brother HL-1210W, A4 only. It's about 7 years old now. I think I'm on either the 2nd or perhaps 3rd cartridge (the one that came with it new was smaller capacity than the official Brother replacements) Sometimes (rarely) when the print gets a little faded, I remove the cartridge, gently shake it from side to side a few times and when refitted, it's back to good/clear again. Simple to remove and replace the cartridge, and the shaking trick came for the printer's own manual.

And now that I've "INOP'D" the stupid (IMO) wireless connection on the Brother and replaced it with a "proper" USB cable, it prints first time every time. Yup, a definitely "I'd buy that one again" IMO.

IF you're interested:
For photos and coloured docs I have an Epson Stylus Photo R360 inkjet. It's also getting on a bit (older than the above Laser) and has 4 (or 5, I forget) ink tanks. They're "+*ç%&/ expensive, but do last well, are replaceable individually (but it's a bit cheaper to buy the full set in a single pack) and apart from the occasional single run to unblock, I find the tanks last quite well (official Epsons). It's A4 but is easily set to print smaller photos, and for me anyway, the photos it produces are of at least "good" quality (a lot depends on the photo paper though).

I still have my last HP Deskjet Portable 460 model ink jet (fits into a small space so very good at being portable). It's also A4. Haven't used it for at least the last 3 or 4 years, probably longer, so I bet the 1st thing (IF I use it again) will be to buy new cartridges (IF they're still available)!

 

[whatknot]

Thanks for your input

I hark back to the days of Mannesmann Tally dot matrix printers, just ribbons which they liked to eat and jam the works up

Then moved onto inkjets of various manufacture, but all ink jets gave the same abysmal performance unless used virtually daily, constant blockages and needing to clean heads, wasting loads of ink

So I eventually got fed up with being unable to print when I wanted to, so went for a mono laser, never looked back and would never waste money on an ink jet of any manufacture, its just money down the drain and being also retired I do not have a never ending supply of that stuff ;-)

I guess it depends upon what you want to use it for.

When we ran our business we used HP inkjets but with after market cartridges. We printed a lot, they were quick and reasonably cheap to run.

Having retired, the last one finally died and I bought an Epson ET-3750 ink tank model. It isn't as fast as the HP but we don't print as much and the time between refilling the tanks has been ages and the refills aren't that expensive.

 

[whatknot]

Yes its this reliance on their OE consumables I want to avoid

Printer companies sell sophisticated complex engineering barely covering the factory cost of production. The strategy is to tie you in to their high margin consumables for many years. They reinforce these behaviours with error messages and dire warnings about equipment damage and print quality

They are actually just exploiting human frailty and short termism. Manufacturers know that most when faced with purchase will choose the machine (of similar specification) with the lowest price tag.

They also know that when buying consumables, the choice is between a replacement machine or some cartridges at a slightly lower cost.

I know all this - yet still fall for their ploys!!

 

[whatknot]

Thanks for yours

I had wondered how well the wifi versions actually worked, I suspected cable would always be better

As said my little Samsung has died, I still have an Epson Photo R245 which I inherited, I only rarely use it as it always requires lots of persuading to work, not to mention the need to change in cartridges nearly every time

So would like to get a Colour laser printer if I can but it looks like a mono is likely to be my limit

Short and to the point:
Another +1 for Brother laser here.

More:
When I was running my own business I printed quite a lot, often with colour, and on-site a lot, so portable needed. Sometimes A3 needed too. Result was I used mainly HP, ink jet, 1 small portable, 1 big office machine, A4/A3 capable. Output variable, but probably 1,000 sheets per week, average.

Now I'm retired I print much less, mainly B&W, but sometimes colour photos or docs.

For B&W only I now use a Brother HL-1210W, A4 only. It's about 7 years old now. I think I'm on either the 2nd or perhaps 3rd cartridge (the one that came with it new was smaller capacity than the official Brother replacements) Sometimes (rarely) when the print gets a little faded, I remove the cartridge, gently shake it from side to side a few times and when refitted, it's back to good/clear again. Simple to remove and replace the cartridge, and the shaking trick came for the printer's own manual.

And now that I've "INOP'D" the stupid (IMO) wireless connection on the Brother and replaced it with a "proper" USB cable, it prints first time every time. Yup, a definitely "I'd buy that one again" IMO.

IF you're interested:
For photos and coloured docs I have an Epson Stylus Photo R360 inkjet. It's also getting on a bit (older than the above Laser) and has 4 (or 5, I forget) ink tanks. They're "+*ç%&/ expensive, but do last well, are replaceable individually (but it's a bit cheaper to buy the full set in a single pack) and apart from the occasional single run to unblock, I find the tanks last quite well (official Epsons). It's A4 but is easily set to print smaller photos, and for me anyway, the photos it produces are of at least "good" quality (a lot depends on the photo paper though).

I still have my last HP Deskjet Portable 460 model ink jet (fits into a small space so very good at being portable). It's also A4. Haven't used it for at least the last 3 or 4 years, probably longer, so I bet the 1st thing (IF I use it again) will be to buy new cartridges (IF they're still available)!

 

[Pedronicus]

Thanks for yours

I had wondered how well the wifi versions actually worked, I suspected cable would always be better

As said my little Samsung has died, I still have an Epson Photo R245 which I inherited, I only rarely use it as it always requires lots of persuading to work, not to mention the need to change in cartridges nearly every time

So would like to get a Colour laser printer if I can but it looks like a mono is likely to be my limit

Regarding the wi-fi, the wife can quite happily print by wi-fi from her iPad sitting the the next-but-one room with the signal passing through 1 x 4" wall and 1 x 13" cavity wall. Daughter can print from her old room (she stays overnight here sometimes) also on wi-fi and has not reported any problems. I have a direct USB connection from my pooter to the printer both of which are in the study/office.

 

[whatknot]

Thank you, sounds better than I expected although my printing is invariably from my laptop via cable

Heaven knows what my wife would make of wifi printing ;-)

Regarding the wi-fi, the wife can quite happily print by wi-fi from her iPad sitting the the next-but-one room with the signal passing through 1 x 4" wall and 1 x 13" cavity wall. Daughter can print from her old room (she stays overnight here sometimes) also on wi-fi and has not reported any problems. I have a direct USB connection from my pooter to the printer both of which are in the study/office.