I'm looking to buy printer soon but just read an article on laser printers and how they have dropped way down in price these days. What are the differences of laser printers vs. ink jet printers?

 

Laser printers normally cost more but last longer, cheaper in the long run. The toner cartridges last MUCH longer than the ink jet cartridges. We have both in the house, ink jet for color and laser for black and white.

I don't have model numbers but the laser is a Brother all in one fax, scan print copy and the color is an Epson that will print on CD/DVD's. To replace all the ink in the Epson is about 80-100 each time 2-3 per year. I've had the brother 3 years, bought it used and replaced the toner once for 65 at a chain store and printed literally hundreds if not thousands or PTO letters, envelopes, and address labels.

My vote for black and white is laser.

 

..I've gone through about 4 printers in the last several years. The ink cartridges as you know are outrageously priced..!! Our company then replaced there's with a new lazer one...I really liked the lazers..sharp fast and clean print!! Watch the ad's for "Back to School" sales that should start in the next few weeks..I really like our HP 2600n lazer..($260.00 on sale last winter)however the ink refills are very expensive..but they last a long time..you can watch for refills on ebay and save a lot of $$$...I would NOT go back to the conventional printers again...

 

Like 2500Ram says.. Also, our color ink jet croaked so all we use is the B/W laser. If we ever really needed to print color (which is never) it would be cheaper to have it printed out at the store. I would love to have a color laser but the price isnt quite down enough yet.

 

Hmm, well maybe I'll wait a while I am not in desperate need, it would just be nice.

How about digital photo printers? We've always gone to the CVS store and used their kiosk they have to print of whatever pix we wanted of the digital camera but it takes gas to get there lol and the cost ads up....what's a good idea for those?

 

www.gsaauctions.gov

buy a used Laserjet, or a pallet full, and ebay the rest.

my buddy has a LJ4 (mid 90's model)
toners are ~$25, print ~5000 copies
rebuild kits are ~$25 (good for ~20000 copies)


i have an old HP 4500 or 4050 or something at the house.
i print 100's of flyers for church, VBS, youth group.

instead of making copies, i scan it in, and print it as a JPG.

it does EXCELLENT on envelopes. when daughter was in boot camp, i printed ~30 envelopes and gave one to everyone who knew her.

it's SLOW but cheap

my MFC Brother Ink Jet is upstairs, with $75 worth of dried up ink in it.

i never used it, because ink was so expnesive, so it was dry everytime i needed to print, got tired of paying $75 to print one thing.

color is overrated. do it at work, or at church if i have too.

i buy a ream (reem?) of paper at a time. cheap, put it in attic, good to go. love you long time.

 

Here at the business I have 3 Brother HL 5040 or HL 5140's.I buy them from a local discounter (Frys Electronics) and they cost me around $ 50.00 each on sale.The carts are +/- $ 65.00 ea.and last forever.These things are true workhorses and don't break.Just my $ 0.275 worth of opinion.

 

As for the digital photo printers, you are probably better off using the kiosk at the store. I don't think they are quite there with the quality yet on the at home versions.

Like everyone else has said, laser is where it's at for B/W. Color you could probably seriously do at Kinko's and save money. . . unless you print in color a bunch.

 

Laser is the way to go. Especially since they have come down in price so much.

Great thing about laser is you can leave the printer off for 3 years and fire it up and it works just like you last left it. Inkjets will have dried up ink and maybe even bad print heads sitting even just a month or two.

Laser consumes signficantly more power, produces alot of heat, and also does produce some chemicals\toxic smells. Because of this, they are supposed to be used in well ventilated areas.

However, they are significantly more reliable. I have an old HP Laserjet 4000N that was made in June of 1998. Despite a light horizontal bar on the printouts (the imaging drum is going bad), it still prints fine.

 

watch the sales and the rebates on the lasers, I have a spare I paid 4 dollar for after rebate ! Like above, I have a inkjet for pics, and th e laser for bulk everyday printing. many camera deals out there also can net you a free after rebate printer, snag the camera on sale, and just sell it or give it as a gift and keep the printer. many ways to pay almost nothing for one.

 

Depends on what you want it for. Ink Jets are fine for most home use and are still fairly cost efficient. Lasers are awesome- quick SHARP and cheap to use in the long run especially if you make tons of copies. I've never noticed a chemical smell from ours. We have one of each and keep the Ink Jet because it also scans and faxes.

As to photo printers the kids got me an HP Photosmart A627!! All I can say is WOW!! You cannot, and I mean CANNOT, tell the difference from professionally printed. I do a lot of digital photography, graphics, and image manipulation. I didn't expect a lot from this printer but dang have I been pleasantly surprised. Now I wish they'd gotten me one sooner!!!

 

Inkjet printer companies sell the printers for almost nothing because they now you will be buying lots of ink cartridges.

I have a Canon Photo quality printer that has 6 tanks and it cost me about $85.00 to feed it about every other month.

Consumer grade Laser printers are getting more affordable but the color ones are still up there.

You can get great color prints from the Lanier or Konica/Minolta printers.

Also nothing leaves the nice clean smell of Ozone like after a lightning storm than a laser printer.

Jim