Question Age Old Question, Ink Jet or Laser

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

No love for Printers here? No special section?

OK. FINE!!!


I've always had Ink Jets at home. Never felt the need for laser and didn't want to pay the higher prices for a color unit. But we all know the problems with Ink Jets as far as cartridge prices, heads drying up or getting gummed, print running or smearing on documents, etc. And sometimes they just act weird for no apparent reasons.

Since my latest one that's only a couple of years old is failing (won't print black), it's time to look again.

Color laser unit prices don't seem as bad anymore. Haven't dug into replacement toner prices or shelf life.

I probably don't print 100 pages a year and really only if I need to take a document somewhere or mail one instead of emailing. I need to be able to print and copy at least. Scan would be good too. If it can copy, it should scan, right? Don't need Fax.

Price? Low as possible for reasonable quality. Don't need commercial quality.

Suggestions? Make? Model?

 

[mxnerd]

Brother Color Laser AIO Duplex

https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-L8360CDW-Networking-Automatic-Replenishment/dp/B06XDSMKLT

 

[Paperdoc]

I used a Lexmark colour laser printer for 10 years until it developed a fatal failure this fall. Just got a Brother Digital Colour printer for Christmas

https://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-L3290CDW-Providing-Convenient-Replenishment/dp/B07FN78LY5/ref=sr_1_3?crid=31DJQ89BHD8X9&keywords=brother%2Bhl-l3290cdw%2Bprinter&qid=1672283012&sprefix=Brother%2BHL-L3290%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-3&th=1

FYI, Brother does not use the label "laser" because the light source in it is an array of LED's, not a laser. But it still has 600 dpi native resolution - very good!

The one I got does many paper sizes and types, basic size is 8½ x 11 letter. Has a single 250-sheet bin plus a manual feed slot for other paper types like heavy card stock, envelopes, etc. It can do 2-sided printing, and has a flatbed 600 dpi scanner for letter size with no sheet feeder. To scan larger you'd need to scan in sections and "paste" them together in software. Of course it can make copies (colour or B/W) of letter size. Loads of features I have not really examined.

With the older Lexmark I found I got fewer pages per toner cartridge than their "ratings" - 400 to 800 per high-yield colour cart, twice as much on the black. I cannot tell you what this Brother unit actually will do. But I will note that the Brother printer system counts pages printed for each toner cartridge and tells you the cart is empty on that basis only - no attempt to actually measure toner remaining. However, there are "hacks" on the web to show you exactly how to reset the count for each toner cart individually to zero so you can keep on using the cart until your prints actually show flaws from lack of toner.

I found a good supplier of third-party toner carts for my Lexmark and used them for years with no problem, good colour and detail resolution - significantly cheaper than OE carts. I will do the same with this Brother unit. In general, though, ink cost per page is MUCH lower for digital xerographic printers than for ink jets. I always buy the high-yield ones with twice as much toner for less than twice the price. My printer came with "starter" toner cartridges rated for 1000 prints each, whereas "regular" are rated more, and high-yield much more.

Print quality on these is excellent - 600 dpi is VERY fine for detail and shades of colour. Print is absolutely dry and no smudging, no water issues. However, this printer technology can NOT do high-gloss photos the way you can with a good ink jet. Basically it cannot work with high-gloss papers because the ink toner does not adhere. However, for family photos on the wall, they DO give excellent resolution and colour, so putting them in a frame with glass front you can hardly tell it's not a real "photo". I used the Lexmark a lot for full-colour advertising signs in a retail clothing store we ran.

When printing text-only documents I always set the option to print in black ink only - no need to add colour when it really is not supposed to be there. That saves on colour toner use.

 

[OlyAR15]

I gave up on inkjets more than two decades ago. I realized that printing colour was not all that necessary, and it was far cheaper and more convenient to print any photos or other colour tasks at a printing service.

I bought a cheap mono laser multifunction printer and it lasted quite a while until it stopped turning on, and I replaced it with an equally cheap printer last year.

If you have simple printing needs, then you are probably better off just getting a mono laser printer and farming the colour prints to a shop.

 

[mikeymikec]

I probably don't print 100 pages a year and really only if I need to take a document somewhere or mail one instead of emailing. I need to be able to print and copy at least. Scan would be good too. If it can copy, it should scan, right? Don't need Fax.

My advice for my customers is that a decent choice of inkjet is cheaper by far (consumable cost + energy economy) than laser provided you're printing at least once a month and are using the genuine cartridges. However, if you over-use an inkjet or under-use it, you risk killing it. A decent choice of laser printer is far more of a workhorse printer that can handle a lot more 'abuse' than an inkjet.

Re over-use of an inkjet - I've seen it enough times where customers have tried to go for the cheap option (ie. an inkjet), make it do about a ream of paper a month's worth of printing and it dies within 1-4 years. re under-use - I've seen it on probably two orders of magnitude more common occurrence where if an inkjet printer is left unused for a month or more at a time then the ink dries out and a head-cleaning cycle / cartridge change may or may not fix the problem.

My second piece of advice to customers re inkjets is to adopt a routine to ensure that the printer isn't under-used (e.g. printing out a monthly bill).

My inkjet printer is about ten years old. It's been under-used and developed print quality problems once, the issue became chronic despite usage after that for a few years, but <fingers crossed> it has settled back down again and I may have to do a head cleaning cycle every couple of years.

One of the inkjets I've bought recently is a Brother MFC-J4340DW - the high capacity black is quoted to do 6500 pages which is pretty damn good for an inkjet of that price.

 

[Thump553]

Ask yourself first whether you really need a color printer. For me, the only time I need a color printer is the (rare) occasion when I print off photographs. In that I just go to CVS.

I'm retired now so my print output is way down. My choice of printer is still the same-B&W laser, preferably one that takes generic toner cartridges. Brother still does-unless the new models have changed. I used to print a LOT-several 10 ream cases of paper a month. I'd go through printers like more normal users go through toner cartridges. I needed two trays, legal and letter size and scanner ability. My printer of choice for the last five years or so has been the Brother MFC5700DW, which may be overkill for your needs.

I'd still suggest a cheap laser over any inkjet. Too many people buy inkjets because they are cheap and the ink clogs due to low use and they actually end up paying dollars per page of actual output. Don't fall into that trap.