Do any of you own a color laser printer?

[Nocturnal]

What brand and model # do you own?

 

[cirthix]

i dont own one, but i sometimes print stuff on the color laser at school. it sucks for color and looks all distorted

 

[Cristatus]

i don't quite remember, but i think i got a printout from a color machine once, and it was like WHOA! (dno why, but i though it was the actual page cut out from the book (the book was all glossy and sh1t))

 

[DaFinn]

I have HP Color Laserjet 2550, and the quality in everyday color printing is great. But my Photosmart inkjet printer makes far superior high quality photos...

And you cannot use photo paper on a laserprinter.

 

[Trygve]

Minolta QMS Magicolor 2300W

I'm very happy with the output quality. I've used it for short runs of catalogs and brochures and it's on par with what you'd get from a good commercial printer with non-glossy stock.

I wouldn't use it for photo printing and, while it's faster than an inkjet printer, it's still quite slow for a laser printer. Replacement cartridges are expensive--more than the cost of buying a new printer--and I haven't seen any lower-cost generic/remanufactured equivalents available.

 

[dullard]

While I don't own a color laser, I've used them a lot. Conclusions:
[*]Cheap to print, even color. Laser toner is far cheaper than inkjet ink. But Trygve is correct that you have to pay it in large lump sums rather than nickle and diming yourself with an inkjet.
[*]Great text output, especially if you need some words or accents in color. It is far better than an inkjet for this purpose.
[*]Great output for graphs and charts, it beats any printer for this use.
[*]Barely acceptable photos. The free anti-aliasing (smearing) with inkjets makes inkjet output look far, far better. If you want to print photos, go with a good inkjet that has somewhat cheap ink.

Thus, if you want to print out lab reports or buisness reports, color laser is wonderful. If not, a black and white laser plus an inkjet for the rare photos is a much better combination.

 

[cirthix]

Originally posted by: dullard
While I don't own a color laser, I've used them a lot. Conclusions:
[*]Cheap to print, even color. Laser toner is far cheaper than inkjet ink. But Trygve is correct that you have to pay it in large lump sums rather than nickle and diming yourself with an inkjet.
[*]Great text output, especially if you need some words or accents in color. It is far better than an inkjet for this purpose.
[*]Great output for graphs and charts, it beats any printer for this use.
[*]Barely acceptable photos. The free anti-aliasing (smearing) with inkjets makes inkjet output look far, far better. If you want to print photos, go with a good inkjet that has somewhat cheap ink.

Thus, if you want to print out lab reports or buisness reports, color laser is wonderful. If not, a black and white laser plus an inkjet for the rare photos is a much better combination.

very true, on all points, except that photos SUCK (at least on all i've seen) and arent just mediocre. text is great, cheap as dirt per page, he got it on the money

 

[Muadib]

I agree with dullard, except for his comment on pics. They suck, which shocked me. The color lazerjets that I've used are at least 6 years old though, so things may have changed.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Trygve
Minolta QMS Magicolor 2300W

I'm very happy with the output quality. I've used it for short runs of catalogs and brochures and it's on par with what you'd get from a good commercial printer with non-glossy stock.

I wouldn't use it for photo printing and, while it's faster than an inkjet printer, it's still quite slow for a laser printer. Replacement cartridges are expensive--more than the cost of buying a new printer--and I haven't seen any lower-cost generic/remanufactured equivalents available.

Uh?!?!?!?!

Sh!t like that boggles my mind.

 

[radioouman]

Photo printing sucks. Ink jets are better for photos.
Business graphics such as color logos etc. usually look as good or better on a color laser.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

We have a Minolta Magicolor 2300 that we use for proposals and brochures. We like it alot. While I can't compare with other color laser printers it is rather slow to get warmed up, but once it's going it's not bad...beats inkjet hands down for quality and economy.

 

[sharkeeper]

I am told that 2400x2400 Colour lasers are changing this and making waves in the industry. Sounds like my kind of thing. 🙂

Colour lasers more than a few years old are going to have poor quality for photos for sure. They were not designed for proof work. Think high volume brochures and drawings.