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Is this a good deal on a color laser printer?

ComputerGeeky18 said:
I have been looking to replace my inkjet printer because it just eats ink. I wanted to get a laser and I found this deal which I think is amazing, what do you think? It is a Lexmark c746n and it includes 6000 page toners. The price is only $199.99 with free shipping. It says it is $400 off from their regular price.

http://www.printers101.com/product-view1.asp?idProduct=671
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Can't help with info about, or experience with, that printer, but as I read that offer, the $400 "discount" appears to be a rebate, but no actual info about the rebate is given; they want you to call their 800 number for "more info", which doesn't leave me with a very warm or fuzzy feeling about their sales practices (unless it turns out that all they ever charge you is in fact that $200.) Maybe I'm just paranoid/cynical, but at the very least I'd call the number and see what they have to say for themselves before getting too excited about the deal. All that being said, I'm pretty sure I've seen other color lasers go for around $200 from time to time (like an entry-level Canon), so I'd also definitely do some comparison shopping at that price level. And this being the day before "Cyber Monday", needless to say you shouldn't buy anything until you see what else, if anything, shows up tomorrow...

Also, as for "6000 page" toner cartridges versus an "ink-eating" inkjet, keep in mind that the "stated capacity" of ink/toner cartridges is based on "standardized pages", which assume the average page has what you might consider surprisingly little printing on it. So if the reason your current printer goes through ink quickly is in fact that a lot of what you print covers a lot of area with printing (like photographs or other images, or charts and graphs with a lot of area of filled-in color), you'll go through toner much faster than the stated rate as well... On the other hand, laser toner does generally cost less per page than inkjet ink, and if you don't use your printer on a very regular basis, a laser printer will avoid the dried out/crusted over inkjet cartridge situation that plagues infrequent users of inkjet users...
 
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Brand new can be had for 200 on ebay so it is probably a normal deal. I think Lexmark toners are chipped, therefore even third party toner is more expensive. I would look for other brands.
 
That's a great deal on a business class printer, as oppose to consumer grade. The toners alone are worth much more than that printer. I'm surprised the starter toners yield is "up to 6,000" pages. You'll be able to use 3rd party toners. You cannot refill the Lexmark toners without resetting its chip count. And printer101 seems to have an exceleent reseller rating. I am almost tempted to buy one.
 
Six said:
That's a great deal on a business class printer, as oppose to consumer grade. The toners alone are worth much more than that printer. I'm surprised the starter toners yield is "up to 6,000" pages. You'll be able to use 3rd party toners. You cannot refill the Lexmark toners without resetting its chip count. And printer101 seems to have an excellent reseller rating. I am almost tempted to buy one.
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But while being "business class" does usually mean "better hardware", it doesn't necessarily mean it's "better" for all uses. If you need good networking capability and a high duty-cycle rating, you want business-class, but those aren't key features for most "home" users. According to PC mag's review, it does have good paper-handling capability and prints (most) graphics well, but prints black and white text poorly, which would make it an unacceptable choice as an "all-purpose" printer. It's also pretty big (18" x 17" x 16", 56lbs).

Upon closer review of the listing, though, I do see that the actual "price" charged is apparently $200, so despite the discount being referred to as a "rebate", there's no worry about ultimately getting a rebate or not...
 
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Hahaha....you're just debating for the sake of debating. I'm not sure what's your point? We are talking about a brand new business class printer at $200. A consumer grade at this price point isn't likely going to compete well. ie. printout comes out curled. PC mag is comparing this printer to others in its class. Is there a better, brand new printer at $200 that you've found?
 
Six said:
Hahaha....you're just debating for the sake of debating. I'm not sure what's your point? We are talking about a brand new business class printer at $200. A consumer grade at this price point isn't likely going to compete well. ie. printout comes out curled. PC mag is comparing this printer to others in its class. Is there a better, brand new printer at $200 that you've found?
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but if the OP "thinks he wants" any sort of lower-end color laser but also needs to print B/W text and wasn't aware that they don't do it well, presumably he'd want to be aware of that? Just 'cos "it's a good deal" for what it is, doesn't mean it's the "right product" for everyone, unless of course you're a shopping-addicted Slickdealer or something...😉/😀
 
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