printer advice?

[ncage]

Hey everyone. I need some advice. My just recently broke my laser print. Its a Lexmark Optra T612. It was wierd because this is the first time the printer has ever jamed and i go to pull the jam out and it breaks something underneath where one of springs comes flying off and i didn't see a piece of plastic that was broke. There are some rollers that are blocking the paper drawer from even getting put into the printer. My choice is to fix this printer or buy a new one. I don't want to spend a lot of money of course. I spent a lot initially on this printer when i got it ($400). I called the authorized lexmark repair center in the area and they are going to charge $50 to look at the printer and $75 and hour + parts after that. I seen a little samsung printer at newegg on sale for $80 after rebate. Its rated at near what my lexmark was rated at low 20 PPM and its processor i think is a little bit slower 150mhz compared to 166mhz. I don't really need color and dont' care about it. I print a lot of manuals so i need to print black text for cheap and this is why im not going with an inkjet. Also i want something that can print a 30+ page manual quickly. The only thing i don't like about the samsung laser unit is the toner cost. It comes with a 1000 page count toner which is relatively low and they 3000 page toners cost you about $80 after that. My toner in my lexmark has never run out and i think it can print WAY more than 3000 pages. Also of course the lexmark is a lot heavier duty printer. What would you guys do? Would you get the lexmark fixed or get the samsung?

thanks,
ncage

 

[Zepper]

"I seen"... :roll:

. The Samsung laser that sells for around $200. would better suit your needs and you probably won't get away from the repair shop on the Lexmark for less than that, so it's a toss-up. OTOH, I run a Canon iP3000 (can often be gotten for around $50. AR now) and it's no slouch on black text. Mine has never had a paper jam!
. Black ink tanks are under $5. for high quality compatibles (http://www.swiftink.com) and last me 3-4 months or more (You do get the "out of ink" warning way early, you have to press the continue button and you can keep going 'til it's actually almost dry. But you don't want to run all the way out as the print head can burn out if its run when dry). That it also does color is gravy - but then, lots of manuals have spot color now for highlighting and emphasis. The iP4000 is even a bit faster and goes for between $80. and $100. AR right now. Uses the same ink tank for text as the 3000 and has a separate black ink tank for photo printing. Just food for thought...

.bh.