Retiring my 16 year old old 4000n for an m651dn

[Hugo Drax]

I bought this printer in March 1998 and used it for 16 years �� back then it cost about 1200-1300 dollars when I purchased it and it still works.

The quality of HP laser jets are top notch when it comes to reliability.

It was also made in the USA.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_LaserJet_4000_series

For the same price I paid for that printer 16 years ago you get, 45 pages per minute color printing, automatic duplex printing, 15,000 page life on the color toners etc..

I will post a review if anyone is interested in buying an m651dn which are selling for 1300 bucks on Amazon with free shipping. They normally sell for 1500-1600

The only issue is the printer weighs close to 100 pounds and is almost 23 inches wide. It's a big printer.

From Old reliable

16 years of saving money in the piggy bank, to this.

Will be interesting in 2030 when I replace it, what will you be able to get for 1300 bucks.

HP printer, 2030

 

[imagoon]

May as well stick the HP 4000 in the 2030 frame because that will still be working long after that color one has died.

 

[Maximilian]

Dat beige... I miss beige.

 

[corkyg]

My HP4000 is still working perfectly - and is a better envelope printer than any of my newer ones. It is the most reliable network printer on my LAN. It should last as long as I do.

 

[Hulk]

Unfortunately most printers today are just as much "consumables" as the ink/toner they consume!

 

[Hugo Drax]

May as well stick the HP 4000 in the 2030 frame because that will still be working long after that color one has died.

You would think the new enterprise printers would be built to last, HP would rather sell you toner at the high end since its a profitable product like selling razor blades.

 

[wlee]

Haha!

I just replaced a 1998 vintage LJ4000 over the summer with a LaserJet M425dn "all in one" for a user. The LJ4000 was given away in working condition. I'm guessing it will still be working after the M425 is in a landfill.

We still have 1 Laserjet 4050 and a Laserjet 8150 in daily service.
We used to have 2 8150, but replaced one with an LJ M750dn. I doubt it will last as long.

The 4000 and 8150 have been the most reliable printers we've had over the years.

All the 2400 series have already died on us.

 

[imagoon]

You would think the new enterprise printers would be built to last, HP would rather sell you toner at the high end since its a profitable product like selling razor blades.

You would think but the color ones just have more parts and tend to break things more often.

 

[Maximilian]

I fondly remember having one of these:

It wasent high end at the time but it worked, it never kicked up a fuss about ink levels it just printed until the ink ran out. The canon printer I have now is a PITA, I print in black & white and it tells me "oh noes the yellow is running low, cannot print!" I have to hold down one of the buttons on the front every freaking time.

Next printer will be a black and white laser, not from canon.

 

[Hugo Drax]

Funny you mention the desk jet. My first color printer was a deskjet 550c and it cost me close to 700 dollars in 1992. it replaced a 24 pin dot matrix Okidata printer I owned.
That's 1170 2014 dollars.

Amazing how much you get today for the dollar.

 

[Hugo Drax]

Printer came in, it is HUGE. And it is made in Japan. Thats good news.

Color photo prints look amazing on it, using regular paper.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

They don't build 'em like they used to, but I'm happy you're happy, and so is HP. (But for different reasons.)

The original 4xxx and 4100s were absolute tanks.

 

[evident]

I swore to never buy another HP printer after the AIO deskjet 2600 i purchased wouldn't let me print in black and white even when my color cartridges were low. and even worse, realized that it was on a timer, and even when i could hear ink in it it wouldn't let me print.

i've had a brother laser monochrome printer for the last 4 years and couldn't be happier. only used up one toner cartridge the entire time i've had it

 

[Rinaun]

I love my laser printer from HP (M251nw) and wouldn't replace it for a non-laser printer at all. Once you drop the money you realize how amazingly accurate and crisp they are. My first comment from my parents on the print quality was comparing it to 1970's copies of national geographic.

 

[corkyg]

I swore to never buy another HP printer after the AIO deskjet 2600 i purchased wouldn't let me print in black and white even when my color cartridges were low. and even worse, realized that it was on a timer, and even when i could hear ink in it it wouldn't let me print.

i've had a brother laser monochrome printer for the last 4 years and couldn't be happier. only used up one toner cartridge the entire time i've had it

Personally, I would never buy an AIO machine, and a Deskjet has nothing to do with this thread. Tarring an entire company's product with a single tarring all of a company's products based on a single anecdotal case is not thoughtful. By the same token, I had a Brother laser before the HP4000, and it worked for a couple of years, but then the rollers started squeaking horribly. I simply got rid of it, but I don't condemn Brother products.

 

[Hugo Drax]

I am not a fan of AiO devices or those cheap 300 dollar laser printers, those things you can tell are really cheaply built and come with half filled,toner. The other thing is the toners on the cheap units only do like 3000 pages. The cost per page is actually higher than a 1300 dollar m651dn.

The m651dn I recieved is huge required two UPS guys and a dolly to get it inside. It is like a small half height refrigerator and looks built like a tank, made in Japan and weighs 100 pounds.

I suspect the issues are with the cheap low end printers, theydo give a bad name to the company because then they associate ever product line, including the enterprise equipment as junk.

But if you save up your pennies and go for the high end stuff, it ends up costing less in the long run to operate.

I had to buy two IKEA Alex storage units and put both of them together, in order to sit the printer on top.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60192826/

 

[Carson Dyle]

I have an HP LaserJet 4050TN sitting ten feet from me. I inherited it when my former employer closed the local office. Still working like the day it was purchased, but I probably print fewer than 100 pages per year on it. I don't see myself every purchasing a printer. I have very, very little need for paper documents these days.

 

[Hugo Drax]

I have an HP LaserJet 4050TN sitting ten feet from me. I inherited it when my former employer closed the local office. Still working like the day it was purchased, but I probably print fewer than 100 pages per year on it. I don't see myself every purchasing a printer. I have very, very little need for paper documents these days.

I still need to print quite a bit. The 4050TN is a good printer.

The funny thing is HP sells 200 dollar laser printers but the toner it comes with is a "Starter toner" and only lasts 700 prints!!!! You print a little over a ream of paper and your 200 dollar printer is a 520 dollar printer. (780 dollars more and you get the M651dn, now compare the specs between the two and its a real joke) Amazing that HP sells so many of those 200 dollar deals.

http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stor...ters/hp-laserjet-pro-200-color-printer-m251nw

I did the math. The initial purchase cost per page on that 200 dollar printer is a whopping 28.5 cents for color. VS 8.6 cents for the 1,300 dollar M651dn since it ships with 15,000 page color toner carts.

15K prints on that 200 dollar printer would cost 2,700 dollars worth of supplies, since you would be buying a lot of the 1800 page toner cart packs. Twice the cost of the M651dn and you end up with a shitty inferior spec printer.

 

[Hugo Drax]

I love my laser printer from HP (M251nw) and wouldn't replace it for a non-laser printer at all. Once you drop the money you realize how amazingly accurate and crisp they are. My first comment from my parents on the print quality was comparing it to 1970's copies of national geographic.

yeah but your getting reamed on the consumables. Cheaper than Inkjet but overall its an expensive printer to operate.