What is your recommendation for a color laser printer?

[hasu]

I am looking to buy my first color laser printer to replace a Brother B&W HL-2270DW. This is for home or light business use. All in one would be better so that I can get rid of my color laser jet as well. What would be your recommendation?

I am not too happy with my color inkjet Brother MFC-J825DW. They make you keep buying new cartridges even when it is not required. I would avoid Brother because of that.


Thanks!

 

[PliotronX]

I would avoid inkjet because of that.

FTFY - Brother laser printers (like your 2270) are an entirely different story, as are laser printers from just about all manufacturers though. Inkjets are just a terribly inefficient design from a consumable standpoint. They all need to keep their printheads moist and so will consume ink just turning them on. When their quality drops the only way to improve it is by flushing the heads. I don't miss that stuff at all. I am not sure where to go for color laser as I just stick with B&W and if I need color it's fairly cheap to print at the local copy shop or library. Just don't count Brother printers out if you find a good match of features.

 

[pimpin-tl]

I just bought myself a HP Color Laserjet M477DFW and love the thing. I had for 2 months an Epson Workforce 4640 and that thing clogged up very quickly with the original cartridges and most of the ink was used up due to cleaning the heads. Will never buy an Epson again because of that. Thankfully Amazon took it back.

HP has better color than Brother printers in everything I have seen. I got the HP for $360 on Amazon.

 

[pimpin-tl]

Sent from my iPhone 6s plus

 

[nerp]

Brother is king for low-cost, durable and virtually unbreakable low-cost-operation B&W lasers and MFCs. I agree that for color options, look elsewhere.

I'm curious about those Epson Ecotank printers that claim to not rip you off with ink. But if they still clog after 10 seconds of non use, yes, get a laser. And pay more than you want for higher quality than you get with budget lasers.

 

[pimpin-tl]

They actually have never been the king for low cost. Brother has a separate drum than the toners so it costs more to replace over time. HP includes the drum with the cartridges so it gets replaced each time.

 

[nerp]

They actually have never been the king for low cost. Brother has a separate drum than the toners so it costs more to replace over time. HP includes the drum with the cartridges so it gets replaced each time.

But the drum only has to be replaced every so often and the toner is generally cheaper. Plus, you can rely on aftermarket toner carts for dirt prices that work just as well as OEM and not worry about using a substandard drum.

 

[pimpin-tl]

But the drum only has to be replaced every so often and the toner is generally cheaper. Plus, you can rely on aftermarket toner carts for dirt prices that work just as well as OEM and not worry about using a substandard drum.

Sorry, but that is not true.

All standard yields.

Let's look at the Brother HL-3140CW for $199

Brother Color Toner prices:

Amazon:
Cyan (1400 pages)- $47.99
Magenta (1400 pages)- $47.79
Yellow (1400 pages)- $47.99
Black (2500 pages)- $57.79

Staples, Amazon and NewEgg:
Brother Drum DR221CL (15000 pages) - $101.68
Brother WT220CL Waste Toner Box (50k pages) - $32.99
Brother Belt Unit (BU200CL) (50k pages) - $86.89


And the HP CLJ Pro M252DW for $249.99

Cyan (1400 pages) - $70.73
Magenta (1400 pages) - $71.98
Yellow (1400 pages) - 70.88
Black (1500 pages) - $61.88


And that's it. Nothing else needs to be replaced. No separate drum unit, no waste toner box,
no belt unit. Like I said, the HP's are cheaper. The cartridges cost only a little more.

I use to repair Brother, Samsung, HP, Canon and Lexmark printers for a living for 15 years,
and from experience Brother has ALWAYS been the more expensive printer for consumables to buy.
They also do not produce the same quality from the print as HP. And if Brothers were so much better, how come most businesses don't buy them instead they buy HP, Lexmark, Dell? Enough said.

 

[Puffnstuff]

While I've had great service from my old hp cm2320nf mfp color laser I won't recommend anything other than to get a business model with the highest capacity toner cartridges you can afford. I use 3rd party toners that are a fraction of the cost of factory branded units with the same print quality.