Laser Printer Recommendations
Apr 6, 2005 at 7:08 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 17

Zanth

SHAman who knew of Head-Fi ten years prior to its existence
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I am about to start writing my philosophy dissertation and I'm printerless at the moment. I am looking for a VERY dependable laser printer. B&W only, quality over speed, but robustness is the priority. I'm looking at no more than 400 USD. Also, if there are any quality photocopier/lp combos I would be interested in those as well. My photocopy card is getting a bigger work out than it ever should. Frankly, my money should be going towards vinyl of recordings of dead guys, not photostats of writings of dead guys
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Thanks!
 
Apr 6, 2005 at 7:26 PM Post #3 of 17
at work we only got kyocera mita laserprinters and I really love them
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Most of them printed more then 300000 pages before they needed a checkup (and maybe a toner refill
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)
 
Apr 6, 2005 at 7:46 PM Post #4 of 17
I have an HP laser printer that I've had for a few years and it is a real workhorse. I've never had any problems with it. I don't remember the exact model number but it was about $399 new. I would recommend checking out the HPs in your price range.

MJ
 
Apr 6, 2005 at 8:16 PM Post #6 of 17
I have an HP LaserJet 1012 and am very satisfied with it. I was looking at the Samsung as well when I was trying to make a decision, but decided to go with the HP after trying out my floormate's Samsung.

As an additional consideration, you may want to consider toner costs and support. Some companies will phase out toner support, while others will continue to support their printers. Without a working toner, your laser printer is useless. I am not sure how HP and Samsung stack up in this regard -- hopefully someone can chime in on this!
 
Apr 6, 2005 at 9:13 PM Post #7 of 17
I went shopping for a laser printer in the same price range a year ago and decided the best bet was an Okidata digital LED printer (I bought a B4300 which I believe was about $300 USD; it has been replaced by a new version already). The Okidata products are really robust (they're more known for their dot-matrix printers) and I certainly haven't had any issues so far. The toner is slightly less expensive than that of competitors (when compared per page) and the duty cycle is good for a small workgroup printer.

I decided to stay away from the "all-in-ones" because I wanted the most reliability for my dollar and most of those seemed to be designed more for the home user.
 
Apr 6, 2005 at 9:28 PM Post #8 of 17
Zanth:

You are running Apple Macintosh OS X (Jaguar?), FreeBSD, and Debian, no?

I would urge you to do research first. Consider the obvious contenders such as HP and go with this one:

HP LaserJet 1012 ($199 USD MSRP):
http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/h...ABA&catLevel=3

What more could you ask for:

Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP supported
Apple Macintosh OS 9 & OS X supported
General Linux support (Debian & Red Hat):
http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_pr...-LaserJet_1012

LOW Prices:
http://www.shopzilla.com/12--HP_Lase...89778__sfsk--5

$130 USD from NewEgg.Com (plus shipping / handling fees)!!!
$50 USD HP mail-in-rebate!!!

THIS WAS A QUALITY POST! We Linux people take care of our own.
 
Apr 7, 2005 at 12:41 AM Post #9 of 17
Uhm my wife buys her grad students printers. Won't your supervisor? Maybe that is one reason people keep trying to get her to supervise them. (She brought one of her students to Australia for a few weeks when we were there for a year).

Ah well. I have always liked HP but I have a 1200 that is a bit of a bummer. It does not print straight on a page. This is a common problem with that model. They have since upgraded it to a 1300. Don't know if that fixed the problem but I would go no lower than that. I have a IIIp and 4 that have been great and running for years but a couple of grad students have them right now.
 
Apr 7, 2005 at 1:33 AM Post #10 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by Quad
Uhm my wife buys her grad students printers. Won't your supervisor? Maybe that is one reason people keep trying to get her to supervise them. (She brought one of her students to Australia for a few weeks when we were there for a year).

Ah well. I have always liked HP but I have a 1200 that is a bit of a bummer. It does not print straight on a page. This is a common problem with that model. They have since upgraded it to a 1300. Don't know if that fixed the problem but I would go no lower than that. I have a IIIp and 4 that have been great and running for years but a couple of grad students have them right now.



Actually, the HP 1320 is available, which replaces the 1300.
 
Apr 7, 2005 at 2:51 AM Post #11 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth
I am about to start writing my philosophy dissertation and I'm printerless at the moment. I am looking for a VERY dependable laser printer. B&W only, quality over speed, but robustness is the priority. I'm looking at no more than 400 USD. Also, if there are any quality photocopier/lp combos I would be interested in those as well. My photocopy card is getting a bigger work out than it ever should. Frankly, my money should be going towards vinyl of recordings of dead guys, not photostats of writings of dead guys
wink.gif


Thanks!



Dude, you are willing to get a ps-1 and ear hp-4 but you are not willing to splash out on something which will help you get you 9th phd????
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Personally I think crayon and toilet paper makes a statement.
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Apr 7, 2005 at 3:16 AM Post #12 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19
Dude, you are willing to get a ps-1 and ear hp-4 but you are not willing to splash out on something which will help you get you 9th phd????
confused.gif
rs1smile.gif


Personally I think crayon and toilet paper makes a statement.
redface.gif




I myself favour coloured chalk
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I just hate investing in computer technology. Audio retains its value, at least somewhat. Computer gear....the minute it is off the shelf it is practically worthless. So I want to make sure that whatever I buy will last a decade, barring the discontinuation of the toner carts of course. I have access to many high grade colour lasers at work, but I tend to shy away from abusing government property like that. I could use the library printers or the faculty one, but I still need to use my copy card. I only get so many free copies the rest I need to pay for, and I hate paying 11 cents/page. Sooo...I figure it is about time I buy myself something for my office here and then bring it home when I finish my schooling.
 
Apr 7, 2005 at 3:23 AM Post #13 of 17
I have a Brother 1240 that's a few years old, and have never had a problem. Mine has both parallel & USB connectivity, as well as Mac compatibility.

I'd recommend Brother's current models (not sure of the numbers). Prices for B&W laser printers have dropped into true bargain territory these days (easily under US$125, sometimes <$100!), and that's good news for us.
 
Apr 7, 2005 at 4:54 PM Post #14 of 17
HP used to make good printers but all the layoffs, lawsuits, and questionable inkjet business practices have made me look at other brands. From what I've seen, their quality has started falling off and you can get better printers for the money. Call me crazy, but when a corporation rubs me the wrong way, I just quit buying their stuff.
 

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