Color Laser Printer Recommendations?

[Mike_TX]

Color Laser Printer Recommendations?

HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One
I have an HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One printer that is not working.
I have never (really) used it for printing photos.
I was too stupid to get the Wi-fi function working on it.
The ink was expensive.

So...

I'm now looking for a higher quality printer (this is my second cheap ink jet).
I think a color laser printer would be good.
I would ocassionaly use a multifunction printer -- eg FAX, copying, scanning.
I like the idea of better paper storage (vs. current ink jet).

I searched at CNET and didn't see many new (2009) reviews.

A quote from one of my tech minded friends...
"Stay away from the HPs. quality has gone down.
Brothers have been decent, I've heard.
Stay away from Okidata as well. Most color laser all-in-ones have ethernet at least.
Problem is when you go color laser, it'll be big."


Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Mike

[zx10guy]

What's your budget?

I shopped around a couple of years ago for a multi-function color laser. Because of past experiences I've had with the Tektronix Phaser line (now Xerox), I decided to purchase a Xerox Phaser 6115MFP/D. I got for a smoking deal on New Egg for just over $600. The thing was great for the first few days and then became the biggest lemon I've ever owned in an electronics piece of gear. I had 8 trouble tickets on it and was catching inaccuracies in their manual on certain features. I ended up sending it back to New Egg for a refund. Minolta also has a printer which is an exact same unit as the 6115. I would stay away from both.

I ended up stretching my budget and picked up a Xerox Phaser 8560MFP/D. I don't expect people to spend that much for a printer but I work in IT all day and I wanted a business class appliance. Dell has a color multi-function which seems OK. I was considering the Dell before I decided to buy the 8560.

[Mike_TX]

What's your budget?

I shopped around a couple of years ago for a multi-function color laser. Because of past experiences I've had with the Tektronix Phaser line (now Xerox), I decided to purchase a Xerox Phaser 6115MFP/D. I got for a smoking deal on New Egg for just over $600. The thing was great for the first few days and then became the biggest lemon I've ever owned in an electronics piece of gear. I had 8 trouble tickets on it and was catching inaccuracies in their manual on certain features. I ended up sending it back to New Egg for a refund. Minolta also has a printer which is an exact same unit as the 6115. I would stay away from both.

I ended up stretching my budget and picked up a Xerox Phaser 8560MFP/D. I don't expect people to spend that much for a printer but I work in IT all day and I wanted a business class appliance. Dell has a color multi-function which seems OK. I was considering the Dell before I decided to buy the 8560.

Thanks.

Budget can be extended if needed, but I was thinking below several hundred dollars.:greedy:

I don't need something industrial, but easy and reliable for at home.
I will obviously need to spend more than my cheapo $99 and ~$200 inkjets.

Thanks again for the input.:thumbsup:

Mike

[Ray3]

Mike,

A quick search on Newegg produces some good results in the $350 - $500 range for Brother printers:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010270630%201614340409&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=RATING

I sorted by rating. Mostly Brother with a couple of Lexmarks. I didn't check Open Box or Re-certified, but there may be some deals there as well.

[danncer]

I searched at CNET and didn't see many new (2009) reviews.

You might want to check out consumersearch.com, my favorite product review site. I found reviews for color laser printers as well as multifunction printers. Their recommended color laser printers range from $350 to $1,300. Here's a link: http://www.consumersearch.com/color-laser-printers

[ben9732]

I'll throw another angle out at you. If there is a business or company downsizing in your area you might find a good deal there. When my company closed our facility I bought one of our HP4500 CLJ for $1. It's a dinosaur and as big, but it's got a long life and the cartridges are going to last a long while based on my use. And since it's older, new cartridges are selling on eBay right now for a fraction of what they were.

[graphicguy]

I'll throw another angle out at you. If there is a business or company downsizing in your area you might find a good deal there. When my company closed our facility I bought one of our HP4500 CLJ for $1. It's a dinosaur and as big, but it's got a long life and the cartridges are going to last a long while based on my use. And since it's older, new cartridges are selling on eBay right now for a fraction of what they were.

I was looking at those Xerox Phaser (I think that's what they call them) color lasers with the new solid toner bars. Don't know what the consumables would cost, however.

On the other hand, I bought an el cheapo color Kodak inkjet. Color isn't the best, but it's been a real work horse, and is wireless. Consumables are real cheap, too.

[Mike_TX]

You might want to check out consumersearch.com, my favorite product review site. I found reviews for color laser printers as well as multifunction printers. Their recommended color laser printers range from $350 to $1,300. Here's a link: http://www.consumersearch.com/color-laser-printers

Thanks everyone.

This looks good as a NON-multifunctional printer...

Xerox Phaser 6280N

I'll look a little longer.
Good links.

Mike

[Mep]

I picked upped the brother 4040CDN from newegg on sale for $200 shipped. Not sure what the price is now but it does a very good job on photos. The toner is the killer of course and that is were they make their money. These companies are pretty much happy to give you the printer for nothing as long as you keep buying the toner. So I would look at the toner price as well when deciding. I can't say enough good things about my printer but the toner is expensive (they all are) and it is a bit on the heavy side.

[spl_nut]

I picked upped the brother 4040CDN from newegg on sale for $200 shipped. Not sure what the price is now but it does a very good job on photos. The toner is the killer of course and that is were they make their money. These companies are pretty much happy to give you the printer for nothing as long as you keep buying the toner. So I would look at the toner price as well when deciding. I can't say enough good things about my printer but the toner is expensive (they all are) and it is a bit on the heavy side.

About a year ago New Egg had a GREAT deal on a Xerox (I think) and I almost clicked the purchase button... I decided to look into cartridges, and the best deal I could find was $680 - For a 2K average yield.

Our family has a Samsung all-in-one monochrome with a four-year-old page count of 17,610, so it was easy to opt out :)

I know nothing of Lexmark's color units, but if they're anything like the better monochrome machines = Bullet proof. One client retired a slower 24ppm unit @ 500K pages, and his 35ppm printer is over 700K. Other than yearly clean/lube, zero issues.

[Mep]

Black is easy and cheap usually. When you need 4 toners it becomes silly expensive. About $700 for all 4 for my brother at 5k. Makes you really think before you print.

[Mike_TX]

Black is easy and cheap usually. When you need 4 toners it becomes silly expensive. About $700 for all 4 for my brother at 5k. Makes you really think before you print.

Ouch.
How long do the "starter" toner cartridges last?

Mike

[dweekie]

As expensive as the cartridges are, they still save you a lot of money over inkjets over the same period. I have a Magicolor 2500W that I paid $200 1.5 years ago, and I'm still on the starter cartridges. I have a black and white Canon copier that seems to yield less pages per cartrdige.

The Brother printers seem to have some of the lowest cost per page of consumables. I would probably get one of those if I were getting something now.

[Mep]

The starters run 2k pages. Of course they give the numbers of pages for some silly low percentage of coverage. If you are doing photos you aren't covering only 5-10% of the surface with ink. Even still the start toners have enough ink that some people just buy a new printer every time since it is cheaper than buying new toners. I'm just not that wasteful to do such a thing but I can see how it makes sense.

I can say inkjets are a no go in Arizona. They just dry out too quickly and become clogged unless you are using it on a daily basis.

[Mike_TX]

Brother MFC-9840CDW Color Laser Multifunction Center

Thanks for all of the comments.

I may purchases (online) something this weekend if my kids give me a moment to collect my thoughts.

Any comments on the this?

Brother MFC-9840CDW Color Laser Multifunction Center with Wireless Interface and Duplex


Amazon link
CNET overview - link

$545 + free Shipping (Amazon Prime)




Here is the "cheaper" version (actually more at Amazon).
Brother MFC-9440CN
Amazon link


Thanks,

Mike