Color laser printer recommendation for student (options posted)


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Hi friends,

 

Wishing you a happy new year. My niece is in the UK and needs a simple Color laser printer for her academic course. She is in graphic design and requires to print in color often. I am helping her identify a printer.

 

I identified a couple of options for her via Amazon and am sharing them here (in no order of preference), they are all in the 100-120 GBP price range.

 

I am open to alternate suggestions instead of these

 

1) Samsung CLP 365

 

2) HP CP 1025

 

3) Brother HL 3150 CDW

 

4) Brother HL 3140 CW

 

She is looking for a machine that is easy to setup and use, as she is not that technology proficient. A newer model is preferred to one that is being phased out.

 

I appreciate your recommendations!

 

desidude

 

 

 

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Thanks!

I will add the Dell 1760NW to the list.

 

I see it on Amazon without the toners for 111 GBP.

 

How does Dell compare with the other brands?

 

Some additional options include:

 

Lexmark 28C0025

Lexmark 28C0075

 

Thanks!

desidude

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So she will only be printing designs ? not photos or anything like that ? 

 

There's a few things to consider about Laser today, most people pick laser because they think they're cheaper. but forget that they're crap at printing photos, and they're not really cheaper anymore.

 

for the HP CP 1025 you listed, a 4 pack of toners cost. $205, except for the black toner they have a yield of a 1000 pages, that is $0,2 per print. Not counting probably non replaceable transfer belt. 

 

Compare to a HP Photosmart 6520, a 4 pack of XL Cartridges for this, costs $75 and have a yield of 550(again, except for black),  that is $0,136 per print.... and no drum or transfer belt that wears out, non replaceable printheads I believe on this though.

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Hi friends,

Thank you for the replies. She will be mostly printing her assignments, which include word documents and some graphics/tables. Any printer which has a resolution that would be good enough for home/small office use is fine. She is not printing anything which needs very high resolution.

 

She is unlikely to print photos, but images, so very high resolution is not needed.

 

She may print maybe 200-300 pages a month, of which about 60% would be text.

 

Yes, replacement cartridge cost must be factored in...which brands are usually competitive in terms of replacement cartrigde costs? Which have competitive generic brands available?

 

I am open to considering ink jets if they are a more appropriate option.

 

Thanks,

desidude

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I just picked up the brother HL-3170CDW, and very happy with it - I got it for $198 US.. Never been a fan of inkjet, not a photo printing type of guy when you can pick them up at the corner drug store in an hour for 9 cents a copy why should I print them at home?

 

It is a bit bigger than my old black laserjet that is for sure.  Not sure will find much use for the duplex printing..  But it was right there in my price range and had wired along with wireless.  Just not really a fan of wireless, uses less power than others and it is very quick from standby making no noise to first page in like 15 seconds..  Which is nice when you need to print something and walk out the door.

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The thing is that the old truth about laser being cheaper is no longer true. That's the primary reason for not bothering with laser for home to SMB use anymore.

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The thing is that the old truth about laser being cheaper is no longer true. That's the primary reason for not bothering with laser for home to SMB use anymore.

I still use laser because text and line art is still a lot crisper then ink that can seep in to the paper...

 

although my laser printer cost me $800 and has 4 toner cartridges that cost $250 each.... and in 7yrs I've only replaced the toner once... with thousands of pages printed...

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Colour laser printers in the ?100 range will only come with starter toner which won't last for very long.

Replacement toner comes in at around ?50 per colour (there are 4) for OEM.

 

If she is a graphic design student then an A3 printer will probably make more sense, but will set you back ?350 upwards.

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Colour laser printers in the ?100 range will only come with starter toner which won't last for very long.

Replacement toner comes in at around ?50 per colour (there are 4) for OEM.

 

If she is a graphic design student then an A3 printer will probably make more sense, but will set you back ?350 upwards.

yeah, a large format printer sounds best in this case

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Hi friends,

 

Thanks for your reply. Just to clarify when I meant graphic design it is more related to teaching tools than visual arts, etc. So she really just needs to print on A4 and about 300 pages a month, of which maybe 30% will be color.

 

However, I want to help her find a simple solution that will last a couple of years as opposed to having her change ink cartridges every so often.

 

I hope this makes sense

 

Thanks,

desidude

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Well you could prob just pick up any old inkjet to be honest, really you think she will print 300 pages a month?  When my son's where in College they didn't print much of anything and that was a few years back. 

 

If she is going to use it fairly often the inkjet should be fine, I have just had issues with them when you don't print anything for a while and then the ink is dried up have to print multiple pages to clean the cartridges.  While with laser don't print anything for a couple of months - and first page is just like the last one.

 

Ink is not cheap be is toner or inkjet.. inkjet cart might only yield 200 pages per while even starter toner cart are normally around 1000 pages, while yes the cart are more expensive for the high yield they they might be 2500 pages.

 

I would really look into how many pages a month she will actually print - 300 a month seems like a lot to me to be honest.  Most school work is all electronic these days - why all the print outs?

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Hi friends,

 

Wishing you a happy new year. My niece is in the UK and needs a simple Color laser printer for her academic course. She is in graphic design and requires to print in color often. I am helping her identify a printer.

 

I identified a couple of options for her via Amazon and am sharing them here (in no order of preference), they are all in the 100-120 GBP price range.

 

I am open to alternate suggestions instead of these

 

1) Samsung CLP 365

 

2) HP CP 1025

 

3) Brother HL 3150 CDW

 

4) Brother HL 3140 CW

 

She is looking for a machine that is easy to setup and use, as she is not that technology proficient. A newer model is preferred to one that is being phased out.

 

I appreciate your recommendations!

 

I don't use a laser printer.

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Hi friends,

 

In terms of brand quality, ease of use and replacement toner cost how would you compare Samsung/HP/Brother/Canon.

 

I am considering the entry level color laser printers for these.

 

Please suggest.

 

Thanks,

desidude

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Brother I'd generally stay away from, They're a nightmare when it comes to ink and toner even today with separate cartridges and print heads they have separate cartridges for every printer almost. not much better on their laser/led printers. but mostly their reliability (software) is utter crap, their wireless drivers integrated so low in the OS that when(yes, that's when, not if, they where really unreliable to) they broke and made the printer unusable, you couldn't just reinstall the driver, or uninstall them, or use a restore point, not you actually had to reinstall the whole OS from scratch to make it work again. And yes, you couldn't install it as a wired printer either, once the driver killed the printing in windows the printer was dead and the only way to not reinstall was to get another brand printer and throw the brother POS in the trash. 

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"have separate cartridges for every printer almost."

 

and why would that be a problem unless you had multiple types of printers and wanted to only have 1 supply of ink?  How does that apply to a home?  How many printers do you need in household? Especially when they are network printers?  And they are not cheap ;)

 

As to their software - why would you be installing a wireless driver into the OS of your machine for a printer??  Ya lost me..

 

Now I don't have much experience with brother, but the hl-3170cdw I picked up a couple of months (price and online reviews) ago so far has not had any issues.  As to software - other than the driver for the printer.. If you don't like their software then just download the OS driver.. Most printer software is bloated nonsense.  Just install the "driver", I would say this would be my advice for pretty much any printer.

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Dude your never going to find any product on the planet that does not have mixed reviews - there is always someone that doesn't like brand X over brand Y.. Just the nature of the beast..  My last laserjet mono was a samsung, it worked - I did not have any complaints with it.. Other than it did not support say airprint ;)  But it was OLD and before airprint even was viable.. As to HP - they work too, software has been bloated and you will find lots of points of view both ways on HP.  As to Canon never had one - they never competed in price point to make them worth looking at for me.

 

Its a printer - I don't really understand why so much thought in a what is basically a throw away item..  Especially if your talking inkjet ;)  If it doesn't print return it, if you don't like it return it, etc.  All of the brands you mention are pretty much major players in the printer market - samsung prob the baby when it comes to home line printers vs HP and Brother.

 

Both the printers that I bought that my sons took to school barely got used..  I am quite sure stuff she needs to be printed can just be done on campus somewhere, etc.  I personally would rethink spending 100+ on something that might not even get used ;)  I just have a hard time believing they are going to print 300+ pages a month.. I bet they don't print that for the whole time they are there ;)

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I agree with Bud Man, unless there is a time constraint, hit up Fedx store, Staples, Office Depot, or Office Max. For the price of a printer an awful lot of pages could be printed by them.

 

Sorry forgot it was UK may not have these stores but I'm sure something similar.

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Hello,

If she is going to be printing that many pages, laser is without a doubt the best.

Friend of mine was studying a few years ago and got a laser. Used it and stored it since she finished studying. The other day looking thru some old crap, she found it stored and installed it on her current PC.

3-4 years later and it STILL works perfectly. Laser toner replacement are expensive but without a doubt it lasts longer. I have no doubts that if the Canon I use ever breaks, Ill get a laser printer/scanner.

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Hi friends,

Thank you for you replies. Just to clairfy, the student who needs the printer is in the UK. She does not have easy access to a computing facility close by and there are very limited Kinkos/Office Depot type outlets out there.

 

I am going to recommend an basic color laser printer to her, just trying to get advice on which brand may have a slight edge.

 

Thanks,

desidude

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So she will only be printing designs ? not photos or anything like that ? 

 

There's a few things to consider about Laser today, most people pick laser because they think they're cheaper. but forget that they're crap at printing photos, and they're not really cheaper anymore.

 

for the HP CP 1025 you listed, a 4 pack of toners cost. $205, except for the black toner they have a yield of a 1000 pages, that is $0,2 per print. Not counting probably non replaceable transfer belt. 

 

Compare to a HP Photosmart 6520, a 4 pack of XL Cartridges for this, costs $75 and have a yield of 550(again, except for black),  that is $0,136 per print.... and no drum or transfer belt that wears out, non replaceable printheads I believe on this though.

Other thing to consider would be generic ink.

I have a HP Photosmart and whenever it runs out of ink I just take the cartridge to Costco. Costs me $8 to get it refilled and it's back to printing again.

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and they're not really cheaper anymore.

 

for the HP CP 1025 you listed, a 4 pack of toners cost. $205, except for the black toner they have a yield of a 1000 pages, that is $0,2 per print. Not counting probably non replaceable transfer belt. 

 

Compare to a HP Photosmart 6520, a 4 pack of XL Cartridges for this, costs $75 and have a yield of 550(again, except for black),  that is $0,136 per print....

Well let me see

http://www.amazon.com/HI-VISION-HI-YIELDS-Compatible-Cartridge-Replacement/dp/B00E825NAI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1392609653&sr=8-4&keywords=tn-221

My black hi-yield cart is 42.45 for 2500 pages.. That is 0.01698 per print ;)

If your talking color - the pack of the colors cost.

124.45 / 2500 = 0.04978

Sure seems cheaper to me ;)

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I used prices of original cartridges in my example, so then you have to use the price of a high yield third party ink cartridge as well. Even though third parties have a high chance of leaks, which is bad wether it's toner or ink, and if you need it color correct you have to use original as third parties have the wrong color and to big pigment sizes, and on laser the wrong material.

At any rate, the problem with brother vast array of different cartridges is that with every printer having a different one, they're more pensive and have a much higher chance of not being in stock, whereas all HPs new consumer inks for example now all use 364/564

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