color laser printers??

[berkshire bee]

Does anyone here use a color laser printer? I"m considering buying one to do my labels and brochures. Are they more cost effective than ink jets? I know black and white lasers use toner. What about color?

[Cyndi]

If you got the money to invest...go for it. You get much nicer printing. When I worked in Corporate America, we had one in our office. I LOVED it. It was soo nice and since I was in a sales office, you can imagine how good my proposals looked! The problem with laser printers is that the ink is sooo expensive and they are expensive to operate. Our controller used to complain ALL the time, heehee. These days, I get by with my HP ink jet, but I don't do any color stuff on my labels or cards. I keep everything very simple and at a low cost...because I don't make much money in this honey and candle business, LOL!!

[Beaches' Bee-Haven Apiary]

If you can afford to buy one they're worth your while. You will save on your labels and it is so easy to print up a batch of brochures. Tonar is expensive, but last a lot longer than ink jet. I've researched them and HP & Canon seemed to have the best deals, but I'm still in the "saving" stage!:)

-Nathanael:cool:

[Patrick Scannell]

Got an HP2605dn and am happy with it.

Stay honest because everything you print with it will contain the serial number of the printer on it in tiny yellow dots in code so the government can track it straight to you.

http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/printers/docucolor/

[Bizzybee]

I use a Samsung low end color laser. Works great!! Laser toner doesn't dry out. So if you only print color from time to time as most do, you don't need to worry about it not working.

The cost of printers isn't in the initial price you pay for it, it is the ink or toner replacement cost that the companies make their money on. My office just got a half dozen free Richo color lasers from CDW. The reason being, they know we will spend a fortune on toner from them.

I haven't been in the market for one in a while now since I bought the one I have. But HP usually has some very good prices up front, but get the toner cartridge numbers and walk down the isle and what see they cost.

If you compare the cost of toner to what you're going to pay for the printer you'll find that the printer itself is nearly free. So take your time and shop around a little. Don't bank on brand names because it doesn't work. Some of the off brand names make some very good printers. I haven't owned an HP in many years for just that reason. Nothing but trouble is what I see. We provide them to some of our customers that demand them. But they typically get replaced soon after. Something else to watch for when buying is that the printer doesn't have full cartridges in them. Starter cartridges I believe is the term they use? Lowering the purchase price on the shelf.

Some after market ink and toner is good and some bad. I found a good place to buy it from a while back and have stuck with them since. Their product is good and their prices seem to stay competitive. Their turn around on orders are great. I've not had a problem with anything I've purchased there, so what happens with their service at that point I don't know? You can check them out if you like. There's many to choose from though.

http://www.ldproducts.com/categories.php?

Good Luck!!!!!

[Troutsqueezer]

I don't like them, at least for photographs. The colors are shiney and unrealistic looking on the ones I've used. The ink jets, especially those that use pigments produce superior pictures in my opinion. Hard to beat an inkjet printout on glossy photo paper.

[Redneck]

I use an HP Photosmart Inkjet Printer, and I am very pleased with the service and quality of the prints. I think the laser printer would be cheaper if you are doing a lot of printing. I have been using HP printers for a very long time.

[Barry]

If you do go the ink jet route, stay away from Epson or similar types where the print head is a permanent part of the machine. HP has the head integrated into each cartridge so every time you buy a new cartridge you're getting a new print head. I've had more problems with Epson over the years.

- Barry

[LusciousHoney]

I am actually exploring using a dedicated label printer for our honey (Primera LX400). Since we deal with varietal honey, it seems to make sense. Does anyone have any knowledge/experience with it?

The output I get on the laser jet here at work is generally better than what my little ink jet can do at home. Is it worth the extra $ and aggrevation (our color printers here at work are constantly being worked on)??? Not sure...

Petra

[berkshire bee]

Thanks for the replies. I wondered about the costs of toners and how many colors you had to buy, plus how maintainance free they were. It seems quite expensive when you take everything into consideration

[Sundance]

Toner cartridges are remarkably easy to refill. I've been refilling my
Xerox (not color) for years. The cartridge costs over $60 to buy,
and only costs me $5 to refill it myself.

Color lasers cartridges are refillable as well. Do a bit of research on
what brands are easiest to refill.

My Xerox takes less than 5 minutes to remove.... clean.... fill.....
and reinstall.

http://inklink.info/