Help required- Choosing a Laser Printer

[Jem]

Hi all

I used to have an OKI C5400DN colour laser printer. This was incredibly cheap to run as I was able to refill the toner cartridges myself. Sadly it died and went to laser printer heaven .

I replaced it with a HP Photosmart 7510 colour inkjet printer. This is a useful little printer as it's wireless and has a built in scanner. The problem is that it's almost bankrupting me buying replacement HP ink cartridges . I did try using third party cartridges on an inkjet printer once , but I succeeded in screwing up the printer to the point where it became bin fodder. I'm therefore reluctant to make the same mistake again.

I would like to buy another colour laser printer, but am unsure what to get. It seems that the price of colour laser printers has fallen dramatically, and all i can think is that the manufacturers are making the printers cheap so they can rip off folks such as me with the price of the toner cartridges, pretty much as they have with the ink jets.

Does anyone have any recommendations of what represents good value and won't cost me an arm and a leg to run?

Many thanks

Jem

[Shaun]

I have a Samsung CLP 510 colour laser printer and can't fault it. It's not used very often though and never really had any heavy use.

For day to day I use a mono laser (HP Laserjet 1018). Cheap as chips to use. If it ever gives up the ghost I'd definitely have another.

[Vectis]

I use a Dell 1350CNW for general office duties and it's fine for spitting out letterheads, screen dumps etc. Sits on the network (WiFi or wired) and works great with Macs as well as Windoze machines.

I use no-brand toner refills from eBay at around £35 for a full set. Blacks are under a tenner delivered and are good for about 3k pages.

Nice small unit and very quiet even when running.

Worth a peek. There's a cheaper 1250 which uses the same toners and engine, but is missing the network interface and LCD display.

The 1250 is typically around £50-60 and the 1350 £130-£150 if you shop around.

[yourdj]

Xerox through and through. Brilliant machines.

I have a really compact desk one now, but have had A3 units etc.
It was only £70!!! Amazing quality. The A3 was £6,000 lol.

Get the toner refill packs & chips from Hongkong. well cheap.

[Jiggles]

http://www.ijtdirect.co.uk/ They always have laser printers for free! They have some dells just now. You get a free one for buying x amount of there toners and bingo! Free printer. My grandad got one from them a few years back and its still going strong! Even after printing out 100s of photos.

An example: http://www.ijtdirect.co.uk/?sct=dell1760nw

[DazzyD]

http://www.ijtdirect.co.uk/ They always have laser printers for free! They have some dells just now. You get a free one for buying x amount of there toners and bingo! Free printer. My grandad got one from them a few years back and its still going strong! Even after printing out 100s of photos.

An example: http://www.ijtdirect.co.uk/?sct=dell1760nw

Just goes to prove the real cost of printing is not in the electronic technology itself but in the consumables. With Lexmark inkjets it was always cheaper buying a new printer every time you ran out of ink (when compared to the price of Lexmark branded cartridges). To me, that's a crazy situation and not very eco-friendly either. Imagine buying a new car and then it costing more than the car to refill the tank with petrol. Crazy!

[Jem]

Just goes to prove the real cost of printing is not in the electronic technology itself but in the consumables. With Lexmark inkjets it was always cheaper buying a new printer every time you ran out of ink (when compared to the price of Lexmark branded cartridges). To me, that's a crazy situation and not very eco-friendly either. Imagine buying a new car and then it costing more than the car to refill the tank with petrol. Crazy!

My thoughts exactly, and that's pretty much the situation i'm in right now.

Thanks for all the replies so far, i'll have a look at the printers suggested. In the meantime i'm happy to hear from anyone else with an opinion on this.

Thanks

Jem

[Gary (GDK)]

I use a Dell 1350CNW

Snap!

Great printer. I'm impressed with it and even print karaoke books on it.

I get my replacement toners from UK Toner Cartridges

No complaints what so ever!

[Jem]

Thanks guys. I've ordered one of the Dell 1350 printers from Printerland.co.uk, and a couple of sets of spare cartridges from uktonercartridges.co.uk

Again, many thanks for your help and advice .

Jem

[Jem]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

So, Printerland was showing the printer as 'in stock' and so I ordered one. I got confirmation my order would be despatched the same day for next AM delivery.

So, I then go to uktonercartridges.co.uk and order two spare sets of toner cartridges, again I receive confirmation they'll be posted out the same day.

Next day my toner cartridges are sat on my desk when I arrive at the office. Great I think to myself, i'll have this set up by the afternoon as soon as the printer arrives...

Printer doesn't turn up and I receive an email from Printerland asking me to contact them, which I do.

"Sorry sir the printer is out of stock... It appears to be discontinued and therefore we won't be getting any more stock. We've refunded your credit card"

Great.... Now I have two sets of toner cartridges and no printer. I've had a look online and can't find anyone with any stock, or rather there was one supplier that apparently had stock, but it was double the price of everywhere else.

Hey ho... Do any of you guys that have this printer want some really cheap sets of toner cartridges??? . If you do, just drop me a PM.

Cheers

Jem