Laser printer warnings?

[Bartron]

I don't print very many documents. About 10 black and white a year, and maybe 2 color documents. As a result, the ink in my Epson printer evaporates and I have to get new ink every 10 months or so.

I was wondering if a laser printer would be any better? Aren't laser printers generally superior to inkjet in every way but the printer costs more?
Are there any hidden warnings I should know about laser printers before I get one? The ink refills costs more but doesn't it last longer?
Will the ink ever evaporate? Do laser printers do the ugly horizontal corduroy look when there is an area of solid ink to print like my inkjet does?

[ahhaa]

If you print that little, its really a tossup... it would take you about 5 years to pay for a $200 B&W laser with 'saved' inkjet costs.

You might consider getting a model that doubles as a copier, if you'd use that more. There are online & Kinko type places that would be the most cost effective for the little you print out.

Or mebbe you have a cute neighbor who owns the latest printer? modern day borryacuppa, sugar?:]

[ViRaL1]

With Memorial Day coming up, you might be able to find a deal on a laser for under $100 (though not color). I believe there are some color models under $300.

Some ideas... http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=10886&cata...buteName=Price

[Alan69]

If you're only doing 2 color a year you could probably do without, and print them at a store etc.

Watch for a good rebate/deal. Got lucky and got a Cannon D320 for $125 and $125 rebate, but had to be on at midnight to get that. There are good deals now and then, but a lot more rare than for inkjets. $50-60 isn't that uncommon, but now isn't the best time of year for it.

Heck for 10 prints a year you could draw or write it down, hardly even need a b&w printer..

You may want to find something that's thermal transfer. Film ribbons won't tend to clog..

[AlanHK]

Will the ink ever evaporate? Do laser printers do the ugly horizontal corduroy look when there is an area of solid ink to print like my inkjet does?

Laser toner is a powder. It has the opposite problem to ink, humidity will make it sticky and blotchy. But it will last at least a year or so in my experience once opened. If you live in a very humid climate, you can take the toner cartridge out (usually pretty simple) and store it in a sealed plastic bag in a dark cupboard to keep it fresh.

Depending on the printer, toner cartridges usually are rated for at least 1000 pages. Most popular models have clone refills cheaper than the OEMs.

Colour lasers and colour toner though are much more expensive than b/w ones.

For so few pages, it's hard to justfy buying a printer at all. If you don't have a friend with one at home or work, copy centres should be able to print any file, especially if you save it as PDF (for text or images) or TIFF or JPEG (for images alone), burn it to a CDR.

[handyguy]

I've used the same toner cart for years & they work perfect, they dont fade like inkjet does.

color lasers aren't for photos.

[trhouse]

For 12 pages a year, you would be better off copying the files to a diskette and taking it to your local Kinko's for printout.

We have Epson inkjets, black and white lasers, and color lasers at work. The color laser will not match the performance of a quality color inkjet yet and most color lasers do not print on glossy paper.

The lasers advantage in an office is speed and cost. The cost per page is much lower than inkjet. We have tried less expensive refilled and second source laser toner cartridges. None were as good as the factory ones.

Some brands of lasers offer two sizes of cartridges, a small size good for about 1,500 pages and a full size good for about 5,000 pages.

Some of our computers have both inkjet and color laser attached. The inkjet will take about three minutes to print a full size color image, the laser about 15 seconds, but the inkjet looks photo quality.

[ViRaL1]

From Techbargains.com

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$65 rebate Exp 6/30/07


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[handyguy]

"For 12 pages a year, you would be better off copying the files to a diskette and taking it to your local Kinko's for printout. "

You can just send them that via the net & pick up instore.