Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

supernova97

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 7, 2017
11
0
Does anyone have any idea what is a good laser printer that I can buy on the market. Black and white is ideal with no added dfeatures are necessary such as scan, or copy. However I need one with reliability and good connectivity. I'm aware that some printers have difficulty connecting with mac os. Thanks!!!
 

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,336
4,726
Georgia
Brother works really well for a budget printer. It's quite rare for a client to have connectivity issues. You can't really go wrong. Just choose the model with the features you want.

HP on the other hand is horrible. Frequently they won't connect when network printing. Printing hi res PDF files is a miserably slow experience.

Can't really say much about the other brands. As it is so rare I encounter a laser printer which isn't Brother or HP in a home or office. Outside of high end floor standing workgroup models.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,453
9,324
For best results, find one that says it supports AirPrint. That way you won't need to install special drivers. I believe that Brother makes some of the best right now. You might even find a good deal on craigslist.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tagbert and chrfr

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,256
13,335
Brother.

I'd suggest that you get one with the copier/scanner functions as well.
They can come in handy sometimes, and the price difference is negligible.
 

supernova97

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 7, 2017
11
0
It sounds like Airprint is important. I ususally took printed for granted, and connected to the network to print my documents. Brother seems to be agood candidate. But I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with Canon.
 

chown33

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2009
11,000
8,888
A sea of green
My last 2 printers were Brother. They worked fine, and the most recent one still works fine. Both were B&W only, not color. I've successfully used the Generic PostScript driver with both printers, though currently using the Brother PS driver.

I would focus on what drivers will work (Generic PS), AirPlay (convenient for mobile devices, if it matters to you), and the cost for consumables (drum, toner, etc.).

Consumables can make a big difference. My previous Brother printer got replaced by a new Brother printer solely because the drum replacement cost was about the same as a completely new printer. I also checked the consumables cost on the new printer, and they were lower, so that clinched it. I donated the old Brother printer to the local thrift shop.
 

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,983
844
Virginia
I have a Brother HL-L2360DW that has been great. Getting ready to install the 2nd high yield toner cartridge so it's had some paper run through it. Has never jammed or had any other problem. Works fine with our Macs and iPads. I have it hardwired to ethernet but it does wireless too.
 

chown33

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2009
11,000
8,888
A sea of green
Rebuilt/refurbished toner works as well as OEM. I've gone through dozens with only 2 that had issues. At 1/8th the price, 2 out of 36 is acceptable especially since go through one a month.
I'd replaced the toner before and used a refurb. That was fine. I don't go through anywhere near one per month, or even per year.

It was the replacement drum that cost as much as a new printer. I'm not aware of refurb drums, though that may have changed.
 

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,336
4,726
Georgia
Rebuilt/refurbished toner works as well as OEM. I've gone through dozens with only 2 that had issues. At 1/8th the price, 2 out of 36 is acceptable especially since go through one a month.

That's a lot of toner. While bag on HP printers. I have a big workgroup unit from the mid-2000s. When they still made good printers. I go through a cartridge which I think has the drum built in. About once every seven or eight years. Of course it also has a 10,000 page yield per toner.
 

ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
7,631
13,059
Brother works really well for a budget printer. It's quite rare for a client to have connectivity issues. You can't really go wrong. Just choose the model with the features you want.
+1

I've printed well over 10K pages on my cheapo Brother laser. I paid I think $120 for it probably 10 years ago now. It just keeps on chugging along, never jams on the cheap recycled paper I put in it. It even handles aftermarket toner quite well. I set it up years ago on my wifi network and it's never dropped off once. I checked my printing stats the other day and realized it's jammed a grand total of like 10 times, and I bet most of that was envelopes I put in wrong.

Also, before this I had another cheap Brother and that too ran rock solid for thousands of pages.
 

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,983
844
Virginia
Rebuilt/refurbished toner works as well as OEM. I've gone through dozens with only 2 that had issues. At 1/8th the price, 2 out of 36 is acceptable especially since go through one a month.
Not always and the failures can be costly. I tried a refilled cartridge in a Xerox color and it came close to ruining the printer. Vendor replaced the cartridge and the replacement had the same problem. Took me hours to get the printer cleaned out from the leaky toner. Decided it was not worth it and stuck with OEM toner and never had a problem.
 

pmiles

macrumors 6502a
Dec 12, 2013
812
678
Have an HP LaserJet Printer. Been using it for years. Previous printer was also a HP LaserJet Printer. Both were ethernet printers, so they were on the network. Never use wireless printing... don't need it. Every computer I have ever owned was also connected to the same network, so instant printing.

About the only thing that I could never get it to do was double-sided printing. Windows drivers supported it, Mac drivers apparently not in the applications. My cat however managed to print test pages double sided by standing on the buttons on the printer. I could never replicate this myself. Must be a cat only thing.

You can get one just like it reconditioned on the cheap.
 

Octopuss

macrumors regular
Oct 18, 2017
154
215
I have a Brother HL-L2360DW t
Same here.
Have it for about 4 years, it accepts refilling with cheap $10 toner no problem. Sitting in the corner gathering dust, always ready to print over wifi. 0 maintenance in all these years, not even dust wiped. Still goes great. If it ever die, the next will be Brother.

One time B..... never come back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tonyr6

AppleSmack

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2010
336
116
I've got an HP that I'm really happy with. However, it's clear in here (and Reddit) that Brother is the right way to go!
 

wordsworth

macrumors 6502
Apr 7, 2011
329
285
UK
My black and white HP LaserJet 1300 is not far off twenty years old and has been a real workhorse in its time. Still works fine when it is occasionally needed. Never caused a problem in any way in all these years other than the occasional paper jam, of course. I expanded its memory to 24Mb at the time I bought it and that's all the attention it ever got.

I bought the LaserJet to do a music fanzine circa 2002 and boy did it get put through its paces. I didn't bother with double-sided printing though (overseeing it manually instead) so don't know if I'd have encountered the same problems as pmiles in that respect (and I don't have a tech-savvy troubleshooting cat).

I do have several boxes of toner that have since aged badly though and won't print beyond faint grey now but I did have them for over seventeen years so I suppose I can't complain.
 
Last edited:

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,336
4,726
Georgia
My black and white HP LaserJet 1300 is not far off twenty years old and has been a real workhorse in its time. Still works fine when it is occasionally needed. Never caused a problem in any way in all these years. I expanded its memory to 16Mb at the time I bought it and that's all the attention it ever got.

I bought the LaserJet to do a music fanzine circa 2002 and boy did it get put through its paces. I didn't bother with double-sided printing though (overseeing it manually instead) so don't know if I'd have encountered the same problems as pmiles in that respect (and I don't have a tech-savvy troubleshooting cat).

I do have several boxes of toner that have since aged badly though and won't print beyond faint grey now but I did have them for over seventeen years so I suppose I can't complain.

HP was a much different company then. When people bag on HP printers. It's really about the last ten years or so where reliability took a nose dive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tonyr6

jeyf

macrumors 68020
Jan 20, 2009
2,173
1,044
i have a 2year old low cost Brother B&W laser

dont buy a scanner, use your iPhone

the brother printer I have:
-some times the printer goes to sleep and you have to cycle its power to wake it up
-its a wifi only printer, the initial setup is simple, just they skip leave parts of the setup method out
-off the shelf disposables can be expensive unless you watch a few youtube videos and buy off ebay
-i hear firmware updates are not possible on the wifi only printers
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.