Black & White Laser Printer VS Inkjet

[danny_w]

I bought a Samsung ML-1430 several years ago and absolutely love it! I have looked at the newer Samsungs and they unfortunately are built much cheaper and flimsier; I don't know how this actually translates to durability, but they would worry me. Anyway, I think I paid $75 for mine on sale at Best Buy and it has been the best computer investment I have ever made. The only bad part is that toner cartridges are very hard to come by unless you get them online. At least HP toners are readily available, if somewhat more expensive. I haven't been brave enough to try one of those refilled toners, but a genuine Samsung is about $70 and includes the drum unit, and is good for about 5 or 6 reams of paper. And with regards to the Toner Saver feature not being available on Macs, mine has a dedicated button on the front panel, so it's no problem. I would not ever consider an inkjet for b/w txt printing, esp. if you go days between like I do; the ink will dry up and be wasted, but the toner is not hurt. Only buy inkjet if you absolutely need color or want a nice multifunction printer (we have an HP 5610).

EDIT: Although Samsung does not support Mac in the US, their non-US drivers work fine for me.

 

[IJ Reilly]

EDIT: Although Samsung does not support Mac in the US, their non-US drivers work fine for me.

Samsung supports the Mac in the U.S., they just do it very poorly. My Samsung printer came with drivers, but the color management and network management software is Windows only. I struggled for weeks to get this printer up running properly on my network. Samsung was less than no help -- having given me boilerplate answers that did not solve my problems, they simply stopped responding to my e-mails. Apparently their tech support was completely unaware that the network configurations for the printer don't require their software -- they can also be accessed from a web browser. I learned this elsewhere, not from Samsung. Does it get any worse?

 

[danny_w]

Samsung supports the Mac in the U.S., they just do it very poorly. My Samsung printer came with drivers, but the color management and network management software is Windows only. I struggled for weeks to get this printer up running properly on my network. Samsung was less than no help -- having given me boilerplate answers that did not solve my problems, they simply stopped responding to my e-mails. Apparently their tech support was completely unaware that the network configurations for the printer don't require their software -- they can also be accessed from a web browser. I learned this elsewhere, not from Samsung. Does it get any worse?

Sorry, I was referring to the ML-1430, which is not supported in the US on the Mac. But it is so simple that nobody should need support anyway. That's part of the beauty of b&w lasers. Mine is built like a tank and works like a horse; I certainly can't say that about the low end HP lasers, from what I have seen. But if I ever did need support from Samsung, it may well be a different matter.

 

[yojitani]

Like everyone else seems to be saying, get the laser and drop the ink. The only brand printer i've heard of that has reasonably priced replacement cartridges is Canon - and that for printing color photos. You do want to check the price of toner replacements, and also you should check how many pages you should get per cartridge. ebay can be good for finding replacements. Also, I've found tiger Direct can be competitive for those parts.
My printer is a brother HL-1440 (B/W). I believe the cartridge I have in there now prints 6,000 pages. I tend to print a lot and this printer is not showing any signs of depleting stock a year later. I paid $60 for the cartirdge (and it is not a 'refurb'). Before this I had a lexmark something or other ink jet that only cost $100 new, but then needed a cartridge replaced 3 times a year at $50 - 70 per cartridge (as the printer got older, the cartridges got more expensive.

 

[bigrell486]

Laser Printers always have and always will be better than inkjet printers

 

[joebells]

I agree that laser is definately cheaper for black and white and looks sharper. But just wanted to say that the pixma printers are d*mn fine printers though. At least the 4200 and 5200 are. They have seperate ink tanks for each color and the color pictures they produce are freaking awesome. Plus they will duplex print for you automatically and everything.

When you bought that computer the free printer should have been valued up to 100 dollars and you should have gotten the pixma 4200 it really is a nice printer. You would be unbelievably surprised at the quality of the pictures it prints. If you didn't open it, or even if you did, take it back and ask why you weren't given a choice?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...n2hiXqCC14jpBANX/1.0.0.19.1.0.8.7.3.5.1.3.1.3

not sure if that link will work or not. If not its at the apple store along the left hand side it will say promo click on that and then scroll down and choose the printer. I would be pissed if I were you.

Or maybe this is some other promotion or you are based outside the us and the promotion isn't where you are.

 

[lord patton]

another vote for a cheap b/w laser printer.

I've had great luck with my HP 1012, and my parents are loving their HP 1020 (the 1012's successor, I think). Fast, quiet, cheap.

I can't wait for color lasers to become as inexpensive and reliable. Then I'll never use ink-jet again.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Laser Printers always have and always will be better than inkjet printers

Well, that's not exactly true. For the desktop maybe. High-end ink jet printers can produce some amazing results, virtually indistinguishable from photographic printing. But most of us are not buying these printers.

 

[coachingguy]

Brother HL-2070N

I just ordered the Brother HL-2070N printer from Amazon, $126 shipped! I just can't stand running out of black ink and dropping like $50 to replace ALL of the stupid 1/2 depleted color cartridges. I rarely print in color anyways and right now my Epson Stylus CX4600 black lasts only about 300 sheets, give or take regardless on which setting I use.

I teach and print out most of my stuff at school because I have access to a laser printer. The quality between a good inkjet and a low end laser is not debatable on the side of the laser. I really like that I can plug it into my router and both my wife and I can print to it wirelessly.

Anyone have experience with this printer? What I have read online has been Very positive!

Coachingguy

 

[danny_w]

I just ordered the Brother HL-2070N printer from Amazon, $126 shipped!

Please let me know what you think of this printer when you get it, because I have been looking at the same printer. It seems like a very good deal for a networkable printer. I would really like a printer on the network so that everybody could have easy access to it. We have 2 Macs and a Win98 computer, but I haven't figured out how to get Win98 to "see" a Mac printer (Win2k and WinXP are fine). The Macs also can't "see" the Win98 printer, but this may be easier to fix. I would rather just have one on the network and not have to bother with os differences.

 

[dualsyste]

I've got the ML-1740 (Aust), and it's brilliant for what I need.

I've gone through about 1000 sheets of paper on the toner cartridge that came in box and it's still going.

Theres SLIGHT kink at the top of every page, but it's not a big deal. Paper curling is sometimes fixed if you buy quality brand of paper. Some cheapo recycled paper I'm using now curls a lot more than my old Reflex.

coachingguy: Check out epinions.com, great place to read up on peoples opinions of anything!

 

[gnasher729]

Well, that's not exactly true. For the desktop maybe. High-end ink jet printers can produce some amazing results, virtually indistinguishable from photographic printing. But most of us are not buying these printers.

For photos, I go to a shop and have them printed. Stick a memory card or a CD into a machine, and you go. No need to buy a printer, no need to worry about the paper, buying ink and all that.

 

[danny_w]

Hi all,
I don't mean to hijack a thread, but I was not getting any responses in my own thread, and there seem to be a lot of knowledgeable people here. I have a Samsung ML-1430 b&w laser that I love, but the 2nd toner was dying & they are hard to find, plus I wanted network connectivity, so I was looking for another laser. After much research, I just ordered a refurbished Dell 3100cn color laser printer for $259 plus tax ($281 shipped) but am wondering what others think of this printer vs. the HP 2600n (or HP 1600 - same basic printer) which Newegg has for $299 w/ free shipping. The Dell seems to get rave pro reviews but mediocre user reviews. OTOH, it is incredibly inexpensive (just the toner is worth more than they are charging). The Dell toner is supposedly good for 4000 pages each cartridge, and the HP only does half that, but HP toner always seems to be readily available. Both printers come with full toner carts, not starter carts as most laser printer do these days. But the HP does not have Postscript, and is much slower for b&w (but faster for color); most of my printing will probably be b&w. Has anybody used either or both printers, particularly with a Mac? Anything to look out for? Thanks.