OT printer recommendations

[parris]

Our combo printer decided to break last week which is a bummer due to us having a lot of ink for it. There are tons of choices which makes picking one just a little confusing.

I'm looking for opinions and experiences with some of the decent combo printers that are out there. Thanks.

[pdmtong]

Our combo printer decided to break last week which is a bummer due to us having a lot of ink for it. There are tons of choices which makes picking one just a little confusing.

I'm looking for opinions and experiences with some of the decent combo printers that are out there. Thanks.

Think hard about your use case.

We use our HP for small home print or copy jobs (typically less than 10 pages) and for scanning. There was a time when we might have used it for FAX but I it seems like the time for needing a home FAX has long passed. We NEVER use it for photo printing since much cheaper to have that done at costco.

Ours is a wireless HP OfficeJet pro 8600 Plus. It has a feeder which works but often the issue is the quality of the edge of the sheet we are feeding. It was around $150 since that's the most I was willing to pay.

Since most of our needs are black and white, I will look at a <$200 laser next time.

[schwa86]

If you just need black and white, I am pretty fond of my brother mfc— we have two 7065 model which I am sure has been upgraded. Reasonable form factor, good scanning and copying, sheet feeder works well for stacks of 20/25 pages. I don’t use the fax so can’t speak to that. It has wireless built in, newer models have native ability to print from iPads and iPhones. Ours looks similar to 2685. Also runs fine on with Linux which I use on home laptop.

[AngryScientist]

after years of futzing with inkjet printers, a few years ago i bought an inexpensive Samsung lazer printer. M2020 to be exact.

it's a breadth of fresh air. dead simple, dead reliable. knock-off toner carts from Amazon keep it running.

these days, it's mostly used for printing boarding passes (i always like to fly with a paper pass, hate using my phone for boarding), and kids ditto typed sheets. all B&W.

i'll never buy an inkjet again.

[kramnnim]

Laser printers are cheap now. Generic toner is also cheap.

[ultraman6970]

We have a HP LJ 3050, we are thinking in swapping it for something newer, but the problem is that nothing even get close to this TANK... I even connected straight to the router and now can work as a wireless device. The tank is discontinued, the toner still available but at some point will be a problem to find it.

Looked for the newer alternatives and nothing is even close in B/W, HP is not making anything even close. U look the new ones and they look crapppppy.

[zmudshark]

Dump inkjet and go laser. I have a three year old Brother that was about $100 (no scanning, just printing) and it sits unused in Phoenix for the hottest 7 mos of the year. No clogged nozzles, no problems at all. It is used mainly for printing mailing labels for my wife's side line hustle.

[parris]

Thanks so far for the recs. The old printer is a holdover from when my wife was a freelancer and we needed the fax. We don't print photos and fax a small amount anymore. We use primarily use printing and scanning. We also do a some color printing.

I hadn't considered a laser given what I remember what they cost several years ago. That an option that I'll look at also.

Any good or bad on brands? Our old printer is an HP but I'm not tied to the brand.

[jtakeda]

While not your exact use case I also highly recommend a Brother laser printer.

I know they have color printers and theyre a little more expensive.

But I often print between 3000-5000 pages a day and the brother does not let me down.

I have one at home as well and wirelessly print very easily.

[tuxbailey]

I have the older version of this:

https://www.amazon.com/Canon-imageCLASS-MF264dw-2925C020-Multifunction/dp/B07H5WF9TY/

print, scan, copy for $100. And this one supports air print as well (print from your iPhone.)

For a home printer this works well.

Tip: Make sure you save the latest driver on a separate location. They might not be available online once manufacturer discontinue support. In case you need to reinstall OS, etc.

[HenryA]

Brother makes some good laser printers. I have several that I keep running. One of them sees use by a couple dozen people. We buy a new one every couple years. They are cheap and good.

[saab2000]

HP laser jet of some sort. Got tired of the unreliability of a garbage Epson. Spend the money for a good one and don’t look back.

Buy nice or buy twice. How often must we learn this lesson?

[Gsinill]

Laser!
I really like HPs.
Owned quite a few and never had an issue.

The prices for laser printers tumbled over the last few years like crazy.
I bought an HP Laserjet Pro M148dw All-in-One Wireless Monochrome Laser Printer back in September for $105(!) from Amazon Warehouse.
It was one of their “like new” deals, still had all the blue tape on it but came repackaged.
Print quality and speed are fantastic, double sided print feature.

[paredown]

We're bottom feeders. so we have an old (large) HP 4050 laser--it's the third one we have owned in the series (4000, 4050, 4100). They were among the last of the really overbuilt HPs--you can pick them up for ~$100 and they will print forever. BW only, not the highest res, but we probably print 500 pages/month and they have a duty cycle of 1600 pages/day so it is gonna last!

If I were looking at new, I like the Epson Ecotank series--we have been looking at a new gen printer with the capacity to print large format construction drawings.

[daker13]

We have a brother laser printer and it's been great. We had a color inkjet printer and switched to laser (black and white only of course). The big difference is 1) the ink cartridge's last much, much longer and 2) the ink is much, much cheaper.

[type2sam]

Picked up a LaserJet 5 with JetDirect card for free a few years back. Bridging my home wireless network to it was interesting, but ultimately solved for $10. Toner is pretty inexpensive and lasts nearly forever.

[pbarry]

Has concise reviews on a multitude of items including printers:
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-all-in-one-printer/

[Dino Suegiù]

Tip: Make sure you save the latest driver on a separate location. They might not be available online once manufacturer discontinue support. In case you need to reinstall OS, etc.

Can you please explain a bit what this means, to a lay-person? Save the driver where? Is it not on the computer when one downloads it? Do you mean to also copy it to a CD or external hard drive as well, in order to have a duplicate?

[Dino Suegiù]

after years of futzing with inkjet printers, a few years ago i bought an inexpensive Samsung lazer printer. M2020 to be exact. knock-off toner carts from Amazon keep it running.

Laser printers are cheap now. Generic toner is also cheap.

We needed a new printer and after some research bought a Xerox 6510/DN (basic wired color laser printer only), which spec fit our needs, has good reviews, and was on a good sale. No report yet, as it will be delivered tomorrow.

My question is:
is it OK to use third-party toner cartridges for these laser printers? There are quite a few on Amazon, etc, but the salesperson was adamant that one must use Xerox toner cartridges (and they do not even sell Xerox cartridges in the store) with Xerox printers, HP with HP, Brother with Brother, etc.

Is that really true? Will third-party cartridges really damage a printer, or do the manufacturers just want us to buy their branded $$$ cartridges? Xerox cartridges are pretty expensive, as are all the branded cartridges.

We do not do a lot of printing, so the supplied Xerox introductory cartridges will last awhile, but it would nice to save money on future cartridges if we will not be risking damaging the printer by using generics.

[fmradio516]

We needed a new printer and after some research bought a Xerox 6510/DN (basic wired color laser printer only), which spec fit our needs, has good reviews, and was on a good sale. No report yet, as it will be delivered tomorrow.

My question is:
is it OK to use third-party toner cartridges for these laser printers? There are quite a few on Amazon, etc, but the salesperson was adamant that one must use Xerox toner cartridges (and they do not even sell Xerox cartridges in the store) with Xerox printers, HP with HP, Brother with Brother, etc.

Is that really true? Will third-party cartridges really damage a printer, or do the manufacturers just want us to buy their branded $$$ cartridges? Xerox cartridges are pretty expensive, as are all the branded cartridges.

We do not do a lot of printing, so the supplied Xerox introductory cartridges will last awhile, but it would nice to save money on future cartridges if we will not be risking damaging the printer by using generics.

Id say give it a shot. I dont think itll damage anything on the actual printer. Worse case, the cartridge wont be detected as genuine and it wont work until you put a xerox brand in. I think the salesperson is only saying that as its not common practice so they probably dont have any experience with it.

[tuxbailey]

Can you please explain a bit what this means, to a lay-person? Save the driver where? Is it not on the computer when one downloads it? Do you mean to also copy it to a CD or external hard drive as well, in order to have a duplicate?Use case:

You buy printer, and you add printer to computer using install disk/download software online to setup.

After a while, software are updated by manufacturer. The way this usually happens is you go to manufacturer's
Website's support section and download a new install program etc. And it is downloaded into your computer's download folder.

For some hardware that is retired the manufacturer could pull it away or not support older OS.

What if you need to reinstall the OS in your PC, or add the printer to a different PC in your house?

Granted, nowadays OS has better support for common hardware but it is still a good practice.

Yes just copy the file to an external flash drive, or network drive. This is important for any older hardware that is functional. Or you may be forced to upgrade if you update your computer.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

[C40_guy]

We needed a new printer and after some research bought a Xerox 6510/DN (basic wired color laser printer only), which spec fit our needs, has good reviews, and was on a good sale. No report yet, as it will be delivered tomorrow.

My question is:
is it OK to use third-party toner cartridges for these laser printers? There are quite a few on Amazon, etc, but the salesperson was adamant that one must use Xerox toner cartridges (and they do not even sell Xerox cartridges in the store) with Xerox printers, HP with HP, Brother with Brother, etc.

Is that really true? Will third-party cartridges really damage a printer, or do the manufacturers just want us to buy their branded $$$ cartridges? Xerox cartridges are pretty expensive, as are all the branded cartridges.

We do not do a lot of printing, so the supplied Xerox introductory cartridges will last awhile, but it would nice to save money on future cartridges if we will not be risking damaging the printer by using generics.

We've had the same Xerox color printer for a couple of years now, and I've bought generic cartridges from LDProducts.com. Much less expensive than the Xerox branded products, and they work fine.

Note -- do not buy more than you need...they do age out and become unusable.

[C40_guy]

I was an HP only guy for a long time, but their stuff went from being corporate tanks to consumer crap.

So I've switched to Canon for inexpensive laser MFDs. They've been pretty reliable.

Note that different lines within a brand will use different print engines, so do some research (Consumer Reports, Amazon, etc.) for the specific printer you're considering...

[saab2000]

Now that I'm on a keyboard sitting next to my printer I can better express my thoughts. In the past 18 months or so I've sent two toner cartridge printers to the landfill. So I finally ponied up for a laser printer and while my printing needs are minor, I want it to work when I need it to work. It's rarely often or in large quantities but it needs to work without drama.

My HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M281fdw is a delight. It's a bit large on the desk but I could relocated it anywhere in my house as it is wifi enabled. Print quality is superb. More expensive than a junky toner printer but so far worth it to me.

[PCS]

Now that I'm on a keyboard sitting next to my printer I can better express my thoughts. In the past 18 months or so I've sent two toner cartridge printers to the landfill. So I finally ponied up for a laser printer and while my printing needs are minor, I want it to work when I need it to work. It's rarely often or in large quantities but it needs to work without drama.

My HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M281fdw is a delight. It's a bit large on the desk but I could relocated it anywhere in my house as it is wifi enabled. Print quality is superb. More expensive than a junky toner printer but so far worth it to me.

I sent one epson to the landfill because it would not feed/scan correctly. The HP toner is not cheap but your quality is very good. It is nice to have a printer/scanner that just works...hope I did not jinx myself

[C40_guy]

Now that I'm on a keyboard sitting next to my printer I can better express my thoughts. In the past 18 months or so I've sent two inkjet printers to the landfill. So I finally ponied up for a laser printer and while my printing needs are minor, I want it to work when I need it to work. It's rarely often or in large quantities but it needs to work without drama.

My HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M281fdw is a delight. It's a bit large on the desk but I could relocated it anywhere in my house as it is wifi enabled. Print quality is superb. More expensive than a junky inkjet printer but so far worth it to me.

Third time's a charm...with some help. :)

Inkjet printers take ink refills. Laser printers use toner cartridges. :)

And by the way, inkjet printer consumables may not be less expensive than laser printer consumables. I just paid $70 for a Canon 104 toner cartridge, which lasts about 15 months, on average. Looks like I spent more than that annually on Canon inkjet refills for our old color inkjet...and the replacement Xerox color laser seems to be similarly efficient with color consumables...maybe $75 every 18 months...

[Doug Fattic]

We needed a new printer and after some research bought a Xerox 6510/DN (basic wired color laser printer only), which spec fit our needs, has good reviews, and was on a good sale. No report yet, as it will be delivered tomorrow.

My question is:
is it OK to use third-party toner cartridges for these laser printers? There are quite a few on Amazon, etc, but the salesperson was adamant that one must use Xerox toner cartridges (and they do not even sell Xerox cartridges in the store) with Xerox printers, HP with HP, Brother with Brother, etc.

Is that really true? Will third-party cartridges really damage a printer, or do the manufacturers just want us to buy their branded $$$ cartridges? Xerox cartridges are pretty expensive, as are all the branded cartridges.

We do not do a lot of printing, so the supplied Xerox introductory cartridges will last awhile, but it would nice to save money on future cartridges if we will not be risking damaging the printer by using generics.For every one of my framebuildling class students, I print out a 150+ page manual. There is just no way some students will remember all they need to make frame #2 nor does everyone take adequate notes. I need color for some illustrations and to emphasize certain more important text. I got a Dell all-in-one laser printer because that what was on sale at Office Depot. I need the scanner to copy and reduce lug template drawings from 200% back down to life size. This drawing is now printed on sticky back paper and applied to a lug for carving. It was important to me to have a printer that did both sides to reduce my paper count in the manual.

Laser toner marketed by the printer manufacturer is very expensive. Toner from 3rd party companies is cheap by comparison. That is what I have used without any problems. However when I compare the color they produce on paper compared to the manufacturer's color, it is not nearly as bright and has a dull appearance. If you are using black only this probably wouldn't matter.

One other aspect of a color laser printer that drives me crazy is that if one color is out (like yellow) the printer will not work at all until a new color toner cartridge is installed. I don't know if this varies among other printers. On my old Brother laser printer this was also true.

I need and use all the features of my printer (the scanner, size reduction, etc.) but it is also roughly the size of a poll barn. I just live with the monster. I like the bigger cartridges that don't need to be changed so often.

[saab2000]

Third time's a charm...with some help. :)

Inkjet printers take ink refills. Laser printers use toner cartridges. :)

And by the way, inkjet printer consumables may not be less expensive than laser printer consumables. I just paid $70 for a Canon 104 toner cartridge, which lasts about 15 months, on average. Looks like I spent more than that annually on Canon inkjet refills for our old color inkjet...and the replacement Xerox color laser seems to be similarly efficient with color consumables...maybe $75 every 18 months...

Thanks for that clarification. You are correct. Nevertheless, I had the ink cartridges cause me trouble.

[benb]

I’d echo what others are saying. Stay away from MFD. for the scanner you can just shoot photos for occasional use. It works fine with a smartphone.

Get a laser if you’re mostly doing documents.

Inkjet is for people who are into photography, and you don’t get one unless you’re going into the $500+ “Pro” range. Once you get into 13” carriage they go from junk to high quality and beat cheap places like Shutterfly on quality. Cost/ml for ink goes down compared to consumer inkjets. At the 17” carriage size the cost/ml for ink goes down again even more dramatically. These printers pay for themselves fast when printing 8x10/8x12 or larger regularly.

[C40_guy]

I’d echo what others are saying. Stay away from MFD. for the scanner you can just shoot photos for occasional use. It works fine with a smartphone.


I never scan with my MFD, mostly because it's too easy with my phone, and because network scanning doesn't work on this printer.

I do copy a fair amount, however, and find that's a reasonable use of the MFD versus straight printer. Yea, I know I could scan with phone and then print to make copies... :)

[William]

after years of futzing with inkjet printers, a few years ago i bought an inexpensive Samsung lazer printer. M2020 to be exact.




This ^^^^^

The last HP inkjet (Office jet 8600 if I remember correctly) printer we had was the last straw. It wouldn't run just the black ink cartridge if you were out of any other color...and we printed in B&W 95% of the time. It was crazy how fast the color cartridges would run out of ink even though we weren't printing in color. The older HP's would let you run on just the black ink but they decided they didn't want people to do that anymore. Obviously they make their money on selling ink cartridges. The only thing I might use that printer for now is a boat anchor.

Switched to a Brother lazer printer that can do a bunch of other stuff and haven't looked back. We don't miss the HP one bit.








W.

[9tubes]

My home office has a HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479. More money but it's nice to have a fast, reliable printer/scanner. Life is too short for crappy printers and my time is money.

[veloduffer]

I just replaced our Epson MFD inkjet with a HP Color Laserjet Pro M255dw. The HP has a nice small footprint, easy to set up with app, dual sided printing, fast.

We got tired of the ink (mostly black) running out quickly plus cleaning heads at least once a week. Just wish I had replaced it earlier.

[deechee]

I absolutely hate my Canon multifunction. Even though it has some "sleep" mode, it never works unless we restart the printer after a period of non-use. The flip side is if we leave it turned off too long, then it enters this ridiculous "download mode" and needs a firmware push before it becomes functional again. I can't imagine anyone who is not comfortable with printer settings and flashing would enjoy this lemon. Canon MF4800 series.

My dad's Canon Selphy works fine everytime we want to make a quick photo print. So I don't know whats up with Canon drivers.

ps. its a laser. I haven't replaced the original cartridge in years. Always had lasers, and agree brothers are great despite what their ridiculously low prices make you think. (I didn't buy this Canon.)

[OtayBW]

Dump inkjet and go laser. I have a three year old Brother that was about $100 (no scanning, just printing) and it sits unused in Phoenix for the hottest 7 mos of the year. No clogged nozzles, no problems at all. It is used mainly for printing mailing labels for my wife's side line hustle.Same. Going on 10 years with no problems.

[josephr]

after years of futzing with inkjet printers, a few years ago i bought an inexpensive Samsung lazer printer. M2020 to be exact.

it's a breadth of fresh air. dead simple, dead reliable. knock-off toner carts from Amazon keep it running.

these days, it's mostly used for printing boarding passes (i always like to fly with a paper pass, hate using my phone for boarding), and kids ditto typed sheets. all B&W.

i'll never buy an inkjet again.


This --- except I bought a Brother off Amazon for $90. Replacement cartridges are like $12-15 and last forever. If I need to scan something to send to someone, I just take a picture of it with my phone. I miss not being able to print stuff in color, but I don't have to worry about inkjet cartridges going low on cyan requiring a late night run to Office Depot.

[9tubes]

This ^^^^^

The last HP inkjet (Office jet 8600 if I remember correctly) printer we had was the last straw. It wouldn't run just the black ink cartridge if you were out of any other color...and we printed in B&W 95% of the time. It was crazy how fast the color cartridges would run out of ink even though we weren't printing in color. The older HP's would let you run on just the black ink but they decided they didn't want people to do that anymore. Obviously they make their money on selling ink cartridges. The only thing I might use that printer for now is a boat anchor.

Switched to a Brother lazer printer that can do a bunch of other stuff and haven't looked back. We don't miss the HP one bit.

W.

One dirty secret of the printer business is how they count pages. It's usually some variation of "X pages or empty cartridge, whichever comes first." Then they count a page with color on it as a click on the page count. An example: let's say that you print text documents and put the document name in the footer. You don't want it to be too distracting so you pick a pale blue for that footer text. Boom. Each page becomes a color page for the count. Since that blue is probably a mix of color from two toner cartridges, that's a click on the counter for each of them. That $0.03/page toner cost just jumped to $0.15/page. Dirty? Yep. Legal? Yep.

With a color laser the solution is to set up your Microsoft Word document template so that the style sheet has all style options as pure black (code 00000) and if you want to create a footer in some light color be sure to pick a pure black tone at a grayscale of 40% or 60% or whatever. If you pick a gray from the color chart that happens to be a blue-gray or a brown-gray, you've just put color on your page. Another trick is to a set up a printing profile in the operating system printer manager that is only black and white.

[Dino Suegiù]

Use case:

You buy printer, and you add printer to computer using install disk/download software online to setup.

After a while, software are updated by manufacturer. The way this usually happens is you go to manufacturer's
Website's support section and download a new install program etc. And it is downloaded into your computer's download folder.

For some hardware that is retired the manufacturer could pull it away or not support older OS.

What if you need to reinstall the OS in your PC, or add the printer to a different PC in your house?

Granted, nowadays OS has better support for common hardware but it is still a good practice.

Yes just copy the file to an external flash drive, or network drive. This is important for any older hardware that is functional. Or you may be forced to upgrade if you update your computer.
https://forums.thepaceline.net/images/icons/icon14.gif
Super info, very clear, thanks much.

[Dino Suegiù]

Id say give it a shot. I dont think itll damage anything on the actual printer. Worse case, the cartridge wont be detected as genuine and it wont work until you put a xerox brand in. I think the salesperson is only saying that as its not common practice so they probably dont have any experience with it.
https://forums.thepaceline.net/images/icons/icon14.gif
We've had the same Xerox color printer for a couple of years now, and I've bought generic cartridges from LDProducts.com. Much less expensive than the Xerox branded products, and they work fine.

Note -- do not buy more than you need...they do age out and become unusable.
https://forums.thepaceline.net/images/icons/icon14.gif
Laser toner marketed by the printer manufacturer is very expensive. Toner from 3rd party companies is cheap by comparison. That is what I have used without any problems. However when I compare the color they produce on paper compared to the manufacturer's color, it is not nearly as bright and has a dull appearance. If you are using black only this probably wouldn't matter.
https://forums.thepaceline.net/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Dino Suegiù]

One dirty secret of the printer business is how they count pages. It's usually some variation of "X pages or empty cartridge, whichever comes first." Then they count a page with color on it as a click on the page count. An example: let's say that you print text documents and put the document name in the footer. You don't want it to be too distracting so you pick a pale blue for that footer text. Boom. Each page becomes a color page for the count. Since that blue is probably a mix of color from two toner cartridges, that's a click on the counter for each of them. That $0.03/page toner cost just jumped to $0.15/page. Dirty? Yep. Legal? Yep.

With a color laser the solution is to set up your Microsoft Word document template so that the style sheet has all style options as pure black (code 00000) and if you want to create a footer in some light color be sure to pick a pure black tone at a grayscale of 40% or 60% or whatever. If you pick a gray from the color chart that happens to be a blue-gray or a brown-gray, you've just put color on your page. Another trick is to a set up a printing profile in the operating system printer manager that is only black and white.
That (especially) is really great information/tip.

[Dekonick]

We needed a new printer and after some research bought a Xerox 6510/DN (basic wired color laser printer only), which spec fit our needs, has good reviews, and was on a good sale. No report yet, as it will be delivered tomorrow.

My question is:
is it OK to use third-party toner cartridges for these laser printers? There are quite a few on Amazon, etc, but the salesperson was adamant that one must use Xerox toner cartridges (and they do not even sell Xerox cartridges in the store) with Xerox printers, HP with HP, Brother with Brother, etc.

Is that really true? Will third-party cartridges really damage a printer, or do the manufacturers just want us to buy their branded $$$ cartridges? Xerox cartridges are pretty expensive, as are all the branded cartridges.


We do not do a lot of printing, so the supplied Xerox introductory cartridges will last awhile, but it would nice to save money on future cartridges if we will not be risking damaging the printer by using generics.

Is it OK to use non OEM cables, bits, brake pads, etc on your bike? A Shimano or Campy rep will swear up and down you MUST use their parts only because XYZ... yet how many of us interchange or even alter parts? Same is true for PC's. They want you to use their disposable goods... but if you find something that works, it is fine. Give it a shot. :banana:

[Dino Suegiù]

Is it OK to use non OEM cables, bits, brake pads, etc on your bike? A Shimano or Campy rep will swear up and down you MUST use their parts only because XYZ... yet how many of us interchange or even alter parts? Same is true for PC's. They want you to use their disposable goods... but if you find something that works, it is fine. Give it a shot. :banana:

Yes, that makes sense and I agree, conceptually.

But what the salesperson told me (and echoed here above) was that the printer may not "read" a third-party toner cartridge as a legitimate Xerox (in our case) cartridge, and therefore not "allow the printer to print."

So, it would not be good if rather than buy a Xerox cartridge for $85.00 we buy a third-party for $50.00...and then printer will not allow the third-party cartridge to print at all. $50.00 down the drain.

That definitely happened when we tried using third-party/refilled ink cartridges on our old HP inkjet; it would absolutely not recognize/allow the use of the generic cartridges. The message on the screen even stated so, as if we were criminals transporting contraband or something. :(


The Xerox Phaser 6510/DN laser printer we ordered the other day was delivered today, very fast.
Set-up was very easy, and it looks great; really heavy though!

[RFC]

after years of futzing with inkjet printers, a few years ago i bought an inexpensive Samsung lazer printer. M2020 to be exact.

it's a breadth of fresh air. dead simple, dead reliable. knock-off toner carts from Amazon keep it running.

these days, it's mostly used for printing boarding passes (i always like to fly with a paper pass, hate using my phone for boarding), and kids ditto typed sheets. all B&W.

i'll never buy an inkjet again.

+1 This. It was a great day when I dumped the inkjet and got a lazer. Works first time every time. No more blowing out ink nozzles. What a mess.

[djg]

We have a color multi-function printer at home, but I needed to get a second printer for telework purposes. Somebody recommended a wirecutter review, which lists two top choices -- a color multi-function printer and a budget b&w laser printer. I bought the budget printer, from Brother, and it seems great for what it is -- easy to set up wired or wireless, easy to operate, relatively fast printing, and relatively inexpensive (both the purchase price and the ink). I can dig up the model if anybody wants, but the wirecutter suggestions ought to be pretty easy to find with a quick internet search. And . . . it was in stock (and discounted) at several places, so I had it quickly.

[OtayBW]

Same. Going on 10 years with no problems.
Spoke too soon. Printer died today...:eek:

[C40_guy]

Spoke too soon. Printer died today...:eek:

It heard from the router that you were talking smack about it.

[William]

Spoke too soon. Printer died today...:eek:

10 years ain't too bad a run...just sayin':)






W.

[Dino Suegiù]

We've had the same Xerox color printer for a couple of years now, and I've bought generic cartridges from LDProducts.com. Much less expensive than the Xerox branded products, and they work fine.

Note -- do not buy more than you need...they do age out and become unusable.

@C40-guy:
iirc the Xerox laser printer you have is the Xerox Phaser 6500, is that right? Is it basically the same (previous model maybe?) as the Xerox Phaser 6510/DN (https://www.office.xerox.com/en-us/printers/phaser-6510) we just bought?

If so, were you able to use the LDProducts.com toner cartridge on your printer perfectly OK, without the screen stating that the cartridge was not "official Xerox, therefore not recognized, therefore unable to print"? How long have you successfully used the LD cartridges?

Also, since we would like to order the LD cartridges, what time frame more or less does "they do age out and become unusable" cover?

[C40_guy]

@C40-guy:
iirc the Xerox laser printer you have is the Xerox Phaser 6500, is that right? Is it basically the same (previous model maybe?) as the Xerox Phaser 6510/DN (https://www.office.xerox.com/en-us/printers/phaser-6510) we just bought?

If so, were you able to use the LDProducts.com toner cartridge on your printer perfectly OK, without the screen stating that the cartridge was not "official Xerox, therefore not recognized, therefore unable to print"? How long have you successfully used the LD cartridges?

Also, since we would like to order the LD cartridges, what time frame more or less does "they do age out and become unusable" cover?

Dino,

We bought the 6500 about 3 years ago, and I think we've replaced the toner cartridges twice since then. The 6510 looks to be a minor upgrade from the 6500...I think it's basically the same print engine.

We had no issues with the aftermarket LD cartridges. They plug right in.

I don't remember how long the cartridges last on the shelf (before use). You might want to ask LD about that. Up until the past two months, it was easy to get new cartridges within a couple of days, so I didn't worry about running out. The printer interface does allow you to see roughly how much toner is left for each cartridge...

Good solid printer. It does take a while to print large photos (which isn't the best use of this printer...).

[OtayBW]

10 years ain't too bad a run...just sayin':)






W.
Nope. Not at all. In fact, I can buy more printer now for the same dough than I spent 10 years ago.

[Dino Suegiù]

Dino,

We bought the 6500 about 3 years ago, and I think we've replaced the toner cartridges twice since then. The 6510 looks to be a minor upgrade from the 6500...I think it's basically the same print engine.

We had no issues with the aftermarket LD cartridges. They plug right in.

I don't remember how long the cartridges last on the shelf (before use). You might want to ask LD about that. Up until the past two months, it was easy to get new cartridges within a couple of days, so I didn't worry about running out. The printer interface does allow you to see roughly how much toner is left for each cartridge...

Good solid printer. It does take a while to print large photos (which isn't the best use of this printer...).
https://forums.thepaceline.net/images/icons/icon14.gif
Thank you very much for the detailed response. Excellent.

[OtayBW]

It heard from the router that you were talking smack about it.I get that a lot...

--
QUESTION/OPINION:

I'm trying to decide between a laser monochrome All-In-One (mainly for the added scanning capability) vs a color laser single function printer.

My use is relatively low volume and I really need both color AND scanning - but not all the time. I guess I'm too cheap to buy a laser color AIO, and I'm having a hard time prioritizing scanner vs color decision. I know it's for me to decide, but anything come to mind? Thx.

[Dino Suegiù]

I get that a lot...

--
QUESTION/OPINION:

I'm trying to decide between a laser monochrome All-In-One (mainly for the added scanning capability) vs a color laser single function printer.

My use is relatively low volume and I really need both color AND scanning - but not all the time. I guess I'm too cheap to buy a laser color AIO, and I'm having a hard time prioritizing scanner vs color decision. I know it's for me to decide, but anything come to mind? Thx.
We used to have a separate (large 11" x 17") bw/color inkjet printer and a separate, high-quality, image scanner, primarily for images but obviously fine for documents.

We recently replaced the printer with a print-only bw/color laser printer, since we already have the still excellent stand-alone scanner. However, even if we did not have the separate scanner, we would have bought a print-only printer 100 times out of a 100. We would have bought print-only even versus "3-in-1" (no fax).

"All-in-one" seems like 4 things to go south/planned obsolescence rather than just 1.
1) Print: need all the time.
2) Copy: never need, same as Scan.
3) Scan: need occasionally, but built-in all-in-one scanners do not offer great resolution/reproduction (the whole point) unless one pays $$$ anyway.
4) Fax: really? Ride to Staples, etc with the flash drive and fax from there, 2x year max.

I would definitely recommend the better color laser printer only, and if you really need a scanner, then a stand-alone scanner that fits your needs. "All-in-one" only if the combination of printer/scanner price/quality exceeds the 2 stand-alone unit price/quality.



(How nice that we can politely and helpfully discuss toner here, but how sad that we absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, discuss tone. :no:)

[OtayBW]

We used to have a separate (large 11" x 17") bw/color inkjet printer and a separate, high-quality, image scanner, primarily for images but obviously fine for documents.

We recently replaced the printer with a print-only bw/color laser printer, since we already have the still excellent stand-alone scanner. However, even if we did not have the separate scanner, we would have bought a print-only printer 100 times out of a 100. We would have bought print-only even versus "3-in-1" (no fax).

"All-in-one" seems like 4 things to go south/planned obsolescence rather than just 1.
1) Print: need all the time.
2) Copy: never need, same as Scan.
3) Scan: need occasionally, but built-in all-in-one scanners do not offer great resolution/reproduction (the whole point) unless one pays $$$ anyway.
4) Fax: really? Ride to Staples, etc with the flash drive and fax from there, 2x year max.

I would definitely recommend the better color laser printer only, and if you really need a scanner, then a stand-alone scanner that fits your needs. "All-in-one" only if the combination of printer/scanner price/quality exceeds the 2 stand-alone unit price/quality.



(How nice that we can politely and helpfully discuss toner here, but how sad that we absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, discuss tone. :no:)
Funny - You didn't really tell me any facts that I didn't already know, but your perspective on all this was really very helpful. I've obviously been on the fence, but you may have swayed me over to the better color laser rather than the AIO. Thanks!

Oh, and if you want to discuss 'tone', this might be a good option: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?forums/amps-and-cabs.3/

[Dino Suegiù]

Funny - You didn't really tell me any facts that I didn't already know, but your perspective on all this was really very helpful. I've obviously been on the fence, but you may have swayed me over to the better color laser rather than the AIO. Thanks!

You are most welcome. We went through the same exact process, weighed the same pros/cons as yourself, very recently, and so the decisions weighed and made are still fresh.

I really think that, for low-volume/occasional use especially, the "All-In-One" model can so often be overkill, just unnecessary sales talk. Why pay a lot of extra $ for some very occasional use? For our use, the base requirements were:
B/W printing (~80%)
Some color printing (~15%) (Color images for long-term keeping/framing, ergo not that often, get printed at the copy store in any case using their better paper and better print quality)
Some (much less) scanning (~5%)
Copy (0%)
Fax (0%)
So, there was no way we were going to pay more money for at least 2 functions we didn't need at all, while very possibly simultaneously sacrificing the quality of the printer itself.

A good scanner worth its salt will not be in most "All-In-One" printers. Also, good stand-alone scanners are not expensive, last a long time (ours is a 15+ -year old Epson Perfection 1650, and it still works like new today), and do not take up much space.

I would definitely recommend:
1) buy the best stand-alone color laser printer your needs/budget justify
2) see if you can survive using one of those cellphone scanner apps (some printers like HP even integrate their scan app to the printer apparently)
3) if that is not satisfactory, then buy a good used or new stand-alone scanner

I would guess that you get a lot more mileage out of that approach.