Laser printer vs. ink printer.

So I need a new printer and after reading a few posts around here I started thinking that maybe a laser printer would be better.

I don't really need to print in colour, since I mostly print notes for my classes and stuff like that. So that's not really an issue.

So how efficient are laser printers compared to ink printers? What I mean is how often would I replace a toner (compared to replacing an ink cartridge)?

I'd also like some opinion on this Samsung Monochrome Laser Printer (ML-2510) (it's on special for 79.99$). Looks like a good deal but I'd like some more feedback from any printer experts out there.

The toners for this are around 100$ (is that the normal price for toners?).

 

toners are pretty expensive. usually a lot of lasers will yield about 2500 sheets or so some less some more. if you want cheap and high yield then laser is the way you want to go. as i have recc sooooo many times if you want to spend a bit more i can recc the hp officejet pro series,estimated 2500+ sheets from one black ink cartridge and yes it will do that i own one, around 40$for a new cartridge but they cost around 200-250 for a all in one. up to about 400$ depending on features.

toners are usually around 70$ and up depending again on the printer. but they can be bought for under 100$ on sale. but i recc getting a more well known name brand so you can easily access toners anywhere some of the lesser known names and you will hunt for toners and spend more since they can only be had from a few sources.

avoid cannon and kodak they are ink hogs...especially cannon..

 

http://www.teamits.com/connection/main/printers.html

 

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/prod...AFEED->PRODUCTS&cm_ite=1 PRODUCT&cm_keycode=4

that is the one i have i see it all the time at office depot for 199.95 on sale though which is where i bought mine

these new hp's throw all those things about speed ink vs laser etc out the door. this prints as fast as any laser i have ever owned. the print is excellent maybe not flawless but imo its as good as any laser under 200$ out there, and it does everything else to boot. i am constantly shocked at how fast this thing is. at every task it does. and ink usage also goes out the door... again the rated yiedl is 2500+ sheets with one black cartridge. and we use the hell out of it and have yet to change the first cartridge it came with...

 

That's a damn nice printer but more than double what I want to spend.
Thanks for the replies though.

 

You can get a printer for about 100 - 150$ laser (black toner)

A toner is about 70-100$, as mentionned previously. It will yield 2500 pages about...

If you look at an ink printer... Depending on the models, they will cost you 30-100$ for all of the cartridges and they will only last like 500 pages, give or take. Even if you only use the black cartridge in the printer, it will use the color ones for grey and whatnot. And since printer manufacturers decided to be smart about it, nowadays you HAVE to have the color inks (with actual ink in em) in the printer to print in black.


So yeah. Laser > Ink on so many levels...

 

^^^ most of that is not true of the new officejet pro's just fyi.. i own them.. the black as i said does not do 500 pages it does 2500 from ONE CARTRIDGE and it will work WITH ONLY the black installed IF YOU WANT TO. just a fyi

 

i have a samsung ml-1740 that i got for christmas 3 years ago - since then, ive replaced the toner twice (at $60 each) - so over 3 years, i spent $120 on ink, and i believe the unit itself was about $60 when i got it

i highly recommend samsung for laser printers - the thing took a beating (i went through law school with it - printing 50 page briefs, drafts of those briefs, comments, etc) and it still works like new - ive never once had a single problem with it (not even a paper jam)

i think the best "bang for your buck" is gonna be a laser printer - and samsungs toners are VERY reasonably priced

i actually looked at the new hp officejets a couple of weeks ago - i needed an all in one (went with a canon mp530 - only $130 and the picture quality is unbelievable - im mainly using it as a copier/scanner/fax machine and photo printer once in a while) - the 7580 has some pretty bad reviews out there (pretty much every major retailer), so i looked at the much more expensive 7680, which is rated VERY highly - but, those things are HUGE - im not sure how much space youll have, but make sure you take measurements if you get the l7580 or l7680 (plus, ive read that both models have problems with photo glossy paper - a significant amount of reviews made mention enough to make me remember that issue - but this doesnt seem to concern your needs)

and looking at most of the reviews of those officejets, it looks like most people (now, not ALL people)...but MOST still get around 750-1000 pages out of a black cartridge - this is a significant improvement over the old hp's, but when you factor in the price, it comes out more expensive than a laser printer in the long run (hp's cartridges are pretty much the most expensive in inkjet printer land)...

 

there are 2 sizes of black cartridges for the officejet pro.. the larger one will do 2500 sheets roughly.. the smaller one i believe is rated at 1200... the larger one is around 40$ at the local stores.. hp has updated them as well. i have 3 of them 7580 models and all three are flawless in operation.. take it for what you will.. also all three are identical minus a few features the mechanism in all three is exactly the same..

 

I picked up a Brother 2070N for under $100 at Staples, and it has worked great so far. It only prints on one side, but that is the only "issue" I have with it. There are also other models that have auto duplex capability, but for more money, obviously. Nice feature is that it has a built-in print server, so just plug it in, configure it on your network, and you're set!

 

If you look at Xerox's cost per copy charts (pdf link) and their price list (html link) you'll get a pretty good idea of the trend between printer price and cost per copy on lasers. Something to note is that buying a multifunction isn't going to help your cost per copy, you have to look at the level of the base printer.

But, cost per copy is going to be higher with inkjets. Even as you get into higher end machines, width of the color gamut is so important you're going to pay for dye/pigment engineering. Also, on lower end machines anyway where heads (inkjet) and drums (laser) are integrated into the cartridges, you're more likely to have malfunctions with the cheap integral heads than the cheap integral drums.