Done with inkjet

[Duffyjr]

Decided I'm tired of spending money on ink cartridges that end up going bad before I can use them up. I had been buying the HP 61 combo packs at Amazon for $35 but found them on ebay for $26ish but this is still a lot when you figure they go bad when they're still half full. No amount of cleaning will make them print even close to legible once they go bad or dry up. So I've decided to go monochrome laser as I just don't need to print any thing color and I figure if I do Officemax/Walgreens is just 10 minutes away. After researching this it seems for home/small business that the Brother laser printers are reliable and cost effective if you don't print a lot. Any one have any first hand experience with Brother or have any laser recommendations. Here is one that has some good reviews and for $120 is in my price range. Brother DCPL2520DW https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MFG5854/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[Rand]

Yep did this 10 years ago.

 

[Schmoe]

Watch Ebay though....sometimes those cartridges will not work unless they are genuinely from HP. Somehow the printer can recognize which are fake and which are not. I've wasted some coins on that lesson.

 

[nthach]

I'm not a Brother fan IMO, their toner is cheap but the drum cartridges aren't. They are good, if not plasticky printers with decent driver support. The Brother might play nice with 3rd party toner since it's in a separate hopper. I'm an HP person for printers, their cartridges are more expensive - but it's an all-in-one with the toner and drum unlike Brother's system. HP's newer printers since the mid-2000s don't play nice with aftermarket toner cartridges from China, caveat emptor. https://www.amazon.com/HP-LaserJet-Wirel...303&sr=1-24

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe

Watch Ebay though....sometimes those cartridges will not work unless they are genuinely from HP. Somehow the printer can recognize which are fake and which are not. I've wasted some coins on that lesson.

In HP's newest LaserJets(and their Canon cousins), aftermarket toner cartridges use a different drive system that causes problems and the seals blow out. The OEM ones also leak but nowhere to the degree as the Chinese copies.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

LOL yah for the money HP and Canon are charging us for the inkjet cartridges they could give us that printer for free and be money ahead!

 

[mightymousetech]

Ya, use cheap aftermarket cartridges, and you get what you pay for. I learned my lesson on that. Luckily the place I ordered from is taking them back and I ordered genuine ones. I can't stand HP though, overpriced cartridges, and when one colour runs out, it won't let you print at all. Switched to an Epson printer, cartridges about 1/2 the price, and they last a long, long time.

 

[Wolf359]

I gave up on inkjets probably 10 years ago. Lasers are pretty cheap, about $100 even for color ones. They usually only come with starter cartridges so you end up with two printers, one color laser and a regular workhorse black laser printer. You have to be careful with some color laser printers, even if you're printing mostly black, if you leave it on color it still burns up the color cartridges. Plus the toner meant for black laser printers are typically cheaper than the color ones.

 

[Mr Nice]

Laser is cheapest per page. Ink jet printers is sooo 1995.

 

[JTK]

Duff, I hear you. I've had it with inkjet as well, but I'm completely unfamiliar with laser printers for home use. I guess I'd research what it costs for a new toner cartridge and if it's got a separate drum that needs to be replaced periodically.

 

[MrHorspwer]

I purchased a Brother color laser almost a year ago. According to to printer menu, I've printed just under 800 pages, most of them color. Black toner is at 20% and C, M, Y are each at 30%. Drum life is showing 96% remaining. This is all with the factory fill of toner, exactly how the printer came out of the box. I don't regret kicking my inkjet to the curb.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

I think there are a couple "cheap laser printer" threads on here where Brother seems to be the consensus best buy. I got rid of my Canon all-in-one in favor of the cheapest Brother B&W laser last year. So far, it's been the best printer I've ever used for light home use and still on the original toner...although I don't print more than 20-30 pages a month.

 

[BlastChamber]

I also switched from Deskjets to Brother laser printers about 10 years ago. I'm on my 3rd Brother laser since then. FYI, I probably only print about 50 pages per month. The first one (black) lasted maybe 5 years before dying. The second one (color) lasted about 3 years before having an expensive problem with the fuser. My latest Brother laser (black again) is Wi-Fi capable, but now I am having a problem where it goes into "Deep Sleep" mode and then won't print anything via Wi-Fi. It will print fine via direct USB connection. I tried updating the firmware per the Brother website but it didn't help. I like Brother printers in general (when they work), but I haven't had the best luck in the long haul with any of them. At least they are reasonably priced when new.

 

[Duffyjr]

Thanks, I hadn't got that far yet but it doesn't seem to bad, even for Brother original cartridges. The high yield which would do 2600 pages was $54 and the low yield 1200 pages for $39 but there appears to be plenty of places on amazon with very good reviews for half those prices form other companies.

 

[Donald]

I got a Brother laser for church bookeeping and it's been flawless for 3 years. One think I like (must have) is auto-duplex, prints on both sides with no intervention. If it says just duplex, you may need to move paper once it has printed all the top sides. Color laser is reasonable also.

 

[StevieC]

I bought a colour laser and never looked back. So tried of the cartridges not lasting, drying out, expensive. Forget that.

 

[itguy08]

I'm the odd duck that went from color laser (Expensive HP 2600n with it's $400 cartridges) to business class inkjet (Epson Workforce) and don't regret it one bit. Lower cost per page, cheaper electricity, and the AIO functions work great. Best $199 I've spent on a printer.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson

LOL yah for the money HP and Canon are charging us for the inkjet cartridges they could give us that printer for free and be money ahead!

That is how they make their money.

 

[Merkava_4]

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">So are you guys saying that laser printers are a higher initial investment, but the cost to print in the long run is less ?</span>

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4

So are you guys saying that laser printers are a higher initial investment, but the cost to print in the long run is less ?

If you mainly print black and white, yes.