Help me buy a laser printer

[thefed]

Im fed up with the LEXMARK type crap ive owned for some time.. 20 bucks for ink every few weeks, terrible and constantly degrading quality, etc


I'd like an inexpensive, quality laser printer, black/white, that is easy and cheap to maintain. Looking to stay under $250


anyone here with experience in laser printer selection? what to look out for? i now NOTHING about toners or any of that stuff...though im reading a lot lately about it


thanks!

 

[bssc]

We have had a HP1012 for many years. You can't buy it anymore but the follow on 1018 is available for 107 on Amazon and has a 4.5 star rating.

 

[riskadverse]

I'm still using an HPIII that they threw away at work 4 years ago - this one only has 211000 on the page counter - I upgraded at the time from an HPII they threw away a couple of years earlier --- it was up over 500000. It was a bonus that they threw away fresh cartridges too. Don't know if HP still makes good printers, but they used to.

 

[justin]

I've had great experiences with 3 Konica Minolta PagePro 1250/1350's. Got one for me (the older 1250) and 2 more for family (the 1350's). I paid around $50 for each of mine doing some on sale/rebate deals at officemax/staples. Probably retails closer to $100 or $150.

Great quality, very fast. Reliable.

 

[Coach]

Thefed,

I recently bought a Brother laser multifunction -- printer, copier and scanner -- for about $160. It's been great so far. And if the starter cartridge is good for 1200 pages as they claim, it will probably last as long as I'll have the printer.

Coach

 

[Brat]

I have a Brother laser (B&W) that is at least 12 years old. GREAT machine, am starting to have a problem finding ink cartridges.

IMHO printer selection should be driven by the following factors: quality of output, repair record, and cost per sheet (ink). Search for the cost of cartridges and the number of sheets per cartridge. Don't go just on the price of the hardware.

I love Brother printers! My DS/DIL like HP's.

 

[Aaron]

I bought an HP 1020 from Newegg.com about a year ago and I love it. It's currently selling there for $109 and has a 5 star review and 160 comments if you want to read about it. It's pretty small, which is nice, and fairly quiet. I'd highly recommend it.

 

[OAG]

My HP4 Laserjet is still chugging along after about 15 years of use. If it were to die today I would replace it with a current model of a HP -- would have to study if going to a color laser jet would be the way or stay with the mono version. Toner cartridges for the HP are not cheap but IMO the generic ones (non-HP) just do not get the job done long haul -- I will NEVER buy a non-HP cartridge again. The cheaper price is just not worth it.

 

[Scrapr]

Had the HP 1012 for a bit. I think that is the number. Any of the HP's in that range would be good. Mine is a workhorse. I probably do 500 ( a ream) a week. Change the toner about once a year.

Highly recommended

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Dell refurbs from the outlet are pretty good and cheap. Otherwise I just buy whatever nutty staples/officemax/officedepot fifteen coupons/rebates deals that throw me a mono laser for under $60, use it until the starter cartridge wears out, throw it away and get another one of the crazy specials. Got a lexmark six months ago for $49 WITH a free case of paper.

 

[thefed]

thanks for all the replies

i ended up with a brother, 2400x600 dpi, for 100 bucks shipped and a starter toner good for 2500 pages


thanks!