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Old 02-28-2020, 09:34 AM   #21
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$230 USD is expensive?
Our first color laser printer was a $2000 Tektronix. Cartridges were $700.
All of the ones I've listed except for the Samsung were under $200. The Dell was $175. They aren't expensive like the old office laserjets, but they have gone up a bit since the original price drop. I also have noticed that the companies want to get you on an automatic reordering scheme where the printer tells them the toner is running out and they will automatically send you new toner. I always disable that "feature".

I also miss the old days when you could just shake the toner cartridge and get another couple hundred pages out of it. I don't like the chipped cartridges, but haven't found a way around them yet.

And just as an aside, I've had very bad luck with non-OEM toner cartridges. I'm a cheap SOB, but I'm not making that mistake again.
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Old 02-28-2020, 09:54 AM   #22
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IIRC the ink bottle is supposed to last 20,000 pages!!! And the printer I bought had 2 bottles of each ink.


I can tell you that the picture quality from this printer is much better than the laser.



Like you, it seems the review were biased on operator errors.... but some were legit... there is no end (back) piece to hold the paper in the tray... have to make sure that you push it up all the way and not slam the tray shut.. other than that it is too new for me to find another problem...


BTW, the a big benefit is that it can make a copy and scan!! And it is wireless so you can send scan to any connected computer.... Can also put the printer anywhere you want.
The better picture quality sounds nice.

Have you had to change the maintenance box on the printer? If so, how often? That's a box that collects the ink that's used for print head cleaning but has to get replaced. As long as that isn't something that needs replacing often, then that's okay. If too often, then kinda defeats the purpose of no cartridges as the box is a recurring cost that is about $25 .
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Old 04-15-2020, 12:46 PM   #23
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Thought I'd give a non-update on my new printer search. I say non-update as I can't pull the trigger on a new printer. Instead, I end up at a dead end as to deciding what action to take.

I've thought about just coughing up the dough and getting OEM toners for my current Cannon Color Laser but cringe at the cost of about $350 if I was to replace the needed 4 toners. Non OEM toners are at a fraction of the cost, but has noticeable loss of print quality.

Another thought I had was to go the ink tank route with inkjets. But they still are inkjets and from what I've read, prints and acts like an inkjet which means slower and prone to print head clogging and ink prematurely drying.
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Old 04-15-2020, 08:29 PM   #24
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If you only need color to print photos the only way to go is an inkjet printer, not color laser printer. You will never get color photographs to print with the clarity and color fidelity that a color inkjet printer will get you. Even so, if I have a batch of photos to print I upload them to Snapfish to process them and they mail the prints to me. Print quality is better and it's dirt cheap. If I only have a few photos I will do them on my Brother inkjet.

I've had Canon inkjets and now I have a Brother inkjet. The Canon's printed photos a tad bit better than the Brother, however, I can get non-Brother branded inkjet cartridges extremely inexpensively on Amazon. I've never had a problem with them. I would estimate I get five times the print life with the Brother inkjet cartridges vs. the Canon cartridges. But the Canon printed photos a bit better.

For $225 or less you could get a color inkjet AND a B&W laser printer. I've got a Brother B&W laser and a Brother color inkjet. I can get replacement inkjet cartridges for $13.99 for all three colors plus black. A B&W laser toner cartridge is $12.95.

My printers are several years old and still work great. I've seen the latest Brother inkjet printer ads that claim to have cartridges with ridiculously long life. Might want to check them out.

Quote:
Another thought I had was to go the ink tank route with inkjets. But they still are inkjets and from what I've read, prints and acts like an inkjet which means slower and prone to print head clogging and ink prematurely drying.
I would get prematurely dried out cartridges on my Canon, but I could get around that by printing a test page once a week (if I could remember.) I haven't had the clogging or dry out problem with the Brother printer.
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Old 04-15-2020, 09:28 PM   #25
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We bought one of those Epson tank printers a couple of months ago. The ET 4700 model. I'm quite happy with it. It reliable. It's also a scanner. It's wireless which is nice since I can put it anywhere. We don't print photos so I really can't speak to the quality for that, but I like the printer.
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Old 04-16-2020, 04:26 AM   #26
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I recommend the Brother MFC L3710CW. This has wireless capability as well as USB. Also has a document feeder and the scanner works real well.
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Old 04-16-2020, 07:15 AM   #27
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We bought one of those Epson tank printers a couple of months ago. The ET 4700 model. I'm quite happy with it. It reliable. It's also a scanner. It's wireless which is nice since I can put it anywhere. We don't print photos so I really can't speak to the quality for that, but I like the printer.

With your ET 4700 have you had any issues of paper jams and print nozzles getting plugged?

I've been seriously looking at the ET 4760 model as if that has a lot of the features I'd want. But the reviews are very mixed and difficult for me to get a grasp on whether the printer is truly troublesome or just people who don't know how to use it properly.

I've been also looking at a Brother InkVestment printer. This still uses ink cartridges but they are larger than old ones and should last about a year. But once again, mixed reviews. Yet the thought of refilling using bottles with Epson's ET I think is more satisfying . I know... silly.
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Old 04-16-2020, 07:20 AM   #28
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With your ET 4700 have you had any issues of paper jams and print nozzles getting plugged?

I've been seriously looking at the ET 4760 model as if that has a lot of the features I'd want. But the reviews are very mixed and difficult for me to get a grasp on whether the printer is truly troublesome or just people who don't know how to use it properly.

I've been also looking at a Brother InkVestment printer. This still uses ink cartridges but they are larger than old ones and should last about a year. But once again, mixed reviews. Yet the thought of refilling using bottles with Epson's ET I think is more satisfying . I know... silly.
Thus far, no paper jams and no print nozzle problems. But as I said, we've only had this since January. We've had no issues at all so far.
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Old 04-16-2020, 08:07 AM   #29
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Thus far, no paper jams and no print nozzle problems. But as I said, we've only had this since January. We've had no issues at all so far.
Thanks. Good to know. More questions, if you don't mind ... About how many times do print in a week? In other words, does your printer sit idle for weeks at at time or is it being used?

I read somewhere back an owner of an Ecotank printer had a strategy to keep the printer from clogging by running some sort of script that automatically printed out a test page weekly to keep the ink from drying up and thus clogging the print nozzle.
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Old 04-16-2020, 08:50 AM   #30
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Thanks. Good to know. More questions, if you don't mind ... About how many times do print in a week? In other words, does your printer sit idle for weeks at at time or is it being used?

I read somewhere back an owner of an Ecotank printer had a strategy to keep the printer from clogging by running some sort of script that automatically printed out a test page weekly to keep the ink from drying up and thus clogging the print nozzle.
No, it doesn't sit idle for weeks at a time. We aren't heavy users of the printer, but it gets used every week - not every day, but at least every week. I would say we print between 1 to 10 pages per week.
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Old 04-16-2020, 09:15 AM   #31
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I like my HP Officejet inkjet printer but got really frustrated with the cost of the cartridges that never seemed to last as long (print as many pages) as they were rated. I was told even if you don't print a lot, the ink evaporates over time.

So, I just signed up for HP Instant Ink which is a monthly charge based on how many pages you print. For me, it's not a lot (maybe 50 pages a month) and now I pay $2.99 a month. They send you some special cartridges and then monitor your printer and send you new cartridges when they get low. So, I estimate my cost for ink will decrease from at least $250 per year to about $40.

We'll see how it goes.
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Old 04-16-2020, 09:34 AM   #32
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No, it doesn't sit idle for weeks at a time. We aren't heavy users of the printer, but it gets used every week - not every day, but at least every week. I would say we print between 1 to 10 pages per week.
Thanks again. This is very beneficial to me in helping me ponder some more .
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Old 04-17-2020, 06:28 PM   #33
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If you're still pondering, Adorama has a Canon AIO Color Laser printer on sale for $100. https://www.adorama.com/icamb2720.ht...e=rflaid912524

Cheaper than buying new toner.
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Old 04-25-2020, 09:44 AM   #34
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Okay ... after some more poking around, think I've narrowed down my choice. Might be a bit overkill, but now I'm leaning towards an Epson Inktank Pro printer. More specifically, model Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5880. A new kid on the block.

The printer is more geared for high volume printing and a small business. Before I'll pull the trigger the price as to come down some. But I like how the features compare to the other EcoTanks I was looking at and don't think the performance and features won't feel like cutting off my nose to spite my face.

Thus, the price wait starts. I have time. Now isn't the best time to buy a printer as printers are in demand with many at home and home schooling.
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Old 04-26-2020, 08:37 AM   #35
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Okay ... after some more poking around, think I've narrowed down my choice. Might be a bit overkill, but now I'm leaning towards an Epson Inktank Pro printer. More specifically, model Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5880.
Yeah, I'd say spending $800 for a new printer so you can save ink when printing a few photos is overkill. Even if the price drops to $600 you could probably spend less money on a $100 printer and $500 worth of ink jet cartridges.
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Old 04-26-2020, 08:54 AM   #36
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Just checked the current price of toner for color laser CP2025...a full set of color and b/w cartridge will cost over $500, still. There are alternatives for about $100. Since I have a complete set of replacements in my closet, I have no immediate need. But I'd be tempted by re-manufactured carts.

When an inkjet is working flawlessly, it probably produces the best quality. If I prioritized that, I would have one. Over $500 for printer, I'd probably continue to look, as easysurfer is doing.
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Old 04-26-2020, 08:59 AM   #37
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Yeah, I'd say spending $800 for a new printer so you can save ink when printing a few photos is overkill. Even if the price drops to $600 you could probably spend less money on a $100 printer and $500 worth of ink jet cartridges.
Not if I think of the printer like a sportscar that I take out for weekend drives. One person's overkill is another person's luxury .
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Old 04-26-2020, 09:04 AM   #38
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Just checked the current price of toner for color laser CP2025...a full set of color and b/w cartridge will cost over $500, still. There are alternatives for about $100. Since I have a complete set of replacements in my closet, I have no immediate need. But I'd be tempted by re-manufactured carts.

When an inkjet is working flawlessly, it probably produces the best quality. If I prioritized that, I would have one. Over $500 for printer, I'd probably continue to look, as easysurfer is doing.

Here I thought spending about $350 on a full set of color and b/w cartridges for my current color laser was too much. That was what led me to the original post. After the starter toner ran out I went with a 3rd party set for about $70. But quality difference is easily noticeable.
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Old 04-26-2020, 09:06 AM   #39
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If you're still pondering, Adorama has a Canon AIO Color Laser printer on sale for $100. https://www.adorama.com/icamb2720.ht...e=rflaid912524

Cheaper than buying new toner.
When I click on that link, I get an MAXIFY MB2720 printer which is an Inkjet printer. Just giving some heads up as it is not clear on the webpage.
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Old 04-26-2020, 09:32 AM   #40
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Here I thought spending about $350 on a full set of color and b/w cartridges for my current color laser was too much. That was what led me to the original post. After the starter toner ran out I went with a 3rd party set for about $70. But quality difference is easily noticeable.
I can't prove it, but I think the HP carts for this model produce more prints. The printer has been around for 10 years, I have purchased two sets of carts, in addition to the original ones. The 2nd set is still in closet, but will need installation soon. So we're talking low use, maybe two cartridge sets in 12-15 years?

I'm going out on a limb, but I think older HP laser printers last a very long time. This model has print server, so it can be accessed by anything on my local LAN. No annoying companion apps or tray app telling me to call for more toner or ink. There is access to many features through the driver. So I can turn down toner, change quality setting, and so on. I have another b/w laser for printing taxes, etc.

You have an interesting choice ahead.
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