Printers ... and then there was one.

[easysurfer]

Being a bit minimalist and needed the extra, I've decided to part with two laser printers and just stick with an Epson InkTank printer as my sole printer.

For me the cons of my laser printers outweighed the pros. I'm sure some lasers are still the way to go, but for my printing needs, the I'm happy (at least today) with just an inktank.

One con not often mentioned about lasers is the laser toner fumes. Not having that much area, I find myself gasping for fresh air. My one time trusty Samsung MFC printer, just turning on and on idle, I can smell the toner fumes a brewing.

[steelyman]

I have a new Brother LED (I never heard of that!) printer that seems nice. It replaced an HP inkjet. I haven’t used it long enough to pass judgment but I have hope.

[ADDED] The LED uses toner but I haven’t noticed anything. I believe color printing is not as good as ink but I’m mostly B&W, infrequent color.

[donheff]

I have an inexpensive Brother B&W laser. I never smell toner and the cartridge lasts a long time. I don't do much printing and like having this reliable workhorse for when I need to.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff I have an inexpensive Brother B&W laser. I never smell toner and the cartridge lasts a long time. I don't do much printing and like having this reliable workhorse for when I need to.

^ This. Paid $40 for my Brother in a Black Friday deal 10 years ago. Money well spent and no toner scent.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer One con not often mentioned about lasers is the laser toner fumes. Not having that much area, I find myself gasping for fresh air.

This is the first time I've ever heard of a smell from toner, so I looked on the Brother site:

Quote:

The printer produces a faint smell or odor when printing. What can I do? The smell is typically from the normal operation of the machine and can be toner, room dust, or ozone. The smell can be more intense if the printer has been off for a length of time and toner or dust builds up on the fuser unit or on the charge corona wire in the drum unit. When the machine is then powered on, the fuser and the interior of the machine heats up the toner or dust and a smell occurs until it all dissipates. In extreme cases, the smell can linger for several hours. A burning smell may also be noticed if there was a paper jam in the fuser and it wasn't removed completely.

I keep a cover over my wonderful Brother laser printer so dust doesn't get in it, and maybe that's why I've never smelled anything when it operates.

[CaptTom]

I bought one of those Epson ink tank printers back in June. It hasn't been long enough that I can really properly review it yet, but so far it's looking good. The ink seems to last a long time, and I'm SO happy not to be playing the cartridge game any more!

[euro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptTom I bought one of those Epson ink tank printers back in June. It hasn't been long enough that I can really properly review it yet, but so far it's looking good. The ink seems to last a long time, and I'm SO happy not to be playing the cartridge game any more!

Good for you that you found what works best for you, but aren’t you just playing the “ink tank” game instead of the “cartridge game” now?
I own both, inkjet and laser printers and I have far more frequent ink replacement issues with the inkjet. They both have their strengths and weaknesses though, so I’m not advocating for one or the other. Strictly depends on your needs and uses.

[target2019]

Two cars, two computers, two routers, two children, three laser printers!

We actually discuss from time to time whether two cars are necessary, but I've decided that having a spare or two of everything will be ok.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelyman I have a new Brother LED (I never heard of that!) printer that seems nice. It replaced an HP inkjet. I haven’t used it long enough to pass judgment but I have hope. [ADDED] The LED uses toner but I haven’t noticed anything. I believe color printing is not as good as ink but I’m mostly B&W, infrequent color.

Many "LASER" printers are actually LED printers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_saDCwsB9Ww

Quote:

08:07 And Brother is definitely still using LED printing technology, as evidenced by this 08:11 picture on this Amazon listing. 08:13 To their credit, they simply call it a “digital color printer” and it’s Amazon that’s 08:18 labeling it as “laser printer technology”.

I also only notice a very faint "hot" smell with my Brother LASER/LED B&W printer.

-ERD50

[COcheesehead]

We have one laser printer that we use almost exclusively for printing eBay labels so in a way it pays for itself in eBay sales.

We have tried to be as paperless in the house as possible.

[OldShooter]

Have used HP lasers for decades and never noticed any smells. I'll guess, though, that the smell comes from the fuser, the heat strip that melts the toner (thermoplastic powder) into the paper. Paper dust and/or household dust could smell when baked.

Re strategy, I buy workgroup printers on Craigslist. They come along from time to time with ridiculously low page counts. When I bought it the HP 2300DN that I have now had a total page count less than its monthly page rating. It has a 10,000 pages toner cartridge, and will print double sided.

The less-used OKI OL830 LED/wannabe laser I have for color also has large toner cartridges rated for 4,000 pages. I have yet to replace one.

I would prefer inkjet for photos and subtle colors but I do little of that and I don't like the water-based ink that smears when wetted. YMMV

[mountainsoft]

I moved away from inkjet printers years ago because they would clog up if I didn't use them regularly. The ink cartridges were also quite expensive and didn't last very long. I can let my laser printers sit unused for months and they'll still print a perfect page every time.

Inkjets did do better printing photos, especially if I used special photo paper. However, I didn't do it enough to matter, and it's easier to upload photos to my local photo stores and have them print for me. The quality is better too.

I have two laser printers, a Brother HL5250DN that is about 14 years old, and a Xerox Phasar 6022 color laser that is about six years old. Both work great, but I don't print from either all that much anymore. I only need a color print once or twice a year, and my Brother is mostly used for printing recipes every day. I have a second paper tray on the Brother for business forms, but most sales are electronic these days so it doesn't get used much anymore.

I don't really notice a smell from either printer, but I'm not printing very often. Thankfully my home office never smelled like a print shop.

When one of my laser printers finally dies I will probably downsize to one printer. Especially since I'm not printing much for business anymore. It is nice to have a backup printer if there's a problem with the other one (out of toner, etc.), but again that's not something that occurs all that often. Also, not being able to print is rarely an emergency.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister This is the first time I've ever heard of a smell from toner, so I looked on the Brother site: I keep a cover over my wonderful Brother laser printer so dust doesn't get in it, and maybe that's why I've never smelled anything when it operates.

Decided to drop off my two laser printers to Goodwill. Now, I'm about 65 lbs lighter .

As for the toner smell, I don't print much so so would turn off the printers til needed to print. So, I guess once on the fuser/toner warming up would add to an instant infusion of toner in the air instead of having printer on all the time.

When I'd print out my taxes (about 40 pages), I'd have to either open a window or run an air purifier and leave the room during printing.

There are inconclusive studies on whether breathing in too much toner is okay or not. Seems like the rule of them (at least for now) is it's probably okay but also wise to not go breathing toner air all the time.

[Jerry1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer I've decided to part with two laser printers and just stick with an Epson InkTank printer as my sole printer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainsoft I moved away from inkjet printers years ago because they would clog up if I didn't use them regularly.

So my guess is that the Ink Tank printers solve the ink cartridge problem, but does that also address the clogging issue? Doesn’t seem like it would. Of course it may be programmed to cycle once in awhile which wouldn’t matter so much if the ink was cheap.

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Many "LASER" printers are actually LED printers: I also only notice a very faint "hot" smell with my Brother LASER/LED B&W printer. -ERD50

I think that’s right. To their credit, the product description for the LED printer said “laser quality” print.

There are a few interesting pieces you can Google that describe/compare the two technologies in some detail. Here’s an example (there may be better):

https://www.techradar.com/news/inkje...s-best-for-you

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry1 So my guess is that the Ink Tank printers solve the ink cartridge problem, but does that also address the clogging issue? Doesn’t seem like it would. Of course it may be programmed to cycle once in awhile which wouldn’t matter so much if the ink was cheap.

About the clogging, I can only speak from my experience from owning an ink tank printer for about a year.

My printer has a nozzle check to print out an ink pattern.

As a test, I've left the printer unused for about a couple of weeks, and with the nozzle check, I saw that there was some clogging. I followed what's suggested and did a cleaning procedure with the printer. (The procedures uses ink to clean). I wasn't that happy as seem like a waste of ink.

I read on an Amazon review where some guy set up a script to daily (or weekly print out a page) to keep the juices flowing and avoid clogs. I don't have a script, but what I do is once a week print out a page that uses all the colors and black. With this, I really haven't got a clog again that needed cleaning again.

I know, some folks will correctly point out, that's still wasting ink and paper. For me, the weekly printing is better then dealing with clogs.

With my inktank, feels good to enjoy color. Cost is nominal per page.

I was over at a store (forget which store) about a week ago and walked by their old fashioned inkjet cartridges. One cartridge was about $60. For me $60 on bottles of ink for my printer yields thousands of pages.

With that said, there still are pros/cons.

[Sunset]

We use laser printers and notice sometimes when printing a few pages there is a smell.

So when I print large jobs like tax returns, I do it when we are not using the room so the smell can dissipate.

When we don't print for days, we never notice any smell. We leave the printer on all the time.

For me, the advantage of the printer outweighs the smell issue.

[aja8888]

Two old people, two cars (one driver), two TV's, two Chromebooks, two desktops (my builds), one dog, two laser printers!

One HP 4050 (old guy, 3' tall, 50 pounds). Commercial unit. Bought used, rebuilt by me (new roller kit, new drum, etc).

One Brother MFC-L2700DW, bought new.

No odors.....both networked.

On the 4050 - we did my DD's wedding invitations on this beautiful, old, grand machine. That alone saved us $$$$.

[eytonxav]

I've been holding off on purchasing a laser printer as too many options appear to be out of stock over the past several months. Not sure when this will change.

[wmc1000]

Bought a cheap laser printer about 7 years ago and enjoy not having to worry about head clogging issues even if it is sparingly used. Did the same for my father as it only gets used once a year to print out his tax returns because he wants a paper copy!