Which printer is economical ?

My first printer was a Lexmark, it printed fast but cartridges are very expensive.
Canon seemed more economical and did good in tests, but after a few prints you have to buy a new set of colors.
Is a laserprinter much better or the same?

 

Re: Wich printer is economical ?

This is by design with ALL low end printers, it is to stop people purchasing a low end printer and throwing it away when the ink runs out. The printing companies don’t make any money per say on the printer; they certainly do on the cartridges.

Laser printers are really designed for the commercial market due to the fact they are black and white, with colour still expensive.

Correct, and one of the most economical out of all brands. You can also purchase an extended warranty for up to 3 years direct from Canon.

Cheers

 

Re: Wich printer is economical ?

After reading consumer reports I expected the Canon 4200 to be more economical compared to the Lexmark but it`s about the same.
The only difference is the separate colors but when you calculate what one small photoprint costs it must be around 2-3 dollar ( hardware not included ).
So my question is: how to print cheaper at home with laser or with another brand inkjet or HP business inkjet printer.
For a normal consumer its way overpriced.

 

Re: Wich printer is economical ?

The budget B&W and Colour Laser Printers are loads cheaper than inkjets to run.

You can get a cheap B&W laser for the same price as an average Photo-Inkjet, a cheap colour laser (I have a Konica Minolta 2400 for £200) costs the same as a high end Photo-inkjet.

Lasers are all far cheaper to run than inkjets, but you need to be printing a lot to make it worthwhile, I print between 500 and 1000 flyers/pricelists a month and the ink costs are about 1/4 of what my Canon photo inkjet did. Half the price it would cost me to get them comercially printed.

Offset against the cost of the printer, in 6 months the Laser became cheaper.
This printer will also last me 2 years at my current printing rate before ANY parts will need replacing, and is something you need to look at carefully if you buy a laser, is the life of the fusers and drums.

 

Re: Wich printer is economical ?

I bought an all-in-one "Canon Pixma MP150". to replace my very old black/white laser printer and separate scanner.
I hardly use my printer, so it's alot more OFF than ON
It was an improvement for me, because I can now print, copy and scan in b/w or colors with the same hardware, which means lesser space on my desk and lesser connection wires.

 

Re: Wich printer is economical ?

I personally use an HP Deskjet 3520 and the cartridges are fairly inexpensive color $17.00 black $ 13.00 and it actually prints pretty well with good photo quality. Original cost of the printer was only $39.00 at W-M

 

Re: Wich printer is economical ?

We recently got the Canon IP4200 as it was top of the charts at the time. I was a little surprised how quickly we went through the color cartridges. But then again, this printer worked so well with our home network compared to printers we had before that I think the wife and kids went a little crazy printing stuff out -- they had been "printer starved".

It does a super job on 4x6 color prints.

I went around to all 4 of our desktops and set the default printing preferences to print in grayscale, "fast" (draft) printing, and duplex (2-sided). That has slowed down the ink consumption considerably.

All things considered, I find it quite reliable and that counts for alot with me when I am the IT grunt for my family.

 

Re: Wich printer is economical ?

i currently have a hp deskjet 5940. like erik, its mostly off rather than on. its auto-off is pretty neat, huh?

neways its drivers do offer control over teh drying time as well as the amount of ink used. coupled with greyscale, its easy to lower its ink usage.

 

I bought an ink refill kit for a free Lexmark inkjet printer once. The bottle cost $5 with shipping off eBay, and it lasted me over two years. Savings: ~$120 retail.

 

If you've the budget and room (physical space), keep the inkjet (assuming you're satisfied with print quality), and buy a cheap/reasonably priced B&W laser printer for your day to day mono printing needs.
I use my HP Laserjet for 95% of my print jobs.
Epson 1520 for those print jobs/photo prints which must be in color.
Color laser would be nice, but to get color print quality anywhere near that of inkjet = $$$$$.

 

I made a few cards for friends and the ink was low fast.
The Canon prints fast and good ( text slightly less than photo`s ).
The thing is when people write printer reviews they usually have it for a few days and are impressed by the speed and/or colors but didnt experience jet how quick the ink runs out and how much a simple photo print costs.
Might try refilling it but hasitate because I dont want the printerhead to clog.

 

I used to buy cheap ink printers and when the ink has dried up I would buy a new one (I dont print that much) Every one can see how stupid that is
I now have HP laserjet 1010 black and white laser printer (low price ~£70 when I bought it one and a half year ago). I never have to worry that the ink has dried out. I have had this ink cartridge since I bought it. I have no need to print in colour, but if I had I would buy a Laser printer also because of the, imo, better print quality and that the cartridges last so much longer (ie dont dry up) Laser may cost a few bucks extra in the short run , but it is better than buy a new printer (or cartridge) every 3-4 months or so.