Posted on 12/07/2018 12:13:12 PM PST by Alberta's Child
Excellent advice. That's what is driving me to replace my inkjet printer!
At my level of use, these things tend to last so long that they are functionally obsolete before they physically break down. The way I look at it, owning two separate printers is a bit like owning two similar cars and putting 5,000 miles per year on each of them instead of just putting 10,000 miles on one car.
I was just reading through the thread again.
I have a black and white HP laser jet with a cartridge that lasts for several thousands of pages - very reliable and cost-effective for our small business.
5 years ago, I used to print a lot of color documents and photos - and those ink-jet cartridges wouldn’t last at all, and were very expensive. I hated those things.
HP now has laser jet color printers. I have No experience with those - I Am wondering myself if they are good options. Let me know if you go that route, and what you think.
Here's the deal for me with color printing:
1. I don't print a lot, and the cost difference between B&W and color printers has shrunk so much over the years that I don't consider the higher cost of color printing all that much.
2. My primary need for color involves printing documents and graphics where color is important about 10%-20% of the time in any given month.
That Sharp will certainly be one that makes my “short list” of potential purchases!
1. For some documents, I need a sharp, professional look.
2. For others, I need good resolution in graphics.
I can appreciate that.
I would wonder however, how long since you last bought a color printer? If it was a while ago, they (like everything else computer) have drastically come down in price; and, in many cases these days, the lower end printers are the “all in one” things. To me, this means that the $279 all in one deal is $120 worth of printer and $100 worth of copier and $50 worth of scanner. So, these things are lightweight. NONE of them are life-rated for “what if I only use it every 5 weeks” and I don’t know how you could ever find that out. Some printers do not act well if you don’t use them “some” regularly and the rubber parts grow non-compliant; especially if maybe you have them in an office that gets hold and cold. Inks congeal, nozzles clog. That kind of thing.
I’m just issuing a thought for your consideration.
“And they (HP) give the cartridge an arbitrary expiration date where it will shut your printer down totally until you replace it.”
When I ordered supplies for our company, I got a great deal on HP inkjet cartridges — stocked up. One day I replaced one and it wouldn’t work because of the cartridge’s expiration date. Pissed...? Oh, yeah.
I went to the calendar/clock on my PC and set the date to a date prior to the expiration. The cartridge installed fine. Then I turned it back to the current date.
Thanks. Here’s the deal: Manufacturers all want us to believe that we can print in color at home and do so affordably. In most cases, that’s hogwash. I have NEVER printed a photo at home.
Business is another matter altogether, but your needs for volume meet home use. The question is if it’s vanity, highlighting (accounting) or cost-added (sales). Could you do Ok on an inkjet? Perhaps. If they’re marketing materials, dispose of the inkjet idea. As well, if you’re printing text, that’s one thing. If you’re printing brochures and photos, that’s another. The stock you print on is another factor as well (thick, labels, envelopes, etc.).
When I showed a cost/page breakdown to numerous people on how much their inkjets were REALLY costing them per color page, they threw the printers away: It was a multiple of what they charge at the copy center.
Which brings us back to the other point: 11x17. More to the point: There are SO many questions I used to ask a client to weigh the expenses vs. features, it’s difficult to outline it here. But if you have both a local dealer who sells/services printers AND are in proximity to copy center, you have options without having to become an expert in this field.
Gotta tell ya: You can’t go wrong with HP. What you have to do is weigh the extra expense for color (on a desktop laser that will average another $150).
For most of my small business clients I recommended the all-in-ones. Buy Amazon. Buy remanufactured toners. Coverage is what kills yield on toners. Printing graphics is expensive. Period. People who print graphics & photos either have to suck it up or manage the printing.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M281fdw is a feature-packed color laser printer with very low cost of operation with remanufactured toners.
Note: There is NO margin in these printers. Thus getting tangible purchasing assistance is near impossible unless you deal with a local dealer who hopes that you will become a toner cartridge customer. At your volume, you shouldn’t be going through many toners anyway.
“Local dealer”
Final note: All of these lower-end printers are disposable. You don’t want to know what it will cost to have a technician come out and replace the fuser or any electronics. Thus amortize your purchase over 5 years on average and figure that your monthly printing expense will average over time to be about $20/month at your noted estimated volume (including printer purchase). That’s off the top of my head for the HP I noted prior.
I had clients with inkjets spending $80/month on inks without realizing it and most businesses would love to see a mere $20/month added expense.
No better/cheaper way to go than a laser printer for black and white...these days they are cheap enough that I have considered “upgrading” mine even with it still working like a champ after 7 years of use...it’s an old Brother that cost me under $90....total waste of money to use a color printer for everyday printing.
Glad to be of help.
But all of which pyc figures are in reality more like 25% or less of these figures for standard whole-page documents So I figure the cost for approx. 4k pages of overall whole-page documents until the drum needs replacing, would be about 180.00 for the printer w/ it's starter carts and drum, then approx. 75.00 for replacement carts, and about 25.00 for 4k sheets of paper, plus maybe 20.00 for electric, for a total of about 300.00 for the first 4,000 pages.
A reviewer says "You can also print out a report from the printer, and it tells you how many pages you have printed, how many were monochrome, and how many color, paper type, etc, as well as toner levels, life of the drum units. It's not too complicated to figure out, and setting up wireless printing was fairly simple."
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
And pray for wisdom.
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