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General discussion

looking for adivce on what low-price laserprinter to buy

Apr 2, 2004 9:23AM PST

hello everyone,

well much as I adore my 12-year old HP IIIP laserjet, it can't print sheet music .pdf files very well, and my inket looks a little blurry on the eighth notes if I print on regular paper so I figure it's time to get with it and upgrade to a new laserprinter. looking for 1200 dpi.

Was hoping to spend under $200. any insights to share? I am a big HP fan but am open to suggestions. thanks!-- fj

Discussion is locked

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Re:looking for adivce on what low-price laserprinter to buy
Apr 3, 2004 1:03AM PST

Under $200 is real low ball for a new laser. You can get the HP1000 for this price, but it has no envelope feed or single sheet feed slot. Those are the types of that you don't get in this low price area.

You spent a lot more on the IIIP, why going so cheap now?

When you buy other brands in this low price range you have to worry about whether you can find Toner in 5 years (you kept your IIIp for 10+) much less as long as you have your printer now.

I have heard laments form people that saved money on Panasonic or Brother printers finding that toner cartridges are real hard to find 5+ years later.

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Re:Re:looking for adivce on what low-price laserprinter to buy
Apr 3, 2004 4:46AM PST

The Brother HL-1440 has been getting good reviews for that price. Black and white only. You would have to check
on the cartridge issue, also feedback on Epinions show
that this is not a heavy use printer. Replacing the drum
will be expensive. Another-maybe better- choice is the Samsung xx-1210. chuck

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Re:looking for adivce on what low-price laserprinter to buy
Apr 3, 2004 2:00AM PST

Office Max has the Brother HL-1440 this week for $125.00.
I own 3 of these and am very satisfied with the performance. Also, the ink cartridges are very affordable.
Better hurry, sale ends today.

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Re:Re:looking for adivce on what low-price laserprinter to buy
Apr 4, 2004 3:06AM PDT

While the printer is cheap, and the toner isn't quite as expensive as for an HP, the cost of the DRUM is higher than the cost of the printer ($160), and it is a part you don't replace separately on an HP.

Again...wait 5 years and see how much the price on parts like the drum and toner go up, if you can find them. That is the problem I have found with the brother and Panasonic products.

You get "up to 20,000 pages" on a drum. It is like....you can pay more up front and get a better printer that will print 10,000 pages a month without ever needing this, or you can buy cheaper and pay more for consumables.

You can get something like the HP 1150 for $275 and never have to replace the drum and it is rated for 10,000 copies a month (with the brother in 3 months it would cost you more than the 1150).

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and the winner is . . .
Apr 4, 2004 9:42AM PDT

well thanks everyone for the great advice.

After doing some research on epinions i decided to go with the HP 1012. Onlyhad it a day but it looks great. I had an unopened toner cartridge for my old IIIP lying around that cost $93 so I returned that to staples, and between the cartridge return and the sale price of $150 I got it for 60 bucks. For all the xeroxing i would have done at kinko's this week it has already paid for itself, sortof.

I will still keep my old IIIP running-- with $10 ebay cartridges . . . for bulk jobs that don't need the higher resolution. for basic text, still looks great after 12 years.

ciao, fj