I am looking for a B&W personal laser printer for home use on a mac.

Not much volume but would still like decent paper handling, cost per
page, small footprint and low noise (it would sit right on my desk).

Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick?

A recent thread appeared to recommend Brother 5240 (basic) and 5250DN
(duplex and networking). The price difference between them is not huge,
I think $20, so no big deal. How do they compare against the offerings
from HP and Samsung?

Thanks for all the input.

BTW, I posted another question about which online price comparison
services are best. That reminds me, Brother 5250DN shows up as 'ships
next day' on Shopzilla, 'not yet released' on Amazon, and does not even
show up on Pricegrabber as of this morning. What is your expereince
with these sites?

In message <041120051308376112%(E-Mail Removed)>, Ajanta
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes

>Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick?

That depends entirely on you.

I used to print a lot of multi page documents for postage. Duplex saved
paper cost, environmental impact and postal cost.

If on the other hand, you mostly print simple single sided letters...


Cheers, J/.
--
John Beardmore

I wish my first laser had duplexing. I can do the duplexing manually,
but it is not convenient. For $20, I'd buy it. For my second laser
printer, duplexing was a "must have".

Paul

Ajanta wrote:
> I am looking for a B&W personal laser printer for home use on a mac.
>
> Not much volume but would still like decent paper handling, cost per
> page, small footprint and low noise (it would sit right on my desk).
>
> Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick?
>
> A recent thread appeared to recommend Brother 5240 (basic) and 5250DN
> (duplex and networking). The price difference between them is not huge,
> I think $20, so no big deal. How do they compare against the offerings
> from HP and Samsung?
>
> Thanks for all the input.
>
> BTW, I posted another question about which online price comparison
> services are best. That reminds me, Brother 5250DN shows up as 'ships
> next day' on Shopzilla, 'not yet released' on Amazon, and does not even
> show up on Pricegrabber as of this morning. What is your expereince
> with these sites?

Ajanta wrote:

>I am looking for a B&W personal laser printer for home use on a mac.
>
>Not much volume but would still like decent paper handling, cost per
>page, small footprint and low noise (it would sit right on my desk).
>
>Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick?
>
>

IT IS A MUST HAVE

>A recent thread appeared to recommend Brother 5240 (basic) and 5250DN
>(duplex and networking). The price difference between them is not huge,
>I think $20, so no big deal. How do they compare against the offerings
>from HP and Samsung?
>
>Thanks for all the input.
>
>BTW, I posted another question about which online price comparison
>services are best. That reminds me, Brother 5250DN shows up as 'ships
>next day' on Shopzilla, 'not yet released' on Amazon, and does not even
>show up on Pricegrabber as of this morning. What is your expereince
>with these sites?
>
>

"Ajanta" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:041120051308376112%(E-Mail Removed)...
>I am looking for a B&W personal laser printer for home use on a mac.
>
> Not much volume but would still like decent paper handling, cost per
> page, small footprint and low noise (it would sit right on my desk).
>
> Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick?
>

What an bizarre question. Like saying 'Is colour printing a gimmick?' Do you
want duplexing or don't you?

Caitlin <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

: What an bizarre question. Like saying 'Is colour printing a gimmick?'
: Do you want duplexing or don't you?

It could be considered a gimicky feature in the following sense: If you
flip the pages yourself, you got 2 sided printing. However, with a BW
printer, you can't get color by any such simple trick.

"Caitlin" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in news:436c2bf4$0
$44197$(E-Mail Removed):

>> Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick

No, it can save paper and labour if properly used.

Gary Tait <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

: >> Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick
:
: No, it can save paper and labour if properly used.

I should have said "auto duplex". One can achieve the same effect
by turning the pages over oneself.

In article <051120051010486322%(E-Mail Removed)>,
Ajanta <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> : >> Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick
> :
> : No, it can save paper and labour if properly used.
>
> I should have said "auto duplex". One can achieve the same effect
> by turning the pages over oneself.

If you're printing a single sheet flyer, yes.

But if you're printing a book?

Will you print one at a time?

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:elmop-(E-Mail Removed)...
> In article <051120051010486322%(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Ajanta <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> : >> Is duplex a useful feature or just a gimmick
>> :
>> : No, it can save paper and labour if properly used.
>>
>> I should have said "auto duplex". One can achieve the same effect
>> by turning the pages over oneself.
>
> If you're printing a single sheet flyer, yes.
>
> But if you're printing a book?
>
> Will you print one at a time?
>

No, set up and print all odd pages, Then turn the whole stack over and print
even pages, Voila, double sided book and all in order.
works like a charm on my OKI C5150n Color led printer. I print all my
manuals this way.

Regards, Rene