Colour lasers (low end) - Any good yet (better then colour inkjets for quality?)?

[David Smithz]

Hi there,

I still have ingrained in (perhaps wrongly) me that historically colour
laser printers are no where near the colour quality of an inkjet.

Now days I am seeing Colour laser printers at quite cheap prices. e.g. the
HP COLOUR LASERJET 2600N

Is this any good and does it compare to an inkjet colour of equivalent
price?

Currently for an office solution for about 4 staff members, we were going to
go for two network printers:

a HP 7210 (at about £200 + VAT)
and a Samsung ML-2571N ( about £130 + VAT)

I figured that as we do sometimes need colour printing, might as well get an
all-in-one model which seems good value.
And then for good quality black and white and good value printing, a cheap
laser printer network capable.

Does this make sense or is it a false economy by budgeting. Ideally, one
printer would do everything so welcome any suggestions about lasers that are
up for the job within the same budget (probably don't exist).

Thanks for any input on this matter.

 

[me]

Hi there,
I still have ingrained in (perhaps wrongly) me that historically colour
laser printers are no where near the colour quality of an inkjet.
Now days I am seeing Colour laser printers at quite cheap prices. e.g. the
HP COLOUR LASERJET 2600N
Is this any good and does it compare to an inkjet colour of equivalent
price?
Currently for an office solution for about 4 staff members, we were going to
go for two network printers:
a HP 7210 (at about £200 + VAT)
and a Samsung ML-2571N ( about £130 + VAT)
I figured that as we do sometimes need colour printing, might as well get an
all-in-one model which seems good value.
And then for good quality black and white and good value printing, a cheap
laser printer network capable.
Does this make sense or is it a false economy by budgeting. Ideally, one
printer would do everything so welcome any suggestions about lasers that are
up for the job within the same budget (probably don't exist).
Thanks for any input on this matter.

How much printing are you expecting to be doing (how much colour and how
much black only)? If you are thinking of an all in one, how much
photocopying do you expect to do?

 

[Lou]

Hi there,

I still have ingrained in (perhaps wrongly) me that historically colour
laser printers are no where near the colour quality of an inkjet.

Now days I am seeing Colour laser printers at quite cheap prices. e.g. the
HP COLOUR LASERJET 2600N

Is this any good and does it compare to an inkjet colour of equivalent
price?

Currently for an office solution for about 4 staff members, we were going to
go for two network printers:

a HP 7210 (at about £200 + VAT)
and a Samsung ML-2571N ( about £130 + VAT)

I figured that as we do sometimes need colour printing, might as well get an
all-in-one model which seems good value.
And then for good quality black and white and good value printing, a cheap
laser printer network capable.

Does this make sense or is it a false economy by budgeting. Ideally, one
printer would do everything so welcome any suggestions about lasers that are
up for the job within the same budget (probably don't exist).

Thanks for any input on this matter.

You may want to use Google as there have been very recent reviews of
newer printers. The printer world continues to evolve. IIRC PCmag just
had stuff on this.

Lou
Education is about knowing where to look for answers.

 

[Steve Dell]

I have used a Dell 3100 cn for a couple of years. It is in a small
business/home office environment.

Fast and it works well. I don't need it to fax, copy or scan; just print.

 

[~~NoMad~~]

I have a 2600n and the cartridges don't dry out when not in use.
The prints don't fade and are generally indistinguishable from inkjet at an
arms length.

I see they now have a 2605 that is supposed to be even better. When my
cartridges give out I'll buy a 2605.

NM

 

[Fred McKenzie]

I still have ingrained in (perhaps wrongly) me that historically colour
laser printers are no where near the colour quality of an inkjet.

Now days I am seeing Colour laser printers at quite cheap prices. e.g. the
HP COLOUR LASERJET 2600N

Is this any good and does it compare to an inkjet colour of equivalent
price?

David-

Dry toner powder sticks to an electrostatically charged surface, and is
heated until the powder melts onto the surface. The process will work on
some non-inkjet glossy paper but the results are not as good as with
inkjet prints. Unless a new laser process is developed that uses liquid
color toners, that is not likely to improve. For color photographs
printed on glossy paper, the inkjet is still the way to go.

On the other hand, the use of photographs in many offices is limited to
inclusion in presentations. For those applications, a color laser printer
may be superior, especially if a quantity of prints are required. In
other words, the laser prints compare very well to inkjet prints on plain
paper. For double sided (duplex) printing, the laser will often be
superior.

Now, the question is how much to spend on a color laser printer. The
initial investment is only part of the life-cycle cost. When you consider
cost of materials (paper, toner) a more expensive laser printer may end up
being cheaper.

For example, my old $2000 printer uses $800 worth of toner. However, that
toner produces thousands of prints before it needs to be replaced. You
can use a manufacturer's estimate of how many pages you can get from the
toner, as long as you compare with other printer's estimates based on the
same percentage of coverage. Newer printers in an intermediate price
range may be better for your needs. You need to do an analysis to be
sure.

On a per-print basis, the cost of toner is usually less than the cost of
inkjet ink unless you want to refill your own. How much is your time
worth?

Fred

 

[Stick Stickus]

Oki Colour lasers use a special toner that can produce photo quality output
on plain paper so that can cut down on costs, they are not the most
expensive to buy and certainly, in the UK, are becoming very popular
printers to buy. The remanufacturing of the cartridges is also reasonably
low.