Problems with ink jet -solution small Laser printer?

[Peter James]

I'm fed up with the problems I'm experiencing with my Epson C80 ink
jet printer, and am thinking of buying a small Home/Office laser
printer, such as the HP LJ1010 or the Samsung ML1250.
I'm going to stop printing digital photographs and just manipulate
them in the PC and then get the local print shop to print them from
CD.
So can anyone advise me as the value for money for these printers, or
should I go further up market. Thanks.

 

[Lucas Tam]

I'm fed up with the problems I'm experiencing with my Epson C80 ink
jet printer, and am thinking of buying a small Home/Office laser
printer, such as the HP LJ1010 or the Samsung ML1250.

So can anyone advise me as the value for money for these printers, or
should I go further up market. Thanks.

Either printer is fine, but I believe both are host based. What this means
is that the printer will only work in Windows and only as long as drivers
are provided for the printer.

You may want to consider getting a PCL compatible printer - this will
ensure that even if the manufacturer stops producing drivers you can at
least use the built in Windows PCL driver.

In anycase, the printers you mentioned above should be fine.


P.S. you may want to consider a Canon i series inkjet - they rarely clog.

 

[Jay Bollyn]

I'm fed up with the problems I'm experiencing with my Epson C80 ink
jet printer, and am thinking of buying a small Home/Office laser
printer, such as the HP LJ1010 or the Samsung ML1250.
I'm going to stop printing digital photographs and just manipulate
them in the PC and then get the local print shop to print them from
CD.
So can anyone advise me as the value for money for these printers, or
should I go further up market. Thanks.

I am only familiar with HP printers.

I would not buy a host-based laser printer, for the reasons Lucas mentioned
earlier, and other reasons.

Further, I would not buy a laser printer without a printer control panel. I
want the printer to be able to communicate with me, in words, not with two
or three cryptic lights. So I would not recommend a HP LJ less than the 2300
series.

You should visit a superstore where they have different models set up and
working, for instance CompUSA. For actual purchase, check pricegrabber.com.

-- Jay

 

[Alan]

Either printer is fine, but I believe both are host based.

No, see <http://www.superwarehouse.com/Samsung_ML-1250/ML-1250/ps/119159>.
The Samsung ML1250 is PCL6. It has a vertical feed, though which I'm a
bit wary of. But again they actually say "Paper Jam Free Technology:
Prints various paper stocks and sizes with faster output and reduces
annoying jams and curls." If stand behind that, it looks a good deal.

The HP though definitely is host based, I think the 1300 is their
cheapest with a standard printing language, both PCL and PostScript,
which would be the choice if you do DTP.

 

[Lucas Tam]

(e-mail address removed) (Alan) wrote in

No, see
<http://www.superwarehouse.com/Samsung_ML-1250/ML-1250/ps/119159>. The
Samsung ML1250 is PCL6. It has a vertical feed, though which I'm a bit
wary of. But again they actually say "Paper Jam Free Technology:
Prints various paper stocks and sizes with faster output and reduces
annoying jams and curls." If stand behind that, it looks a good deal.

Ah, I was thinking of the ML-1750 which I THOUGHT was host-based as well
(well, my friend told me it was). Anyhow, just checked the specs out and
even that has a processor.

Best Buy in Canada was clearing out the Samsung printer for $169.99 during
boxing day. I'm surprised that a non-host based printer could be had for
such a cheap price. I wish other manufacturers would do the same

 

[SayItAgain]

FYI:
PCL is HP's language for controlling a printer. There's several versions
PCL 2, 3, 4, etc. Don't know what they're up to now. The comment about
getting a PCL compatible printer is correct as far as it goes. There's also
PostScript which Apple and Adobe pioneered to get desktop publishing going.
There are PostScript compatible printers and printers that have real
LICENCED PostScript engines. In general they both work but in the past some
of the compatible engines would fail some PostScript print jobs. SOOOO if
it's a choice between a real PCL printer and one that's only PostScript
compatible go PCL. If it's real PostScript go with that as virtually every
computer built in the last 5-6 years and every OS supports PostScript.
They'll also support PCL but not necessarily the level the printer is.
(PostScript comes in versions as well but the compatibility issue is much
smaller).

FINALLY - If you print a lot go with one that doesn't put everything into a
single cartridge. Just replacing the toner and not the drum will save you
$$$'s. As far as print quality I favor the Xerox but they're not common for
the consumer level market.

 

[Al]

I'm fed up with the problems I'm experiencing with my Epson C80 ink
jet printer, and am thinking of buying a small Home/Office laser
printer, such as the HP LJ1010 or the Samsung ML1250.
I'm going to stop printing digital photographs and just manipulate
them in the PC and then get the local print shop to print them from
CD.
So can anyone advise me as the value for money for these printers, or
should I go further up market. Thanks.

Take a look at the amount of memory that is included with the printer.
You might want to consider getting expansion memory to 8 MB if the
printer you want comes with less than that.

Memory isn't a concern with inkjets, but it is with laser printers. It
comes into play when you try to print a web page, screen or other
graphics.

Otherwise if they handle the paper size you need they're good
printers. The only reason to step up would be to go to 1200 DPI, but I
don't think that the difference would be noticible with text fonts.

 

[Tom Scales]

I have the Samsung ML-1710. Paid $89 after rebate. Nothing fancy, but let's
face it, it is just a little B&W printer. Who really cares about host-based
for this? If it dies in a year or two, it's disposable.

Tom

 

[Peter James]

I'm fed up with the problems I'm experiencing with my Epson C80 ink
jet printer, and am thinking of buying a small Home/Office laser
printer, such as the HP LJ1010 or the Samsung ML1250.
I'm going to stop printing digital photographs and just manipulate
them in the PC and then get the local print shop to print them from
CD.
So can anyone advise me as the value for money for these printers, or
should I go further up market. Thanks.

Many thanks for all of the replies and information. Very useful.
Best wishes.