Recommendations - low-end networkable mono laser

[Peter]

Having been recently treated rather poorly by HP I am looking around
for a range of mono lasers to purchase for the school I work at.

Generally I have been purchasing smaller networkable mono printers
around the 20 ppm mark up to 1200 DPI, such as the HP1320N. For
slightly larger printers I've been looking around the 4000 series (eg
4250N)

I've looked at Canon but their range is a bit pricey and limited.
Epson also seems to have a limited range.

Fuji-Xerox has quite a wide range, from the DocuPrint 204A up to
monsters (we do use some of the larger Fuji-Xerox printers already)

Other manufacturers? Samsung has been suggested but I've not seen
useful reviews of their products. I've heard enough bad reports on
Kyocera to give them a wide berth and Lexmark, although I've not heard
bad reports, appear to have problems with supply of consumables - in
Australia at least.

I want to go with a single manufacturer's products so I'm looking for
experiences with printers across the board at this lower end of the
range.

Any information available would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

I figured out that you're in Australia, and thus what's available for
you may be different than for me.

My experience with Oki support here in the USA has been outstanding;
they replaced my printer with a refurb 7 years later. The original
problems were due to a premature attempt to go environmental. The
replacement machine has been great in general: they fixed the bugs in
the process. Oki's LED process eliminates almost all the moving parts of
the laser image generating system; they have the good stuff in common. I
like the elegance of the process, and I've found the machines to be sturdy.

I can't say how well these machines will hold up to school use, but both
of mine have been at the lower end of Oki's range and I've been
impressed with the construction. In my experience, both teachers and
students are hard on equipment, so durability really matters. You'd have
to check the cost-output ratio of the consumables. Third party toner
exists, but there's not much savings in it vs. discounted OE toner.
Drums are expensive, but their life is quite long.

Richard

 

[Rob]

Having been recently treated rather poorly by HP I am looking around
for a range of mono lasers to purchase for the school I work at.

Generally I have been purchasing smaller networkable mono printers
around the 20 ppm mark up to 1200 DPI, such as the HP1320N. For
slightly larger printers I've been looking around the 4000 series (eg
4250N)

I've looked at Canon but their range is a bit pricey and limited.
Epson also seems to have a limited range.

Fuji-Xerox has quite a wide range, from the DocuPrint 204A up to
monsters (we do use some of the larger Fuji-Xerox printers already)

Other manufacturers? Samsung has been suggested but I've not seen
useful reviews of their products. I've heard enough bad reports on
Kyocera to give them a wide berth and Lexmark, although I've not heard
bad reports, appear to have problems with supply of consumables - in
Australia at least.

I want to go with a single manufacturer's products so I'm looking for
experiences with printers across the board at this lower end of the
range.

Any information available would be appreciated

Thanks

The Dell is a rebadged Lexmark. They may give you a good deal.

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/monolaser?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&s=dhs

Thats the Australian site.

Plus have a look at there rebates.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

A couple of questions come to mind for consideration. Will you be
working with OEM toner cartridges, refilled/remanufactured cartridges,
or will you or someone at your school be providing the service? The
reason I ask is because the availability of 3rd party remanufactured or
commercialized refilled cartridges may vary considerably with the brand.

Some models make it very difficult to refill using chips which self
destruct, etc. If your budget includes buying new cartridges when they
empty, that changes the landscape considerably.

Also, be aware that lower end printer, in particular often come with
"starter" cartridges which are only partially full, and the replacement
cartridges are usually quite costly, often almost the cost of the
printer. Some printers which cost more *may* come with full cartridges,
at least. The laser printer industry has become a dirty game of cat and
mouse, as the inkjet industry has been, only worse, because the printers
cost more to produce, so they often reply upon that first replacement of
the toner cartridge to make the profit, requiring that cartridge to cost
the price of the whole printer. It is a horrible con game, and it is
getting progressively worse.

Xerox, for instance, is now advertising their color solid ink printers
as costing the same to print black and white as color. They did this by
slightly lowering the cost of the color ink blocks, and jacking up the
black ink blocks (which at one point were free with the purchase of a
color set) considerably.

I have been following more the color lasers lately than the monochrome,
but HP has a entrance level printer that in Canada is selling for under
$200, but it comes with half filled toner cartridge. For about $75 more
the next one up has the same cartridges, (only they are full),
networking capability, and a considerably higher duty cycles. It is
really a buyer beware situation.

You may wish to look at Konica-Minolta and Brother black and white
models. I do know that Konica-Minolta have gone to using a self
destructing chip which costs about $10 to purchase so that refilling can
be done. I believe you can refill, but the printer works at something
like 1/8th the speed once that chip is blown.

This whole industry needs a good kick in the pants, IMHO. At a time
when people and industry is supposed to be lowering their carbon
footprint, we have printer manufacturers producing perfectly good
technology which is cheaper to toss out after the cartridges empty than
to replace the consumables. It is truly unconscionable in this day and
age. School should, IMHO be particularly hard on these companies about
this business model, not only because it can be damaging to the budget,
but also because we should be setting an example for children, and try
to protect their world from further environmental damage.

Art

 

[Richard Steinfeld]

This whole industry needs a good kick in the pants, IMHO. At a time
when people and industry is supposed to be lowering their carbon
footprint, we have printer manufacturers producing perfectly good
technology which is cheaper to toss out after the cartridges empty than
to replace the consumables. It is truly unconscionable in this day and
age. School should, IMHO be particularly hard on these companies about
this business model, not only because it can be damaging to the budget,
but also because we should be setting an example for children, and try
to protect their world from further environmental damage.

Art, I agree completely. This is an example of why regulation must be an
essential cornerstone of capitalism, in the interest of the whole
society, and now, also, the planet. The business model disgusts me.

Among other things, I've worked in electronics and audio education
support. The consumer products are virtually all now virtually
un-repairable lightweight junk, and this model has been steadily taking
over our automobiles. Products sold to government are often better, but
I've had to protect my instructional department from the purveyors of
junk in that sector as well.

Someone will come along and call me names, claiming that there's some
God-ordained superiority of the hands-off marketplace. Maybe these
people should all be encouraged to leave here so that they can ruin
their own planet.

Richard

 

[Jan Alter]

Art, I agree completely. This is an example of why regulation must be an
essential cornerstone of capitalism, in the interest of the whole society,
and now, also, the planet. The business model disgusts me.

Among other things, I've worked in electronics and audio education
support. The consumer products are virtually all now virtually
un-repairable lightweight junk, and this model has been steadily taking
over our automobiles. Products sold to government are often better, but
I've had to protect my instructional department from the purveyors of junk
in that sector as well.

Someone will come along and call me names, claiming that there's some
God-ordained superiority of the hands-off marketplace. Maybe these people
should all be encouraged to leave here so that they can ruin their own
planet.

Richard

I can add our experience here at school. The office has been using a Lexmark
T630n for more than two years with no problems. I would bet it prints
1200 - 1400 pages/month. As we need another one I'd be ordering a T640n as
it appears the one we have is not available anymore.