Help me pick a BLACK&WHITE Printer

Since everybody talked me out of a photo printer, I'd still like to replace my crappy black and white printer. I want something faster and better quality. Nothing fancy, just a good solid printer.

Brother laser printers have a good reputation and some of the lowest costs per page (less expensive toner); expect to pay about $200.

Samsung has a model right now on sale at Best Buy for $100...but their toner costs are higher.

Most inkjets these days are color, if not photo quality. I use the HP Deskjet 3820, with both parallel and USB interfaces. Not photo quality, but a nice solid and reliable printer. For my B & W needs, like program listings, I use an old Panasonic KX-P1123 24 pin narrow carriage DMP, that I found on eBay. It was in near mint condition, and the price was a steal. Seller started it at $.01 and I was the only bidder, which surprised both of us.

Now, if you want a Laser Printer, get an HP LaserJet.

Of course, if you can find a DeskJet that you swap color and black ink cartridges, and you are going to do black only, you can go for that.

HP Laserjet. The older the better.

In Canada, you can find 8 page per min II's and III's for $20.

You can get a HP4, a WORKHORSE for $125 including new cartridge.

I wouldn't buy a "new" printer from an office store under any circumstances.

Many of the new cartridges are "chipped" meaning it's more expensive to have the carts refilled.

Any color inkjet printer can be set via the software settings to print in only black and white. That's what I've done with mine. That way I'm not running out and buying color cartridges just because I print a web pages. You can re-enable color printing in about 3 seconds if you need to print something in color.

It's still cheaper in the long run to purchase a laser printer that use an ink jet in black & white. My brother does a lot of printing and just got a laser printer for $100. It's way faster than modern ink jets and text is very clear. He still uses his HP photosmart for photos though.

Another vote for an HP LJ.
Stick with a reconditioned/refurbished or new unit. You'll take your chances with a used one sold "as-is". Many small offices buy a "personal" printer and network it and beat it to death.
The LJ 1200 series is recently discontinued, replaced by the 1300 series, so you may find some on clearance. I have a 1200 that's almost a year old and it's been perfect (then again, every HP I've ever purchased for home or work has been perfect for the first few years).

Thanks guys.

I gotta second ikendu. My Brother Hl1440 keeps going and going and.... Still on the orig cartridge and it's been over a year. My old Epson 1160 is still connected if I need color or a pic.

Larry

TechTV within the past week or so did a little round-up on three sub-$200.00 laser printers, you can find it here.

Mike

I didn't know printers cost so much. I think I'll just keep my inkjet HP 2200.

You can get pretty inexpensive inkjets for $50.00 or there abouts. However, some of the ones listed here are laser jets which have their own memory, print fairly fast, decent quality, the $60-$70 ink cartridges will print 2,000-3,000 pages. Compared to inkjets, these laser jets aren't that bad a deal in the long run.


Mike

tkl, this might be more than you want, but I've got a Lexmark E322 laser printer that's been FANTASTIC! I think it cost me around $300, maybe a bit less. But that was well over a year ago, so it might be cheaper now! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

The Lexmark E322 supports Postscript, which is a must-have for the professional imaging crowd as well as people who tend to print graphic images. Even the black & white printouts of color photos tend to look quite good. Believe it or not, getting Postscript in a laser printer at this price is a terrific deal!

That said, the concept of buying an older HP LaserJet printer sounds like a good plan, too. Keep in mind that those older HPLJ's were pretty LARGE, so if you're short on desk space, it might not work for you. Also, if at all possible, try to see the printer in person before buying! That will help you avoid getting one that's been beat to death. If you can work within these parameters, a HPLJ ought to be a great value.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

HP 4L or 5L on ebay.....cheap......great printers

Demo: I would be wary of any of the AX model printers, the 4L, 5L and 6L. All had a nasty habit of picking up two pages instead of one. Faulty separation pad. HP offers a free fix that is worthless. You have to buy an expensive ($40) aftermarket bracket to fix the problem.

Once you do that, you have a neat, small occassional use printer.

But I'll still take my HP IIP with a FaxMe Cartridge.

Considering the cost and am gaining nothing by buying a new printer I'll keep my current HP P-2200 inkjet.

I'll give another thumbs up for Brother laser printers.

I bought an HL-1240 two years ago and never had a problem with it. The graphics and text are crisp and clear. The black is really black and not a muddy black like from an inkjet. Cost per page is just pennies. And the speed. THE SPEED! It's a whole lot faster than an inkjet.

In the long run, it's cheaper to own a laser printer than an inkjet because of the consummables. I used to spend over $200 a year to replace my inkjet cartrides ($60 for color and B/W cartridges around 4 times a year). A laser cartridge costs only $70 a year.

Wait a few weeks and prices will go down around Christmas. Happy bargain hunting!