Printer ink is a huge scam and it is really costing me a fortune.

I need to make color copies two sided about 250 to 500 a month.


I know the cheaper the printer the more expensive the ink. I don't want to spend a fortune on the printer but my biggest concern is lowest price per page in color.

Any recommendations?

Laser. The initial cost is a bit higher, but the per page cost is a fraction of ink. Many laser cartridges will cost from 60-100 a piece. Ink is somewhat less, but ink cartridges are only good for a few hundred pages, where most toner cartridges are 2000, 3000, or 7000 pages. You'll recover the cost of the printer by the second time you replace the cartridges.

You also don't have to deal with waste from cleanings and alignments, or tossing the printer because it has a clogged print head.

[This message has been edited by Taijiguy (edited 04-02-2014).]

Buy a used color hp laser. One that has cartridges for each color. Toner costs a few hundred bucks, but it lasts for thousands of pages. The two kits you need to swap out last for a few hundred thousand pages and are easy swaps. When I get into work, I'll shoot you the prices for some of the items. Or send it out to a local printer(not Staples or Kinkos or other major company)
See if they'll do it for half the price of those other places...

I really like the Samsung CLP-315W. I have a few of them. Toner is reasonable. I also have an HP M375nw. The toner is more expensive, and likely a lot of more than you are needing from a printer.

Ok , so toner seems to be the best bet. I'll start looking at those. Thanks guys.

Note: What you print matters...
Page Spec are % of page covered by ink/toner and means text and "spot color."
Backgrounds and pictures eats ink and toner no matter what type/class of printer.

1. # of copies likely means laser printer. Pennies per page and fast.
Home/SOHO classes will run out of ink. Can be issues for same class of laser.
Business class ink printers are fast and ink tank has large capacity.
Business Color and B/W lasers and ink printer get more prints per cart but cost around same $ as SOHO units But Business class units often cost more up front.

2. HP is high but is "future proof." Most HP printer ever made are using same driver setup and still works w/ win7 etc. If OS doesn't use exact driver, many current drivers work with old printers.
Allot of others brands have problem when you the updated OS.

example:
Finding Win7 x64 (64 bit) drivers for old HP printers? Easy. Just tell Win7 to get driver from MS internet library. (I mean old... Original LaserJet series, LJ2, etc.)
Do same for other brand often is not easy most times and Maker's support might not have one either.

Is can be a big problem... MS change Window name, Vista 7 8.x etc, but is minor kernel updates. Even minor update can cause many drivers have problem.

To make it more confusing... Many drivers say supports Vista and 7 but only x86 (32 bit) versions. Big problem when buying used devices. Most 7 & 8.x installs are x64 and will not load x86 drivers. (Let's ignore any workaround. Not supported by MS or anyone else.)

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[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 04-02-2014).]

quote Originally posted by TheDigitalAlchemist: Or send it out to a local printer(not Staples or Kinkos or other major company) See if they'll do it for half the price of those other places...

Yeah consider farming the print job out. At least get estimates.

I used to print LOTS of photos. I like Canon printers best. mine all have like 5 cartridges for photo printing. I havent bought any lately, but I was going online and getting 70 mixed cartridges for $50. It was I think www.inkcartridges.com . I do have a Brother all in one, but it prints slow as hell but I needed the fax. I get all 4 cartidges (and there big) for like $15. My HP uses just a black and a tri color...black was $40, Color was $70. I just use it for printing checks and estimates (blk only).

I DO know people that just buy a new cheap printer when the ink runs out because its cheaper that way.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 04-02-2014).]

+1 on laser printer. They are excellent, quick and cheaper to operate over the long term.

Be sure your printer has duplex printing if you want it to print on both sides. The lower end models do not have that feature.

In most major cities, there are usually stores that sell used commercial office equipment like copiers, computers and printers. You can usually get a good deal on a used printer there. Just make sure they have a return and/or exchange policy in case you get a bad one.