# Need help with buying printer, inkjet or laser



## memory (Mar 14, 2011)

I am currently looking for a new printer for my Dad.  He is currently using an HP Laserjet 1000.  He is using Windows 7 and this printer does not have a driver for Windows 7 and does not work right.  It still works but every once in a while, it will not print and has to troubleshoot it to get it working.  Gets kind of annoying.  

I have thought about another laser for the speed and the fact that the ink lasts along time.  I figured I would stay with HP since I hear good things about them.  He wouldn't mind having an all-in-one but that is not a must, would be nice though.  I would like to spend around $100, $150 the max.  If I get a laser, I realize it will be black and white only.  That is not a problem since he does not print that much color and if he does, he could use my printer for the color pages.

I have been looking at a couple different ones, inkjet and laser.
Ebay has this one for $140.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828115668

Office Depot has this one for $100 on sale plus a $30 kit that comes with the usb cable, paper and a 2 year warranty.  I think I could do without that since I already have a cable that would work, I think.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828115763&cm_re=Hp_6500a-_-28-115-763-_-Product

Is there anything wrong with either of these?

I can also trade in the HP laserjet at Office Depot and receive another $50 off.  Since there is nothing wrong with it, I figured I could sell it and get more for it.

Is this right, a 32ppm inkjet is the same speed as a 10ppm laserjet?  Why the difference?

This is for home use so he will not be printing that many pages.


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## cabinfever1977 (Mar 14, 2011)

what i do is go to target or walmart and buy there cheapest onsale halfprice printer they have, then i go and get a black ink refill kit so i can refill my own cartridges, why pay $50 for a new cartridge when you can refill that same cartrdge 4 or 5 times for $10.
refill kits hav bottles of ink and a needle to poke threw the top of a cartrige and inject ink to fill it.

I bought my mother a all-in-one print scan coppier for $20 at target,it was half price.
But you will want one that says works with windows7

PPM = pages per minuite so no there not the same, also diffrent numbers for color or black and white and diffrent numbers for diffent quality settings


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## memory (Mar 15, 2011)

I have thought about this one as well for a simple printer.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828115639

Bestbuy has this one for the same price on sale.  I would be nice to buy one local in case I have trouble with it.


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## cabinfever1977 (Mar 17, 2011)

dont forget to ask if it comes with a cable. and yes its better to buy electronics locally so you can return them if they dont work.


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## AlienMenace (Mar 17, 2011)

One of the Differences is, it is cheaper with the ink cart. than toner. The laser toner is pricey. But Laser printing like a picture comes out really good, and it won't run if it got wet. Ink jets ink is water based. So if water got on the picture/text by accident, it will run.


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## PohTayToez (Mar 17, 2011)

AlienMenace said:


> One of the Differences is, it is cheaper with the ink cart. than toner. The laser toner is pricey. But Laser printing like a picture comes out really good, and it won't run if it got wet. Ink jets ink is water based. So if water got on the picture/text by accident, it will run.



The cost per page for laser printing is much lower.  Yes, the initial cost is higher, but the toner cartridges are normally rated for something like 3000 or 5000 pagers, many times more than you'll get out of the average inkjet cartridge.  

I have a couple of Dell 1720s, and the one that a use the most has been using the same $80 toner cartridge for over a year now and I print 10-20 pages on it a day easy.


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## memory (Mar 17, 2011)

I am leaning towards a laser because the toner lasts much longer than inkjets.  

I am considering the HP Laserjet M1212nf.  I can get it on ebay for $124 until the 19th, it is brand new and unopened.  I can get a 2 pack of toner for $43 which yields 1600 pages per cartridge.  

I have also thought about the Canon MX870 AIO but it is a little more expensive, $140.  Any idea how many pages the ink is rated for?  I can get a 15 pack for $31 which is enough to change it 3 times.

Pohtaytoez, you say toner is normally rated for 3,000 pages or more.  For the above printer, the toner is rated for 1600 pages.  Why so much lower?  The toner is not HP branded.  Would that make a difference?  How do they rate the yield?  Is it for a full sheet of text?

I would much rather buy one local but all the local places are quite a bit higher than online.  Most places have the above printer for $170 on sale and $200 for the regular price.  Quite a bit of difference.

Where would be a good place to have a printer worked on?  My church has an HP Officejet Pro L7590 that is not working right, has something to do with cheap ink.  Instead of getting that one fixed, they just bought another printer.  Now they are not using that one or have no plans for it.  Would it be worth it to take it some where?  I thought about buying it from them for cheap and getting it fixed myself and use that one instead of buying one.


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## PohTayToez (Mar 17, 2011)

3,000 - 5,000 is really just my estimate on the average from the printers I'm familiar with which would be dedicated laser printers.  You're looking at all in ones, which I suppose might generally take smaller toner cartridges.  Also, in my experience off brand toner is almost as good as name brand toner, the only difference being that off brand doesn't always live up to he capacities they advertise.  

As for getting a printer fixed, unless it's a $300+ printer, generally it's cheaper to buy a new one.  Most computer places only work on higher end printers.


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## Lexmark 4 (Mar 25, 2011)

memory said:


> I am currently looking for a new printer for my Dad.  He is currently using an HP Laserjet 1000.  He is using Windows 7 and this printer does not have a driver for Windows 7 and does not work right.  It still works but every once in a while, it will not print and has to troubleshoot it to get it working.  Gets kind of annoying.
> 
> I have thought about another laser for the speed and the fact that the ink lasts along time.  I figured I would stay with HP since I hear good things about them.  He wouldn't mind having an all-in-one but that is not a must, would be nice though.  I would like to spend around $100, $150 the max.  If I get a laser, I realize it will be black and white only.  That is not a problem since he does not print that much color and if he does, he could use my printer for the color pages.
> 
> ...



Printer purchase should not be a problem especially if you will consider its purpose and the workload that it has to bear. There are lots of other options and for sure products from lexmark, brother, and canon will not disappoint you.


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## Lexmark 4 (Apr 14, 2011)

If you are aiming to use the printer for black and white text documents then I suggest that you buy a laser printer for convenience and cost-efficiency. The sites you mentioned are not the only ones offering the best deals because I also found great and affordable printer consumables at the Inkjet superstore site.


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