[Guide] Printers - Some things you might want to take note of

Intrinion

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Here are a few questions / things you should check & ask before purchasing a new printer:

Check List:
C1. Do I need a printer that can print on both sides of a page?
If Yes* - you would need a Duplex Printer.

*Technically: You can print dual sided using a non duplex (single sided) printer as well - pointed out by a fellow forumer here - by printing single sided and flipping it the other way.

For convenience, and the relatively low cost of Duplex printers however, it might be more convenient to purchase a Duplex Printer instead if you are a medium to heavy user who utilise duplex printing often.

Do weigh the pros, cons and costs before considering either options.

C2. Am I printing black & white pages mostly and minimal / no colour
If Yes - Get a monochrome printer.
If No - Get a laser colour / colour inkjet.

Though colour lasers and laser printers in general have dropped in price, it is
still expensive to purchase and to run too - there would be 4 toners in total - 3 for colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) , and 1 for black.

C3. Do I need wireless printing or would it be plugged in to a stand alone PC and forgotten?
Wireless printing works by sending your prints over your connected network then to the printer which then prints your queued document. It is more convenient if you have multiple users co sharing a printer i.e. home printer
placed in a centralised location.

All wireless printers have I/O for conventional usb printing should you need them.

C4. Would it be cheaper to purchase a printer or print it at shops?

Here are a few cost criterias that you would have to consider.
1. Toner costs - they do cost a fair bit but make it up in terms of pages that can be printed before toner replacement - certainly more affordable than an ink jet, and hey being a powder, it doesn't "dry" out like its ink counterparts. ;)

2. Drum / Photo conductor cost - a drum is basically the component that picks up images and then transfers this image on to the paper. It lasts considerably longer than a toner - probably 3 - 5 times longer before needing to be replaced.

In general a rule of thumb would be to.

Take the cost of the toner and divide it by its page yield.
For instance, a particular toner costs $90 and has a yield of 2600 pages.

$90 / 2600 pages
equals to $0.035 per page printed (Excluding paper, Drum per page costs and assuming negligible electrical cost ).

C5. Do I need an ALL IN ONE? (Scan / Copy)
A scanner can be useful at times for digitizing our documents such as receipts etc / quick duplication of documents. Good to have but adds to cost.


Questions you should ask before purchasing.

Q1. How many pages can this printer print?

Q2. What is the toner yield and also is there any high yield toners available for this model?

Q3. How many pages later would the drum of the toner need to be replaced and at what cost?

Q4. Lastly, any freebies? and got trolley? :vijayadmin:


New Business Printer Buying Guide! (Nov. 2019)

HardwareZone has a new business printer buying guide sharing a number of common concerns faced in choosing the right printer + marrying it with options from Canon for your consideration.

HEAD OVER HERE

Topics and considerations covered:

  • Laser vs. inkjet: Current misconceptions
  • Do you need to print in colour?
  • How often do you scan or make copies?
  • How much do you print, and are you the only user?
  • How important is running cost to you?
  • Specific needs & feature considerations?

Hope this guide helps you out.
 
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koroshiya8

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Thanks to TS for the write up.

I used to have a misconception that Laser printer is expensive to maintain because of the cost of the toner.
All this changed after i bought an entry level printer M225Z. There are a number of positives about, which i'm going to go through all due to my limited time. I just want to highlight that toners can be cheap if you have the lobang. With friendly forumers help i managed to get toner from china @ < $10 ... retail price is around $50.
 

Houdini9

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Hi,

I need a black/white auto duplex printer, no need for wireless or all in 1 functions. Reason being that I print notes fairly regularly and the notes are 300+ pages usually. Would like to seek TS and other contributors advice and opinion on the choice of printer and recommendations.

1. Would it be more feasible getting a laser or inkjet printer?

2. Looking for a basic workhorse model that does auto duplex and purely b/w printing. Is the Fuji Xerox P225d a good choice and toner efficient for cost savings?

3. Any other recommended models?

Would seek to purchase during IT fair or expos as I've seen quite a difference in price. :)
 

Intrinion

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Hi,

I need a black/white auto duplex printer, no need for wireless or all in 1 functions. Reason being that I print notes fairly regularly and the notes are 300+ pages usually. Would like to seek TS and other contributors advice and opinion on the choice of printer and recommendations.

1. Would it be more feasible getting a laser or inkjet printer?

2. Looking for a basic workhorse model that does auto duplex and purely b/w printing. Is the Fuji Xerox P225d a good choice and toner efficient for cost savings?

3. Any other recommended models?

Would seek to purchase during IT fair or expos as I've seen quite a difference in price. :)

Sorry for the late reply!

1. Laser would be better in your case - with the added bonus of not smudging when in contact with water.

Can't really help you out on 2 and 3 - maybe some other forumers would be better able to advice you on toner & run cost.

Fuji Xerox is a good brand for laser printers, I myself am using a Brother - which serves my purpose of printing notes in bulk etc.

Cheers.
 

s7460597

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Looking for a budget laser printer for black and white. Nice to have wireless and duplex. Any recommended model?
 

Joseph877

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I personally own CP115W Color laser printer. So far working fine for me. You may like to check if there's any new models. The printer is cheap but the cartridge replacement may be costly. But I have used second source replacement, much cheaper and works fine with me.
 

Arandalo

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I personally own CP115W Color laser printer. So far working fine for me. You may like to check if there's any new models. The printer is cheap but the cartridge replacement may be costly. But I have used second source replacement, much cheaper and works fine with me.

Where do you get your supplies from?
 

alamakazim

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C1. Do I need a printer that can print on both sides of a page?
If Yes - you would need a Duplex Printer.

no!!! u can just manually print both side.... u just need to flip stack of paper later and insert again.... software can do it easily

so... u dont really need duplex ready printer...
 

Intrinion

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Technically, yes that's one way to do it if you do not have a duplex printer. You are right! :) This is the method done before duplex was introduced to the mass market and when the technology for it was expensive.

In my view if you are a low mileage printer who mostly prints a couple of pages a time, single sided. This can be a way to go.

For users and students who print, the convenience of having a duplex function is worth the couple of $10s of dollars extra spent.

It a hassle to do it though especially for a stack of printings 20 to 50 pages thick especially when you are printing 4 x 4 pdf / powerpoint slides. Orientation and order of pages would then be something one has to consider.

Thanks for your point of view alamakazim! Could you suggest the software that you are using for it? I will reflect it on the faq.

Cheers!

no!!! u can just manually print both side.... u just need to flip stack of paper later and insert again.... software can do it easily

so... u dont really need duplex ready printer...
 
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jimorid

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Hi Houdini9. I have a humble opinion to make.
1. If cost is your concern, go for the Epson Ink Tank because it only cost $10 per bottle and can print 5000 pages. They also sell full mono printer. No Duplex though.
2. If duplex is needed, then no ink tank in the market is able to cater for your need yet. You may really need to look at Laser version.

Hi,

I need a black/white auto duplex printer, no need for wireless or all in 1 functions. Reason being that I print notes fairly regularly and the notes are 300+ pages usually. Would like to seek TS and other contributors advice and opinion on the choice of printer and recommendations.

1. Would it be more feasible getting a laser or inkjet printer?

2. Looking for a basic workhorse model that does auto duplex and purely b/w printing. Is the Fuji Xerox P225d a good choice and toner efficient for cost savings?

3. Any other recommended models?

Would seek to purchase during IT fair or expos as I've seen quite a difference in price. :)
 

jimorid

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Adding to that, you may also want to consider digital. Ever since I bought my tablet many years ago until now, it has been saving me years of printing. I haven't been printing unless is necessary like dealing with government forms, etc.

Hi Houdini9. I have a humble opinion to make.
1. If cost is your concern, go for the Epson Ink Tank because it only cost $10 per bottle and can print 5000 pages. They also sell full mono printer. No Duplex though.
2. If duplex is needed, then no ink tank in the market is able to cater for your need yet. You may really need to look at Laser version.
 

mac_oasis

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Hi all, for laser printers is it better to purchase with separate toner and drums or toner and drums as 1?
 

Intrinion

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Hi all, for laser printers is it better to purchase with separate toner and drums or toner and drums as 1?

That's a good question!

I am not aware of toner and drums as one - maybe could you fill us in on the model you are looking at?

Typically a drum normally lasts 2 -3 or more toner changes.
Hence, it would be good to purchase a toner until your printer's monitoring suite informs you that it's time to change the drum.
 

mac_oasis

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That's a good question!

I am not aware of toner and drums as one - maybe could you fill us in on the model you are looking at?

Typically a drum normally lasts 2 -3 or more toner changes.
Hence, it would be good to purchase a toner until your printer's monitoring suite informs you that it's time to change the drum.

Thanks for the info, i read that HP and Samsung's lase printer built the toner and drum as a single unit meaning that you would need to throw the whole cartridge once there is no ink.

other brands like Brother and Fuji Xerox built the toner and drum separately where you can replace the component separately when there is issue.

I am actually looking to get either the HP LaserJet M227fdw Printer or the Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM225 fw as i require auto duplex printing
 

Intrinion

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Sorry for the late reply.
http://www8.hp.com/sg/en/products/printers/product-detail.html?oid=9365423#!tab=oas

These are the supplies and accessories for the HP laserjet.
The drum and toner are seperate for this particular model
And had a page yield of 23k pages (drum) and 3.5k pages (High yield toner)


Thanks for the info, i read that HP and Samsung's lase printer built the toner and drum as a single unit meaning that you would need to throw the whole cartridge once there is no ink.

other brands like Brother and Fuji Xerox built the toner and drum separately where you can replace the component separately when there is issue.

I am actually looking to get either the HP LaserJet M227fdw Printer or the Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM225 fw as i require auto duplex printing
 

endlssorrow

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Have u check how much is the toner?
Thanks for the info, i read that HP and Samsung's lase printer built the toner and drum as a single unit meaning that you would need to throw the whole cartridge once there is no ink.

other brands like Brother and Fuji Xerox built the toner and drum separately where you can replace the component separately when there is issue.

I am actually looking to get either the HP LaserJet M227fdw Printer or the Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM225 fw as i require auto duplex printing
 

cscs3

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Hi,

I need a black/white auto duplex printer, no need for wireless or all in 1 functions. Reason being that I print notes fairly regularly and the notes are 300+ pages usually. Would like to seek TS and other contributors advice and opinion on the choice of printer and recommendations.

1. Would it be more feasible getting a laser or inkjet printer?

2. Looking for a basic workhorse model that does auto duplex and purely b/w printing. Is the Fuji Xerox P225d a good choice and toner efficient for cost savings?

3. Any other recommended models?

Would seek to purchase during IT fair or expos as I've seen quite a difference in price. :)

Am using the p225 older model. Nice and reliable printer.
 

Nephew

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I personally using a brother printer mfc-l2700dw. Very worth it.
 
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