Railfan Technology > Monochrome laser printer recommendation sought.

I'm in the market for a new B&W laser printer or "all-in-one."

I'll be printing mostly text and a few "Google" maps.

Important considerations are low per-copy cost and readily available

consumables.

Be Well,

Tim Colbert K3HX

The standard has always been the HP Laserjet line of printers. Their prices are down account competition from Brother. It has been a while since I bought my HP so I am not too familiar with what is in the current market.

I've had a Samsung SCX4100 for several years. (Purchased it in Italy.) I think that there is a more recent model, basically the same, now being sold. It's reliable and does a reasonable job of printing and is cheap to operate. I also have a Samsung monitor and it works very well also. I think Brother also has some good inexpensive printers.

I bought an HP 2015 Laser in April 2007 and it still delights me with its instant availability and high quality output. It is easily networkable which was critical to me as I use a wireless Apple Airport network. I bought mine at a local Staples and am still waiting five months later for the rebate check. Go shop elsewhere - high pressure to get the extended service contract or "You'll be talking to India in a few months". But I do love the printer. It is Mac 10.4x friendly and took just a few minutes to unbox and print my first pages. My work requires me to print several hundred pages at a time, and this HP unit just spits out the pages without complaint. (I use a networkable HP B9180 high end ink jet for my color work.)

If you are looking for a color ink jet all-in-one, I purchased a Canon MP600 for my vacation cottage two months ago and love it. It does everything I ask of it. It replaced a "P-O-S" Epson all-in-one that crapped out on me after a year and a half. The replacement black ink tank for the Epson alone cost me $55 and never solved the problem as to why the black wouldn't print. Turns out it is an "known" Epson issue with this model. Thanks a lot - I'll never buy anything from Epson again. The Canon MP600 scans, copies, and prints beautifully. It will even print from my two Canon cameras directly without going through my Powerbook.

Contact me off list for any additional information.

George

I've had nothing but good luck with HP laser printers. Even their inexpensive ones have always treated me right. Have had to replace them on occasion due to user error (don't ask), but otherwise pretty bulletproof and toner cartridges are readily available locally or via mail order.

I'd agree to stay away from Epson color inkjet printers. The two I had (admittedly they were the lower-end models) both had issues with ink drying out, expensive replacement ink cartridges, and always a concern on whether it'd print right the first time. I finally replaced my Epson inkjet with a HP inkjet this spring, and no more worries. Always prints great, less expensive ink cartridges, and no more worries about needing to clean the inkjet heads if the Epson inkjet had sat for more than a couple days without printing.

I can tell you a All-in-One to avoid - the Canon ImageClass MF4150!! It will not print envelopes at all...after wasting over an hour with Canon tech support, they blamed it on Microsoft Word! However, both my HP laser jet and my Canon iP6600 ink jet print #10 envelopes just perfect.

Apparently the MF4150 is overriding the '#10 envelope flag' and then it prints as if a letter sheet paper was being used, of course wasting the envelope.

I thought the Canon tech guy was rather rude about the whole thing, and it will make me think twice before buying any more Canon equipment. The store I bought it from did take it back, but still it was an un-necessary hassle....

Ted

I just bought a Brother AIO (7820N) to replace the Canon I had troubles with and it works well. Prints envelopes correctly, fast crisp printing and the fax works fine as well. Only problem I can mention is that it is somewhat noisy when printing...an internal fan is somewhat loud while the machine is printing. The LED panel display is a bit small as well....

Ted