Printer suggestions?

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the11diesel
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Printer suggestions?

Post by the11diesel »

Hello fellow Bogleheads-
My partner and I run a professional service firm and we are looking for a high quality printer. Actually, we are replacing our current printer - we were penny wise pound foolish with the purchase of our current printer and the print quality is unacceptable.

Basically, we need the printer to print high quality on thick (24 pound) paper for purposes of printing reports (e.g., legal briefs). Our reports often contain Excel tables, charts, etc. but we do not print photos.

In order of importance, the qualities we are looking for in a printer are
:
1- High print quality - in color and black and white (these printed work products are sometimes the only thing the client sees, so these need to be as professional and visually appealing as possible);
2- Reliability
3 - Price - preferably something between $300 and $700. Up to $1,000 if the printer is excellent.
4 - Speed - this is the area that we are least concerned about. Obviously, the faster the better, but we would rather pay for higher quality than faster speed.

I know several of you are very knowledgeable on peripheral hardware related issues (I'm not) so any suggestions/guidance regarding a quality printer is much appreciated.

Thank you.
-diesel
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bertilak
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by bertilak »

Hi. I am no printer guru but I have bought a couple of printers lately. Both under $200.

I found that in my price range (and I think it's true up the line) inkjet gives you the best color quality. Photo quality.

Unfortunately inkjet conflicts with some of your other desires: speed and cost and (here I'm guessing) other quality measures (e.g. dpi). You are also likely to get bigger and multiple paper trays with laser. Perhaps even better paper handling for that 24# paper.

To tell the truth, 24# has not been a problem for me with any of my printers. My Brother had more trouble with 20#, often feeding two sheets at a time. Just before it died I mail ordered a carton of 22# as that seemed to be it's sweet spot. 24# does not need a straight-through paper path. My Brother had that and it worked but was inconvenient. (I only used it for photos.)

Color laser may be good enough for your color needs and I suspect hat will open up the other options quite a bit. I think you need to personally see some examples.

Overall I have owned two HPs (laser B&W and inkjet color) and Brother (inkjet color). I am most impressed with the HPs, but the Brother was an older model than my latest, which is an HP inkjet. The Brother did not last very long (three years?) and repair quote was more than my new HP, which I like better anyway.
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Peter Foley
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by Peter Foley »

I would suggest getting a printer/copier/scanner. One thing to watch out for is printers that do not allow you to print in black and white when one of the color cartridges is out. Color cartridges dry up after only a few months and the cost of replacing them has been many times the cost of the printer itself.

Read the reviews of the HP OfficeJet 6600 and you will get a sense of the problem and the customer dissatisfaction. I'm sure there are others with this issue, this is just the one I was unfortunate enough to choose.
bloom2708
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by bloom2708 »

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Toons
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by Toons »

"High print quality - in color and black and white"

Probably want to consider inkjet.
http://www.amazon.com/HP-OfficeJet-Wire ... et+printer
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sk.dolcevita
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by sk.dolcevita »

If your need is to print only black & white, get a laser printer. Most ink jets require color cartridges to be changed when they dry out due to non-use (which they do). There is a workaround to this but I don't think it is suitable for an office environment.

My favorite laser printers are Brother printers. There quality is as good as others and generally cost less. More importantly, their toners are cheap with good quality generic options easily available for purchase. However, my experience is limited to conventional 20# paper.
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CABob
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by CABob »

Peter Foley wrote:One thing to watch out for is printers that do not allow you to print in black and white when one of the color cartridges is out.
Good point. I was not aware that some inkjet printers do and some don't have this feature. Mine does not and it is sometimes inconvenient. Is this a well advertised feature? When the black cartridge gets low on ink my printer allows me to set it to mix all of the colors to get black. I guess this is a nice feature, but seems to me to be quite wasteful of the color cartridges. I guess it would tend to use up the ink rather than dry up.

I have a Epson WF-2540 printer/copier/scanner that I am quite happy with. I mostly use 24# paper and have not had issues with the paper feeding properly. I paid about $125 but would suggest that for a business something a little better would be warranted although IMO it does all you want it to do.
Bob
blmarsha123
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by blmarsha123 »

Although somewhat pricey (~600 usd plus supplies) and if used in a commercial environment (i.e. not home office), you might want to look at the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553dn. It produces high quality output (text and graphics) and as an added bonus, is fast.

Regards,
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theta
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by theta »

I've got an Epson Workforce Pro 4630 and I like it a lot.

It's a "next generation" inkjet that's supposed to be as economical as a laserjet.
I find epson's software not as grossly large as HP's.
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Watty
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by Watty »

If space in not a concern then you might get two printers, a decent color one that might have more expensive ink and and a moderately priced B&W laser printer for everyday work and drafts.

The B&W could also be a backup so that it the color printer dies at a bad time then you at least have that as an alternative.
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LadyGeek
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Personal Consumer Issues forum (printer).
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daveatca
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Brother laser

Post by daveatca »

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQU141C
Brother HL-3170CDW Digital Color Printer with Wireless Networking and Duplex
High-impact business printing, at up to 600 x 2400 dp
$150

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Cartridge ... 00EPOH406/
Genuine Brother TN221BK, TN225C, TN225M, TN225Y Color (BK/C/M/Y) Toner Cartridge 4-Pack
$310

http://www.amazon.com/Mohawk-Smooth-Fin ... 003152DTW/
Mohawk Color Copy 98 Paper Smooth Finish 98-bright, 28 lb, 8.5 x 11 Inch, 500 Sheets/Ream - Sold as 1 Ream, Bright White Shade
$18/ream

I have owned this printer for 2+ years. It replaced a Brother printer that I owned for 5 years.
Last edited by daveatca on Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
EHEngineer
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by EHEngineer »

the11diesel wrote:
In order of importance, the qualities we are looking for in a printer are
:
1- High print quality - in color and black and white (these printed work products are sometimes the only thing the client sees, so these need to be as professional and visually appealing as possible);
2- Reliability
3 - Price - preferably something between $300 and $700. Up to $1,000 if the printer is excellent.
4 - Speed - this is the area that we are least concerned about. Obviously, the faster the better, but we would rather pay for higher quality than faster speed.
Laser printing is noticeably better, and usually faster, than inkjet.

Consumer Reports recommends these three as the top color laser printers
Dell C2665dnf ~ $380
Dell e525w ~ $200
HP MFP M476dw (has been replaced by MFP M477dw) ~$470

Here is a link to Dell's Multifunction color laser printers http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/cate ... d&~ck=anav
Last edited by EHEngineer on Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Peter Foley
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by Peter Foley »

sk.dolcevita

I'd be interested in hearing the workaround for the dry color cartridge.
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mlebuf
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by mlebuf »

Last year I asked a very similar question on this forum. I was looking for recommendations for a all-in-one device. I got lots of good suggestions. Based on recommendations and reviews I bought an Epson Work Force WF-4630 and I am very happy with it. Got a great deal on it from Best Buy, something like $150 when I traded-in a non-working H-P printer. Since that time Epson has new printers on the market with enormous ink capacity that I strongly suggest you consider. Check out printer reviews at http://thewirecutter.com

The Wirecutter does an excellent job reviewing products.
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SimonJester
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by SimonJester »

When you say your current printer was no acceptable what make / model was it and why was it not acceptable?
You probably need to move away from the home marked products towards the business marketed products.

I would stay with an HP or Xerox color laser jet , lookup the features you need and the pages per minute you want.

You also need to look at toner costs as well.

Peter Foley wrote:sk.dolcevita

I'd be interested in hearing the workaround for the dry color cartridge.
The answer to this is laser printers, they use toner vs ink. Toner is a dry product so it has a very long shelf life, I would say almost indefinite.
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carolinaman
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by carolinaman »

I recently purchased a HP Officejet Pro 8610 All-in-one printer for about $100. This is a good quality and versatile home office printer. I am very pleased with its performance but you probably need something with a little higher quality.
sk.dolcevita
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by sk.dolcevita »

Peter Foley wrote:sk.dolcevita

I'd be interested in hearing the workaround for the dry color cartridge.
You have to defeat the ink level sensing sensors.

For an HP printer, take out the dry color cartridges and cover the openings from where the ink comes out with scotch tape (some claim black electrical tape is better). The danger of such a procedure is that the print heads for each color may become clogged over time. So do this only if you have no intention of using the color function ever.

There are very similar, if not identical, workarounds for non-HP printers. For example here is youtube video for Brother cartridges:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMUjt8yM0wg
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telemark
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by telemark »

What the original poster needs, color printing on heavy stock to give to customers, is probably outside the range of inexpensive home printers. If I needed to do this I'd probably visit a local Fedex/Kinko's printing shop and see what they use, maybe having some test documents printed, and then see if the manufacturer has any lower-cost models. At some point the quality of the printer drivers probably becomes an issue.
sk.dolcevita wrote:So do this only if you have no intention of using the color function ever.
But then you might as well buy a monochrome laser printer and be done with it. The way these printers are designed, the ink is necessary to protect the print heads even they're not putting ink on paper.
soupcxan
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by soupcxan »

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Last edited by soupcxan on Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sawhorse
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by sawhorse »

Hands down the best color printer I've seen in terms of balancing print quality and speed was one by Xerox. It wasn't a laser but wasn't an inkjet either. The ink was a solid thing that looked like colored sticks of butter. It was at a former workplace, so I don't know the model or how much it cost or whether they're still made.

I've had great a experience with the Brother laser black and white duplex printer, but my experience with their color laser, which cost around $350 at the time, was not good at all.
CABob wrote:
Peter Foley wrote:One thing to watch out for is printers that do not allow you to print in black and white when one of the color cartridges is out.
Good point. I was not aware that some inkjet printers do and some don't have this feature. Mine does not and it is sometimes inconvenient. Is this a well advertised feature? When the black cartridge gets low on ink my printer allows me to set it to mix all of the colors to get black. I guess this is a nice feature, but seems to me to be quite wasteful of the color cartridges. I guess it would tend to use up the ink rather than dry up.
The reason you can't print on a color printer with only the black cartridge is that all pretty much all color printers print imperceptible color watermarks, most commonly yellow, on every page. These reveal the model, serial number, and some other information. This feature was implemented back in the 1980s or early 1990s when people started counterfeiting money with color printers.
whonoze
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by whonoze »

We have 3 offices which have used Xerox multifunction color printers for years. They used their proprietary solid ink blocks. In each we printed about 5-6000 pages each month. The printing quality was excellent, but the machines took a long time to warm up, used a lot of energy, and the supplies were expensive. They also required service more frequently than optimal.

We recently replaced 2 of them with HP OfficeJet Pro X576 multifunction machines and are very pleased. I bought one directly from HP and one from Amazon. I bought the 3 year service contract which should allow for 24 hour replacement when they break down. The printers are quieter, faster, quicker to print the first page. It, like the Xerox, is fully network compatible. The scanning and management software is well designed. I don't use the fax function. Tech support is excellent (though not US based l The supplies are also less expensive. I will be replacing my last Xerox with this HP when my current service contract expires.

I'm pretty sure HP has a 30 day satisfaction guarantee if you want to try one.
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rustymutt
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by rustymutt »

bloom2708 wrote:Check out the Brother MFC-9130CW

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brother-MFC-913 ... Swp5JWWGd9
I have to second the Brother products. I've got a black and white laser printer with large capacity cartridge. It does 8000 sheets before the cartridge needs to be replaced, and was very cheap to do that. My next Brother will be an all in one and color capable.
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cherijoh
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by cherijoh »

My experience is all with home printers, so I can't recommend a specific printer. But here are some additional considerations:
  • Are you using the proper paper for your printer type? ( inkjet or laser vs. multi-purpose)
  • Does your printer have multiple settings that trade off quality vs. speed? If so, are you using the highest quality?
  • Does your printer allow you to specify which type of paper you are using?
takeshi
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Re: Printer suggestions?

Post by takeshi »

SimonJester wrote:You probably need to move away from the home marked products towards the business marketed products.
This and they will come at a price. A prioritized list may help as no option is going to offer the best of all requirements. I'd suggest focusing on color laser or dye sublimation if color printing is a must and cannot be outsourced. Don't even bother with inkjet.
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