Best sub-$500 networked color laser?

[clay]

We're looking for a new printer here in our office. We're an all-mac shop running 10.4 and 10.5 on various machines. We print a lot of text, some graphics (charts/graphs/etc), and even fewer photo elements. Although when we do print photo elements, it's usually as a soft-proof for a client's brochure or other print piece. So it does need to handle text and graphics equally well. We need a printer with built-in networking (ethernet) as well. I know about USB print sharing, but that's not an option we'd like to mess with for now. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

We're currently using a Xerox Phaser 6120N, and while it's worked acceptably well for us, we do have a few complaints with it:
1. Long wait for first page
2. Bad handling of envelopes
3. Expensive consumables (xerox brand, anyway)
4. Expensive drum replacement (somewhere around $200 every 25000 or so pages)

With those issues in mind, I've been tasked with finding us a new printer. Our requirements:
1. built-in ethernet
2. Sub-$500 if possible
3. Good paper-handling of various media sizes (don't need tabloid, although if it was included, we'd use it)
4. Good text and graphics reproduction(both computer-generated and photographic elements)
5. Mac-friendly
6. We don't need huge volume--probably on the order of 1000-2000 pages/mo
7. We'd like to start trying out some generic toner options, so a major brand printer probably gives us more options than a lesser-known printer
8. Long drum life (so we don't have to shell out for a new one every 25,000 pages)

I have a Brother B&W at home that has been rock-solid for me, but I haven't used their higher-end color lasers. My dad has several HP b&w lasers at their office, and they've been great, but again, I've not had experience with HP color lasers. A newer xerox is a possibility, I suppose, but only if they've addressed the issues I've described above. I've done a bunch of reading of reviews, but I'd be interested to hear if anyone out there has recommendations for us.

Thanks!

[jdc]

$200 every 25,000 pages = 2 years before replacement? i think thats pretty cheap...

cant touch a tabloid color laser for under $2500...

i have thought about trying one of the brother 4040s that seem to run under $300, and they dont seem to have anything more "high end" than that?

FWIW, i have a xerox 7300DN, and it also takes forever to warm up... toner is $280 each + $180 for imaging units + $220 for the fuser -- figured i spent close to $30,000 in supplies (not counting paper) in the last 5 years...

[PeterB]

I have the 6180, and have not noticed anything slow about it, have you maxed out the RAM?

Also-- I'm pretty sure you can refill the toner yourself and avoid buying the carts new. The drum, of course that's something else.

[Robert M]

Clay,

Don't expect any printer to handle envelopes well. In all the years I've used printers ranging from ancient dot matrix models on an Apple II+ through lasers printers with dedicated envelope trays to modern lasers and inkjets, none have ever handle envelopes well. In the end, it was vastly easier just to use a label printer, print on sheets of labels, hand address the envelopes, etc. That and if you must do envelopes, avoid using window envelopes. The plastic can melt during the printing process.

Robert

[volcs0]

We've been using this at home for three years now. We are "light" users, I'm sure - maybe 2500 pages/year, if that.

Dell 3100CN

http://reviews.cnet.com/laser-printers/d...33334.html

I picked it up for $220 or so, with free shipping, from Dell.

[clay]

[quote jdc]$200 every 25,000 pages = 2 years before replacement? i think thats pretty cheap...

cant touch a tabloid color laser for under $2500...

i have thought about trying one of the brother 4040s that seem to run under $300, and they dont seem to have anything more "high end" than that?

FWIW, i have a xerox 7300DN, and it also takes forever to warm up... toner is $280 each + $180 for imaging units + $220 for the fuser -- figured i spent close to $30,000 in supplies (not counting paper) in the last 5 years...
JDC -- $200 every 2 years + about $200 each time we need a new set of carts. I know manufacturers make their money on toner, but for this round, we'd rather put $400 into a new printer (with a new set of carts included, new drum, etc) than spend that same amount on new toner and drum.

Also, the tabloid thing isn't really a necessity--I wasn't aware where that started to enter the picture.

I've really liked my Brother that I've had here at home--I hesitate to recommend that for the office when it seems like Xerox and HP are the "big boys" in the printer business and cheap toner might be more readily available. Maybe I'll look into the model you mentioned further.

[clay]

[quote PeterB]I have the 6180, and have not noticed anything slow about it, have you maxed out the RAM?

Also-- I'm pretty sure you can refill the toner yourself and avoid buying the carts new. The drum, of course that's something else.
PeterB--I think they addressed some of the shortcomings of the 6120 with the 6180. I hadn't added any RAM to the 6120--I believe it came with 128 stock.

I'm definitely interested in toner refills--but as I mentioned in my response to JDC, we'd rather put $400 into a new printer than 3 toner carts and a drum at this point. Refills or even just generic carts are definitely in our future...

[clay]

[quote Robert M]Clay,

Don't expect any printer to handle envelopes well. In all the years I've used printers ranging from ancient dot matrix models on an Apple II+ through lasers printers with dedicated envelope trays to modern lasers and inkjets, none have ever handle envelopes well. In the end, it was vastly easier just to use a label printer, print on sheets of labels, hand address the envelopes, etc. That and if you must do envelopes, avoid using window envelopes. The plastic can melt during the printing process.

Robert
Good points, Robert. I don't know why we hadn't just gone the label route, but that would probably make more sense overall in our situation.

[clay]

I've been reading reviews on the Brother HL-4070cdw (built-in duplexer and wired/wireless networking) and it looks like it's gotten better reviews than any of the comparable Xerox or HP models that I found.

I think we'll be looking to go this route unless I uncover any "gotchas" within the next day or so. Plus, newegg has a great price right now ($329).

[jdc]

just report back after you get it how it goes

once people start saying "$200" i get jealous -- since its $1,000 for a set of carts (CMYK) for me