Do you get what you pay for with laser printers and all-in-ones?

[Dennis S]

They range form $50 to $300, it seems. If a cheap one had the features you need, is there a commensurate decline in quality?

[davester]

That question is so broad and vague as to be completely unanswerable. I think the general answer is "you get what you pay for".

[Acer]

Cheap ones may require more expensive refill cartridges.

[Dennis S]

davester wrote:
That question is so broad and vague as to be completely unanswerable. I think the general answer is "you get what you pay for".

Yes. That was the question. To be more specific, say a $75 printer doesn't have wireless and network and duplex, etc. The mfg. has apparently trimmed the features to get it to a lower price point. Do they also trim the quality, since they are getting into the realm of "cheap printers?"

[sunfalcon]

I've got a Brother HL-2040 that has been rock solid from day one. Super cheap and super reliable.

[Michael]

In my (limited) experience you do get what you pay for, but you have to decide if paying for an expensive printer makes sense. We have an expensive, high end HP networked laser printer at work that prints many hundreds of prints per day with nary a pause. We just toss in a new cartridge every once in a while. The thing has been running for 6 or 7 years.

At my house, I use the cheapest printer I can find (currently a Samsung 2010, I think), buy cheap cartridges from somebody I found on Google (I recently bought 2 3000 page cartridges for $53) and throw the printer away when it gets wonky. I have 12,000 pages on the Samsung and I've owned it for 3 years. I paid somewhere in the $40 range for it (after a rebate that I received). My current one is starting to make strange noises, so I'll look for a new one soon. If I printed a lot more than 10 pages a day, I'd get a better one. But, for me, buying one that is disposable makes more sense. I just don't have to worry about it ever needing repair since I pay so little.

[Robert M]

Dennis,

Yes, in my opinion. You definitely do get what you pay for though even the business oriented models are still not quite as durable as the laserwriters and laserjets of old, i.e. Laserwriter 16/600, Laserjet 4M+, etc.

I've found the more consumer oriented models simply do not hold up as well as the ones that are intended for business users. For example, the Canon MP150 inkjet all-in-one is a consumer oriented printer/scanner/copier. While it works and does its job well, it doesn't have the sturdy feel of my older HP Officejet 6110.

The power button of the Canon isn't working that well. It takes an extra try or two at times just to turn on the machine. Admittedly, it's two or so years old but it was a secondary printer that was barely used for the first 1.5 years. I now use it daily for printing UPS labels at my office, i.e. about five or six labels per day on the average.

Compare that to the OfficeJet 6110, which I bought as a refurb in 2002 or so. It's is only now finally showing its age and it was in regular use until about three months ago. The Canon doesn't hold a candle to it.

That said, I've had very bad experiences with the overall build quality and longevity of Brother printers. Enough so that I won't go near them unless a sweetheart deal makes it irresistible. Even then, I'd buy it with the expectation that I'd toss it in the trash once it runs out of ink or toner. In my experience, they aren't worth the cost of buy new consumables. Keep in mind, other members of the forum speak very highly of Brother laser printers and laser printer all-in-ones. Not sure what they say about Brother inkjet printers.

Robert

[Mac1337]

Dennis,

I have three "cheap" lasers. HP 1012, HP 1005 and a Brother 2070N. All print well. No difference. From what I understand, with the HPs when you change the toner you also change the drum. Not so with the Brother. I like the HPs because of this and their much smaller footprint. And, you can't go wrong with an HP printer.

[Bill in NC]

I'm loving my black & white Brother MFC-7840w (printer/fax/scanner/wireless!) laser (no duplex)

I've seen it as low as $200

I don't print much, but the 16/600 was getting way too slow with anything but text (forget PDF files)

Wireless is the bee's knees (you must associate it with a wireless router)
and works "like buttah" wirelessly with all our Macs & WinXP computers.