Should I get a Laser Printer? Ink Jet 25 pages for $15 is crazy

Thread Starter

Lumenosity

Joined Mar 1, 2017
614
I Google InkJet Cost Per Page and I see 150 - 200 pages per cartridge for a cost per page of around 20cents.

So are they just printing one sentence on those pages because I print USPS shipping labels and I only get about 25 - 30 labels out of a $16.00 cartridge? At the very BEST, that's like 50 cents per printed page....or more. It's killing me.
This is without printing the second, information sheet that usually accompanies USPS labels.

Anyone go from an InkJet to a Laser and notice much difference?

What's a good Laser to buy for printing about 50 labels a month?
I was looking at a Samsung m2020w

I also want to start making PCB boards so I need a laser for that as well.
 

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
I Google InkJet Cost Per Page and I see 150 - 200 pages per cartridge for a cost per page of around 20cents.

So are they just printing one sentence on those pages because I print USPS shipping labels and I only get about 25 - 30 labels out of a $16.00 cartridge? At the very BEST, that's like 50 cents per printed page....or more. It's killing me.
This is without printing the second, information sheet that usually accompanies USPS labels.

Anyone go from an InkJet to a Laser and notice much difference?

What's a good Laser to buy for printing about 50 labels a month?
I was looking at a Samsung m2020w

I also want to start making PCB boards so I need a laser for that as well.
Pictures are a better way to go with inkjet, otherwise laser is the way to go. I feel the same way, I'm done with cheap inkjets.

kv
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
I bought a used HP LaserJet 4050TN from an auction site for $50 about 8 years ago. It was due for the reconditioning kit, but I kept on using it as-is anyway.
1chance had a used book business and sold anywhere from 2 to 35 books a week. We have probably printed more than 10 reams of paper, and we are on the 2nd toner cartridge - those cost around $135/each and are good for around 6,000 pages of text.

I've been quite happy with this printer, even though it's relatively ancient. Ours has an Ethernet card in it, and I have it connected to our router. The only thing I can't do with it is print from my cell phone.

We also have several dead ink printers that we quit using years ago. They are fairly cheap to buy initially, but the cost of cartridges is ridiculous.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
Anyone go from an InkJet to a Laser and notice much difference?
I gave up on inkjets long ago. It seemed that every time someone wanted to use the inkjet, cleaning needed to be done (and that consumes a lot of ink).

I use a Lexmark OptraE+ for B&W printing where I don't care much about quality, and for all of my toner transfer. For all other printing, I use a Phaser 6200DP 1200 DPI color laser. Pictures don't look bad, but we don't print any high resolution pictures (from a digital camera); for that, we send the files to Costco.

The Phaser has enough built-in diagnostics that I can figure out what consumable needs to be replaced. Once had bars on the printout that were traced to the imager (that had 100% life left, but became defective and was allowing toner to get where it shouldn't be).

Page count for toner cartridges is for 5% coverage and most are rated for around 5000 pages.
 
I am quite happy with my Brother HL-22. Excellent for light home use and dirt cheap. Reasonably priced 3rd party toner which works fine for me.

@SgtWookie For years and years we used HP Laser printers. They were the king and quite the workhorses - in my view, nothing came close. But, it seemed to me that they lost a step....at least at the low end.
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
@Raymond Genovese - yes, the lower end of HP Laserprinters seemed to go downhill after the LJ 4. The factory printer drivers became far too aggressive, INSISTING that the HPLJ be connected and powered up ready to print before you could do anything else, and the "toner low" nag was incessantly annoying.

Uninstalling the HP drivers and installing the Windows drivers resulted in some loss in functionality, but eliminated the annoyances.
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
I gave up on inkjets long ago. It seemed that every time someone wanted to use the inkjet, cleaning needed to be done (and that consumes a lot of ink).

.
I have that same issue. My Lexmark is driving me nuts. I never had a problem with the old HP. I have been wanting to buy those syringes that you fill with alcohol to clean the printer heads.
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
I Google InkJet Cost Per Page and I see 150 - 200 pages per cartridge for a cost per page of around 20cents.

So are they just printing one sentence on those pages because I print USPS shipping labels and I only get about 25 - 30 labels out of a $16.00 cartridge? At the very BEST, that's like 50 cents per printed page....or more. It's killing me.
This is without printing the second, information sheet that usually accompanies USPS labels.

Anyone go from an InkJet to a Laser and notice much difference?

What's a good Laser to buy for printing about 50 labels a month?
I was looking at a Samsung m2020w

I also want to start making PCB boards so I need a laser for that as well.

If you get a Laserjet then you can do toner transfer. It is useful for more than just circuit boards. I just did my analog meter clock front panel with toner transfer.

I would go with an HP with official HP cartridges. People seem to have most luck with those.
 

Thread Starter

Lumenosity

Joined Mar 1, 2017
614
If you get a Laserjet then you can do toner transfer. It is useful for more than just circuit boards. I just did my analog meter clock front panel with toner transfer.

I would go with an HP with official HP cartridges. People seem to have most luck with those.
Is there a link with photos to some of the toner transfer you've done?
Would it work with COLOR as well as B&W ?
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
... I have been wanting to buy those syringes that you fill with alcohol to clean the printer heads.
Stop by any PA pharmacy. They have to sell you a syringe with needle - no prescription, no ID, just cash and carry. There is also a limit on how much they can charge. They are generally less than a buck. After all, we don't want anyone using a dirty needle (or sharing a needle) to clean their printer.
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Stop by any PA pharmacy. They have to sell you a syringe with needle - no prescription, no ID, just cash and carry. There is also a limit on how much they can charge. They are generally less than a buck. After all, we don't want anyone using a dirty needle (or sharing a needle) to clean their printer.

Well you really need the tube that fits on the nozzle too. But I am thinking it would not work anyway since cartridges need to be installed to clean the heads.

What I sometimes do is put a few drops of alcohol in the dispensing port of the cartridge then run the cleaning routine. I would like to be able to refill old cartridges with alcohol but the ones with the chips are not supposed to be refillable.
 

takao21203

Joined Apr 28, 2012
3,702
you should definitely get a laser printer you get more than 500 pages from a single toner cartridge and refilled are not expensive

Ink is no good you get contamination cant use all of it and doesnt last long as well the cartridges do dry out after some while
 
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