Color Laser Printers
 

I am looking at investing in a color laser printer. Why?

1) Ever since we got this digital camera, my photo albums have been BARE. I shoot, I upload, I share....but I rarely print. All in all, I'd rather buy the photo paper and print them myself.

2) I write A LOT, and I think some of you all know, I'm trying to make a career out of it. I have to write lots of query letters and whatnot. Print envelopes, etc. The quality of my ink jet just isn't cutting it for the volume of stuff I have to print.


Now....I am on best buy.com, and I see that color laser printers are reasonably priced. I was expecting them to be over a grand, but many are in the 500 dollar range.

Does anybody know anything about these things and what I should be looking for?

First of all, don't buy a color laser if you want print quality. Inkjet printers will always have a better quality for photographs. The highest resolution currently being offered (Lexmark, HP, Canon, & Epson) is 4800 x 1200 dpi (dots per inch.) Most likely, if you have an old inkjet, you are only using 600 x 600 dpi or 1200 x 1200 dpi. Also, when printing photographs, to use the highest quality your printer offers you should use photograph paper (i.e. glossy or coated paper) which color laser printers will NOT support.

Also, color laser printers will usually only offer 2400 Image Quality 'cause they can't offer a true 2400 x 2400 dpi. 2400 Image Quality is where they scatter the dots per inch instead of having exactly 2400 dots across vs. 2400 dots down. The best color lasers will offer a true 1200 x 1200 dpi.

There are many high volume inkjet printers (all inkjet printers will print in color assuming you have a color cartridge installed) so when looking to purchase one make sure you pick a printer with a high duty cycle. Anything that estimates over 5000 pages per month is a good idea.

Now, if you insist on purchasing a color laser for photographs look for the highest resolution you can. ASK if the printer will support photograph paper (and I don't mean asking the salesman, call the company of the printer you are looking to purchase), and don't forget that toner cartridges will be much more costly than an inkjet cartridge, but since its powder & not ink it will not evaporate so it'll last you longer. And oh yeah, you'll have to buy 4 toner cartridges (black, yellow, magenta, & cyan) as opposed to usually just 2 ink cartridges (black & color, which could potentially dry out over time if not used often.)

If you have any other questions or would like help making/narrowing down a selection just ask!

I wouldn't do color laser for photos. I'd buy a cheap black and white laser printer for 100 bucks and an inkjet printer that's good for photos for around 100-150 and I bet you'd be set.

Or just upload your photos to the net and order prints there.

-Rudey

Thanks, all!!




Believe it or not, that's too much trouble for me.

lol well there are usually kodak booths in places like wallgreens and cvs where you just take your pictures and print it yourself.

-Rudey
--If you have Amerie nekked and are scared people will see, I'll develop them for free

Well, you might want to consider it. Printers (in the general sense) have really only been around for the last 15 years. If you are looking for "archival ink" you will find lots of companies that tell you they have it, but I always wonder how they can honestly say that when they haven't been around for 50-100 years! Ordering your prints or taking them to get developed will ensure that your pictures last a lot longer!

What Rudey said -- lasers are great for printing B&W. They're by far cheaper. Inkjet cartridges are just so damned expensive. Make sure you buy a printer that has big ink cartridges (NOT CANON).

as you get closer...you might do some shopping on the net for ink cartridges. if you buy over the counter, it will kill you.

You want to look for inkjet cartridges that are high yield. Meaning that they will yield more pages than a regular cartridge. You'll be hard pressed for the yields of cartridges these days; because there isn't an industry standard, different companies will give a yield while others won't or even if you do get the yields you can't really compare them! Be sure they give you the yield in 5% & 15% yields. 5% is your standard business letter (for the black cartridge) and 15% is your standard business letter plus a 3 x 5 image (for the color cartridge.)


Buying over the web is a great idea, but you better make sure you aren't buying a refilled or refurbished cartridge, or a refill kit. If you are going to spend a lot of money on purchasing a printer you don't want to void your warranty by using a cartridge that could possibly damage your printer anyway!

And of course, if you don't plan on using your cartridges often be prepared for them to dry out & have to buy new ones! Inkjet cartridges should be used at least once a week so you get your full usage out of them! And when you print @ a higher resolution you can guarantee you'll run out of ink quicker!