Color Laser Printers

[Gordon Hamm]

I have bought cheap color laser printers for my business. They are
junk compared to a good commercial
color laser printer like the Ricoh CPC410 dn. The toner cartridges are
huge and last forever. Plus the cartridges are about the same price as
a standard cartridge for a cheap color laser. Spend the extra money it
is well worth it.

[Arthur Entlich]

Your advice is well taken, especially for color laser printers, but also
to some extent for inkjet printers as well. The business model used by
both requires that profits be made somewhere. If the cost of
acquisition for the printer is very low, then the manufacturer will
attempt to make up the loss in the sale of consumables like ink or
toner. If the cost of acquisition is greater to allow for more profit
margin there, then usually the product is better made and the cost of
the consumables can be flatter.

I suggest people attempt to find the "sweet spot" in the printer they
need. Obviously size of output, and quality are all foremost
considerations. However issues like durability, speed, cost of
peripheral and add on items like memory and paper trays, and warranty
period should all be looked at. For people not requiring the best of
class, the middle grade product is often a good place to aim for. It
usually provided a fairly well built product, a good warranty,
reasonable speed, and the extra cost in acquisition is often balanced by
more consumable in the box to begin with, and lower prices on
replacement consumable goods.

Also, the output quality and options are sometimes superior.

Lastly, the printer itself will probably get longer use, improving the
environmental footprint of such purchases.

Art

If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

[LouB]

Arthur Entlich wrote:
> Your advice is well taken, especially for color laser printers, but also
> to some extent for inkjet printers as well. The business model used by
> both requires that profits be made somewhere. If the cost of
> acquisition for the printer is very low, then the manufacturer will
> attempt to make up the loss in the sale of consumables like ink or
> toner. If the cost of acquisition is greater to allow for more profit
> margin there, then usually the product is better made and the cost of
> the consumables can be flatter.
>
> I suggest people attempt to find the "sweet spot" in the printer they
> need. Obviously size of output, and quality are all foremost
> considerations. However issues like durability, speed, cost of
> peripheral and add on items like memory and paper trays, and warranty
> period should all be looked at. For people not requiring the best of
> class, the middle grade product is often a good place to aim for. It
> usually provided a fairly well built product, a good warranty,
> reasonable speed, and the extra cost in acquisition is often balanced by
> more consumable in the box to begin with, and lower prices on
> replacement consumable goods.
>
> Also, the output quality and options are sometimes superior.
>
> Lastly, the printer itself will probably get longer use, improving the
> environmental footprint of such purchases.
>
> Art

Part of finding the sweet spot is watching for sales. Sometimes there
are nice deals on good machines. Other times printer is so inexpensive
one does not mind dumping it when the "ink" runs out.

Lou

[Arthur Entlich]

It pains me to think of people dumping printers when the consumable inks
or toner run out. The consequences are not just economic. We probably
need to start taxing or requiring that "real" environmental footprint
costs are added into the purchase price. That would make the
manufacturers develop printers with better lifespans as well, to keep
extra fees down.

Art

If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

[LouB]

Arthur Entlich wrote:
> It pains me to think of people dumping printers when the consumable inks
> or toner run out. The consequences are not just economic. We probably
> need to start taxing or requiring that "real" environmental footprint
> costs are added into the purchase price. That would make the
> manufacturers develop printers with better lifespans as well, to keep
> extra fees down.
>
> Art
>
>

Agreed

Lou