I sometimes need to print letters and other things but I don't do much printing because the ink is so expensive for my Epson DX5050 printer. This is my third inkjet printer and none of them have given good results. I think they would work better if they were used more often but that is not an option. I did try a cartridge refill kit from Tesco but that was a disaster so I went back to buying cartridges. I'm thinking of scrapping the Epson and buying a new printer but wondered if a laser printer would be better for irregular use or do these also give trouble if only used once every couple of months?
Printer- Inkjet or laser?
- Thread starter fidom
- Start date
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Really does depend on your usage.
If you want colour and print colour pics then inkjet is for you.
Epson SX series (end of line) and the new XP series have compatibles that are about £3-4 per colour.
No real need to buy original inks all the time. If you printed high saturated colour images then original inks would be better.
If you print/wanted to print reams of text, then a laser printer would be better, but bear in mind the cost of the laser toner cartridge is far greater than an inkjet.
I manage both in my job and buy original AND compatibles for both inkjets and lasers. I manage approx. 12 laser printers and 10 inkjets.
As an example;
HP CP2025n A4 colour laser printer.
Original toner = approx. £90
Compatiblesa = approx. £23
Epson SX435 AIO A4 colour inkjet;
Original inks = £7
Compatible ink = £3
Now, not all compatibles are created equally, but for the saving i make on laser toners i can afford to buy 3 compatibles for the price of one original.
Hope this helps any.
If you want colour and print colour pics then inkjet is for you.
Epson SX series (end of line) and the new XP series have compatibles that are about £3-4 per colour.
No real need to buy original inks all the time. If you printed high saturated colour images then original inks would be better.
If you print/wanted to print reams of text, then a laser printer would be better, but bear in mind the cost of the laser toner cartridge is far greater than an inkjet.
I manage both in my job and buy original AND compatibles for both inkjets and lasers. I manage approx. 12 laser printers and 10 inkjets.
As an example;
HP CP2025n A4 colour laser printer.
Original toner = approx. £90
Compatiblesa = approx. £23
Epson SX435 AIO A4 colour inkjet;
Original inks = £7
Compatible ink = £3
Now, not all compatibles are created equally, but for the saving i make on laser toners i can afford to buy 3 compatibles for the price of one original.
Hope this helps any.
Thanks kjacko,
Do the toner cartridges do a similar amount of printing to the ink ones then? I had hoped they might give more pages per cartridge than the inkjet ones.
I think I probably use more ink cleaning the nozzles than I do actual printing as it never seems to work properly straight away. The quality was so poor that I gave up printing photos years ago and in UK I used to take my memory cards in to Asda to get prints. I mainly need a printer for letters, official forms and things like flight and rail confirmations. I could probably manage with mono but was thinking perhaps a cheapo colour laser such as the Dell 1250C.
Do the toner cartridges do a similar amount of printing to the ink ones then? I had hoped they might give more pages per cartridge than the inkjet ones.
I think I probably use more ink cleaning the nozzles than I do actual printing as it never seems to work properly straight away. The quality was so poor that I gave up printing photos years ago and in UK I used to take my memory cards in to Asda to get prints. I mainly need a printer for letters, official forms and things like flight and rail confirmations. I could probably manage with mono but was thinking perhaps a cheapo colour laser such as the Dell 1250C.
In my opinion, for the occasional user laser is the way to go. The toner cartridges do not dry out, the print heads do not block, and, best of all, cost per page is well below the inkjets!
My colour laser, an Epson Aculaser C1750N is currently available for under £100 and the toners supplied with the machine (which are not full) are estimated to do 400+ pages. Hi-Capacity compatible toners are around £30 each (genuines are around £55-60 each) and will do 1400 pages (Colour) and 2000 pages (black). The imaging drum is good for 40,000 pages, and when it expires, it is probably cheaper to scrap the printer and get another!
For mono only, I use the Samsung ML1660 which cost me £40 new. Compatible toners are under £20 and will do 2000+ pages.
If you do not want to go laser, and only print occasionally, a machine with water-based inks like the Hewlett Packard range in my opinion are better, because they do not dry out as quickly as the spirit-based inks like the Epsons.
Currently the HP Deskjet 2510 is available for £30, and its wireless stablemate the HP 3055A for £45. Both use the same 301 cartridges, the high capacity ones do about 500 pages and genuines cost about £17 black and £23 colour. Compatibles are about £25 for the pair.
The choice is yours.
My colour laser, an Epson Aculaser C1750N is currently available for under £100 and the toners supplied with the machine (which are not full) are estimated to do 400+ pages. Hi-Capacity compatible toners are around £30 each (genuines are around £55-60 each) and will do 1400 pages (Colour) and 2000 pages (black). The imaging drum is good for 40,000 pages, and when it expires, it is probably cheaper to scrap the printer and get another!
For mono only, I use the Samsung ML1660 which cost me £40 new. Compatible toners are under £20 and will do 2000+ pages.
If you do not want to go laser, and only print occasionally, a machine with water-based inks like the Hewlett Packard range in my opinion are better, because they do not dry out as quickly as the spirit-based inks like the Epsons.
Currently the HP Deskjet 2510 is available for £30, and its wireless stablemate the HP 3055A for £45. Both use the same 301 cartridges, the high capacity ones do about 500 pages and genuines cost about £17 black and £23 colour. Compatibles are about £25 for the pair.
The choice is yours.
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Yeah, good call on the HP ones Astra. They are good, but you do pay for them.
Also i have about 9 Brother HL-2270DW mono wifi lasers. The HL-2250D is the non-wifi and can be had for £50.
I buy the toner refills bottles at £9.99 each.
That's value for money. The drums last a good long while, but are about £53 new.
Also i have about 9 Brother HL-2270DW mono wifi lasers. The HL-2250D is the non-wifi and can be had for £50.
I buy the toner refills bottles at £9.99 each.
That's value for money. The drums last a good long while, but are about £53 new.
For what its worth I use a work retired HP laserjet 6p using a parallel to USB lead. It is networked at home so everyone can access it 24/7
It prints black only (includes shades of grey!), but for text work and non-colour graphics it is still the only printer I use. The cartridge seems to last forever and costs less than £10 off ebay (I usually try for the original ones). Way cheaper to run than the inkjets. So I always have one cartridge in use and one spare ready to replace. Even when the one in use starts to go, you shake it to resettle the toner and it goes on to print loads more, so no sudden run out.
I have used various models of the HP laserjets (at work) and they all do a good job. The only practical advantage with some of the more expensive ones seems that they are faster.
I do have a couple of inkjets as well but only for use when colour is required.
We had a couple of newer HP laserjets on one job and they were fine, (no idea of long term reliability as only in use a year). I don't recall haveing to change the toner on mine! Similar versions currently cost less than £90 and have wireless connections built in.
It prints black only (includes shades of grey!), but for text work and non-colour graphics it is still the only printer I use. The cartridge seems to last forever and costs less than £10 off ebay (I usually try for the original ones). Way cheaper to run than the inkjets. So I always have one cartridge in use and one spare ready to replace. Even when the one in use starts to go, you shake it to resettle the toner and it goes on to print loads more, so no sudden run out.
I have used various models of the HP laserjets (at work) and they all do a good job. The only practical advantage with some of the more expensive ones seems that they are faster.
I do have a couple of inkjets as well but only for use when colour is required.
We had a couple of newer HP laserjets on one job and they were fine, (no idea of long term reliability as only in use a year). I don't recall haveing to change the toner on mine! Similar versions currently cost less than £90 and have wireless connections built in.
Thanks for the replies. I have actually now ordered a Samsung ML-2165 which is a mono laser. I will keep the DX5050 as a scanner so will still have the photocopy facility using the 2 devices.
To be honest I ordered it by mistake, as I just wanted to check out the online ordering system here in Hungary. They don't seem to use debit / credit cards but prefer cash on delivery. In UK you can pull out of a purchase at the card detail stage but you often can only find out the delivery charge by placing a pretend order. What with language difficulties and the lack of a card detail stage I managed to place the order before I was ready!
To be honest I ordered it by mistake, as I just wanted to check out the online ordering system here in Hungary. They don't seem to use debit / credit cards but prefer cash on delivery. In UK you can pull out of a purchase at the card detail stage but you often can only find out the delivery charge by placing a pretend order. What with language difficulties and the lack of a card detail stage I managed to place the order before I was ready!
Hi Fidom
For information, the ML-2165 can be bought over here for about £50 plus delivery (say a tenner). The ML2165W (wireless version) is about £75. Genuine toners are around £50 and thus compatibles I would estimate to be around £30.
Hope this helps
For information, the ML-2165 can be bought over here for about £50 plus delivery (say a tenner). The ML2165W (wireless version) is about £75. Genuine toners are around £50 and thus compatibles I would estimate to be around £30.
Hope this helps
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