Which Laser Printer for FreeBSD

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

Go buy a HP Laserjet 4M+ that's used.  For starters the things are
indestructible
you might have to do a feed roller replacement at 50,000 prints, but other
than
that you just keep putting toner and paper in it.  They are dirt cheap used
and
the remanufactured toner cartridges for them are also dirt cheap.  The
PostScript
is real PostScript.  They take an internal print server card that is also
dirt
cheap on the used market.

The problem with the cheapie Laserprinters like the 6L is they will fall
apart
after a few thousand prints, their toner cartridges are tiny which
necessitates
frequent replacement.

Keep in mind the printer companies have 2 markets they serve.  The first is
the
commercial market who cares about things like per-page costs.  The second is
the retail market comprised mostly of morons who only buy what's on sale and
couldn't calculate a per-page cost.

Customers in the first market are quite willing to pay a higher initial cost
for
the printer if the supplies are lower priced or more economical because it
drops
the per-page cost.  Thus, a printer that costs $199 that has a toner
cartridge that only prints 500 copies, and costs $100 to replace, will be
ignored in favor of a
printer that costs $1000 that has a toner cartridge that prints 3000 copies
and
costs $100 to replace.

Customers in the second market will ignore a $999 printer and buy the $199
printer.
This describes most retail customers to a T.

Now, it probably costs the printer manufacturer about $150.00 to manufacture
either
the $1000 printer or the $199 printer.  So, to maintain profitability on the
$199 printers, they give away the printer and make the money on the toner
cartridges.

The 4+ was in the business classification when it was new.  Thus you get the
benefit
of a $1000 printer that was designed for low page counts, for a low cost
initial
price.

Ted

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org]On Behalf Of Martin Moeller
> Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 6:40 AM
> To: freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> Subject: Which Laser Printer for FreeBSD
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm planning to buy a new printer, because the results with my
> Canon S500 are
> total crap. I guess a laser printer is the best choice for Unix, and I'm
> wondering which one I should buy.
>
> I thought about the HP Laserjet 6L or something in this category.
> Any advice?
>
> Thanks!
> Martin
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