Duplex printer advice

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org]On Behalf Of Chuck Robey
> Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 5:26 PM
> To: Ted Mittelstaedt
> Cc: Kurt Buff; kline at thought.org; FreeBSD Questions; Derek Ragona
> Subject: Re: Duplex printer advice
>
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> > [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org]On Behalf Of Gary Kline
> > Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 12:23 PM
> > To: FreeBSD Questions
> > Cc: Kurt Buff; Derek Ragona
> > Subject: Re: Duplex printer advice
> >
> >
> >> I second this suggestion since my Brother HL-5250DN just-worked once it
> >> was plugged into my hub.  It was $179 at Costco a few months back, has
> >> all the features that David mentions, and builtin Postscript|clone.
> >> It just prints--nothing fancy--but then hey... .
> >
> > Just one warning about these.
> >
> > The toner empty light blinks use the same pattern as the
> > fuser fail.  And, unlike the HP units, you usually can't
> > "shake down" the cartridge to get an extra hundred or
> > so pages out of it.  Don't jump to conclusions that the
> > fuser is bad when it's out of toner.
>
> Man, this is really going to look like I'm never satisfied, which
> I guess is
> actually true, so why am I worried about that?  thanks to this
> thread, I found
> out about the Brother printers ... my own requirements list
> includes (color
> duplex printer scanner).  I don't need it to be a laser, but I do
> need both
> color, multifunc, and duplex printing.   I spotted the Brother
> the DCP-9045CDN,
> but at $700 list, I begin to wonder if I could find one with the
> same specs
> ESCEPTING it was the cheaper technology of inkjet.

No, no nooooo.... Don't join the dark side, Luke!

Inkjet color printing is NEVER cheaper.

Color laser is what you want.  There are some really
good inexpensive units out there.  I recall reading the
inexpensieve Samsung color laser even speaks Postscript.

The only time inkjet makes sense is if your printing
needs for your lifetime consist of a single ream of
paper.

My HP Laserjet 4+ at home is the oldest operating piece of
computer equipment I have.  And I fully expect it to last
another decade, and once it dies, I have another one in the
basement that I picked up for $50 - WITH a duplexer.

Color laserjets will end up doing the same thing.

The reason the printer mfgrs love inkjets is that
not only is the cost per page far higher, necessitating
frequent ink cartridge changes, but the ink cartridges
themselves dry up and stop working, and the printers
jam, strip gears, and stop working.  Thus you are able
to sell the person printer after printer.

If you look at laserjet sales, the only movement on
the printers themselves is
among people who buy laserjets for very high volume
printing.  Thus the printer manufacturers have bent
over backwards to keep the laserjets out of the retail
supply chain, and it is the new entries into the US
market - like brother, samsung and the like, who are
willing to go into the retail chain and discount.

When I visit Fry's every once in a while and overhear
people discussing what printer to buy, I love to
drag them over to the salesguy's little kiosk and point
out the HP Laserjet 8000n behind the counter, which
occupies just about all free space in the kiosk.
I ask them, why would Fry's stick this giant printer
behind the counter, and suck up all free space if
a small "personal" printer occuping so much less
space was as good of a deal?

But laserjet technology is old, been around for years,
and is very time tested.  If the average printer
consumer realized how much money they were tossing
away on inkjets, they would be demanding lasers and
the price of the laserjet would be dirt cheap.

>
> The reasoning behind going to inkjet is because I'm currently on
> a tight budget.
>  I really would like to pay no more than about half that $700.

You will pay more over the long haul, guarenteed.  Run the
numbers.  Seriously, this is one of those purchases where
it actually makes sense to finance it on a visa card or
some such.

Ted