Looking for a nice quality color laser printer

[walter_moclear]

Hello,

I am looking to get a good color laser printer. We deal with fine furniture and we have to print nice pictures once in a while. We do not need to print quantities but when we print we need the colors and the quality to be beautiful. We like to use glossy paper.

We had the printer HP2600 and now we are testing the lexmark C543dn and we are very disappointed by the prints. Poor quality and colors when it is supposed to be a resolution of 1200 x 1200.

Can anybody recommend us toward which printer we should go?
Thanks in advance
Wally

[walter_moclear]

Any idea anybody? I really do not know in which direction to look

[KevinH]

A customer of mine uses the HP 4600 for their promotional material and are very happy with it.

Kevin

[redcow]

"we have to print nice pictures once in a while"

Go to a Kinkos.
It doesn't pay to spend the monies for the printer and then spend $100+ for each of 4 cartridges. And for a color printer, you definitely want a service contract.

It's probably not what to want to read, but you asked.

[walter_moclear]

Thank you all for your replies.

What is a service contact? Is it a lease? Is it expensive?
Sorry I am really a newbie

[cs_steve]

We use the Color 4650 in our office and it is great for what we do. It is a large workhorse style printer.

RedCow is right that many times it's more cost effective to have a print shop do your color printing. If you need high quality and you only print in small batches I would look into using a local print shop. However, if you're printing large batches, it would be cheaper for you to print it yourself.

Service contracts are repair agreements between you and a printer repair company. Sometimes you are leasing equipment from the repair company, sometimes the contract covers your own equipment. I disagree with RedCow though that you necessarily need a service contract for color printing :-)

I'm actually not a big fan of service contracts for most situations. A lot of times the repairs that need to be done are "user serviceable"; if you have IT people on staff, they can probably do most of the repairs and just call in a repair company for the big jobs. Also, a lot of service companies require you to buy your toner through them, etc. which is how they make their money but may not be the cheapest route for you.

There are some printer models that are reliable and fairly easy to maintain yourself (like the 4650, 5500, and 9500 series).

[walter_moclear]

Hi Steve,

Thank you so much for your reply. An additional question: what do you think of inkjet printer. I heard they can print beautifully photos on glossy paper?

Wally

[redcow]

Exactly how many of these "nice pictures" are you going to print "once in a while"?
For a small number, an ink jet, or photosmart printer may be the way to go. They are a lot slower than a laser printer, but they are also cheaper.

That being said, I still think Kinkos might be a better deal for you. You don't have to buy a printer or the supplies. The ink cartridges are dated because ink being somewhat liquid does dry out over time when not being used. Toner has no date code, but is relatively expensive, as are the laser printers.

That's my 2 cents.

[KevinH]

Exactly how many of these "nice pictures" are you going to print "once in a while"?
For a small number, an ink jet, or photosmart printer may be the way to go. They are a lot slower than a laser printer, but they are also cheaper.

That being said, I still think Kinkos might be a better deal for you. You don't have to buy a printer or the supplies. The ink cartridges are dated because ink being somewhat liquid does dry out over time when not being used. Toner has no date code, but is relatively expensive, as are the laser printers.

That's my 2 cents.

Inkjet Printers are a lot cheaper. Inkjet prints are a lot dearer. You may think you're saving on the cartridge cost because an inkjet cartridge may cost you $10 to $25 but for that you can expect to get from 200 to 400/500 sheets, less if three of the colours are in the same cartridge. With a laser printer you pay more for each cartridge but the page yield is in the 1,000's, and the 4600 I recommended earlier will do 8,000 pages in colour for example.

Now if your volume is low and you don't mind waiting a minute per page then I would recommend inkjet. If you print a lot then it makes a lot more sense to go with a laser.

Also, ink for inkjets will dry up without at least occasional use but toner for laser printers while it won't dry up it also has a shelf life and is only recommended for two years, though you may well get more than that from it.

A Maintenance Contract may be worth looking into if you want hassle free printing. You typically pay what's known as a "click charge", or a set fee per page printed. The maintenance company then supply you with toner and anything else that is needed throughout the life of the printer. However, I would only consider this route if you plan on printing a lot, as in at least a few thousand pages per month. I doubt if any maintenance contract company would consider you for anything less.

Kevin

[ridwan]

Some of the high quality color laser printers are:

Brother HL4040N
Lexmark C530dn
HP Color LaserJet 2600n