Colour Laser Munltifunction

Pooky

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Colour Laser Multifunction

Looking to get one of these as they will be cheaper than running an inkjet - is this true?

What would you suggest? Been looking at the Samsung CLX-3185 it seems pretty good and a good price too.
 
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Just be aware that Samsung uses an embedded microprocessor in the toner cartridge to tell you when it is empty, even if it isn't. And it is not easy to override this, just so you can use the last toner in the cartridge.

I've had the experience of replacing the firmware in my SCX-4300 to ignore the reports from the cartridge, and there was a LOT of googling, and hoping and praying involved.
 
Just be aware that Samsung uses an embedded microprocessor in the toner cartridge to tell you when it is empty, even if it isn't. And it is not easy to override this, just so you can use the last toner in the cartridge.

I've had the experience of replacing the firmware in my SCX-4300 to ignore the reports from the cartridge, and there was a LOT of googling, and hoping and praying involved.

Say what? Didn't fully understand what you trying to say, but it sounds interesting, and I'd like to know more. If possible, please give more detail.
 
I've had a colour laser jet before. Worst printer I ever owned.

If you wanna print colour, ink jet is the way to go IMHO. Unless you print LOTS of colour pictures, then get a good quality colour laser printer. I think my problem was one of the lower end models (still cost like R4K).

For black and white, laser jet is king. I have an ink jet for those rare occasions I actually need colour and use the laser jet when I don't.

Both were cheapo printers (total cost R1.6k) and both have lasted a long time and don't cost me much.
 
I recently bought a Brother MFC 9320CW and so far I am quite happy with it. The prints come out quite nice, and the price was decent as well. I was actually originally looking at getting the HP CM1415 FNW but there is a worldwide shortage of these and I needed a printer urgently.

Obviously, one of the requirements was that the printer supported WiFi as I was not in the mood to run CAT5 to where the printer resides, but there are identical models without WiFi for a bit cheaper as well.

Only had the printer for a little over a week though, so can;t vouch for reliability, but the previous printer I had was an HP CLJ 2600n and that machine served me well for a very long time.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks guys will have a look at the suggestions. I am not going to be doing a lot of colour, definitely not photos or anything. The colour will be for diagrams or font etc.
 
High end CLJ's are awesome.

Low end are not cheaper to run than ink-jet but you get a lot less hassles with them.

We have a HPCLJ3050N here. Prints 20 color pages a minute, perfect quality 1200x1200dpi.
Downside? Costs about R6500 for the printer and the cartridges are about R1200 ea (you need 4).
 
Yeah that's expensive. We have around R2500 to spend.

Would it be a better option to just get a colour laser printer with no scanner and then buy a separate scanner?
 
Yeah that's expensive. We have around R2500 to spend.

Would it be a better option to just get a colour laser printer with no scanner and then buy a separate scanner?

That's what I would do.

The scanner or printer break in the combo and you end up with a fancy half-usable device.

at R2500 you can get a cheaper clj, just make sure you can get the RAM upgraded and do it, you are also looking at slower first print out times and prob around 8 to 12 pages per minute.

General rules when getting a CLJ.

Check the following before buying and compare the lot. If possible print out 1 photo on each type of printer and compare the results.
DPI
First print out time (some are instant on)
Monthly print cycle
pages per minute
Toner cost
Cost per black print (check what the toner's average prints is and divide by cost of toner)
Cost per color print

Be patient before you buy.
 
Just bought a Samsung 3185 Multifunction this weekend. I didn't need duplex or fax capabilities. It was R2400 @ Incredible Corruption. Good pricing on an original black replacement cartridge is R460 (Supposed to yield 1500 pages) & per colour cartridge is R405.00 (Supposed to yield a 1000 pages). Both the color printing & scanning quality is excellent!?! If you have another R1500 to spend you can obtain an HP CM1415 with network functionality built in.
 
Thanks, we can't really check all of that stuff before we buy as it is from insurance replacement people and we have to order it like today!

So for a simple colour laserjet with no scanning etc. is HP best? or what? Bear in mind that speed is not an issue. The cost per print would be the biggest issue as well as the print quality and the toner cost.
 
Hmmm just thinking, the problem with a separate scanner and printer, is that one can't photocopy easily.
 
Colour laser is going to be expensive on the cartridges side.

I'd take a network black/white laser from HP & a Canon scanner. Most of the canons have one touch photocopying.
 
The problem is, we need colour every now and then for certain things. Will even the B&W printing on a colour laserjet be expensive?
 
I had a Laserjet 2600N? in my office once.
That thing ate cartridges for breakfast lunch and supper (and a snack at midnight)
 
the black cartridge in a color laser printer is small (to make space for the color cartridges)
you run out of black MUCH quicker than you would on a mono laser.

best is to print black on a mono laser and color (only when you need it), on the color laser.
For R2500 get something like --> http://www.cutmans.co.za/product.php?id_product=1934

canon, epson, hp, they're all pretty much the same in that price range.
OCR however is nice for scanning text documents.
wifi and LAN too. (for obvious reasons)
 
So howabout buying a mono all in one laser and then using an inkjet for colour?
 
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