Wifi laser printer advice

whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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Hi,

I'm after finally ditching my inkjet that needs a new cartridge buying every time i want to use it once in a blue moon because the old is caked in crust.

So i'm after a laser printer. But i need it to support Google Cloud Print and Apple AirPrint (from mobiles).

I'm undecided on colour or mono at this stage, probably depending on price. What would people recommend for each?

Cheers,
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Comments

  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    i was looking at some laser printers in currys today with wifi, but they are pretty basic. i don't know if they work with Google Cloud Print what ever that is.

    i like the look of the Samsung, but the brother got a higher resolution, but it Ethernet only not wireless.

    My Canon bubble jet is not used a lot these days, but it seems to work fine even after a few weeks of not being used.
    i just want something that I can print out documents from the laptop say and not have to bother with the main computer


    some here from currys , could be cheaper elsewhere.

    the one thing you need to look at is running costs
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Cheers,

    This is the big thing tbh, we hardly print anything, and i'll often just email it to work to print because i'll have to get the home printer working again, its crap.

    Laser printers dont jam up if you dont use them for a month though from what i hear, so its not £10 to print one sheet every few weeks!.
    noise747 wrote: »
    the one thing you need to look at is running costs
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    Laser printers can and do jam up as much as a ink jet printer, it depends on the paper path and how good the feed is. Our Hp printers at work are awful for jamming, but then they do process a lot of work.

    Saying that I know someone who got a Lexmark Laser and it have been fine for years.

    The one thing Lasers don't do is dry up, so you can leave them for months and they should still work when you next use them. laser printers are also cheaper to run than a inkjet.

    Even colour ones are pretty cheap these days.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Yeah i didn't mean jam up, but dry up. At my work they jam all the time too.

    Any advice on which to buy?
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    A laser printer is fine for letters and documents, if you want to print nice photo's you need a colour printer, usually an ink jet. I use an Epson SX????? (can' remember the number) scanner/copier/printer and its wireless. Works a treat and print great photo's. The beauty of a lot of Epson printers is the availability of compatible cartridges. It takes four different cartridges that make up the colour print and I buy three sets (12 cartridges) for a tenner delivered off ebay. Epson SX445W all in one can be had for less than £50 and is cloud print ready.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    A lot of jams in lasers are due to worn rollers as they're meant to last for so many pages before replacement as they're soft rubber with a bit of grip but over time they go smooth and one picks up the paper slightly better than the other one at the other side and it crashes and people just reset the replacement messages so they can print out their job but then wonder why a few weeks later things start to go wrong

    But a well maintained printer can easily last 20 years...looks at my trusty laserjet 5l and theres plenty of mid 1990's LJ4000's still knocking around doing good service
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    Yeah i didn't mean jam up, but dry up. At my work they jam all the time too.

    Any advice on which to buy?

    Not sure really, the Samsung looks good, but the BROTHER HL2135W seems to have a better print quality resolution wise for a little bit more money.

    Not sure which one I will get, i don't think I need colour as i got the Canon inkjet, which as Neo says being a inkjet, ok a bullble jet in Canons case, it produces better photos than what a Laser printer can.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    A laser printer is fine for letters and documents, if you want to print nice photo's you need a colour printer, usually an ink jet. I use an Epson SX????? (can' remember the number) scanner/copier/printer and its wireless. Works a treat and print great photo's. The beauty of a lot of Epson printers is the availability of compatible cartridges. It takes four different cartridges that make up the colour print and I buy three sets (12 cartridges) for a tenner delivered off ebay. Epson SX445W all in one can be had for less than £50 and is cloud print ready.

    I think he knows that, but he don't use the printer a lot and he finds it dries up, which is a major problem with inkjets, and even with cheap ink, it still works out more expensive than a laser to run.

    Also some people don't want a all in one, my next inkjet will not be a all in one. i got a great scanner so I don't need another.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    Maxatoria wrote: »
    A lot of jams in lasers are due to worn rollers as they're meant to last for so many pages before replacement as they're soft rubber with a bit of grip but over time they go smooth and one picks up the paper slightly better than the other one at the other side and it crashes and people just reset the replacement messages so they can print out their job but then wonder why a few weeks later things start to go wrong

    But a well maintained printer can easily last 20 years...looks at my trusty laserjet 5l and theres plenty of mid 1990's LJ4000's still knocking around doing good service

    Oh yeah, I know someone who still uses a LJ4000 and it still works fine, had a bit of work done to it, but a really good workhorse.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    I'm just looking into the brother range in more detail which i've seem to have settled on. But what does the carton dimensions mean?
    http://www.brother-usa.com/Printer/ModelDetail/1/HL3170CDW/spec#.UdBLY_nCZ8E

    I'm trying to keep the size of the printer i get as small as possible.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    noise747 wrote: »
    I think he knows that, but he don't use the printer a lot and he finds it dries up, which is a major problem with inkjets, and even with cheap ink, it still works out more expensive than a laser to run.

    Also some people don't want a all in one, my next inkjet will not be a all in one. i got a great scanner so I don't need another.

    But you loose the colour option. Cartridges don't dry up over night and at less than a quid a time its not a worry. In my personal experience it can take months before a cartridge goes dry on you. The all in one printers are handy, you don't have to use the scanner part do you although for the majority of everyday users the quality on them is fine; I don't see the point in wasting desk space using two machines when one will do the job.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    But you loose the colour option. Cartridges don't dry up over night and at less than a quid a time its not a worry. In my personal experience it can take months before a cartridge goes dry on you. The all in one printers are handy, you don't have to use the scanner part do you although for the majority of everyday users the quality on them is fine; I don't see the point in wasting desk space using two machines when one will do the job.

    Well i must leave my inkjet that long then because they DO dry up. I normally just end up printing at work so i dont have to waste another cartridge just to print off some holiday or gig tickets again.
  • StigStig Posts: 12,446
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    Well i must leave my inkjet that long then because they DO dry up. I normally just end up printing at work so i dont have to waste another cartridge just to print off some holiday or gig tickets again.

    What make of inkjet are you having problems with? I use HP printers and I've never had an issue with dried up inks. I only use my printer every other week or so.

    Laser printers are only more economic if you do large numbers of prints.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Stig wrote: »
    What make of inkjet are you having problems with? I use HP printers and I've never had an issue with dried up inks. I only use my printer every other week or so.

    Laser printers are only more economic if you do large numbers of prints.

    Its an Epson 915, but i only print every other month rather than week.
  • StigStig Posts: 12,446
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    Its an Epson 915, but i only print every other month rather than week.

    Perhaps other people will confirm; I have a feeling that Epson's are particularly bad in this regard.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    Stig wrote: »
    Perhaps other people will confirm; I have a feeling that Epson's are particularly bad in this regard.

    No, I find them good, better than the Cannon's I had in the past and as said in a previous post at <£1 for a cartridge the Epson's are perfect for occasional users.

    Because of this thread I checked with my daughter and she's had no dry tank issues with her Epson either and she rarely prints but did a week or two back to print photo's for an aged relative who is not into technology at all; this was after not using her printer for a a good few weeks.
  • yorkieUKyorkieUK Posts: 2,159
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    I bought a new colour laser printer only this week. I got it from:

    http://www.printerland.co.uk/

    When I phoned them they were very knowledgeable and happy to help! Might be worth giving them a call. They seem to have a pretty good range of printers too.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    yorkieUK wrote: »
    I bought a new colour laser printer only this week. I got it from:

    http://www.printerland.co.uk/

    When I phoned them they were very knowledgeable and happy to help! Might be worth giving them a call. They seem to have a pretty good range of printers too.

    I've looked at colour laser printers in the past but the photo quality was less than impressive, have they improved massively in the last two or three years?
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    I'm just looking into the brother range in more detail which i've seem to have settled on. But what does the carton dimensions mean?
    http://www.brother-usa.com/Printer/ModelDetail/1/HL3170CDW/spec#.UdBLY_nCZ8E

    I'm trying to keep the size of the printer i get as small as possible.

    The size of the box it comes in, the unit size is above, which is 16.1" x 18.3" x 9.4". that is in inches mind you.

    i never had a brother printer, but I know someone who does and it seems ok.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    noise747 wrote: »
    The size of the box it comes in, the unit size is above, which is 16.1" x 18.3" x 9.4". that is in inches mind you.

    i never had a brother printer, but I know someone who does and it seems ok.

    Why would it matter what size box it comes in? :confused:

    I've bought HL3140CW now anyway, so i'll let you all know if i'm not happy with it :)
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    But you loose the colour option. Cartridges don't dry up over night and at less than a quid a time its not a worry. In my personal experience it can take months before a cartridge goes dry on you. The all in one printers are handy, you don't have to use the scanner part do you although for the majority of everyday users the quality on them is fine; I don't see the point in wasting desk space using two machines when one will do the job.

    Maybe they don't need the colour option, most of my printing is monochrome and a quick laser printer is a good thing.

    I must admit I don't have any problems with ink drying up on my Canon, which is a good thing really. The problem with Epsons and canons is that the printing head is part of the printer, ok the Canons can be taken out, but the cost of a new printing head if it became blocked is almost as much as the printer, if I could get one now.

    HP, while I am not fond of their printers do have the printing head on the ink cartridge, so if it dries up just get a new cartridge.

    What is the point in buying a printer with a scanner on that you are not going to used. you seem to like features that may not be used.

    This is me, not the OP as they got different needs, but the reason i would not want a all in one is because to be honest none of them would have a scanner on that is the same quality as the one I have got. I spent a lot of money on my scanner and I am not ready to chuck it yet. I have also got plenty of room in here for a separate printer and scanner and another printer if I do get a laser.
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    No, I find them good, better than the Cannon's I had in the past and as said in a previous post at <£1 for a cartridge the Epson's are perfect for occasional users.

    Because of this thread I checked with my daughter and she's had no dry tank issues with her Epson either and she rarely prints but did a week or two back to print photo's for an aged relative who is not into technology at all; this was after not using her printer for a a good few weeks.

    i find it the other way around, Canon knocks the crap out of Epson, better build, better print quality and better driver support even for older machines.

    My Canon is only about 6 months newer than my brothers Epson and yet Canon produces windows 7 drivers for mine and yet Epson got no interest if doing so for my brothers.


    Shame really, Epson used to be really good, ink may be cheaper, but that is not the only thing you need to look at.

    But that is only my opinion, I know someone who thinks Lexmarks knocked the spots of all the other said to be honest my old Z42 did at the time, but the later ones was not as good and yet this person still swears by them, but Lexmark seems to have vanished now.
  • yorkieUKyorkieUK Posts: 2,159
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    neo_wales wrote: »
    I've looked at colour laser printers in the past but the photo quality was less than impressive, have they improved massively in the last two or three years?

    My old colour laser printer was a HP CP2025 which lasted about 6 years. It did print pretty good photos when I used the right paper. My new printer is an OKI C511. However the print quality does appear to be marginally better from my old HP. The colours appear to be sharper and brighter.
  • DaedrothDaedroth Posts: 3,065
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    yorkieUK wrote: »
    My old colour laser printer was a HP CP2025 which lasted about 6 years. It did print pretty good photos when I used the right paper. My new printer is an OKI C511. However the print quality does appear to be marginally better from my old HP. The colours appear to be sharper and brighter.
    The OKI toners are considerably cheaper too. The OKI compatible toners we buy in work are under £50 for the colours and under £40 for the black. The HP 2025 toners were £80 each.
  • bspacebspace Posts: 14,303
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    i got a Dell 1350cnw A4 Colour Laser Printer a while ago

    pedantically it's not a lazer printer, but is sold as one

    toner cartridges are cheap and the drum and fuser unit claims to be lifetime

    only downside is the wifi, which i found to be a bit flakey to set up

    but it produces very good photo's, not quite as good as the inkjet i dumped, but no blockages
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