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Color Printers

Started by Raider Bill, April 02, 2009, 11:55:32 AM

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Raider Bill

I've been using a HP 3500 lazer printer but it is starting to eat supplies. At $130.00 per color it's getting expensive.
We print around 100 color pictures per day so I need a high volume one that won't break the bank?

Any suggestions?
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Warbird

Take yer pictures to the Kodak booth thingy at Walmart or a printing store and see if it is cheaper to do it that way?

Raider Bill

They are mostly full size page pix or 4 to a page. We really need to do them in house. Got to be attached to claim files. It sucks believe me.
I've been reading reviews all morning, wearing me out. Not sure who to believe on the reviews.
Most have as good of a quaility as we need but I've got to look at supply cost.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

CLL

I seen an ad on tv the other night about a printer that was about 1/4 the price of most color printers, the printer ink was really cheap next to most printers. I think it was a Kodak but not for sure, if I see it again I'll let you know.
Too much work-not enough pay.

Raider Bill

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Tom

I'm talking out of school, but have you had the coversation with a Xerox salesman or other copier company?

You might be able to lease their copier and have it  hooked to your computer and benefit by materials provided by them.  Just a thought.

Raider Bill

Yes I did, xerox came in and did their dog and pony show. It was expensive to lease and the supplies were ridiculusly over priced.
We used to lease our copiers from them, now there are so many more out there it pays to buy.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Tom

For some reason, I guessed that might be the case.   :D

rbhunter

I have a color Oki c5800 printer. I have only had it for a couple of years and so far have only brought one black catridge. Still have not had to put it in. The store was having trouble selling the larger color lasers. The sales man showed me it and I told him I was not going to pay $850 for a printer  so he sold it to me for $300. It is rated for 20,000 pages a month.

If your laser printer used to do better on supplies you may want to look into rebuilding the printer with one of the kits. You can get them from the HP website along with instructions. It is not hard. I used to rebuild them where I used to work. They printed several thousand pages a day.

I think laser will be cheaper for you than a ink jet. On mine I can get cartridges for 1000 to 5000 pages.
"Said the robin to the sparrow, I wonder why it must be, these anxious human beings rush around and worry so?"
"Said the sparrow to the robin, Friend I think it must be, they have no heavenly father, such as cares for you and me."
author unknown. Used to hang above parents fireplace.

SwampDonkey

I would also look at Kodak as well. They have been pushing cheaper ink cartridges. You take an HP printer now a days. They have all the bells and whistles for $200-300. But wait until you start buying cartridges. They make excellent printers, but they get your wallet with the ink. From what I have gathered about Kodak printers, is the ink might be cheaper, but the specialty paper costs more. So in the end it makes no difference. In draft mode it costs around $0.11 cents a copy on cheaper paper. Apparently Kodak printers have not been a big seller. For my little operation it's not a big deal, I'm just printing pay stubs and tax info. On occasion I will find the urge to print some material of multiple pages, but mostly 1-5 page stuff or an aerial photo. I don't even need the paper photos now, I can display them right on my GPS. ;) I tried a print service once and we also had newsletters printed at a spot when I worked for the marketing board. It was tons cheaper just to print our own out on inkjet printers. When we sorted by postal code we also got a break from the Postal Service, cheaper than sending a letter.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Radar67

The key to that quantity of printing is to go with a laser jet with powdered ink. The liquid stuff does not last and quality sucks. I have an older Konica and the supplies for it can be very expensive ($280 per color and $180 for black). Fortunately, we don't use it that much anymore, so the cartridges last a lot longer.

Have you checked to see what one of the office supply stores charges to print what you need? It might save you money in the long run.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

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Raider Bill

We never know from day to day what we have to print. These are insurance claims and appraisals so going to say staples everyday would be a major pain and expensive.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Gary_C

Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 02, 2009, 01:57:06 PM
In draft mode it costs around $0.11 cents a copy on cheaper paper.

Is that in dollars or cents?  ???

I have had a HP 5SI laser printer for many years and even though it is black and white only, I am sure that inkjet printers will not be any where comparable in cost of printing. My toner cost run less than a penny per page and it can easily print both sides of the paper to save printing costs. The disadvantage is the toner cartridge cost over $150 but it will print about 20,000 pages.

I also have two cheap color inkjet printers that are used very little and they are always needing new ink cartridges. I tried the refilled ones once and they did not work well for me, but if the costs of the ink cartridges keps going up, I may try the refills again.

With that many color pages needed per day, I suspect your cheapest option is going to be a high quality color laser. I think the price has come down on the high end color lasers but it will really end up being the cost per page that will be most important for you.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Modat22

if doing 100 plus photo prints a day laser is the way to go due to the speed and the number of prints you get per toner cartrige and the printers MTBF.

I use a HP photo 5800 series inkjet and it burns thru the ink. Approx 200 pictures and I need 2 new cartriges at 75.00 +/- (these are 4x6's) also takes about 4 min per picture.

One option you might consider though is an hp4000 designjet plotter. You can print several photo's on roll media and cut them out. Many advertising firms use these because the quality is very good but they are expensive. (we have one at work)
remember man that thy are dust.

SwampDonkey

Oh, yes if your going to do any volume of printing I would go with a laser printer as well. We only printed them newsletters once every two months. I disagree with the quality statement though. Depends on what you get for an inkjet. My photos come out as clear as what your going to see on screen and no white fine lines in the photos. That sounds about right what Modat said about life on his ink carts.

Gary 11/100ths or $0.11 is 11 cents. I'll count my pennies here and see. Yup! I'd kick ya if I was close enough. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

SwampDonkey

We had a fancy design plotter to for work for maps. It hardly got used and we had to special order the paper from the other end of the continent from Deakin Equipment in Vancouver, the plotter came from Halifax. They are also inkjet pretty much. When you don't use those much the print heads seem to gum up. It started doing that on us and it never got used for so long that I think it got sold.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Modat22

I love our hp4000. I printed some plastic stick on signs for a truck once when the boss was away
remember man that thy are dust.

Raider Bill

I too beleive it has to be a laser. That's what we have now. I nor my clients have any issues with quaility I just have them with cost.
Seems like I'm using more and more toner.

I'm looking into a rebuild kit now.

I'd pay a grand for one if the supplies were cost effective.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Gary_C

I can see why you are confused. I took a look at color printer ratings and PC world rated a Dell for about $500 as the best and it claims to have very low toner costs. However right alongside of that review was a HP ad for an all in one inkjet machine that supposedly has lower per page costs than color laser printers.  ???

However I no longer trust HP after the last all in one that I bought was a Chinese made piece of junk and the first one did not work at all right out of the box and the replacement is malfunctioning in less than a year. Plus the scan feature doesn't actually work except to copy directly to a page.

SD, I do know what $0.11 is and I know what 11 cents is, but I didn't know what $0.11 cents is, was, or were.  ::)  Well, I guess I actually did, but I just wanted to pull your chain.  :D :D
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Raider Bill

I spent a few hours at office supply stores today. They all want to sell me a ink jet. Course most were high school kids and really were not listening to what I was saying.
Crap
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

ADAMINMO

I got a Kodak Printer from walmart. It does a great job abnd the ink dont seem to be high but I dont use it as much as you would though. I think it was $99.00 when I bought mine last year. Food for thought.

SwampDonkey

Gary, my 3-in-1 HP Officejet is made in Singapore. I've had it for 8 years. It probably does not support Windows Vista, although I don't know for sure. It came with Win98/ME support and I could download the XP driver when I went to Windows XP. It has USB support to. I've been satisfied with mine. I got mine at Staples. I stay away from Walmart Canada for computers and printers. Your on your own if stuff breaks after 30 days from purchase.


Just checked and the driver for Vista in on the Windows Vista CD or can be downloaded from HP.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Raider Bill

Both of the office girls have normal printers at thier desks. I don't have a issue with that as they are used for normal printing such as reports and letters. The big issue is the color pictures.

I know this isn't forestry related but I figure why not ask the greatest  minds in the land so here we are. ;D
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Raider Bill

In my search today I found a couple sites that sell aftermarket refurbished toner cartridges for about half price. I'm going to give them a try.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Tom

I know the Binney's of Crayola fame. Perhaps I could get you a good price on some crayons.  :D

SwampDonkey

Quote from: Raider Bill on April 02, 2009, 05:21:14 PM
In my search today I found a couple sites that sell aftermarket refurbished toner cartridges for about half price. I'm going to give them a try.

Local Walmart used to carry them, then all the sudden they don't carry them any more. They worked great for me. Now we are back to buying the regular priced HP carts. In these small towns around here they don't restock stuff, either that or don't seem to have the mind capacity to keep the product stocked. Who knows, I haven't seen them for months. I remember one employee told me these little Walmarts usually get left behind in the stocking department. That was when I was asking about clothing. So I guess I have my answer.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Wudman

I use an HP Color LaserJet 2840 in my business.  It is a reasonably priced machine and I have gotton good service out of it.  I just had to replace all of the print cartridges and the print drum.  The cost from HP was about $600 but I bought refurbished units off the internet for $390.  The jury is still out on how they will perform versus the HP brand. 

Wudman
"You may tear down statues and burn buildings but you can't kill the spirit of patriots and when they've had enough this madness will end."
Charlie Daniels
July 4, 2020 (2 days before his death)

Raider Bill

Quote from: Wudman on April 02, 2009, 06:14:42 PM
I use an HP Color LaserJet 2840 in my business.  It is a reasonably priced machine and I have gotton good service out of it.  I just had to replace all of the print cartridges and the print drum.  The cost from HP was about $600 but I bought refurbished units off the internet for $390.  The jury is still out on how they will perform versus the HP brand. 

Wudman

That's about the price differance I'm seeing.  I sure hope they work out for you. Let me know.
If I can cut my cost in half I'd like that! ;D Plus I guess the longer I wait the better they become :-\

Mine is about 6 years old. Considering how much we use it I've been pretty happy except for supply cost's. When they first come out with a model and a new toner, the price is low then bam they jackem right up there. Irks me >:(

Just seems to eat it faster for some reason. I'm buying a 2-3 a month at least at $150.00 per. Adds up

Over time I've replaced every componet inside as it went bad. Some many times. Looking to see what a rebuild kit consists of.

Just trying to watch the pennies.





The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Brian_Rhoad

If you are printing pictures on photo paper, try the Kodak ESP or 5000 series. They use pigment ink that dries fast and is water proof. Ink usage seems to be lower and cartridges are less expensive.

PineNut

I have a Canon i9900 inkjet printer. Prints on up to 13 x 19 inch paper. Uses 8 cartridges and we go through a set about every 2 or 3 weeks. At about $100 a set, that could get to be expensive. I buy ink in pint bottles at about $25 to 30 a pint (yes, that is over $200 a set) and refill my own cartridges. Had to replace one print head for about $75 but considering the savings on ink, it was well worth it.

This model printer is not available any longer and the newer ones have some provisions to try to stop you from refilling the cartridges but there are ways to work around that.

There are also some continuous flow systems that let you use 2 oz bottles of ink placed beside the printer and connected to the print head with tubing. I have not tried any of these but have been tempted to. 

As you can easily ascertain, the ink is not expensive. It is just the way the manufacturers package it to force you to use their highly overpriced ink. I would expect that they do not make money on their printers, just on the ink sales. 

SwampDonkey

I have an HP DeskJet 1120C that is 13x19 as well, great for printing maps and newsletters. I hardly use it, but it has always worked well. Trouble is with little use, the ink carts dry up it seems. Takes the same black cartridge as my Officejet, but different color cartridge.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

lobsta1


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