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#1
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
Hi,
My old Epson Stylus CX3200 inkjet has finally died and I'm looking for a replacement. My printing habbits are to print a couple of B/W pages in a couple of weeks, so it looks like the inkjets should be a natural cost effective choice. However I've experieced a lot of problems with inkjet related to the fact that I do not use the printer frequently enough to keep the printing heads in a good working condition. The ink was simply drying out and clogging the nozzles. After a couple of years of constant replacing ink cartridges and performing the "Clean Nozzle" routine, the printer has finnally stopped printing (everything works great except from the fact that only few dots apper on printed pages). I wonder if entry level laser printers are less prone to clogging. So shall I go for a laser or for an inkjet? Thank you for your help, Alex |
#2
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
wrote in message ups.com... Hi, My old Epson Stylus CX3200 inkjet has finally died and I'm looking for a replacement. My printing habbits are to print a couple of B/W pages in a couple of weeks, so it looks like the inkjets should be a natural cost effective choice. However I've experieced a lot of problems with inkjet related to the fact that I do not use the printer frequently enough to keep the printing heads in a good working condition. The ink was simply drying out and clogging the nozzles. After a couple of years of constant replacing ink cartridges and performing the "Clean Nozzle" routine, the printer has finnally stopped printing (everything works great except from the fact that only few dots apper on printed pages). I wonder if entry level laser printers are less prone to clogging. So shall I go for a laser or for an inkjet? Thank you for your help, Alex If you only print B/W, I'm not sure why you'd even consider inkjet, and laser is cheaper by far per page. |
#3
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
I think that you'd be happiest with a laser or LED printer (Okidata),
systems that are versions of Xerography. Unlike inkjet printers, there are no nozzles to clog, and thus, there's no need for the machine to waste ink on every print job cleaning the nozzles, and no more wasteful cleaning cycles. Laser/LED machines can sit there for a year and then print nicely. It helps to use the type of design in which the paper is kept in a covered tray rather than a top-slot feeder, which will accumulate dust internally and on the paper, too. I gave my son a top-loading Brother, which is fast as hell and prints great, but I despise the stupidity of the paper loading design (not exclusive to Brother, believe me). Dust is the enemy of precision machinery, which printers are. Put a cover on the printer to keep it clean, and you'll be fine. Covering a top-slot loader is absurd. I suspect that among the inkjets, the HPs that use print heads in the cartridges are the best for long waits between uses. Anyone disagree? Richard |
#4
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
"Richard Steinfeld" wrote in
message ... I think that you'd be happiest with a laser or LED printer (Okidata), systems that are versions of Xerography. Unlike inkjet printers, there are no nozzles to clog, and thus, there's no need for the machine to waste ink on every print job cleaning the nozzles, and no more wasteful cleaning cycles. Laser/LED machines can sit there for a year and then print nicely. It helps to use the type of design in which the paper is kept in a covered tray rather than a top-slot feeder, which will accumulate dust internally and on the paper, too. I gave my son a top-loading Brother, which is fast as hell and prints great, but I despise the stupidity of the paper loading design (not exclusive to Brother, believe me). Dust is the enemy of precision machinery, which printers are. Put a cover on the printer to keep it clean, and you'll be fine. Covering a top-slot loader is absurd. I suspect that among the inkjets, the HPs that use print heads in the cartridges are the best for long waits between uses. Anyone disagree? Richard I agree 100%. If no photo printing and minimal B/W graphics are desired, this is a no-brainer. My only concern about entry level Laser printers is paper handling ability. If your only expected output is standard copy/printer paper or its equivalent plus laser labels, the low end printers work fine. I would check out reviews from Consumers, PC magazine, etc. to find the best unit for the money. If you need to print cardstock or envelopes, you need a straight paper path which involves having an auxilliary feed tray or slot in the front and a hatch that opens in the rear of the printer. For printing many of these items or groups of checks, you need an aux. feed tray that is capable of stacking several pieces of the paper stock you are using, and if you print several items that need a straight paper path, the hatch that opens in the back had best be a tray to catch the output. Also, printing envelopes or stock that is thicker/heavier than the usual copy/printer paper can't be done on some of the least expensive printers as the fuser assembly doesn't heat sufficiently to set the toner, and the gap through which the paper travels isn't wide enough. My requirements include envelopes, checks, and fairly heavy card stock. I took samples of these materials to a store that had demo units on the shelf that could print a test page. I started with the least expensive unit that could have met my needs for the aux and output trays and moved up in price until I hit the unit that worked for all my future needs. And - Richard's suggestion about not buying a unit with the paper feed area on top with paper sticking up in the air was a good one. Much better to have a cassette beneath the printer for paper storage and feed. For more sophisticated use that requires more than one type of paper you would need a unit that has additional cassettes installed. That is getting far afield from the need for a few pages every two weeks! |
#6
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
I think that what's significant about what both Burt and I have written
is that Burt and I are both fans of the inkjet process. I'm actually using an inkjet printer almost exclusively right now. Yet, when I next have a large document to work on, that will be done on my Oki LED printer (which is a laser printer except for the way that the image is generated on the drum). An interesting advantage, too, of the laser printers is that it's less touchy about paper quality for the image. You don't want to use paper that's so junky that it cruds up the printer's insides with paper dust and scratches the delicate drum surface. But you can print very nicely on ordinary 20-pound copy paper of decent quality. For my inkjet printer, however, I'm using 24-pound, genuine "HP" brand (Hammermill, actually) inkjet paper; there are a lot of reasons for this, inluding the fact that I'm duplex-printing. But for churning out lots of pages for working on, the LED/laser machine is the way to go. So, here's the interesting thing: the laser printer is the best choice for both intermittant short jobs and intense, long runs. The inkjet falls in between. How about that? |
#7
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
You can check out an article on our website at the link below
comparing label performance in laser printers versus inkjet printers. This may be helpful if you plan to use a lot labels in your printer. http://www.onlinelabels.com/inkjet_laser.htm Thanks. Dave Carmany OnlineLabels.com ----------------------------------------------------------- CLICK. PRINT. STICK http://www.onlinelabels.com Blank Labels for laser and inkjet printers ----------------------------------------------------------- On Oct 25, 4:16 pm, Richard Steinfeld wrote: I think that what's significant about what both Burt and I have written is that Burt and I are both fans of the inkjet process. I'm actually using an inkjet printer almost exclusively right now. Yet, when I next have a large document to work on, that will be done on my Oki LED printer (which is alaserprinter except for the way that the image is generated on the drum). An interesting advantage, too, of thelaser printers is that it's less touchy about paper quality for the image. You don't want to use paper that's so junky that it cruds up the printer's insides with paper dust and scratches the delicate drum surface. But you can print very nicely on ordinary 20-pound copy paper of decent quality. For my inkjet printer, however, I'm using 24-pound, genuine "HP" brand (Hammermill, actually) inkjet paper; there are a lot of reasons for this, inluding the fact that I'm duplex-printing. But for churning out lots of pages for working on, the LED/lasermachine is the way to go. So, here's the interesting thing: thelaserprinter is the best choice for both intermittant short jobs and intense, long runs. The inkjet falls in between. How about that? |
#8
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
Hi guys,
Thank you for all your comments. Considering the amount of printing I do (~100-200 mostly BW text A4 pages per year) I guess an inkjet printer of a reasonable quality will cost half of an entry level BW laser's price. Richard, thank you for pointing out that HP inkjets have the printing head embedded in the cartridges. I believe a simlpe replacement of the cartridge should solve all clugging problems in HPs, so I'll start shopping for an HP . Best Alex |
#9
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
photo-alexk wrote:
Richard, thank you for pointing out that HP inkjets have the printing head embedded in the cartridges. I believe a simlpe replacement of the cartridge should solve all clugging problems in HPs, so I'll start shopping for an HP . It's not just replacing the cartridge, but I think a good advantage is the ability of the HP system to recover from long inactive storage with the cartridge left in place in the printer. (This seems to be the opposite of many Epsons and Lexmarks). At least, that's my experience and it's been mentioned here by others, too. Good used HP inkjets can be had dirt cheap. I paid $5 each for an 850c (old but good.), a newer, faster, stronger 970c, and a Photosmart (model forgotten). I'm presently using a 940c that my ex gave me. All the last three use the same color cartridge; the first two use the same black cart. I've filled these carts myself, too. I like the printers. Can't beat this. So, if you buy a printer for $5 and it's no good, toss it and get another one for $5. (Regular prices: $10!) These prices were from my favorite thrift shop (Humane Society -- with the doggies and kitties and one rabbit). Prices were half off because I went on Saturdays. It costs me $4 for gas and $4 for bridge toll, I get printers for virtually nothing, the manager likes me, and I get to shmooze with the cats. All very happy. Is this cool or what? Richard |
#10
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Ink vs. Laser - professional advise is needed
photo-alexk wrote in news:1193689624.576231.235610
@v3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com: Richard, thank you for pointing out that HP inkjets have the printing head embedded in the cartridges. I believe a simlpe replacement of the cartridge should solve all clugging problems in HPs, so I'll start shopping for an HP . Not all HPs are head-on-cart. Some higher end units have separate heads and tanks. I am not familiar with the HP line to know though. Canon, in their lower end line, use Head-On-Cart also. |
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