Color Laser

Anyone have experience and/or recommendations on a relatively cheap
color laser? I'm just looking to print text and color charts -- not
photos or something.

I've owned the black ones in the past. Are the color ones similar or do
they require more tweaking, cleaning and maintenance than the older
black only? With the black one I could pretty much forget about it for
the 5,000 pages or so the toner cartridge could print. As opposed to
ink jets where one seems to spend time cleaning them, etc., to keep them
running well.

Bill

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:11:09 GMT, "Bill Martin -- Remove \"NOSPAM\"
from address" wrote:

Anyone have experience and/or recommendations on a relatively cheap
color laser? I'm just looking to print text and color charts -- not
photos or something.

I've owned the black ones in the past. Are the color ones similar or do
they require more tweaking, cleaning and maintenance than the older
black only? With the black one I could pretty much forget about it for
the 5,000 pages or so the toner cartridge could print. As opposed to
ink jets where one seems to spend time cleaning them, etc., to keep them
running well.

Bill


HP has a Color LaserJet for $499 US. I think its the 1500 or the 2500.
Its a disposable printer. To purchase the 4 toner cartridges it takes
will cost you more than $499. You can just buy a new one and junk the
old one.
Is this progress?


Want to Fix Something?

http://www.manuals4you.com

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:11:09 GMT, "Bill Martin -- Remove \"NOSPAM\"
from address" wrote:

Anyone have experience and/or recommendations on a relatively cheap
color laser? I'm just looking to print text and color charts -- not
photos or something.

I've owned the black ones in the past. Are the color ones similar or do
they require more tweaking, cleaning and maintenance than the older
black only? With the black one I could pretty much forget about it for
the 5,000 pages or so the toner cartridge could print. As opposed to
ink jets where one seems to spend time cleaning them, etc., to keep them
running well.

Bill

My post here a few days ago about my Dell 3100cn is relevant:

Refusing to be suckered into the insanity of the ink jet scams as
printer makers dispense rediculously tiny amounts of ink in carts that
are becoming impossible to refill, and having had both Lexmark and
Epson ink jet printers that never stopped clogging because I don't use
them every day....I like many have been watching the low end color
laser market. Several friends went for KonicaMinolta 2300 series
units... the quality of the output is not bad, but they are bulky and
noisy.

I should explain that my use is a mix of colored printing (text, maps
etc.) and some photographic reproduction.. and my own bias is for
matte somewhat understated color, as opposed to the very high gloss
reproduction with colors that many prefer but I find somewhat over
saturated. I realize this plays into the laser category which in fact
tends to produce less vivid photo reproduction. That said:

1. The Dell 3000cn and 3100cn are NOT rebadged Lexmarks. While I
detest Lexmark inkjets, in fact I have both a Lexmark Optra R+ that
has been running for 8 years thru innumerable toner/drum replacements
and just keeps running and an Optra S1650 that has been equally
reliable. In any event these are the first Dells that are rebadged
Fuji-Xerox products... in fact they are the F-X Docuprint C525A.

2. Last week Dell had the 3000cn on sale for $270 with free ground
shipping and will probably have it on sale again.. but the 3100cn is
probably the better buy for reasons to be seen below. The 3000cn is a
PCL6 printer, has 64m ram standard, single MFT 150 sheet tray,
parallel, USB 2.0 and Ethernet inputs. You get Starter toners rated
for 2K Black and 1K color toners. Replacement toner pack (4k Black and
2k color) runs $220, but if ordered 'correctly' was also subject to
the 40% off sale.

3. The 3100cn differs in that you get: Postscript (making it useable
by Macs), the accessory Paper Tray (250 pages), and full toner carts
(4K for Black and all colors). On sale with next day shipping at 30%
off it comes to $384.

4. Dell is very coy about whether both machines can use the same toner
carts (they can). The "Full" color carts for the 3000cn are still
actually only half filled (rated at 2k pages) while the 3100 comes
with really full carts and only on the 3100 page do you see a
replacement pack of all 4 toners rated for 4k at $280 (opposed to the
3000 pack including half filled color toners for $220)

5 Amazing fact: In the Configuration settings for the 3100 you will
find a setting "Allow Non-Dell refilled toner carts". It's not clear
if the Dell carts have chips, but this setting leaves me
speachless...and clearly odds become very good that this printer can
be operated economically... being brand new nobody yet offers toner
for it, but with this feature the odds that someone will get very
good.

6. 64Meg , standard memory, will not allow for high definition 8x10
images. It uses PC133.. you get one socket.. but oddly it uses SO-DIMM
so you're unlikely to have old stuff lying around.. but at least it's
cheap. I added a 256 Meg stick.. 320 seems enough for anything so
far...

7. The 3100cn is a tank 17" x17" by almost 30" high, it weighs like 75
lbs. It's noisy, but not as noisy as the Minolta 2300 series. Print
speeds are faster than the Minolta on color, text is sharper, but I
use my b&w lasers for text. Photo reproduction, to my eye is sharper
and slightly more vibrant than the Minolta, but will probably
disappoint those who want very vibrant high gloss reproduction. For
reference I'm using Hammermill Ultra Premium Laser (24 lb. 106 Bright)
which is barely above matte and Hammermill Color Copy (28 lb. 98
Bright) which is "mildly glossy".

Overall I'm so far quite satisfied with the 3100cn.. hopefully the
above will help others decide if this printer is of interest to
them...

Coup wrote:

Overall I'm so far quite satisfied with the 3100cn.. hopefully the
above will help others decide if this printer is of interest to
them...

Am I correct in assuming that one could relatively easily turn off the
color printing and force it to work monochrome most of the time to get
cheaper pages? Only turn on the color when necessary? I see Dell
claims 1.5c/page black and 12.5c/page color.

And if the color sat unused for a week or two at a time would it still
work or would that cause problems as with an ink jet? I never had
trouble with a monochrome toner caking or something, but have no
experience with color toners.

Thanks...

Bill

On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 01:46:17 GMT, "Bill Martin -- Remove \"NOSPAM\"
from address" wrote:

Coup wrote:

Overall I'm so far quite satisfied with the 3100cn.. hopefully the
above will help others decide if this printer is of interest to
them...

Am I correct in assuming that one could relatively easily turn off the
color printing and force it to work monochrome most of the time to get
cheaper pages? Only turn on the color when necessary? I see Dell
claims 1.5c/page black and 12.5c/page color.

Yes. There are 2 settings you make in the driver setup to force the
printer to ONLY use the black toner, this not only saves money, the
printer no longer cycles thru the 4 engines and the speed switches
from the nominal 5 ppm to the 21 rated for monochrome. As suggested in
the Dell Support Bulletin Board, many simply create a second instance
of the printer driver with these settings, rename it 3100 Monochrome
and use that when doing simple text runs....

And if the color sat unused for a week or two at a time would it still
work or would that cause problems as with an ink jet? I never had
trouble with a monochrome toner caking or something, but have no
experience with color toners.

Color toner acts the same as black toner, color lasers will act like a
monochrome laser... ignore it for two months, turn it on, use
it...period..... The only real issue with disuse is actually the
paper... over long periods of time (months) depending upon the
environment (temperature/humidity) the characteristics of the paper
will change. Some will dry out, others may even absorb moisture...
this can cause jamming and adherence issues for the toner... similar
to what happens with copiers too. Also, note that inkjet papers
should NEVER be used with a color laser (or copier for that matter).
Inkjet papers are designed to allow controlled absorbtion of liquid
inks... most of these coatings will leave deposits on a color laser
drum that will foul them. In addition they inhibit the fusing of laser
toner to the surface of the paper. You can use plain copy paper
although color/photographic results will be less than optimum or color
laser papers which are deliberately made with super-smooth surfaces
designed to allow optimum fusing of the toner to the surface.

HP has a Color LaserJet for $499 US. I think its the 1500 or the 2500.
Its a disposable printer. To purchase the 4 toner cartridges it takes
will cost you more than $499. You can just buy a new one and junk the
old one.
Is this progress?

It's typical of the usual HP ripoff. They've been waving two fingers
at the paying customers for years over the cost of consumables, and
the mugs smile happily at them while they're doing it

Takes all sorts I suppose ...


Bloggy

Any idea who is making it for Dell?

I'm sure Dell is not making their own printers, even if they aren't
Lexmarks, someone is making them... Epson, Fuji, Xerox, Minolta, Canon,
Samsung, Brother.. someone...

Art

Coup wrote:
On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:11:09 GMT, "Bill Martin -- Remove \"NOSPAM\"
from address" wrote:


Anyone have experience and/or recommendations on a relatively cheap
color laser? I'm just looking to print text and color charts -- not
photos or something.

I've owned the black ones in the past. Are the color ones similar or do
they require more tweaking, cleaning and maintenance than the older
black only? With the black one I could pretty much forget about it for
the 5,000 pages or so the toner cartridge could print. As opposed to
ink jets where one seems to spend time cleaning them, etc., to keep them
running well.

Bill


My post here a few days ago about my Dell 3100cn is relevant:

Refusing to be suckered into the insanity of the ink jet scams as
printer makers dispense rediculously tiny amounts of ink in carts that
are becoming impossible to refill, and having had both Lexmark and
Epson ink jet printers that never stopped clogging because I don't use
them every day....I like many have been watching the low end color
laser market. Several friends went for KonicaMinolta 2300 series
units... the quality of the output is not bad, but they are bulky and
noisy.

I should explain that my use is a mix of colored printing (text, maps
etc.) and some photographic reproduction.. and my own bias is for
matte somewhat understated color, as opposed to the very high gloss
reproduction with colors that many prefer but I find somewhat over
saturated. I realize this plays into the laser category which in fact
tends to produce less vivid photo reproduction. That said:

1. The Dell 3000cn and 3100cn are NOT rebadged Lexmarks. While I
detest Lexmark inkjets, in fact I have both a Lexmark Optra R+ that
has been running for 8 years thru innumerable toner/drum replacements
and just keeps running and an Optra S1650 that has been equally
reliable. In any event these are the first Dells that are rebadged
Fuji-Xerox products... in fact they are the F-X Docuprint C525A.

2. Last week Dell had the 3000cn on sale for $270 with free ground
shipping and will probably have it on sale again.. but the 3100cn is
probably the better buy for reasons to be seen below. The 3000cn is a
PCL6 printer, has 64m ram standard, single MFT 150 sheet tray,
parallel, USB 2.0 and Ethernet inputs. You get Starter toners rated
for 2K Black and 1K color toners. Replacement toner pack (4k Black and
2k color) runs $220, but if ordered 'correctly' was also subject to
the 40% off sale.

3. The 3100cn differs in that you get: Postscript (making it useable
by Macs), the accessory Paper Tray (250 pages), and full toner carts
(4K for Black and all colors). On sale with next day shipping at 30%
off it comes to $384.

4. Dell is very coy about whether both machines can use the same toner
carts (they can). The "Full" color carts for the 3000cn are still
actually only half filled (rated at 2k pages) while the 3100 comes
with really full carts and only on the 3100 page do you see a
replacement pack of all 4 toners rated for 4k at $280 (opposed to the
3000 pack including half filled color toners for $220)

5 Amazing fact: In the Configuration settings for the 3100 you will
find a setting "Allow Non-Dell refilled toner carts". It's not clear
if the Dell carts have chips, but this setting leaves me
speachless...and clearly odds become very good that this printer can
be operated economically... being brand new nobody yet offers toner
for it, but with this feature the odds that someone will get very
good.

6. 64Meg , standard memory, will not allow for high definition 8x10
images. It uses PC133.. you get one socket.. but oddly it uses SO-DIMM
so you're unlikely to have old stuff lying around.. but at least it's
cheap. I added a 256 Meg stick.. 320 seems enough for anything so
far...

7. The 3100cn is a tank 17" x17" by almost 30" high, it weighs like 75
lbs. It's noisy, but not as noisy as the Minolta 2300 series. Print
speeds are faster than the Minolta on color, text is sharper, but I
use my b&w lasers for text. Photo reproduction, to my eye is sharper
and slightly more vibrant than the Minolta, but will probably
disappoint those who want very vibrant high gloss reproduction. For
reference I'm using Hammermill Ultra Premium Laser (24 lb. 106 Bright)
which is barely above matte and Hammermill Color Copy (28 lb. 98
Bright) which is "mildly glossy".

Overall I'm so far quite satisfied with the 3100cn.. hopefully the
above will help others decide if this printer is of interest to
them...

Bill,

How many color prints will you be making per month?

Dennis


Bill Martin -- Remove "NOSPAM" from address wrote:
Anyone have experience and/or recommendations on a relatively cheap
color laser? I'm just looking to print text and color charts -- not
photos or something.

I've owned the black ones in the past. Are the color ones similar or
do
they require more tweaking, cleaning and maintenance than the older
black only? With the black one I could pretty much forget about it
for
the 5,000 pages or so the toner cartridge could print. As opposed to

ink jets where one seems to spend time cleaning them, etc., to keep
them
running well.

Bill

Most color laser printers have a mono mode that just uses the black
toner. I see no reason why there would be a problem in leaving the
color toners unused for several weeks.

In general, from looking at the expendable of several color laser
printers, the black toner is cheaper than the color and often has more
toner in the cartridge, but it often still costs more than a black toner
from a monochrome only printer.

Art

Bill Martin -- Remove "NOSPAM" from address wrote:

Coup wrote:

Overall I'm so far quite satisfied with the 3100cn.. hopefully the
above will help others decide if this printer is of interest to
them...


Am I correct in assuming that one could relatively easily turn off the
color printing and force it to work monochrome most of the time to get
cheaper pages? Only turn on the color when necessary? I see Dell
claims 1.5c/page black and 12.5c/page color.

And if the color sat unused for a week or two at a time would it still
work or would that cause problems as with an ink jet? I never had
trouble with a monochrome toner caking or something, but have no
experience with color toners.

Thanks...

Bill

How many color prints will you need to make each month ?