Best No Frills B&W Laser? Update: Best USED Laser recommendations...

[PrinceXizor]

Nothing fancy. I just need a cheap laser that's not going to break because it is cheap. I'm not printing anything fancy, just some lists and the occasional letter. We're going through WAY too much ink from our current inkjet. Not sure why we didn't think of this before :/

Thanks for your recommendations. I've been so far removed from printer tech and trends I don't have any idea of what is out there.

P-X

 

[spikespiegal]

HP 1020 or 1012.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Hmm...thanks for the suggestions. Any others?

FYI usage estimates are 50-100 pgs/wk.

P-X

 

[PrinceXizor]

Cost per page is very important.
Throughput and speed, not so much.
Any other suggestions?

P-X

 

[ubercaffeinated]

SAMSUNG ML-2010. I have 2 of these suckers now. Replacement toner is like 20 bucks on fleebay, for a pour in thinger. Print quality is said to be not GREAT, but for 50 bucks, I find it more than acceptable.

 

[ZippZ]

I agree on the Samsung ML-2010. Only $50 after rebates when on sale. I got one and it prints quickly and good for the price. High capacity cartridges print 3,000 pages and you can get cheap toner on ebay.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Looks good but NE is out of stock...

P-X

 

[Lemon law]

Originally posted by: PrinceXizor
Nothing fancy. I just need a cheap laser that's not going to break because it is cheap. I'm not printing anything fancy, just some lists and the occasional letter. We're going through WAY too much ink from our current inkjet. Not sure why we didn't think of this before :/

Thanks for your recommendations. I've been so far removed from printer tech and trends I don't have any idea of what is out there.

P-X

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With only a few select inkjets its actually possible to beat a monochrome Laser on the cost of consumables by refilling your own cartridges. Basically any Canon printer that uses the BCI-3&6 line of cartridges, but those are now getting hard to find.---and are now supplanted by chipped Canons that are more annoying to refill.

But if you can find a cheap monochrome laser and are able use third party toner, I would still say your better off with the Laser.---its only when lack of color becomes a problem that one might consider going through that being up on current printer tech and trends learning curve.

But with my ink jets using refilled cartridges I estimate my consumable ink costs at 0.3 cents per page---at your printing volume I could easily get it down to 0.2 cents per page---I am guessing with OEM toner either the HP or Samsung would come in at about a penny a page toner consumable costs---and if you print 75 pages/wk--over
a year you would save only $31.20 at a 0.8/per page savings.---but if you can get 3000 pages out of a $20.00 third party toner, its even more of a no brainer for the monochrome Laser which often combines low intial cost with very good printing economy--even using OEM Toner---and OEM Toner to OEM ink any monochrome Laser will beat ANY inkjet---some by a small margin and others by a very very wide margin.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Thanks. For this application, we'll most likely be sticking with OEM which is why we want to go with a monochrome laser. No need for color at all. The ML-2010's are nice but back-ordered. Also, I don't know if HP's current laser's are as reliable as their previous ones. How do Samsung's rate? The same? Better? Worse?

P-X

 

[Lemon law]

If I were looking for long term low total cost of ownership in a monochrome Laser, I would pay far less attention to initial purchase price, and might well considering purchasing a higher quality used and possibly refurbished HP Laser.
Lots of those can be found and often you hear of units with more than 300,000 pages under the bridge and still going strong---but even in mid-sized cities you can find outfits selling such units with far far less than 300,000 pages printed--and shipping on lasers can be pretty salty.---but look at ebay anyway.--they are really cheap--even after shipping.

No question about it---older HP lasers are reliable and rock solid.---just make sure you can get drivers for your more modern computer.

And you expect a unit selling for under $125.00 new to be rock solid with no manufactering corners cut????

 

[PrinceXizor]

Hah! No, of course not. What are those Old HP's 4000L series? Think we had one of those when I worked a Goodyear. Hardly ever had a problem. I'll check out that route too.

P-X

 

[PrinceXizor]

Almost had it right HP Laserjet 4L. We have one where I'm at right now. Looks familiar, but the specs look different than what I remember. 4ppm seems a little low for what we used it at Goodyear. Maybe it was a different model that looked similar?

P-X

 

[Lemon law]

This is merely a suggestion of mine---but won't pretend my area of expertise does extend to recommending the best model used lasers---but there is no shortage of Laser experts here who are up on the best used models that are likely to give you better value---and with Luck you might even beat $50.00 shipped.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Title updated to reflect thread shift....best used lasers....calling all Experts!

P-X

 

[erwos]

HP Laserjet 5L or 6L, hands down. They have a slight problem with the page feed (easily fixed with a cheap kit HP put out), but they give very high quality prints, have reasonably priced toner, and last forever. I got my 6L about five years ago (used), and it's still going strong.

-Erwos

 

[spikespiegal]

I've used every HP laser in existence, and I'll take a HP 1020 or 1012 over the used junk anyday.

The newer printers are much, MUCH faster, the drivers are better, and they consume less power.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: spikespiegal
HP 1020 or 1012.

:heart: my 1012.

 

[Rifter]

Well ive had a HP laserjet III for the last 10 years and it works great is fast and has never failed me. However its old/big and HEAVY. Bought it for $25 used.

 

[lapierrem]

another vote for an LJ 5-series - I got a 5N for about a hundred bucks...more printer than i'll ever use plus it was networkable - which means no need for a print server if you have several computers.

 

[Arcanedeath]

If you are looking for low TCO and plan on keeping this printer for may years to come I would suggest a Laserjet 4000 or higher its harder to find toner for the older printers or its getting more expensive, I still have an Orginal LJ4 in services thats 13+ or 14+ years old now, its the oldest peice of hardware thats still in use daily.

 

[wirelessenabled]

Same here!

I have a LaserJet 4+ in service since 1995 ..... 24x7. Still cranks out the pages. A few rubber parts here and there is all that has been done to this printer.

 

[Arcanedeath]

I think we put a roller kit into our but that was about it in its whole life so far