Folks

My HP 5510 all in one just died after 6-7 years of service which is pretty good and I'm shopping for a new one. I need color + copying + scanning. I only print 10-15 pages a month and scan about the same qty

1) Does laser make sense for me? Is it higher quality print-outs?

2) Recurring cost is a big factor for me so do toners typically last beyond 2 years with light use? I think the starter cartridges in some printers are 750 pages worth so I may go beyond 2 years

3) Should I even consider anything but HP - I'm seeing a lot of good deals on Samsung and wondering if they have been around in printing for long enough to judge quality issues. Are their replacement toners typically cheaper than HP's?

4) Are there any laserjet printers which use only 1 toner for all three colors? I guess not

Thanks!
        

At home, I've been delighted with a Lexmark 605S. It's Inkjet, but the ink cartridges are separate from the printheads. It has a terrific color touchscreen interface, and it's only downside is that if you print color photos on photo paper, it takes a lot of ink. It replaced an early Samsung color laser which I retired after frustration with paper feed issues. Definitely spending less on Lexmark ink than I did on Samsung toner.

Fred Wagner

  

I have a Kodak 5100 all-in-one.  Ink cartridges are not the most expensive, but it eats them like popcorn.  I do about 99% of my printing on my LaserJet, but a color cartidge for my Kodak seldom lasts for more than a week.

I actually bought the Kodak because my scanner had died and the all-in-one was cheaper than a stand-alone flat-bed scanner.

If we need photo prints, rather than print at home, we take the camera chip to Target or the drugstore, and use their self service kiosk for printing - much cheaper and less hassle then doing it at home.  If I'm embedding a photo in a document, no problem. For glossy prints, the kiosk in the store is much more cost effective.  

Fred Wagner

  

Consumer Reports says the same thing.

Well it depends what you are printing my old duplex colour laser gas done 660,000 copies 600,000 of them in colour it was used as prepress in a magazine publisher. So the quality is good but the modern one are cheap like the inkjets are. If you are doing photo then ink, wax or dye sub is the way to go. Again take you cheque book they are not cheap. My laser was $14,000 now there are under $1,000. At the end of the day you get what you pay for.

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