What don't I know about shopping for a color laser printer?

[manniongeo]

I am starting the process of shopping for a color laser printer for home office use. This new printer will replace my "perfectly good" all-in-one color inkjet printer (HP C8180). I use quotes to qualify the fact that my existing printer works as well as it did when it was new, but that it has been such a struggle to use lo these many years that I have resigned to replacing it rather than buying another set of ink cartridges.

On paper (pun intended), my existing printer's specs meet my needs perfectly. In practice, it has many failings of the type that are not included in the manufacturer's spec sheet. For example:

• 
  ■ I can't print in black-and-white when one of the color cartridges is empty
  ■ I can't scan when any of the ink cartridges are empty
  ■ The driver is a nightmare, requiring frequent reinstalls from a cumbersome, gigantic HP executable
  ■ I print extremely infrequently, and the print head maintenance consumes inordinately more ink than my print jobs do

My goal is not to rant about my existing printer, but rather to illustrate that there are many factors that I didn't consider when researching inkjet printers the last time I purchased one, and which I only learned about after using it first-hand. I'd like to avoid making the same mistake when buying a color laser printer this time around.

Therefore, my primary question is:

■ What practical factors should I consider when purchasing a color laser printer that I might not be aware of from just reading the spec sheets?

Secondarily, I'm debating whether to get another all-in-one unit, or to buy a separate printer and scanner (I don't need the other functions, such as card reader, DVD burner, etc.). I like the idea of having a single unit, but my experience with my existing AIO device has been so bad that I'm leaning towards buying two separate devices so the availability of one isn't dependent on the other.

■ Would you recommend a combined printer/scanner device, or a separate printer and scanner?

For context, this printer will service one user. I print a few pages a month, mostly checks and business letters that use little ink/toner. I don't print photos, but want relatively decent business graphics on the infrequent occasions that I need them. I want the toner to last a long time just sitting there without being used (my primary reason for choosing laser over inkjet).

On the scanning side, I scan more than I print - mostly receipts and contracts at low (~200 dpi) resolution. 99% of what I scan is 8.5x11" or smaller. I want the scanner to be fast and easy, and to work regardless of whether the printer is able to print (e.g. empty toner).

To summarize, I'm looking for general recommendations on "gotchas" to watch out for when choosing a color laser printer; I'll continue researching the manufacturers' specs and reading reviews on my own. If you have specific device recommendations, please feel free to include them, but I'd most appreciate if you could recommend them in the context of usability/features that aren't otherwise documented (e.g. black-and-white printing when color toner is empty; stable drivers for Windows/Linux).

Thank you, in advance, for your help.

 

[Ralston18]

As a general recommendation you might want to re-consider an inkjet multi-purpose. I was HP user for quite a while but have had excellent luck with Canon (MX870 model at the moment).

Your level of usage is not that demanding. The newer inkjets will probably cost less for both the machine and cartridges. In most cases, you can opt to choose black and white printing instead of color.

I primarily print, do some copying, and occasional scanning. ADF feature works nicely for just a few pages. Rarely fax but that has come in handy a couple of times in past years. I just ran a telephone extension cable to an unused RJ-11 wall jack when necessary.

Plus you also have the option to use wireless mode on newer inkjets. A bit slower and problematic from time to time but does give you more options with respect to placement. One less cable to string about.... And many printers will support wireless Apple devices. Some printers have a slot for USB cards as well. Can come in handy for minor data backups if you can get the mapping worked out.

On the flip side, I have found that the printer is a bit sensitive to the paper used. Generic copy paper tends to stick and jam so I do purchase "designated" ink jet paper. Runs $10.00+ US per ream. Overall consumption for me is about one ream for two months. Cartridge prices vary with stores and sales - anywhere from $12.00 to $15.00 US. However, I can trade empties in for a $2.00 credit/reward per cartridge at one of the big box stores. Probably most cartridges last around 6 weeks depending on what I am printing of course. I do purchase manufacturer branded cartridges although there are 3rd party and reloaded cartridges available. Just do not trust them.

My inkjet does do well with photographs - needs good quality photo quality paper. Hard on ink and the photograph paper costs more. Easier now to just send the .jpgs out somewhere for printing. Faster and "costs less" per print considering the time involved. Still good for in-home use when just a couple of quick, glossy paper photographs are needed.

I do see that newer inkjet products have more plastic or thinner plastic parts. Most things are being made much cheaper nowadays and do not last as long. Bit worrisome and I will consider an extended warranty for my next MFP. Generally such warranties are not worth the extra cost based on much of what I have read.

Anyway could be worthwhile to revisit inkjets. If you identify makes and models of interest then visit the manufacturer's web. Peruse the User Guide/Manual, FAQ's, Customer/Support Forums. Often very revealing.

Not a manufacturer, vendor, or seller here. Just feel that you may find more options available if you re-consider at inkjets.

 

[manniongeo]

As a general recommendation you might want to re-consider an inkjet multi-purpose.

Thank you for taking the time to share your advice.

The reason that I'm planning to move away from an ink jet is because the liquid ink, itself, isn't the right fit for my needs. Specifically:

■ The ink expires faster than I use it
■ The printer consumes vastly more ink cleaning the print head when I power it on (every 1-2 weeks) than I consume in printing pages

My cynicism about HP prematurely reporting low/expired ink cartridges notwithstanding, from what I've read there is a genuine issue with the liquid ink drying that requires the aforementioned head maintenance and frequent (in relative terms) replacement of the reservoirs.

For context, I just ran some reports in my accounting system and find that:

• 
  ■ I bought my current printer just over 7 years ago
  ■ I've spent $142.87 on ink (plus the set of 7 cartridges that came with the printer)
  ■ I still have most of the original ream of paper that I bought with the printer

Almost everything I print is black-and-white text on "fast draft" mode. I print a little red (my company color), and virtually never any other color (except what is necessary to mix that specific red color that I use). The printer firmware and Windows driver both report that all of the color cartridges are using ink at the same rate. Given the fact that it takes the printer > 1 minute to boot - during which it is mostly cleaning the print head - I have concluded (possibly incorrectly?) that the head cleaning is using most of the ink.

I need a device that can sit there for years with minimal usage, and not cost me money from just sitting there. I know that toner expires, as well, but I've read numerous accounts from folks who are 3, 5, even 7 years into their starter toner cartridges and report that they're still working fine. From what I understand, that's just not possible with liquid ink.

Unless I'm fundamentally misunderstanding the longevity of ink vs toner, I think that a laser is the right choice for me. If so, I want to make sure that I don't end up with one whose firmware stops me from using a perfectly good toner cartridge just because the "best by" date has passed, for example. I've read posts from owner describing that behavior, though haven't seen any of the manufacturers advertising that as a "feature". Frankly, my current printer (and my parents' HP, and their prior Dell) serves more as a mechanism for selling ink than it does for printing pages. The driver is very good about providing me links to the HP shopping site whenever it thinks the ink is low, but not so good at remembering its scanning settings.

I digress.

To summarize, if I'm incorrect about the relative ink / toner lifespans, please correct me. Thanks, again, for your feedback.

 

[Ralston18]

Fair enough.

Classic razors and razorblades situation.

I tend to be very skeptical about "expiration dates" in general. To me they are almost a form of economic blackmail. Somehow we have a couple of generations of people that believe expiration dates mean "no good". That was not the original intended meaning.

I do pay attention to expiration dates on medicines and some household products: (e.g., bug sprays) that can deteriorate and become ineffective or even dangerous.

All too easy to engineer in a failure/expiration date that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just narrowing the necessary storage temperature range by few degrees for example could effectively "brick" a toner.

And I am very perturbed by the "IOT" (Internet of Things) trend where devices can phone home and can do stuff like automatically reorder new cartridges, filters, etc.. Ref your comment "serves more as a mechanism for selling ink"... Failing to permit devices to do such things could void warranties, allow shifting the blame to consumers if something castastrophic happens, and so forth. Not too mention privacy issues and the inherent monopoly implications.

I can just imagine owning some make of automobile that reports that I did not use Brand X gasoline..... And shuts the engine down after going so many miles.

Then there are all the other ecological implications of being in a throw-away, disposable society. Not too mention how many people cannot, will not attempt to fix something anymore if it is even fixable to begin with.

Sometimes online registration is almost mandatory to maintain warranty plus they use that requirement to justify collection some amount of personal information. Maybe to provide you with recall information perhaps. Besides, most warranties are full of loopholes.

Anyway will not continue this bit of a rant - not relevant per se. But I agree with your concern about not being able to use a perfectly good cartridge because of some artificial end of life "feature" entended to enhance the consumer experience, be safer, so on and so forth.

You are certainly looking into things much more that most people do. And obviously aware of your requirements and the trade-offs.

The inks do dry out as I have found or seen to happen. Generally due to poor packaging or obviously incorrectly stored somewhere like a rental storage unit without any environmental controls. However, the same can happen to toner as well.

Probably best compromise is to try to avoid overstocking spare toner. However, in any case, the manufacturers (of all products) will continue to devise schemes and ways to "enhance customer experience" with less choice and more cost to the customers. Pretty straightforward to apply a "feature" that causes forced obsolencence of existing cartridges and requires purchasing new cartridges with less toner inside for more $.

Overall, I think it is much less of a technical issue and far more an indication of our world problems in general.

 

[manniongeo]

Classic razors and razorblades situation.

I switched to a straight razor 4 years ago. Factoring in the specialized sharpening stones, it should pay itself off any decade now.

I hear you on your rant. I'd throw in cell phones without user-replaceable batteries. As long as you plan to upgrade every year, it's not a problem. If I had a nickel for every reviewer that lauded "premium" metal and glass components over swappable batteries and expandable memory...


Back on-topic, I'm starting to look at business printers, too. Even the entry-level models in the business product lines are WAAAAY overkill for what I need. But, the difference between the business and residential ISPs, laptops, mobile service, etc. that I've had is so pronounced that it might be worth spending some extra money up-front to get a printer that the manufacturer considers "business class" in order to enjoy better drivers, longer support, fewer ads, etc. over its lifetime.

I don't know if this business vs consumer difference is the case with printers or not. Understandably, the manufacturers don't promote those types of benefits for business customers with other products/services, lest they betray their treatment of the consumer-level customers. But, I don't think that any office manager worth their salt would tolerate the behavior of my current printer, so I suspect that installing the driver for an HP business printer wouldn't require, say, also installing a few hundred megs of "customer service" programs to help you buy ink more easily. Or to walk down the hall after submitting a large print job only to find that the device has been sitting idle waiting for you to acknowledge via a button push on its LCD screen (not on your PC screen via the driver) that your ink is getting low before starting to print.

Anyway, there doesn't seem to be a way to assess these types of things up-front, other than to get feedback from other users. I set off the alarm at our local Staples the other day while just handling a Kindle with one of those security wires on it, so I doubt they'll let me take my laptop down there and try the printers first-hand (i.e. more than printing the demo page from the device itself).

I'll keep researching and post if I learn anything new. In the meantime, if anyone has additional feedback on the original post, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[hang-the-9]

If you have the thing sit there for a while, you would want to remove the toner from the printer while not in use.

http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/sales-landing/hp-laserjet-pro-400-color-printer-m451nw?jumpid=ba_r329_hhocse&aoid=44661&003=6663635&010=CE956A%23BGJ&ci_sku=CE956A%23BGJ&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw

HP laserjets are quite a bit more reliable than their home inkjets.

You will get higher quality getting a separate scanner than an all in one unless you spend $500+

 

[manniongeo]

After a lot of research, including reading several hundred pages of product documentation for various printers, I purchased and installed a Brother MFC-9340CDW all-in-one color laser printer this week. The following list summarizes the factors that influenced my decision:

COST

• 
  ■ The printer was within my budget. I was hoping to spend around $250 USD for a printer. I looked at models with MSRP up to $500, knowing that I have time to shop around and wait for a sale. I ultimately paid $350 for this one, and was comfortable spending the extra $100 to get the scan/copy/fax capabilities included (I'd planned to spend about that for a stand-alone scanner, anyway). Regarding operating costs:
  ■ The MFC-9410CDW was rated in several reviews as having higher per-page costs because of it's relatively expensive toner (per yield). That may be true for a busier workgroup, but for my use, it's likely that the initial toner cartridges (1,000 pages) will last me for the life of the printer. A second set definitely will. (As implied, the printer does ship with a set of starter toner cartridges).
  ■ The toner and drums are independently replaceable. They have different lifespans (1,000-2,500 pages toner, 15,000 pages drum), so this is good. Maybe all laser/LED printers are like this; I didn't learn about it until I'd already settled on a Brother model, so I didn't bother going back to look at the other vendors. Other long-wearing parts like the belt and waste toner bucket (50,000 pages each) are separately replaceable (which is probably true for all printers).
  ■ The fax capability is sufficiently good to allow me to cancel my $170/year (!) fax service. Given how infrequently I use faxes, my current fax service ends up costing me like $10-20 per faxed page. Eliminating that cost, alone, will pay for the whole printer in 2 years. See more about faxing below.
  ■ Ostensibly good power saving options. I'll hook up my Kill-A-Watt to make sure, but the sleep (so-so) and deep sleep (pretty good) power saving are probably sufficient for me to leave the device on. I may change my mind about that, though.

FEATURES

• 
  ■ The printer has an incredible set of features. In the price range I was considering, there were a lot of affordable "personal" laser printers that had things like WiFi and mobile printing, as well as entry-level business printers that had things like automatic duplex printing and a straight-through paper path for envelopes and card stock. Surprisingly, there were very few in that Goldilocks zone that included all of those features. More than anything, finding WiFi and automatic duplex together limited the pool of choices. The specific features that I like about the MFC-9340CDW are:
  ■ Built-in WiFi (and Ethernet).
  ■ Print using black-only when one or more color cartridges are empty (pet peeve with prior HP Photosmart). There's a specific documentation pamphlet that addresses this topic, though I haven't confirmed first-hand yet.
  ■ Scan when a toner cartridge is empty or missing (pet peeve with prior HP Photosmart). I pulled a toner cartridge and was still able to scan.
  ■ Auto-duplex printing. I don't use this a lot, but this is a long-term purchase and the marginal extra up-front cost will amount to effectively nothing over the many years that I hope to use the printer.
  ■ Straight-path envelope printing. When I do actually print something it's often an envelope, and it's nice to feed them straight through to reduce jams. Same with the occasional sheet of labels, business cards, etc. Additionally, most of what I print are checks, and from multiple checking accounts. It's nice to be able to grab one and stick it in the manual feed slot, without having to load it into the paper tray.
  ■ INSANE fax features. It's hard to get excited about something as mundane as faxing, especially considering that I send like one fax a year. But, this devices allows me to shed my costly fax service, primarily because of two features: 1) I can connect my answering machine through the printer and it will automatically pick up faxes or route voice calls to the answering machine. 2) The PC-FAX software allows me to send/receive faxes using my computer. Coupled with my existing VPN, I can do this from anywhere, just like with my fax service. There are TONS of other awesome fax features, which I'll omit in the interest of space.
  ■ One-pass duplex scanning. Like duplex printing, I won't use this a lot, but it's nice to have for a marginal cost.
  ■ Auto document feeder + flatbed scanner. I was debating which type of scanner to get, as each has merits. This has both.
  ■ Touchscreen interface. Especially for scanning (and copying/faxing), it's just that much easier. There are three whole pages of configurable shortcuts, too. Very nice.
  ■ Configurable by web UI or remote thick client. It was actually pretty easy to configure using the touchscreen, but it's so nice to have a real management UI in a browser / client.
  ■ Fantastic Windows driver + client software. Good Mac driver. Available Linux driver (haven't tried yet). Let me count the ways that the Brother driver beats the pants off the HP software for my last printer... Suffice it to say, the software lets me configure the print/scan job, in detail, and nothing else. Most notably, it doesn't try to sell me supplies along the way.
  ■ Several security features for controlling who can use what functions. This seems to be stored locally on the printer (e.g. no LDAP integration, I don't think). But, for my home office, where I have no AD/LDAP domain and it's just me, my family, and guests, on-device configuration will work fine. There's also myriad usage reporting functions. I didn't set out to get these features, and may or may not use them, but it's nice to know that they're there.

SUPPORT

• 
  ■ 1 year warranty. Not great, but typical
  ■ Free lifetime tech support. That's nice. Many reviewers have commented on the high quality of Brother's technical and customer support.
  ■ OUTSTANDING documentation. I used to be a technical writer, and my hat is off to the staff at Brother for writing the most comprehensive, understandable documentation for any hardware or software product that I've used in recent years. They tell you everything you need to know - more than you need to know - including not only how to use the device, buy why they made some of the design decisions that the did. I read 200+ pages of doc for this printer (among others) before committing, and was extremely confident in my purchase by the time I went to the store. The hardest part of the setup process was uninstalling my old HP driver/bloatware on 3 machines, which took literally hours, due to the multiple reboots required. The Brother installation process on Windows and Mac was a breeze, as was the firmware upgrade. To the unnamed documentation writers at Brother who work behind the scenes, sleep well at night knowing that you've done an excellent job.
  ■ Good website, both for sales and support. The site is well-organized, professional, and information-rich. It meets my expectations for a company of this size. Most importantly, I found everything I needed online before making a purchase. I didn't have to call/email/chat to clarify any details. Well done.

The only minor negatives that I've seen so far are:

• 
  ■ The unit is BIG. There's no way around that with 4 toners/drums, flatbed scanner, and document feeder. I can lift it when I have to, and have room for it on a desk. Mainly, I'm just not used to seeing something the size of a real office printer in my home office, when I'm used to a lithe personal inkjet.
  ■ The unit takes a lot of power on startup. My office lights flicker and my UPS buzzes every time I wake it up. I need to do some network wiring, so I'll probably install a dedicated power circuit for the printer. It takes a lot of power to run, too, but I don't run it that often, so that won't be an issue. I get the impression that laser/LED printers are just like this, due to the heat required to fuse the toner.

I've only been using the MFC-9340CDW for a day now, so I'll post back if things change for the better or worse.

 

[lightness1024]

Instant-convinced. thank you very much for your review. I was having the exact same worries than you, same requirement, same problems with inkjets.
Except there is some little thing more : I had a Canon MX893 (jp version of the 892), which prints incredibly excellent photos. I will be losing this. but whatever, considering the cost of ink and photo paper, going to some store and print them from the sdcard will be cheaper and better in the end.
I wanted to go with either brother or ricoh because they fall less into this inkwaste fraud that the manufacturers do lately.
I considered the geljets from Ricoh and was very enthusiastic, but the unworkable scanner with rainbow effects and the total absence of linux support was a big downer.
In the end I thought I was going to go with the Brother 3110 the super cheap version with no functions but printing (and wifi), thanks to its compactness, but if I buy a separate scanner and a separate fax machine I'm going to end up with higher costs, AND higher space lost too.
So all in all, really, thanks you for that review.

 

[manniongeo]

You're welcome - and thanks for taking the time to write!

I think you're going to love the MFC-9340CDW. I've only printed/scanned a few things so far, but the quality of both has been outstanding, and everything just works. I kind of wish that I had more to do, because it's been such a pleasure to work with so far. Alas, this device is destined to go horribly underutilized in my office - but if it works reliably when I need it to, it'll have been worth the cost.

Good luck, and please write back if you find anything good or bad that you'd like to share once you start using it.

 

[lightness1024]

So a few months later, I bought it at Christmas, and it works perfectly. I have nothing negative to say about it. After probably around a hundred printouts, the toner levels are only down one pixel. great machine as expected I've used fax sending, brother android application to print from the phone, I installed linux drivers, it's on wifi, and frankly it's awesome for doing all of this right.

 

[manniongeo]

@lightness1024, I'm glad the printer is working out so well for you. Thanks for posting your update after having used the printer for a while; you've inspired me to do the same.

My experience with the MFC-9340CDW so far has been outstanding. I only really use it for printing/scanning from Windows desktops, but it's worked nearly flawlessly. It prints quickly, with sharp results. It scans quickly, with sharp results. The drivers have been stable, and both the Windows apps and on-screen LCD user experience have been excellent.

The only two minor issues I've had are:

• 
  ■ With the default settings, I find that the toner sometimes rubs off the paper in higher-friction applications. For example, I had an envelope returned from the post office as "illegible". It was readable to my eye, but I can see that the zip code had worn off in spots, which probably caused trouble for the sorting machine. I've observed the same thing on other documents since then. To compensate, I've increased the heat on the fuser by setting the "Improve Toner Fixing" setting. This causes the pages to curl more, but the toner does stick better.
  ■ The manual feed slot requires that I keep pressure on the paper while inserting it, until the printer actually starts to draw it in. If I don't keep some pressure on the page, it'll inevitably jam. So, instead of prepping the printer and going back to my desk to submit the job, I now submit the job first (making sure to choose manual feed from my computer) then go to the printer - which by that time is waiting for paper - and feed it a sheet.

I also emailed Brother support to ask about the relative advantages of using the "Fine (2400 dpi class)" compared to the "Normal (600x600 dpi)" setting. I assumed that there had to be some drawback to using Fine, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to create the lower-resolution Normal setting. I didn't know if Fine printed more slowly, used more toner, or something else. Brother support said that it used more toner. So, they answered my question. But, the response was sufficiently vague that I'm not sure it's correct - or, at least, entirely correct. Regardless, I print so infrequently that I didn't bother pursuing the issue further. I use Fine for everything now, especially because my company colors and logos look better that way (and they're present on most pages I print).

To summarize, my opinion after the first 5 months of use is that the MFC-9340CDW is still an excellent device for my application, and has proven to be a good value so far.