i am in the market for a laser color printer. Any recommendations as to what the best kind to use with a Mac high sierra os would be?
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Best laser color printer
- Thread starter sparkleblue
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I like the HP printers we have. No complaints.
A client has Brother printers, and they suck. The drivers are crap, and they keep 'having issues' that necessitate power cycles and 'fluffing pillows'.
A client has Brother printers, and they suck. The drivers are crap, and they keep 'having issues' that necessitate power cycles and 'fluffing pillows'.
Xerox has had good Mac support (and quality prints) for years. Usually more expensive, especially the consumables.
I have supported Brother printers...and they have been decent overall. Not seen the issues Pinky sees....although I would concede most Brother printers have been low cost, low volume printers. Not really fair to compare to high cost, high volume units.
I have a new Kyocera P6035CDN at work that has been perfect. About 2-3 reams through it in a lab full of Macs, no issues or complaints. Should be very low cost over the long haul.
...Really depends on:
If it is primarily for text, you can get away with lower cost machines (like Brother) and get good results. If really accurate color and/or images are essential...expect to spend more.
Read some reviews and more reviews to get an idea of pros and cons in side-by-side tests. The goal is to find the best printer that matches your needs/budget/space. If everyone simply wanted the best printer....there would nothing worth looking at for less than about $3000.
I have supported Brother printers...and they have been decent overall. Not seen the issues Pinky sees....although I would concede most Brother printers have been low cost, low volume printers. Not really fair to compare to high cost, high volume units.
I have a new Kyocera P6035CDN at work that has been perfect. About 2-3 reams through it in a lab full of Macs, no issues or complaints. Should be very low cost over the long haul.
...Really depends on:
- Duty cycle requirements (volume of prints per month)
- Quality requirements
- What type of documents are being printed (text and charts, or images and graphics)
If it is primarily for text, you can get away with lower cost machines (like Brother) and get good results. If really accurate color and/or images are essential...expect to spend more.
Read some reviews and more reviews to get an idea of pros and cons in side-by-side tests. The goal is to find the best printer that matches your needs/budget/space. If everyone simply wanted the best printer....there would nothing worth looking at for less than about $3000.
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We've had Xerox 7500DN and a 7800DN for years. 7800 gave us lots of trouble at first. Turned out to be a damaged circuit board - replaced under warranty and it has be trouble free for years after that. Use it for proofing print jobs and printing small run flyers. True postscript. Handles a variety of papers well.
"Best" according to what metric? Color print quality? (on ordinary paper? photo paper?) black-and-white quality? text or photos? is speed important? how about printer cost, consumable cost? There is no best in all measures.
If color print quality is paramount I'd agree with the Xerox Phaser (7500 etc). Pricey. At the other end, the Brother color lasers are inexpensive and anecdotally very solid (PinkyMacGodess's experience notwithstanding). I have a Canon MF8280 (superseded now, I think) which does a very satisfactory job but doesn't excel in any one area.
I'd start by deciding how important absolute color quality is to you, vs how much you have to spend. That should help you narrow it down a little.
If color print quality is paramount I'd agree with the Xerox Phaser (7500 etc). Pricey. At the other end, the Brother color lasers are inexpensive and anecdotally very solid (PinkyMacGodess's experience notwithstanding). I have a Canon MF8280 (superseded now, I think) which does a very satisfactory job but doesn't excel in any one area.
I'd start by deciding how important absolute color quality is to you, vs how much you have to spend. That should help you narrow it down a little.
It’s mostly color quality and clarity that I’m looking for in a laser color printer. I’m only going to use it at home for light projects. Xerox sounds great but way out of my price range.
Gotta ask...is there a requirement for a laser? Inkjet color is hard to beat for a low-cost machine. Home use is usually a low duty cycle, again, good on an inkjet.
The downside is typically: slower per page speed, and ink issues (drying out, clogs, etc.) if nothing is printed every couple weeks. Price per page can be higher (ink), but typically what you save on the printer offsets quite a bit of ink.
I have not uses them, but the Epson Ecotank printers are pushing into the low-cost color laser market: CMYK, 10,000 prints, no tiny ink cartridges, and I would expect vibrant colors. Could be a real option. First gen review here, I think they are second gen now, likey a bit more refined.
• Keep in mind, most entry-level printers, both inkjet, and laser, have limited "starter" cartridges. That means they are half full. Or less. Which means expect to buy more ink or toner soon. A full set of toner on a small laser can be almost as much $$ as the entire printer! Same with entry-level inkjets. A big hidden cost on low-end printing.
• Don't forget that no matter where you end up, the paper is important too. Don't expect great prints on low-grade copier paper.
The downside is typically: slower per page speed, and ink issues (drying out, clogs, etc.) if nothing is printed every couple weeks. Price per page can be higher (ink), but typically what you save on the printer offsets quite a bit of ink.
I have not uses them, but the Epson Ecotank printers are pushing into the low-cost color laser market: CMYK, 10,000 prints, no tiny ink cartridges, and I would expect vibrant colors. Could be a real option. First gen review here, I think they are second gen now, likey a bit more refined.
• Keep in mind, most entry-level printers, both inkjet, and laser, have limited "starter" cartridges. That means they are half full. Or less. Which means expect to buy more ink or toner soon. A full set of toner on a small laser can be almost as much $$ as the entire printer! Same with entry-level inkjets. A big hidden cost on low-end printing.
• Don't forget that no matter where you end up, the paper is important too. Don't expect great prints on low-grade copier paper.
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[doublepost=1515186106][/doublepost]Thanks for that suggestion. I notice that your suggestion is from 2014. The c400 is still available, but how to find out if it's been updated at all? Tired of having new OSs not working with some printers.
Can't go wrong with HP. I love ours. We ordered it July 18, 2016, and today still on original cartridges with 600 pages left. No issues! Works with all our MACs, iPads, iPhones, Androids fine!
HP LaserJet Pro M477fdw
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014CSKE7E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
HP LaserJet Pro M477fdw
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014CSKE7E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Actually my suggestion was from November 2017. 2014 is my forum join date. It supports OS/X through High Sierra.
Brother makes exceptional color laser printers with excellent reviews, user satisfation, and cost
I would avoid HP like the plague simply due to the massive amound of bloatware and unreasonably giant driver downloads that they attempt to install with their products.
The most important thing to look at when choosing a printer for a Mac is to look at the companies support site and ensure that the printer model you choose does NOT require downloading or installing any additional drivers. With a Brother printer for example, you can simply take it out of the box, plug it in, power it on, join it to your WiFi using the control panel on the printer, and then it will instantly show up as an available printer on any modern Mac, iOS device, or Windows PC on the same network.
Under no circumstances should you install aditional software that comes with a printer. Take the DVD out of the box and throw it in the trash. Any printer that requires that you install aditional software on the Mac before using it should be put back in the box and returned for a printer that has drivers included by Apple and Microsoft in the OS or available through OS updates. The bloatware that peripherial manufacturers provided on the DVDs that they provide in the boxes should be considered malware.
I would avoid HP like the plague simply due to the massive amound of bloatware and unreasonably giant driver downloads that they attempt to install with their products.
The most important thing to look at when choosing a printer for a Mac is to look at the companies support site and ensure that the printer model you choose does NOT require downloading or installing any additional drivers. With a Brother printer for example, you can simply take it out of the box, plug it in, power it on, join it to your WiFi using the control panel on the printer, and then it will instantly show up as an available printer on any modern Mac, iOS device, or Windows PC on the same network.
Under no circumstances should you install aditional software that comes with a printer. Take the DVD out of the box and throw it in the trash. Any printer that requires that you install aditional software on the Mac before using it should be put back in the box and returned for a printer that has drivers included by Apple and Microsoft in the OS or available through OS updates. The bloatware that peripherial manufacturers provided on the DVDs that they provide in the boxes should be considered malware.
This is simply not true.
Yes, there are can be tons of stuff folks don't need.
Yes, many drivers are included in popular OSes.
But many, many great printers don't have their drivers pre-installed. Whether Apple has the driver installed already, or the user installs it, makes no difference. The printer maker creates the driver, good or bad. If Apple—or the end user—installs it....it is still the printer maker's driver.
If you want to rail against bloatware...how about this: Why do modern OSes have 100s....perhaps 1000 printer drivers installed for printers the user will never use?
In fact, most drivers for the best (enterprise) printers are not included in MacOS. The most common consumer printers are. And by definition, these are not the best printers. So, it is just as reasonable to argue that 99% of the preinstalled drivers are bloatware for junk printers.
It cuts both ways.
Two things I can agree with:
- Brother has had great Mac support for many years, and make cost-effective entry-level laser printers.
- CDs should be thrown out. Always get the latest drivers from the printer maker...or via Apple if they are natively installed.