Need New Printers- Mac Mini- laser/inkjet/multi?

[scadoodle]

Just burned through another Epson, so am looking for a new printer for the Mini- stat.

Needed for:
1. text
2. newsletters, including graphics, photos

Good speed is helpful.
Have seen reviews of Brother 4040CN or 4070 CDW, Pixma iP6700D

Is multi-function good? I live 45 mi/65 km from nearest city.
Injet vs. Laser?
I've been doing inkjet all along, but with the quantities that I do, perhaps laser is now the way to go.
I also need one that is reasonably portable that does text and graphics.
thanks

 

[Makosuke]

You're kind of in the middle--high page count and speed = laser, but portable and good graphics = inkjet.

It sounds like laser is probably the better of the two for you, but I'd look at how much I really print in black and white and color, then calculate the real consumables cost of specific lasers versus inkjets (at least with inkjets it's usually pretty consistent from model-to-model in the same company). That should hint at which is the wiser decision, at least.

I'm not big on multifunctions, personally; on the positive side, if space is tight they're great, and it's nice having the easy copy features. On the other, if one component breaks it's a pain, and it seems like you often compromise on at least one component versus standalones. Depending on how your system is set up (networked, that is), you might not even be able to use the scanner, or it could be much harder to get working. Double check what Mac drivers are available and what features are fully supported, to be sure.

As far as specific models, I really like Brother's low and midrange small-format black and white lasers, but I've never used their color ones (I've installed several color lasers, but all large-format from Konica or Ricoh). It's probably what I'd get though, assuming that their color tech is reasonably similar to the B&W quality. I very much like Canon for inkjets--I don't think you can go wrong there.

 

[scadoodle]

Thanks, thats' helpful. Spent much of the day trying to muddle through reviews and specs.

I do a lot of B/W and in runs of up to 200 or so.. and need the speed. At the moment, I'm going to out check out some Brother and Canon printers, B/W laser, single function ( yeah, I'm figuring Multi function is just another word for multi- ways for screw ups) and then, take a look at some Photo inkjet printers that will handle the colour...at least, that's an option. My colour runs are smaller. Really, I need great colour and reliability for that- and cheap ink!

Thanks for your time.

 

[jeremy.king]

While not portable, I just picked up a Brother MFC-7420 and am quite impressed so far. My needs were laser, fax, and flatbed scanning. It replaced an HL-2040 workhorse of ours.

 

[Techguy172]

If you would like to get an inkjet I would recommend HP K550 it can handle a load of 7500 prints a month or if you want to get a multifunction get the HP L7680. However if you want to print photos in a multifunction get the Canon MP 610.

 

[hookem12387]

If you want an awesome inkjet, the canon mx700 I just got has been nothing short of awesome