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tim100

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 25, 2009
1,368
0
i need some advice on a printer for a small office. here are the printers i am looking at:

HP Officejet Pro X476dn All-in-One Printer, this is new inkjet that is faster and cheaper ink than laser

Brother HL-2270DW, cheap mono laser

HP LaserJet Pro M401dn Printer, laser no wifi

HP LaserJet Pro 200 M251nw Color Laser Printer, color laser slow
 

Micky Do

macrumors 68020
Aug 31, 2012
2,204
3,146
a South Pacific island
Go laser rather than inkjet.

I was given an inkjet that my boss got for a single baht extra when she bought a new laptop...... I anded up buying a new Mac Mini (fairly new to the market then) because my girlfriend's computer didn't have the grunt to drive it. I found it inconveniently ran out of ink quite frequently, and I had no need for colour anyway.

I started doing most of my work at home so replaced the inkjet with one of the first small laser printers to come on the market, a Xerox. I had trouble getting a driver for the Mac at first, and have found it to be a bit fussy about the paper used. With the right paper it has been reliable enough, and produces printouts that are sharper and work out to be cheaper than what I got from the inkjet..... and the cartridge lasts a good long time.

There is a Brother that looks to be a "badge engineered" version of the current Xerox. I don't know what it is like, but I guess it would be an improvement on mine.

In the office at work they have a couple of small monotone HPs. They seem to be more reliable (less fussy about paper), and produce better quality printouts than my Xerox. Additionally, their photocopy performance is much better. When / if I replace the Xerox that i have now, HP would probably get the nod.
 

johnnnw

macrumors 65816
Feb 7, 2013
1,214
21
Considering ink costs many times more than gas, definitely go laser.

In my opinion almost the whole printer business should be investigated for shaddy business, its all a scam. Printers reporting ink needs replacing early, half filled cartridges, so much crap.
 

blueroom

macrumors 603
Feb 15, 2009
6,381
26
Toronto, Canada
I'd avoid any modern HP computer product, there was a time when HP was great and highly desirable but alas IMHO it's been all downhill since the Compaq merger.

On the other hand there was a time I wouldn't go near a Brother printer, now I have no problem recommending their printers.
 

bcburrows

macrumors 6502
Mar 25, 2009
426
6
Bristol
What do you need from the printer?

What is your rough monthly page print?
Do you need colour or just black?
Do you need usb/ethernet or wifi?
Do you need a scanner (i.e. NOT a dedicated scanner but an occasional flatbed scanner).

I have an HP 1102w in my home office - hp laser printer wifi quite good and can get refurbished refills for £15 for 1600 pages.

At work we have the 401n good printer, good and fast - reasonably larger profile than the 1102w though and do you need the extra capacity for size trade off?

Don't know about brother printers.

But that is my two pence.
 
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