Affordable Laser Color Printer for Home?

Hey whats up,

im looking to get a Printer(Color but Laser) for home, any suggestions? please dont suggest an Enterprise grade Printer, i will not get the required use and i dont want to pay the Enterprise tax.

my budget its $500 USD

I have a HP CLJ 1500 hand-me-down that still works very well, and which I basically got for free because there are no drivers for w7-10.

And how do you deal with that?

Either (in win7 pro) run a windows XP VM – using MS own’s freely downloadable “XP Mode”: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx%3Fid=8002 – and connect the printer to that VM, or connect the printer to a linux machine of some sort (for which drivers are still available).

I would recommend anything Brother. They’ve been workhorses for me.

http://www.brother-usa.com/MFC/Color_Laser_Multifunction/

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i would take a look, im leaning towards a Brother or a Samsung, the issue its the cost of the Toners… damn those are expensive

They are still miles cheaper than an equivalent ink system. You have to keep in mind you will get many more prints out of that toner.

What are are you planning to print with this, simple graphics, photos, intricate graphics?

Photos and Graphics design usually on Vinyl

Samsung actually has some pretty affordable color laser jets.

I have the mono laserjet but its also quite the workhorse.

For photos, you’re going to be seriously disappointed. Color laserjets have problems with banding. What kinds of photos do you print mostly? Again, they’re great for simple graphics: charts, graphs, crap you’d have to show at work, but for any serious graphics work, you’re going to need an inkjet. There’s just no comparison, unfortunately.

Further research indicates it is plausible, but you’re going to have to do your research and it involves more than just the printer.

I wish I was shopping for a color laser, but my trusty HP still works okay.
At work as a designer and in printing I have used, maintained & color corrected Pro Laser printers. They are pretty nice.

The banding problem is an issue with having a large areas of the drum holding a single color = similar electrostatic charge. In the second between when the image is lasered onto the drum the ink powder is spread and then printed, the charge’s even spread, starts to move around and become uneven. The result is some banding or splotchies but not much.

Photocopiers do the same thing. Try copying a black square on a white backing.

What I see as your problem is vinyl. It’s gonna melt and ruin your printer. The final step with a laser print is passing it through a heat roller. I can’t tell you how many times I had to get MY < it’s all mine - you plebes aren’t supposed to be using it ! > laser at work repaired because someone fed it anything other than the special 2x expensive laser paper that us graphic designers used.

TL;DR:
Don’t fill your laser printer with “paper” that will make you have to clean out melted plastic gunk later.

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HP Colour LaserJet Pro MFP M277dw Printer, is the one I bought when I was printing and selling manuals. It has 4 cartridges eacha bout 100$. I paid 500$ for my printer, in Canadian. I printed 1000 pages on the cartridges that came with it… before I actually put the new ones in. This is a great printer.,

Is it realy better? i thought the Laser were really good for the Printing Quality.

So the option its just get a Printer with Inkjet?

i Was looking at reviews of those, but i really hate HP, i use the Hardware at work and usually sucks compared to other Brands.

For working with vinyl I would suggest a small (11x17) pro plotter with more than 4 = 7 - 9 color inkwells.
Something like this but better, cheaper, more reliable and a brand you don’t hate.


$500
edit: I don’t mean this specific printer, I meant one like this type of printer.

That last one its good, but the only offer for $500 :

Used - Acceptable
Hasn’t been used in nearly a decade, but was working last time I checked. Before you buy, please make sure you understand this.

I was curious. That used printer will probably last forever. It’s using it that gets expensive.


ink for my deskjet is $77, so not a bad price for 8 print heads considering.

Well ink it self isnt expensive, what about the Printers with the Mod and Big Ink containers?

Oh yes it’s expensive. In fact, they sell the printers at a loss, because they know they will recoup the costs in ink sales. Also, you should buy as big a printer as you can afford, because the bigger the printer, the bigger the ink cartridges, and it’s like buying ink in bulk once they get big enough.

I was talking about the Printers with the Ink Tanks/Bottles, the Ink it self its dirt cheap, i can get like 1 LT for a couple of dollars, they make a buck selling overpriced Ink Cartridge i know that.

Something like this

PrinterInk