printer advice needed

I'm so glad I found this forum because I am in desperate need of some good advice. First let me say Hello, since this is my first post to the forum. I'm not in the printing industry, but I have been printer obsessed for a few weeks now trying to make a decision on a laser printer. I need to purchase a good quality laser printer to print my product labels. I would like to keep the cost below 1K if I can, but if my requirements aren't realistic for that budget, I can increase that a bit.

So far I have bought and returned two entry level lasers (HP2600n and Brother HL-4040cn). Both printers had color registration issues, color banding, the Brother also had some odd glossy stripes when I printed on the laser labels that I use. I know my lables are a challenge to print well. They have a solid color background with either black or reverse print white text. I think part of the problem is that the two printers that I tried out were entry level printers (you get what you pay for kind of thing). But the other HP models in stock at the office supply store had a much higher duty cycle that wasn't required.

My main concern is print quality. The labels and cardstock tags that I print need to look great. Speed isn't as big of an issue to me as quality. I need a laser because I need the water resistance that I don't get with my InkJet. My monthy duty cycle is pretty low, maybe 2K...maybe.

Are there printers out there in my price range that don't have the issues that I have seen with the entry level printers or am I looking for something that doesn't exist?

TIA
Sharon

 

At the moment I can't recommend a printer but FYI there's a special paper on the market that makes inkjet printouts water resistant but I don't know if it's available in label format. I didn't think this was even possible until I tested a couple samples of the paper on a friend's inkjet. It was amazing to see how the ink didn't show the slightest sign of smearing despite being immersed in water for several minutes. The paper also resists tearing better than regular paper but, as you would guess, it's also more expensive.

 

If the label doesn't disintegrate epson pigment ink will be waterproof -- it will cost you a lot though to print medium to heavy ink coverage with quality ink on a cheap printer - probably $2 a sheet.

 

Thanks for the info. Would like to know more about this paper.

 

Konica Minolta or Epson

I've had good luck with entry level konica minolta color laser printers. Epson lasers seem to do better than HP.

It may be cheaper to have an independent copy shop with higher end equipment print them for you.

~Patrick

 

This is definitely something my company could help we specialise in providing short run low cost - high quality labels.

We have done case studies for some of our existing clients and we found we were a third of the cost of our customers printing in house.

If this sounds of interest please let me know.

 

look at a xerox 6130, postscript as standard and cheap toners on ebay.. they are a great cheap printer imo