Hi! Can anyone recommend a good laser printer for my first upgrade?

Discussion in 'Print Community General Printing Discussion' started by blue tulip, Feb 16, 2009.

  1. blue tulip

    blue tulip Member

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    I started a small invitation business last summer, and quickly outgrew my little inkjet printer. I want to upgrade to a laser printer, but after researching for a week, it's making my head spin.:)

    I need a printer that will get me crisp, clean text and graphics. I print from adobe photoshop, because it is where I do all my design work. My current printer was never supposed to handle high quality stuff, and the slightly blurry edges drive me crazy!

    I print on everything from 105# pearlescent metallic cardstocks to linen finish text paper to regular smooth paper. I would love a multifunction (scanner, fax) but understand that you seem to sacrifice some print quality when you buy a bundled machine, so it's not necessary. It would be great to be able to print envelopes, too. Speed is not a concern.

    Please, any help you can give me is greatly appreciated. I want to offer my clients the best, so I can continue to grow!

    Martha :)
     
  2. blue tulip

    blue tulip Member

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    Sorry, I should have mentioned by budget is pretty tiny compared to some of the threads I'm reading..I'd like to stay under $750 if possible.
     
  3. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    What kind of monthly volume do you plan on printing and can you clarify your budget -- are you looking for a color copier/printer for $750/month or a very small printer for $750 total one-time purchase???
     
  4. blue tulip

    blue tulip Member

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    right now, I am printing about 400-500, the high month so far was 800 pieces. I am keeping the little printer for the samples, since I am reading that small runs of a couple pieces wear out the drum faster than large consecutive runs.

    I was hoping to purchase a little laser printer to have at home, not someone to contract thru for a monthly fee. The one I kept coming back to due to good reviews was the brother mfc9840cdw model. Though I wasn't married to the idea of an all-in-one, this one seemed to offer great printing (compared to my current one) and had the scanner and fax I can use. The cost of the consumables was on the low side of average, and I had read it was a plus that it was a single-pass color system, that each cartridge has it's own little drum/roller, and this was supposed to help the main drum last longer? Sorry if I'm confusing some terms or misusing them, I've been reading a lot and it's all kinda swimming around in my head. :) It had 2400x600 dpi, (not stellar, but not TOO bad, right?) and could do envelopes for me too.

    Then this week I saw it was on a good sale, so I did purchase it. It's being shipped to my local store.

    I realize that asking you guys for advice is comparable to asking a brain surgeon what bandaid brand is best, but I was hoping for some input. God willing, someday I'll be near your realms. ;)

    Any opinions? If I made a mistake, what can I do next time (or is it going to be so bad I should return it)?
     
  5. blue tulip

    blue tulip Member

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    lithograph?

    how can I find out more about lithograph printers? I'm googling, and can't find any info about how much they cost, or where to purchase. I just get a lot of printer's websites. I'm sure they are way over my budget, but I'd like to know by how much!:)
     
  6. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    For that volume there are no mistakes. I predict that within the next year you'll be wanting a larger printer, but at the same time it's always handy to have a backup and a backup to the backup, especially if you're wanting to print some unique stocks/items that you won't necessarily want to put through your newest printer sometimes.Laser printers are a bit less forgiving than inkjets on quality and not that capable on paper handling compared to presses for example. But they're capable enough that once you can produce jobs in some quantity, you next want to be able to do more and more and a little increase in quality, finish, or paper handling sets you back a lot in equipment price. But at the same time, the larger the laser printer the better deals you can get on click or consumable costs usually. At least that's how it went for me... please post back after you've used it for a few months.
     
  7. blue tulip

    blue tulip Member

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    how about after a day? ;)

    i just set it all up and tried some practice things, and I'm really not impressed. I guess yes, I was expecting everything to be sunshine a roses for $600. is that so naive?:rolleyes:

    i was reading the literature beforehand, and yes, it does seem to be wuite limiting in the stock options. i had to run an order today on laid cardstock, and it fed it fine, but the ink does not look as nice on the paper as with my old one. i guess that's just a result of the process. the ink lays up on top, and is darker on the ridges than the valleys. i haven't printed with it yet on pearlescent metallic paper, i wonder how it will hold up to that.

    also, on regular paper i am noticing a slight corona of cyan around the black letters. i have run the color registrations and alignments, but it didn't help a lot. and, the colors in general are not very vivid, even when i have it on vivid and 'toner save' off.

    i'm not expecting you to know what to do, because i'm sure you don't deal with small printers such as this. $600 is not what i'd want to waste on an imtermediary printer. i'd rather get a larger(better!) one, but are we talking several thousands, then? at the moment, i'm thinking of all the color carts that money would buy for my old one, which is SO not economical for the long haul.:eek:
     
  8. blue tulip

    blue tulip Member

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    come back, help! :) i'm returning this printer. after calling customer service, it turns out thyat it won't be able to handle the weights i need (wish they had had THAT in the online literature before i bought it) and so it isn't going to work for me, as i do most of my printing on 80# plus cardstock. now, i guess i'm back to the drawing board. And thinking that laser is not the way to go.

    If I am reading good reviews about professional grade photo printers, that print well from photoshop, doe sthat mean they will print high res text well, too? or does high photo quality not necessarily mean high text quality? again, thanks for your replies, i'd really appreciate any help.
     
  9. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    I'm sorry for taking so long to reply -- had a big job to finish at the end of February.
    Unfortunately what I've found is that in terms of quality a desktop inkjet under $500 can produce great results on quality paper. But once you start with lasers, great quality that lasts for a good number of prints (since the speed and cost per print allows you to print a lot more volume) starts around $30,000, or $500/month. Less than that and there are major tradeoffs in serviceability, media flexibility, print quality, or controller "smarts." With our xerox for example we have the entry-level rip which has some quirks, and that alone costs us $170/month just for the rip attached to the printer. But it does give us control over simple things like what is printed in pure black and what's printed in rich black, how rbg is converted to cmyk on the fly, etc.

    With a tight budget, I'm not sure what I'd recommend. For $3,000 to $5,000 you can get the last generation production machine off-lease to get a much more robust machine, but then the problem is parts and service... big capable machines, but then if something breaks it can easily cost you $1500 in parts plus $120/hour for technical assistance.

    Small lasers are starting to make ground, but there are still quality compromises compared to simple desktop inkjets and some lack heavy media handling. No easy answer.
     
  10. Alexis

    Alexis Member

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    Whatever printer you get there will be a better one that produces better quality more economically and faster. No matter what you have, it's easy to feel that anything worse than what you have at the given moment is incapable of doing worthwhile jobs.
     
  11. cohenprinting

    cohenprinting Member

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    So.. what did you get at the end?
     

  12. cohenprinting

    cohenprinting Member

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    Yes, so what did you get at the end?
    I have the same issue.
    Don't know... printers ver. presses.
    A rep from xerox was here and recompensed Xerox Color C75 Press. connected with fiery. for $300 a month plus pay per click. Not sure if I want to sign a lease for five years. Who knows what will happens in a year in the printing industry.
    A rep from Canon as well...

    Totally confusing.
     
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