[conspire] Recommended laser printer???

[Sean]

I picked up a low-end Lexmark (E238) for under $250 about 5 years ago
and it's been serving us very well.

As Rick points out, aftermarket replacement toner can be found for $40
or so online, and that is what I recommend also, as long as you find a
good quality source.

A good laser printer is a thing to hold on to if all you need is toner.
_S



On 01/06/2012 11:24 AM, Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting Ken Bernard (kenbernard at gmail.com):
>
>> Rick, I would like to offer my condolences on the loss of your mother.
> Thank you, Ken.
>
> One of the consequences is that I'm now a member of the despised
> landowning classes.  (The 1105 Altschul Ave. house where CABAL meets 
> is now fully in my name.)  Thus, I might end up taking even more
> personally any CABAL member or other visitor treating my house with
> disrespect, as it's literally my house in a way it wasn't until now.
>
>
>> I have run out of toner on my trusty old HP 6p Monochrome LaserJet
>> printer and I am wondering if I should replace it with a new model or
>> buy a new toner cartridge for $112.
> Hmm, yes, interesting economic dilemma.  Let's do a little research.
> The standard HP cartridge is HP model C3903A (sometimes called '03A'),
> and is compatible with HP's LaserJet 5P, 5MP, 6P, and 6MP printers,
> which one gathers all use the same Xerox print engine.
>
> http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=HP+C3903A&tbm=shop&cid=13150400857527428468 
> provides ten online sources for that HP product.  Two of the ten are
> about $40.  The rest are around $100.  Maybe your best bet and easiest
> solution would be to order two or three units from one of the cheap
> vendors.  That might last you a really long time, as these cartridges
> have a rating of 4000 pages each.  Even though the page ratings are
> usually pretty optimistic, that's still a lot of pages before you have
> to worry about supplies again.
>
> Searching Amazon's 'Computers & Accessories' category for 'HP LaserJet
> 5P, 5MP, 6P, 6MP' brings up what you _really_ want to see, which is both 
> vendors of the HP-branded model C3903A cartridge _and_ vendors of
> compatible cartridge and 'remanufactured' units.  Prices for new
> cartridges seem to run $40-90 for new C3903A cartridges, $20-30 for 
> remanufactured C3903A cartridges, and $30-40 for off-brand compatible
> cartridges.  Me, I'd be fine with any of those.
>
>
>> Is there a new laser printer selling for less than $250 that is
>> recommended? 
> I am going to pass on this excellent question for now, because I need to
> get work done at the moment, and also because I haven't researched this 
> topic in quite a while and would be starting from scratch, again.
>
> However, maybe finding good onlines sources for the C3903A and
> compatibles will meet your immediate needs.  There are times, don't
> forget, when an adequate solution is better than an ideal solution
> because it's do-able right now and is less time and trouble.  However,
> adjust your strategy according to what's important to you.
>
> I really regret that Grant Taylor isn't running linuxprinting.org, any
> more.  (He handed it off to Linux Foundation.)  He used to have really
> excellent pages making recommendations for Linux-friendly printers in
> several categories including monochrome lasers, bearing in mind vital
> criteria like how much the toner cartridges cost and how long the
> cartridges' service lives were.  At the time -- and you shouldn't rely
> on this any more, as it's been too long -- he made an excellent case for
> a particular Samsung monochrome laser printer.  To my knowledge, there 
> are not any site doing anywhere near as clear-eyed and realistic printer
> recommendations for Linux users, any more.
>
>
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