I’m planning on buying a laser printer but concerned about the life cycle of toner in the machineWhat will happen if i put colored toner in Black white laser printer cartridgeColor Printer: Laser vs InkjetBest way to save ink in inkjet printer when rarely used?Laser printer prints black perfectly but cyan magenta and yellow very badlyDo printer ink/toner refill kits work and are they safe?What causes the laser printer to print all pages with a washed out background?Epson XP-600 will not print properly with all new ink recently installedLaser printer pages covered with toner powder. What to replace first?Is any special maintenance required for an edible ink printer?Printer toner doesn't adhere well to the paper anymore

Multi tool use
Multi tool use

Why doesn't Newton's third law mean a person bounces back to where they started when they hit the ground?

What is the meaning of "of trouble" in the following sentence?

Accidentally leaked the solution to an assignment, what to do now? (I'm the prof)

Why has Russell's definition of numbers using equivalence classes been finally abandoned? ( If it has actually been abandoned).

How can bays and straits be determined in a procedurally generated map?

How can the DM most effectively choose 1 out of an odd number of players to be targeted by an attack or effect?

A function which translates a sentence to title-case

The use of multiple foreign keys on same column in SQL Server

Why did the Germans forbid the possession of pet pigeons in Rostov-on-Don in 1941?

How to type dʒ symbol (IPA) on Mac?

Is there a familial term for apples and pears?

Is it possible to make sharp wind that can cut stuff from afar?

Draw simple lines in Inkscape

I probably found a bug with the sudo apt install function

Schwarzchild Radius of the Universe

What is the offset in a seaplane's hull?

Could a US political party gain complete control over the government by removing checks & balances?

LED on same Pin as Toggle Switch, not illuminating

Why can't I see bouncing of a switch on an oscilloscope?

Is there a minimum number of transactions in a block?

Prevent a directory in /tmp from being deleted

Japan - Plan around max visa duration

Concept of linear mappings are confusing me

Infinite past with a beginning?



I’m planning on buying a laser printer but concerned about the life cycle of toner in the machine


What will happen if i put colored toner in Black white laser printer cartridgeColor Printer: Laser vs InkjetBest way to save ink in inkjet printer when rarely used?Laser printer prints black perfectly but cyan magenta and yellow very badlyDo printer ink/toner refill kits work and are they safe?What causes the laser printer to print all pages with a washed out background?Epson XP-600 will not print properly with all new ink recently installedLaser printer pages covered with toner powder. What to replace first?Is any special maintenance required for an edible ink printer?Printer toner doesn't adhere well to the paper anymore






.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty height:90px;width:728px;box-sizing:border-box;








23















I’m planning on buying a laser printer but concerned about the life cycle of the toner in the machine. I went to Brother’s website and and it says:




“The toner cartridge shelf life is 2 years if the protective bag is unopened or 6 months after the protective bag is opened.”




I print infrequently and only a few pages a month and was hoping the toner would last for years, but am I wrong?



Will it start to clump in the printer after 6 months? I was going to get a laser printer instead of an inkjet because inkjet printers clog often if not used every week or two and use a lot of ink in the cleaning cycles. But if the toner only lasts 6 months then I have a similar problem with the laser printer.



Can someone clarify which I should get for my infrequent printing needs? I only need to print black and white.










share|improve this question









New contributor




Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 8





    Laser printers don't use "ink". They use toner.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 9





    @MichaelHarvey - potato potato. Same end result.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday






  • 22





    If you are in a discussion about laser printers, and you talk about "ink", you will make people think you are talking about ink jet printers, and that you have made an error.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 4





    I think Brother are being pessimistic to cover themselves. Most users of toner will get years out of them if they print only infrequently

    – Neil_UK
    yesterday






  • 3





    I think we can probably drop the ink vs toner discussion. It's not as though it's an answer I can edit. It's a comment which would look odd if I suddenly re-entered it in a corrected form way down here.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday

















23















I’m planning on buying a laser printer but concerned about the life cycle of the toner in the machine. I went to Brother’s website and and it says:




“The toner cartridge shelf life is 2 years if the protective bag is unopened or 6 months after the protective bag is opened.”




I print infrequently and only a few pages a month and was hoping the toner would last for years, but am I wrong?



Will it start to clump in the printer after 6 months? I was going to get a laser printer instead of an inkjet because inkjet printers clog often if not used every week or two and use a lot of ink in the cleaning cycles. But if the toner only lasts 6 months then I have a similar problem with the laser printer.



Can someone clarify which I should get for my infrequent printing needs? I only need to print black and white.










share|improve this question









New contributor




Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 8





    Laser printers don't use "ink". They use toner.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 9





    @MichaelHarvey - potato potato. Same end result.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday






  • 22





    If you are in a discussion about laser printers, and you talk about "ink", you will make people think you are talking about ink jet printers, and that you have made an error.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 4





    I think Brother are being pessimistic to cover themselves. Most users of toner will get years out of them if they print only infrequently

    – Neil_UK
    yesterday






  • 3





    I think we can probably drop the ink vs toner discussion. It's not as though it's an answer I can edit. It's a comment which would look odd if I suddenly re-entered it in a corrected form way down here.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday













23












23








23


1






I’m planning on buying a laser printer but concerned about the life cycle of the toner in the machine. I went to Brother’s website and and it says:




“The toner cartridge shelf life is 2 years if the protective bag is unopened or 6 months after the protective bag is opened.”




I print infrequently and only a few pages a month and was hoping the toner would last for years, but am I wrong?



Will it start to clump in the printer after 6 months? I was going to get a laser printer instead of an inkjet because inkjet printers clog often if not used every week or two and use a lot of ink in the cleaning cycles. But if the toner only lasts 6 months then I have a similar problem with the laser printer.



Can someone clarify which I should get for my infrequent printing needs? I only need to print black and white.










share|improve this question









New contributor




Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












I’m planning on buying a laser printer but concerned about the life cycle of the toner in the machine. I went to Brother’s website and and it says:




“The toner cartridge shelf life is 2 years if the protective bag is unopened or 6 months after the protective bag is opened.”




I print infrequently and only a few pages a month and was hoping the toner would last for years, but am I wrong?



Will it start to clump in the printer after 6 months? I was going to get a laser printer instead of an inkjet because inkjet printers clog often if not used every week or two and use a lot of ink in the cleaning cycles. But if the toner only lasts 6 months then I have a similar problem with the laser printer.



Can someone clarify which I should get for my infrequent printing needs? I only need to print black and white.







printer toner






share|improve this question









New contributor




Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question









New contributor




Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited yesterday









JakeGould

32.7k10100142




32.7k10100142






New contributor




Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









asked yesterday









Frank H.Frank H.

1164




1164




New contributor




Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Frank H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







  • 8





    Laser printers don't use "ink". They use toner.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 9





    @MichaelHarvey - potato potato. Same end result.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday






  • 22





    If you are in a discussion about laser printers, and you talk about "ink", you will make people think you are talking about ink jet printers, and that you have made an error.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 4





    I think Brother are being pessimistic to cover themselves. Most users of toner will get years out of them if they print only infrequently

    – Neil_UK
    yesterday






  • 3





    I think we can probably drop the ink vs toner discussion. It's not as though it's an answer I can edit. It's a comment which would look odd if I suddenly re-entered it in a corrected form way down here.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday












  • 8





    Laser printers don't use "ink". They use toner.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 9





    @MichaelHarvey - potato potato. Same end result.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday






  • 22





    If you are in a discussion about laser printers, and you talk about "ink", you will make people think you are talking about ink jet printers, and that you have made an error.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 4





    I think Brother are being pessimistic to cover themselves. Most users of toner will get years out of them if they print only infrequently

    – Neil_UK
    yesterday






  • 3





    I think we can probably drop the ink vs toner discussion. It's not as though it's an answer I can edit. It's a comment which would look odd if I suddenly re-entered it in a corrected form way down here.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday







8




8





Laser printers don't use "ink". They use toner.

– Michael Harvey
yesterday





Laser printers don't use "ink". They use toner.

– Michael Harvey
yesterday




9




9





@MichaelHarvey - potato potato. Same end result.

– Tetsujin
yesterday





@MichaelHarvey - potato potato. Same end result.

– Tetsujin
yesterday




22




22





If you are in a discussion about laser printers, and you talk about "ink", you will make people think you are talking about ink jet printers, and that you have made an error.

– Michael Harvey
yesterday





If you are in a discussion about laser printers, and you talk about "ink", you will make people think you are talking about ink jet printers, and that you have made an error.

– Michael Harvey
yesterday




4




4





I think Brother are being pessimistic to cover themselves. Most users of toner will get years out of them if they print only infrequently

– Neil_UK
yesterday





I think Brother are being pessimistic to cover themselves. Most users of toner will get years out of them if they print only infrequently

– Neil_UK
yesterday




3




3





I think we can probably drop the ink vs toner discussion. It's not as though it's an answer I can edit. It's a comment which would look odd if I suddenly re-entered it in a corrected form way down here.

– Tetsujin
yesterday





I think we can probably drop the ink vs toner discussion. It's not as though it's an answer I can edit. It's a comment which would look odd if I suddenly re-entered it in a corrected form way down here.

– Tetsujin
yesterday










9 Answers
9






active

oldest

votes


















22














I flat out refused to buy a printer for a long time, but it's become more necessary for me in recent years. I decided against any inkjet technology (including HP PageWide / fixed head printers, which can be presented similarly to a consumer) for a number of reasons... critically:



  • Idle Inkjet printers get "gunked" up very quickly - if you're not printing regularly, then the head quickly becomes caked in dried ink, which requires careful and expensive cleaning (ink is expensive) - potentially requiring hand cleaning or even a replacement head (or whole printer)

  • Running costs: replacement ink is incredibly expensive, and DIY refills are becoming harder and harder due to DRM - Printer Ink is one of the most expensive liquids in the modern world - See "Ink Cartridges are A Scam".

  • I've long maintained that "printing is the weak link in computing" - Inkjet printers have a habit of jamming, chewing on paper, wearing out... mechanically they are far from a sound idea

I purchased a Samsung Laser MFD (CLX-6260FW) over two years ago, and I've had no issues with it. It came with a set of "starter" toner cartridges:



  • Black - 1503 impressions / 2000 page capacity

  • CMY - 645 impressions / 1500 page capacity

About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong.



Toner cartridges can benefit from a good shake, which helps to redistribute the contents when they start to get low and show print issues.



With the price and size of laser printers now, I'd recommend that nobody purchases an Inkjet ever again (budget permitting of course, they are still a bit more expensive in the short term).



While laser printers are quantitatively worse for high-quality photo printing, I'd suggest that unless high-quality photo printing is a very important use-case for you, laser will be just fine. For occasional photo printing, use an online service.




To expand on the running costs of an Inkjet printer briefly, consider some random HP cartridges.



While the upfront cost is much higher, the running cost is significantly lower (probably better than ~50%).



HP Inkjet Black Ink Cartridge




  • HP "No. 45", claims a coverage of ~930 pages, for £44.95

    • 4.8p / page



  • HP "No. 300XL", claims a coverage of ~600 pages, for £36.73

    • 6.1p / page


An approximate ~5.5p / page of black and white only printing... completely ignoring the use for alignment, head cleaning, wastage due to being dried out, wastage due to re-prints, wastage due to DRM, etc...



High capacity inkjet cartridges (e.g: HP 973X) can work out dramatically cheaper than this on a strict per-page calculation, though their high-capacity nature will incur a far higher cost due to wastage for infrequent printing.



HP Laser Black Toner Cartridge




  • HP 1500, claims a coverage of ~5,000 pages, for £100.50

    • 2.1p / page



  • HP 642A, claims a coverage of ~7,500 pages, for £206.23

    • 2.7p / page



  • HP 645A, claims a coverage of ~13,000 pages, for £320.95

    • 2.5p / page


An approximate ~2.4p / page of black and white only printing.






share|improve this answer




















  • 3





    Regarding your suggestion to not buy inkjet. Im fairly certain the quality of an inkjet print is still substantially better than a laser. You can print reasonable photographs with inkjet, but not so much with laser.

    – Matt
    yesterday






  • 5





    "About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong." - I have found this. My Brother mono laser lasted 7 years (2008 - 2015) on its "starter" cartridge.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday






  • 2





    It was a Samsung CLX[can't remember the number] that I had for 10 years. It got a bit squeaky over time, but never failed. I just got a new one when the original toner ;) ran out, though they used to sell them with full cartridges, not part-filled like they do now.

    – Tetsujin
    yesterday






  • 9





    @Matt, ...there's a big difference if you're measuring "quality" by sharpness of black-and-white text, or "quality" by ability to reproduce colors. Laser printers have been reigning champions of the former category for a long, long time.

    – Charles Duffy
    yesterday






  • 1





    @Matt The quality of laserjet color image printing has actually improved surprisingly alot over the past few years - depending on printer. Inkjet is still better for real quality photo printing, but after moving from an inkjet to laser just a year ago, I'm quite pleased with the color image printing of my Brother HL-L8260CDW for basic household needs including printing color stickers for children or colored spreadsheets w/ images, or colored artwork for food labels. I am rather disappointed in toner consumption by this printer though!

    – Jamin Grey
    23 hours ago



















12














I have had my printer, a Fuji Xerox CM305DF for more than 3 years. The cartridges (rated at 3000 pages) are still 3/4 full - I have only printed about 1500 pages. The toner seems to be perfectly OK.



In most laser printers, the toner is stirred whenever a print is made. This is true regardless of whether the cartridge and drum are together (as is the case for most mono printers), or when the cartridge is far removed from the drum (most colour lasers). As a result caking or clumping should not be a problem.



In general, I agree with your comment about inkjets. In many inkjets only 50% or less of the ink makes it onto the page. The rest is used in regular head cleans (e.g. every time it wakes up) or in emergency cleans (when the print quality suffers from a clogged jet). Inkjets also need to be used regularly. If you leave them switched off for a couple of months, you can expect to waste large volumes of ink to get the jets working properly again. Lasers do not have any of these problems.



Inkjets have a place if your main use is printing photos. On photo paper they do a far better job than any laser. On the other hand, on plain paper any laser will print better photos than an inkjet. When considering an inkjet for photos, make sure you include the cost of photo paper, which is something like 20c for 4" x 6". Including the ink, you'll be up for close to 50c per photo. If you get them printed at the nearest shop, the same photos will cost you 10c or less and the quality will be even better. Of course, it does mean you have to wait a couple of hours to get your hands on them.






share|improve this answer




















  • 2





    I have had an HP colour laser (an M251nw) since May 2015, it came with "500 page" starter cartridges, the black lasted 3 years, and had done 500 pages when I changed it, it started giving warnings about the cyan about 100 pages ago, the page count says 708 pages, but still printing fine. I'll buy some colour toners when the output starts looking strange.

    – Michael Harvey
    yesterday


















9














Not to get dragged into a laser vs inkjet debate (laser was far superior.), I will simply add my experiences using lasers.



Do not be worried about the toner going bad. I have never had it happen, nor heard of it going bad.



I have a Brother H-2140 sitting next to me now, it was manufactured in January 2008. It gets little use. The toner in it now is over 2 years old (and that is only the second cartridge in its entire life). So using (very) old toner is not an issue.



There are a host of HP laser printers at work, all with mixed amounts of use, some with OEM toner others with cheap ebay toner. Some machines sit unplugged for long periods of time until needed, no issues with toner in any of them.




Under no circumstance would I consider buying an ink jet, especially for infrequent use. An inkjet will either use up all the ink sitting idle, or if you unplug the printer will ruin it. Tthe ink really can dry up and clog the print head, (have had it happen).






share|improve this answer








New contributor




David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.



























    8














    To add another data point, I have an inherited LaserJet 4250, and according to the supplies status page, the toner was first used in May 2008, just shy of 11 years as of this writing. The capacity and page counts are within limits, and it works perfectly fine.



    This is backed up by the fact that HP has a warranty on laser cartridges that lasts until the printer reports the toner is consumed, and states




    There is no expiration date for the use of HP toner cartridges.




    This is in contrast to inkjet supplies which are marked with a end-of-warranty date.






    share|improve this answer























    • That's impressive. My 4L was purchased new in 1995 and I think might be on its third cartridge.

      – Blrfl
      10 hours ago


















    2














    Your choices



    Other answers point out cost advantages for lasers, and attest to the longevity of toner. That's all true. But the simple fact is that if you need a printer for occasional use and it will sit idle for months, a laser printer is really your only practical option.



    There are some other technologies that have a long shelf life for the supplies but they generally aren't used for day-to-day printing requirements. Virtually all consumer printing is either inkjet or laser.



    Inkjets can't



    An inkjet will be problematic if it sits even a few weeks without use because the ink dries out in the print head and clogs it. Beyond that, ink cartridges actually have a limited shelf life. Even unopened cartridges deteriorate in a few years. Once the cartridge is installed, its ink slowly dries out inside the cartridge and changes consistency. It can become unusable in a year or two. So inkjet printers just aren't compatible with this kind of usage.



    Lasers can



    Which brings us to your question of whether laser printers can't do it, either, based on Brother's "best if used by" date. A shelf life of 6 months after opening simply isn't realistic. Brother would probably claim that it's to ensure that customers get the best possible performance. But I suspect it's really to fool some customers into buying more toner so it's "fresh".



    On a time scale of less than many years, the primary issue is the potential for the toner to absorb some humidity and clump together inside the cartridge. If that happens after sitting idle for 6 months, shaking the cartridge is a trivial fix. The toner will still work for an extremely long time. So yes, a laser printer can handle your usage pattern without a problem.



    I'll add another example of personal experience to the responses. I have a 15 year old HP 1012 laser printer connected to an old computer in a back room. It gets used a few times a year. The toner cartridge is a dozen years old and still prints just fine (and I don't think I've ever had to even take it out and shake it).






    share|improve this answer
































      1














      This might be only anecdotical evidence, but I'm using my HP Laserjet P3005 maybe once a week for 3 years now on the same toner cardridge that was there when I bought it used, and it still prints like new. The same was with my previous Laserjet 2200 printer before I broke it — bought in 2009 used and it printed just fine on the same cardridge long into 2015. I wouldn't worry about durability of these cardridges, it's more likely that there will be a mechanical problem.






      share|improve this answer






























        1














        Unlike inkjet int which lasts at best a couple weeks opened/installed and unused, laser printer toner lasts years if not decades. Don't worry about it at all.






        share|improve this answer






























          1














          I have a HP Laserjet 4 which dates from the early 1990s. It still works perfectly (albeit slowly).



          The toner cartridge was last changed around a decade ago, and that was a remanufactured one which was dated "refilled and tested Aug 2004"



          As long as your printer isn't underwater, or in a humid space, or exposed to direct sunlight or high temperatures, then it should be fine for a very very long time.




          This printer was obsoleted when MS/HP removed driver support for anything later than XP, so I print to it from a linux box through a parallel port JetDirect.







          share|improve this answer


















          • 1





            Mine is not quite that old, but my laser printers drivers support also ended with XP (and with the original toner still in use).

            – Hennes
            11 hours ago






          • 2





            @Hennes - non-windows systems print to them just fine... :)

            – ivanivan
            11 hours ago


















          0














          TL;DR Get a monochrome laser, but with anything choose based on TCO



          There have been many excellent answers, which I will summarize and 100% agree with, that boil down to:



          • Inkjets clog and/or dry out if left to sit, laser printers, by and large, do not. The only concern I'd have with a laser printer is if it is left in a hot, non-air conditioned environment (e.g., trunk of a car in summer) for extended periods of time.


          • As a general rule, inkjets, even with normal usage, tend to cost far more per page than lasers.


          In addition, I have done a LOT of analysis about the issue of pricing not just of inkjets vs. lasers but of differences within each category. My bottom line is TCO - Total Cost of Ownership. When you factor in ink (inkjet) or toner (laser) costs, a little more (sometimes very little) more spent on the printer can pay off over the life of the printer.



          Shameless self promotion: I have written extensively on this topic on one of my blogs, Printer Chooser. For example, in this post I analyze costs of purchasing a printer + toner for various levels of usage of monochrome laser printers. YMMV, of course, but basically there are huge differences and it pays to do the calculations based on your usage before buying a new printer.



          That being said, if you already have a laser printer, keep using it until it quits and don't worry about the toner wearing out. Far more likely is some cheap mechanical plastic part will break first - which almost always won't pay to repair. My previous laser (Brother HL-2070) lasted ~ 12 years, 10 or 11 (can't remember) if you count my buying another off of eBay cheap to replace some cheap mechanical plastic parts that broke.






          share|improve this answer

























            Your Answer








            StackExchange.ready(function()
            var channelOptions =
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "3"
            ;
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
            createEditor();
            );

            else
            createEditor();

            );

            function createEditor()
            StackExchange.prepareEditor(
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader:
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            ,
            onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            );



            );






            Frank H. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fsuperuser.com%2fquestions%2f1422114%2fi-m-planning-on-buying-a-laser-printer-but-concerned-about-the-life-cycle-of-ton%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            9 Answers
            9






            active

            oldest

            votes








            9 Answers
            9






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            22














            I flat out refused to buy a printer for a long time, but it's become more necessary for me in recent years. I decided against any inkjet technology (including HP PageWide / fixed head printers, which can be presented similarly to a consumer) for a number of reasons... critically:



            • Idle Inkjet printers get "gunked" up very quickly - if you're not printing regularly, then the head quickly becomes caked in dried ink, which requires careful and expensive cleaning (ink is expensive) - potentially requiring hand cleaning or even a replacement head (or whole printer)

            • Running costs: replacement ink is incredibly expensive, and DIY refills are becoming harder and harder due to DRM - Printer Ink is one of the most expensive liquids in the modern world - See "Ink Cartridges are A Scam".

            • I've long maintained that "printing is the weak link in computing" - Inkjet printers have a habit of jamming, chewing on paper, wearing out... mechanically they are far from a sound idea

            I purchased a Samsung Laser MFD (CLX-6260FW) over two years ago, and I've had no issues with it. It came with a set of "starter" toner cartridges:



            • Black - 1503 impressions / 2000 page capacity

            • CMY - 645 impressions / 1500 page capacity

            About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong.



            Toner cartridges can benefit from a good shake, which helps to redistribute the contents when they start to get low and show print issues.



            With the price and size of laser printers now, I'd recommend that nobody purchases an Inkjet ever again (budget permitting of course, they are still a bit more expensive in the short term).



            While laser printers are quantitatively worse for high-quality photo printing, I'd suggest that unless high-quality photo printing is a very important use-case for you, laser will be just fine. For occasional photo printing, use an online service.




            To expand on the running costs of an Inkjet printer briefly, consider some random HP cartridges.



            While the upfront cost is much higher, the running cost is significantly lower (probably better than ~50%).



            HP Inkjet Black Ink Cartridge




            • HP "No. 45", claims a coverage of ~930 pages, for £44.95

              • 4.8p / page



            • HP "No. 300XL", claims a coverage of ~600 pages, for £36.73

              • 6.1p / page


            An approximate ~5.5p / page of black and white only printing... completely ignoring the use for alignment, head cleaning, wastage due to being dried out, wastage due to re-prints, wastage due to DRM, etc...



            High capacity inkjet cartridges (e.g: HP 973X) can work out dramatically cheaper than this on a strict per-page calculation, though their high-capacity nature will incur a far higher cost due to wastage for infrequent printing.



            HP Laser Black Toner Cartridge




            • HP 1500, claims a coverage of ~5,000 pages, for £100.50

              • 2.1p / page



            • HP 642A, claims a coverage of ~7,500 pages, for £206.23

              • 2.7p / page



            • HP 645A, claims a coverage of ~13,000 pages, for £320.95

              • 2.5p / page


            An approximate ~2.4p / page of black and white only printing.






            share|improve this answer




















            • 3





              Regarding your suggestion to not buy inkjet. Im fairly certain the quality of an inkjet print is still substantially better than a laser. You can print reasonable photographs with inkjet, but not so much with laser.

              – Matt
              yesterday






            • 5





              "About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong." - I have found this. My Brother mono laser lasted 7 years (2008 - 2015) on its "starter" cartridge.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday






            • 2





              It was a Samsung CLX[can't remember the number] that I had for 10 years. It got a bit squeaky over time, but never failed. I just got a new one when the original toner ;) ran out, though they used to sell them with full cartridges, not part-filled like they do now.

              – Tetsujin
              yesterday






            • 9





              @Matt, ...there's a big difference if you're measuring "quality" by sharpness of black-and-white text, or "quality" by ability to reproduce colors. Laser printers have been reigning champions of the former category for a long, long time.

              – Charles Duffy
              yesterday






            • 1





              @Matt The quality of laserjet color image printing has actually improved surprisingly alot over the past few years - depending on printer. Inkjet is still better for real quality photo printing, but after moving from an inkjet to laser just a year ago, I'm quite pleased with the color image printing of my Brother HL-L8260CDW for basic household needs including printing color stickers for children or colored spreadsheets w/ images, or colored artwork for food labels. I am rather disappointed in toner consumption by this printer though!

              – Jamin Grey
              23 hours ago
















            22














            I flat out refused to buy a printer for a long time, but it's become more necessary for me in recent years. I decided against any inkjet technology (including HP PageWide / fixed head printers, which can be presented similarly to a consumer) for a number of reasons... critically:



            • Idle Inkjet printers get "gunked" up very quickly - if you're not printing regularly, then the head quickly becomes caked in dried ink, which requires careful and expensive cleaning (ink is expensive) - potentially requiring hand cleaning or even a replacement head (or whole printer)

            • Running costs: replacement ink is incredibly expensive, and DIY refills are becoming harder and harder due to DRM - Printer Ink is one of the most expensive liquids in the modern world - See "Ink Cartridges are A Scam".

            • I've long maintained that "printing is the weak link in computing" - Inkjet printers have a habit of jamming, chewing on paper, wearing out... mechanically they are far from a sound idea

            I purchased a Samsung Laser MFD (CLX-6260FW) over two years ago, and I've had no issues with it. It came with a set of "starter" toner cartridges:



            • Black - 1503 impressions / 2000 page capacity

            • CMY - 645 impressions / 1500 page capacity

            About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong.



            Toner cartridges can benefit from a good shake, which helps to redistribute the contents when they start to get low and show print issues.



            With the price and size of laser printers now, I'd recommend that nobody purchases an Inkjet ever again (budget permitting of course, they are still a bit more expensive in the short term).



            While laser printers are quantitatively worse for high-quality photo printing, I'd suggest that unless high-quality photo printing is a very important use-case for you, laser will be just fine. For occasional photo printing, use an online service.




            To expand on the running costs of an Inkjet printer briefly, consider some random HP cartridges.



            While the upfront cost is much higher, the running cost is significantly lower (probably better than ~50%).



            HP Inkjet Black Ink Cartridge




            • HP "No. 45", claims a coverage of ~930 pages, for £44.95

              • 4.8p / page



            • HP "No. 300XL", claims a coverage of ~600 pages, for £36.73

              • 6.1p / page


            An approximate ~5.5p / page of black and white only printing... completely ignoring the use for alignment, head cleaning, wastage due to being dried out, wastage due to re-prints, wastage due to DRM, etc...



            High capacity inkjet cartridges (e.g: HP 973X) can work out dramatically cheaper than this on a strict per-page calculation, though their high-capacity nature will incur a far higher cost due to wastage for infrequent printing.



            HP Laser Black Toner Cartridge




            • HP 1500, claims a coverage of ~5,000 pages, for £100.50

              • 2.1p / page



            • HP 642A, claims a coverage of ~7,500 pages, for £206.23

              • 2.7p / page



            • HP 645A, claims a coverage of ~13,000 pages, for £320.95

              • 2.5p / page


            An approximate ~2.4p / page of black and white only printing.






            share|improve this answer




















            • 3





              Regarding your suggestion to not buy inkjet. Im fairly certain the quality of an inkjet print is still substantially better than a laser. You can print reasonable photographs with inkjet, but not so much with laser.

              – Matt
              yesterday






            • 5





              "About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong." - I have found this. My Brother mono laser lasted 7 years (2008 - 2015) on its "starter" cartridge.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday






            • 2





              It was a Samsung CLX[can't remember the number] that I had for 10 years. It got a bit squeaky over time, but never failed. I just got a new one when the original toner ;) ran out, though they used to sell them with full cartridges, not part-filled like they do now.

              – Tetsujin
              yesterday






            • 9





              @Matt, ...there's a big difference if you're measuring "quality" by sharpness of black-and-white text, or "quality" by ability to reproduce colors. Laser printers have been reigning champions of the former category for a long, long time.

              – Charles Duffy
              yesterday






            • 1





              @Matt The quality of laserjet color image printing has actually improved surprisingly alot over the past few years - depending on printer. Inkjet is still better for real quality photo printing, but after moving from an inkjet to laser just a year ago, I'm quite pleased with the color image printing of my Brother HL-L8260CDW for basic household needs including printing color stickers for children or colored spreadsheets w/ images, or colored artwork for food labels. I am rather disappointed in toner consumption by this printer though!

              – Jamin Grey
              23 hours ago














            22












            22








            22







            I flat out refused to buy a printer for a long time, but it's become more necessary for me in recent years. I decided against any inkjet technology (including HP PageWide / fixed head printers, which can be presented similarly to a consumer) for a number of reasons... critically:



            • Idle Inkjet printers get "gunked" up very quickly - if you're not printing regularly, then the head quickly becomes caked in dried ink, which requires careful and expensive cleaning (ink is expensive) - potentially requiring hand cleaning or even a replacement head (or whole printer)

            • Running costs: replacement ink is incredibly expensive, and DIY refills are becoming harder and harder due to DRM - Printer Ink is one of the most expensive liquids in the modern world - See "Ink Cartridges are A Scam".

            • I've long maintained that "printing is the weak link in computing" - Inkjet printers have a habit of jamming, chewing on paper, wearing out... mechanically they are far from a sound idea

            I purchased a Samsung Laser MFD (CLX-6260FW) over two years ago, and I've had no issues with it. It came with a set of "starter" toner cartridges:



            • Black - 1503 impressions / 2000 page capacity

            • CMY - 645 impressions / 1500 page capacity

            About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong.



            Toner cartridges can benefit from a good shake, which helps to redistribute the contents when they start to get low and show print issues.



            With the price and size of laser printers now, I'd recommend that nobody purchases an Inkjet ever again (budget permitting of course, they are still a bit more expensive in the short term).



            While laser printers are quantitatively worse for high-quality photo printing, I'd suggest that unless high-quality photo printing is a very important use-case for you, laser will be just fine. For occasional photo printing, use an online service.




            To expand on the running costs of an Inkjet printer briefly, consider some random HP cartridges.



            While the upfront cost is much higher, the running cost is significantly lower (probably better than ~50%).



            HP Inkjet Black Ink Cartridge




            • HP "No. 45", claims a coverage of ~930 pages, for £44.95

              • 4.8p / page



            • HP "No. 300XL", claims a coverage of ~600 pages, for £36.73

              • 6.1p / page


            An approximate ~5.5p / page of black and white only printing... completely ignoring the use for alignment, head cleaning, wastage due to being dried out, wastage due to re-prints, wastage due to DRM, etc...



            High capacity inkjet cartridges (e.g: HP 973X) can work out dramatically cheaper than this on a strict per-page calculation, though their high-capacity nature will incur a far higher cost due to wastage for infrequent printing.



            HP Laser Black Toner Cartridge




            • HP 1500, claims a coverage of ~5,000 pages, for £100.50

              • 2.1p / page



            • HP 642A, claims a coverage of ~7,500 pages, for £206.23

              • 2.7p / page



            • HP 645A, claims a coverage of ~13,000 pages, for £320.95

              • 2.5p / page


            An approximate ~2.4p / page of black and white only printing.






            share|improve this answer















            I flat out refused to buy a printer for a long time, but it's become more necessary for me in recent years. I decided against any inkjet technology (including HP PageWide / fixed head printers, which can be presented similarly to a consumer) for a number of reasons... critically:



            • Idle Inkjet printers get "gunked" up very quickly - if you're not printing regularly, then the head quickly becomes caked in dried ink, which requires careful and expensive cleaning (ink is expensive) - potentially requiring hand cleaning or even a replacement head (or whole printer)

            • Running costs: replacement ink is incredibly expensive, and DIY refills are becoming harder and harder due to DRM - Printer Ink is one of the most expensive liquids in the modern world - See "Ink Cartridges are A Scam".

            • I've long maintained that "printing is the weak link in computing" - Inkjet printers have a habit of jamming, chewing on paper, wearing out... mechanically they are far from a sound idea

            I purchased a Samsung Laser MFD (CLX-6260FW) over two years ago, and I've had no issues with it. It came with a set of "starter" toner cartridges:



            • Black - 1503 impressions / 2000 page capacity

            • CMY - 645 impressions / 1500 page capacity

            About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong.



            Toner cartridges can benefit from a good shake, which helps to redistribute the contents when they start to get low and show print issues.



            With the price and size of laser printers now, I'd recommend that nobody purchases an Inkjet ever again (budget permitting of course, they are still a bit more expensive in the short term).



            While laser printers are quantitatively worse for high-quality photo printing, I'd suggest that unless high-quality photo printing is a very important use-case for you, laser will be just fine. For occasional photo printing, use an online service.




            To expand on the running costs of an Inkjet printer briefly, consider some random HP cartridges.



            While the upfront cost is much higher, the running cost is significantly lower (probably better than ~50%).



            HP Inkjet Black Ink Cartridge




            • HP "No. 45", claims a coverage of ~930 pages, for £44.95

              • 4.8p / page



            • HP "No. 300XL", claims a coverage of ~600 pages, for £36.73

              • 6.1p / page


            An approximate ~5.5p / page of black and white only printing... completely ignoring the use for alignment, head cleaning, wastage due to being dried out, wastage due to re-prints, wastage due to DRM, etc...



            High capacity inkjet cartridges (e.g: HP 973X) can work out dramatically cheaper than this on a strict per-page calculation, though their high-capacity nature will incur a far higher cost due to wastage for infrequent printing.



            HP Laser Black Toner Cartridge




            • HP 1500, claims a coverage of ~5,000 pages, for £100.50

              • 2.1p / page



            • HP 642A, claims a coverage of ~7,500 pages, for £206.23

              • 2.7p / page



            • HP 645A, claims a coverage of ~13,000 pages, for £320.95

              • 2.5p / page


            An approximate ~2.4p / page of black and white only printing.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited 17 hours ago

























            answered yesterday









            AttieAttie

            13k43548




            13k43548







            • 3





              Regarding your suggestion to not buy inkjet. Im fairly certain the quality of an inkjet print is still substantially better than a laser. You can print reasonable photographs with inkjet, but not so much with laser.

              – Matt
              yesterday






            • 5





              "About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong." - I have found this. My Brother mono laser lasted 7 years (2008 - 2015) on its "starter" cartridge.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday






            • 2





              It was a Samsung CLX[can't remember the number] that I had for 10 years. It got a bit squeaky over time, but never failed. I just got a new one when the original toner ;) ran out, though they used to sell them with full cartridges, not part-filled like they do now.

              – Tetsujin
              yesterday






            • 9





              @Matt, ...there's a big difference if you're measuring "quality" by sharpness of black-and-white text, or "quality" by ability to reproduce colors. Laser printers have been reigning champions of the former category for a long, long time.

              – Charles Duffy
              yesterday






            • 1





              @Matt The quality of laserjet color image printing has actually improved surprisingly alot over the past few years - depending on printer. Inkjet is still better for real quality photo printing, but after moving from an inkjet to laser just a year ago, I'm quite pleased with the color image printing of my Brother HL-L8260CDW for basic household needs including printing color stickers for children or colored spreadsheets w/ images, or colored artwork for food labels. I am rather disappointed in toner consumption by this printer though!

              – Jamin Grey
              23 hours ago













            • 3





              Regarding your suggestion to not buy inkjet. Im fairly certain the quality of an inkjet print is still substantially better than a laser. You can print reasonable photographs with inkjet, but not so much with laser.

              – Matt
              yesterday






            • 5





              "About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong." - I have found this. My Brother mono laser lasted 7 years (2008 - 2015) on its "starter" cartridge.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday






            • 2





              It was a Samsung CLX[can't remember the number] that I had for 10 years. It got a bit squeaky over time, but never failed. I just got a new one when the original toner ;) ran out, though they used to sell them with full cartridges, not part-filled like they do now.

              – Tetsujin
              yesterday






            • 9





              @Matt, ...there's a big difference if you're measuring "quality" by sharpness of black-and-white text, or "quality" by ability to reproduce colors. Laser printers have been reigning champions of the former category for a long, long time.

              – Charles Duffy
              yesterday






            • 1





              @Matt The quality of laserjet color image printing has actually improved surprisingly alot over the past few years - depending on printer. Inkjet is still better for real quality photo printing, but after moving from an inkjet to laser just a year ago, I'm quite pleased with the color image printing of my Brother HL-L8260CDW for basic household needs including printing color stickers for children or colored spreadsheets w/ images, or colored artwork for food labels. I am rather disappointed in toner consumption by this printer though!

              – Jamin Grey
              23 hours ago








            3




            3





            Regarding your suggestion to not buy inkjet. Im fairly certain the quality of an inkjet print is still substantially better than a laser. You can print reasonable photographs with inkjet, but not so much with laser.

            – Matt
            yesterday





            Regarding your suggestion to not buy inkjet. Im fairly certain the quality of an inkjet print is still substantially better than a laser. You can print reasonable photographs with inkjet, but not so much with laser.

            – Matt
            yesterday




            5




            5





            "About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong." - I have found this. My Brother mono laser lasted 7 years (2008 - 2015) on its "starter" cartridge.

            – Michael Harvey
            yesterday





            "About 1.5 years after receiving it, the cartridges each showed as "0% remaining" and required "immediate user intervention" so I purchased more to be prepared (6k Black, 3.5k CMY), but a further ~7 months later they're still going strong." - I have found this. My Brother mono laser lasted 7 years (2008 - 2015) on its "starter" cartridge.

            – Michael Harvey
            yesterday




            2




            2





            It was a Samsung CLX[can't remember the number] that I had for 10 years. It got a bit squeaky over time, but never failed. I just got a new one when the original toner ;) ran out, though they used to sell them with full cartridges, not part-filled like they do now.

            – Tetsujin
            yesterday





            It was a Samsung CLX[can't remember the number] that I had for 10 years. It got a bit squeaky over time, but never failed. I just got a new one when the original toner ;) ran out, though they used to sell them with full cartridges, not part-filled like they do now.

            – Tetsujin
            yesterday




            9




            9





            @Matt, ...there's a big difference if you're measuring "quality" by sharpness of black-and-white text, or "quality" by ability to reproduce colors. Laser printers have been reigning champions of the former category for a long, long time.

            – Charles Duffy
            yesterday





            @Matt, ...there's a big difference if you're measuring "quality" by sharpness of black-and-white text, or "quality" by ability to reproduce colors. Laser printers have been reigning champions of the former category for a long, long time.

            – Charles Duffy
            yesterday




            1




            1





            @Matt The quality of laserjet color image printing has actually improved surprisingly alot over the past few years - depending on printer. Inkjet is still better for real quality photo printing, but after moving from an inkjet to laser just a year ago, I'm quite pleased with the color image printing of my Brother HL-L8260CDW for basic household needs including printing color stickers for children or colored spreadsheets w/ images, or colored artwork for food labels. I am rather disappointed in toner consumption by this printer though!

            – Jamin Grey
            23 hours ago






            @Matt The quality of laserjet color image printing has actually improved surprisingly alot over the past few years - depending on printer. Inkjet is still better for real quality photo printing, but after moving from an inkjet to laser just a year ago, I'm quite pleased with the color image printing of my Brother HL-L8260CDW for basic household needs including printing color stickers for children or colored spreadsheets w/ images, or colored artwork for food labels. I am rather disappointed in toner consumption by this printer though!

            – Jamin Grey
            23 hours ago














            12














            I have had my printer, a Fuji Xerox CM305DF for more than 3 years. The cartridges (rated at 3000 pages) are still 3/4 full - I have only printed about 1500 pages. The toner seems to be perfectly OK.



            In most laser printers, the toner is stirred whenever a print is made. This is true regardless of whether the cartridge and drum are together (as is the case for most mono printers), or when the cartridge is far removed from the drum (most colour lasers). As a result caking or clumping should not be a problem.



            In general, I agree with your comment about inkjets. In many inkjets only 50% or less of the ink makes it onto the page. The rest is used in regular head cleans (e.g. every time it wakes up) or in emergency cleans (when the print quality suffers from a clogged jet). Inkjets also need to be used regularly. If you leave them switched off for a couple of months, you can expect to waste large volumes of ink to get the jets working properly again. Lasers do not have any of these problems.



            Inkjets have a place if your main use is printing photos. On photo paper they do a far better job than any laser. On the other hand, on plain paper any laser will print better photos than an inkjet. When considering an inkjet for photos, make sure you include the cost of photo paper, which is something like 20c for 4" x 6". Including the ink, you'll be up for close to 50c per photo. If you get them printed at the nearest shop, the same photos will cost you 10c or less and the quality will be even better. Of course, it does mean you have to wait a couple of hours to get your hands on them.






            share|improve this answer




















            • 2





              I have had an HP colour laser (an M251nw) since May 2015, it came with "500 page" starter cartridges, the black lasted 3 years, and had done 500 pages when I changed it, it started giving warnings about the cyan about 100 pages ago, the page count says 708 pages, but still printing fine. I'll buy some colour toners when the output starts looking strange.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday















            12














            I have had my printer, a Fuji Xerox CM305DF for more than 3 years. The cartridges (rated at 3000 pages) are still 3/4 full - I have only printed about 1500 pages. The toner seems to be perfectly OK.



            In most laser printers, the toner is stirred whenever a print is made. This is true regardless of whether the cartridge and drum are together (as is the case for most mono printers), or when the cartridge is far removed from the drum (most colour lasers). As a result caking or clumping should not be a problem.



            In general, I agree with your comment about inkjets. In many inkjets only 50% or less of the ink makes it onto the page. The rest is used in regular head cleans (e.g. every time it wakes up) or in emergency cleans (when the print quality suffers from a clogged jet). Inkjets also need to be used regularly. If you leave them switched off for a couple of months, you can expect to waste large volumes of ink to get the jets working properly again. Lasers do not have any of these problems.



            Inkjets have a place if your main use is printing photos. On photo paper they do a far better job than any laser. On the other hand, on plain paper any laser will print better photos than an inkjet. When considering an inkjet for photos, make sure you include the cost of photo paper, which is something like 20c for 4" x 6". Including the ink, you'll be up for close to 50c per photo. If you get them printed at the nearest shop, the same photos will cost you 10c or less and the quality will be even better. Of course, it does mean you have to wait a couple of hours to get your hands on them.






            share|improve this answer




















            • 2





              I have had an HP colour laser (an M251nw) since May 2015, it came with "500 page" starter cartridges, the black lasted 3 years, and had done 500 pages when I changed it, it started giving warnings about the cyan about 100 pages ago, the page count says 708 pages, but still printing fine. I'll buy some colour toners when the output starts looking strange.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday













            12












            12








            12







            I have had my printer, a Fuji Xerox CM305DF for more than 3 years. The cartridges (rated at 3000 pages) are still 3/4 full - I have only printed about 1500 pages. The toner seems to be perfectly OK.



            In most laser printers, the toner is stirred whenever a print is made. This is true regardless of whether the cartridge and drum are together (as is the case for most mono printers), or when the cartridge is far removed from the drum (most colour lasers). As a result caking or clumping should not be a problem.



            In general, I agree with your comment about inkjets. In many inkjets only 50% or less of the ink makes it onto the page. The rest is used in regular head cleans (e.g. every time it wakes up) or in emergency cleans (when the print quality suffers from a clogged jet). Inkjets also need to be used regularly. If you leave them switched off for a couple of months, you can expect to waste large volumes of ink to get the jets working properly again. Lasers do not have any of these problems.



            Inkjets have a place if your main use is printing photos. On photo paper they do a far better job than any laser. On the other hand, on plain paper any laser will print better photos than an inkjet. When considering an inkjet for photos, make sure you include the cost of photo paper, which is something like 20c for 4" x 6". Including the ink, you'll be up for close to 50c per photo. If you get them printed at the nearest shop, the same photos will cost you 10c or less and the quality will be even better. Of course, it does mean you have to wait a couple of hours to get your hands on them.






            share|improve this answer















            I have had my printer, a Fuji Xerox CM305DF for more than 3 years. The cartridges (rated at 3000 pages) are still 3/4 full - I have only printed about 1500 pages. The toner seems to be perfectly OK.



            In most laser printers, the toner is stirred whenever a print is made. This is true regardless of whether the cartridge and drum are together (as is the case for most mono printers), or when the cartridge is far removed from the drum (most colour lasers). As a result caking or clumping should not be a problem.



            In general, I agree with your comment about inkjets. In many inkjets only 50% or less of the ink makes it onto the page. The rest is used in regular head cleans (e.g. every time it wakes up) or in emergency cleans (when the print quality suffers from a clogged jet). Inkjets also need to be used regularly. If you leave them switched off for a couple of months, you can expect to waste large volumes of ink to get the jets working properly again. Lasers do not have any of these problems.



            Inkjets have a place if your main use is printing photos. On photo paper they do a far better job than any laser. On the other hand, on plain paper any laser will print better photos than an inkjet. When considering an inkjet for photos, make sure you include the cost of photo paper, which is something like 20c for 4" x 6". Including the ink, you'll be up for close to 50c per photo. If you get them printed at the nearest shop, the same photos will cost you 10c or less and the quality will be even better. Of course, it does mean you have to wait a couple of hours to get your hands on them.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited yesterday

























            answered yesterday









            hdhondthdhondt

            2,9252912




            2,9252912







            • 2





              I have had an HP colour laser (an M251nw) since May 2015, it came with "500 page" starter cartridges, the black lasted 3 years, and had done 500 pages when I changed it, it started giving warnings about the cyan about 100 pages ago, the page count says 708 pages, but still printing fine. I'll buy some colour toners when the output starts looking strange.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday












            • 2





              I have had an HP colour laser (an M251nw) since May 2015, it came with "500 page" starter cartridges, the black lasted 3 years, and had done 500 pages when I changed it, it started giving warnings about the cyan about 100 pages ago, the page count says 708 pages, but still printing fine. I'll buy some colour toners when the output starts looking strange.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday







            2




            2





            I have had an HP colour laser (an M251nw) since May 2015, it came with "500 page" starter cartridges, the black lasted 3 years, and had done 500 pages when I changed it, it started giving warnings about the cyan about 100 pages ago, the page count says 708 pages, but still printing fine. I'll buy some colour toners when the output starts looking strange.

            – Michael Harvey
            yesterday





            I have had an HP colour laser (an M251nw) since May 2015, it came with "500 page" starter cartridges, the black lasted 3 years, and had done 500 pages when I changed it, it started giving warnings about the cyan about 100 pages ago, the page count says 708 pages, but still printing fine. I'll buy some colour toners when the output starts looking strange.

            – Michael Harvey
            yesterday











            9














            Not to get dragged into a laser vs inkjet debate (laser was far superior.), I will simply add my experiences using lasers.



            Do not be worried about the toner going bad. I have never had it happen, nor heard of it going bad.



            I have a Brother H-2140 sitting next to me now, it was manufactured in January 2008. It gets little use. The toner in it now is over 2 years old (and that is only the second cartridge in its entire life). So using (very) old toner is not an issue.



            There are a host of HP laser printers at work, all with mixed amounts of use, some with OEM toner others with cheap ebay toner. Some machines sit unplugged for long periods of time until needed, no issues with toner in any of them.




            Under no circumstance would I consider buying an ink jet, especially for infrequent use. An inkjet will either use up all the ink sitting idle, or if you unplug the printer will ruin it. Tthe ink really can dry up and clog the print head, (have had it happen).






            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.
























              9














              Not to get dragged into a laser vs inkjet debate (laser was far superior.), I will simply add my experiences using lasers.



              Do not be worried about the toner going bad. I have never had it happen, nor heard of it going bad.



              I have a Brother H-2140 sitting next to me now, it was manufactured in January 2008. It gets little use. The toner in it now is over 2 years old (and that is only the second cartridge in its entire life). So using (very) old toner is not an issue.



              There are a host of HP laser printers at work, all with mixed amounts of use, some with OEM toner others with cheap ebay toner. Some machines sit unplugged for long periods of time until needed, no issues with toner in any of them.




              Under no circumstance would I consider buying an ink jet, especially for infrequent use. An inkjet will either use up all the ink sitting idle, or if you unplug the printer will ruin it. Tthe ink really can dry up and clog the print head, (have had it happen).






              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.






















                9












                9








                9







                Not to get dragged into a laser vs inkjet debate (laser was far superior.), I will simply add my experiences using lasers.



                Do not be worried about the toner going bad. I have never had it happen, nor heard of it going bad.



                I have a Brother H-2140 sitting next to me now, it was manufactured in January 2008. It gets little use. The toner in it now is over 2 years old (and that is only the second cartridge in its entire life). So using (very) old toner is not an issue.



                There are a host of HP laser printers at work, all with mixed amounts of use, some with OEM toner others with cheap ebay toner. Some machines sit unplugged for long periods of time until needed, no issues with toner in any of them.




                Under no circumstance would I consider buying an ink jet, especially for infrequent use. An inkjet will either use up all the ink sitting idle, or if you unplug the printer will ruin it. Tthe ink really can dry up and clog the print head, (have had it happen).






                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.










                Not to get dragged into a laser vs inkjet debate (laser was far superior.), I will simply add my experiences using lasers.



                Do not be worried about the toner going bad. I have never had it happen, nor heard of it going bad.



                I have a Brother H-2140 sitting next to me now, it was manufactured in January 2008. It gets little use. The toner in it now is over 2 years old (and that is only the second cartridge in its entire life). So using (very) old toner is not an issue.



                There are a host of HP laser printers at work, all with mixed amounts of use, some with OEM toner others with cheap ebay toner. Some machines sit unplugged for long periods of time until needed, no issues with toner in any of them.




                Under no circumstance would I consider buying an ink jet, especially for infrequent use. An inkjet will either use up all the ink sitting idle, or if you unplug the printer will ruin it. Tthe ink really can dry up and clog the print head, (have had it happen).







                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer






                New contributor




                David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                answered yesterday









                DavidDavid

                1913




                1913




                New contributor




                David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.





                New contributor





                David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.






                David is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.





















                    8














                    To add another data point, I have an inherited LaserJet 4250, and according to the supplies status page, the toner was first used in May 2008, just shy of 11 years as of this writing. The capacity and page counts are within limits, and it works perfectly fine.



                    This is backed up by the fact that HP has a warranty on laser cartridges that lasts until the printer reports the toner is consumed, and states




                    There is no expiration date for the use of HP toner cartridges.




                    This is in contrast to inkjet supplies which are marked with a end-of-warranty date.






                    share|improve this answer























                    • That's impressive. My 4L was purchased new in 1995 and I think might be on its third cartridge.

                      – Blrfl
                      10 hours ago















                    8














                    To add another data point, I have an inherited LaserJet 4250, and according to the supplies status page, the toner was first used in May 2008, just shy of 11 years as of this writing. The capacity and page counts are within limits, and it works perfectly fine.



                    This is backed up by the fact that HP has a warranty on laser cartridges that lasts until the printer reports the toner is consumed, and states




                    There is no expiration date for the use of HP toner cartridges.




                    This is in contrast to inkjet supplies which are marked with a end-of-warranty date.






                    share|improve this answer























                    • That's impressive. My 4L was purchased new in 1995 and I think might be on its third cartridge.

                      – Blrfl
                      10 hours ago













                    8












                    8








                    8







                    To add another data point, I have an inherited LaserJet 4250, and according to the supplies status page, the toner was first used in May 2008, just shy of 11 years as of this writing. The capacity and page counts are within limits, and it works perfectly fine.



                    This is backed up by the fact that HP has a warranty on laser cartridges that lasts until the printer reports the toner is consumed, and states




                    There is no expiration date for the use of HP toner cartridges.




                    This is in contrast to inkjet supplies which are marked with a end-of-warranty date.






                    share|improve this answer













                    To add another data point, I have an inherited LaserJet 4250, and according to the supplies status page, the toner was first used in May 2008, just shy of 11 years as of this writing. The capacity and page counts are within limits, and it works perfectly fine.



                    This is backed up by the fact that HP has a warranty on laser cartridges that lasts until the printer reports the toner is consumed, and states




                    There is no expiration date for the use of HP toner cartridges.




                    This is in contrast to inkjet supplies which are marked with a end-of-warranty date.







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered yesterday









                    user71659user71659

                    22613




                    22613












                    • That's impressive. My 4L was purchased new in 1995 and I think might be on its third cartridge.

                      – Blrfl
                      10 hours ago

















                    • That's impressive. My 4L was purchased new in 1995 and I think might be on its third cartridge.

                      – Blrfl
                      10 hours ago
















                    That's impressive. My 4L was purchased new in 1995 and I think might be on its third cartridge.

                    – Blrfl
                    10 hours ago





                    That's impressive. My 4L was purchased new in 1995 and I think might be on its third cartridge.

                    – Blrfl
                    10 hours ago











                    2














                    Your choices



                    Other answers point out cost advantages for lasers, and attest to the longevity of toner. That's all true. But the simple fact is that if you need a printer for occasional use and it will sit idle for months, a laser printer is really your only practical option.



                    There are some other technologies that have a long shelf life for the supplies but they generally aren't used for day-to-day printing requirements. Virtually all consumer printing is either inkjet or laser.



                    Inkjets can't



                    An inkjet will be problematic if it sits even a few weeks without use because the ink dries out in the print head and clogs it. Beyond that, ink cartridges actually have a limited shelf life. Even unopened cartridges deteriorate in a few years. Once the cartridge is installed, its ink slowly dries out inside the cartridge and changes consistency. It can become unusable in a year or two. So inkjet printers just aren't compatible with this kind of usage.



                    Lasers can



                    Which brings us to your question of whether laser printers can't do it, either, based on Brother's "best if used by" date. A shelf life of 6 months after opening simply isn't realistic. Brother would probably claim that it's to ensure that customers get the best possible performance. But I suspect it's really to fool some customers into buying more toner so it's "fresh".



                    On a time scale of less than many years, the primary issue is the potential for the toner to absorb some humidity and clump together inside the cartridge. If that happens after sitting idle for 6 months, shaking the cartridge is a trivial fix. The toner will still work for an extremely long time. So yes, a laser printer can handle your usage pattern without a problem.



                    I'll add another example of personal experience to the responses. I have a 15 year old HP 1012 laser printer connected to an old computer in a back room. It gets used a few times a year. The toner cartridge is a dozen years old and still prints just fine (and I don't think I've ever had to even take it out and shake it).






                    share|improve this answer





























                      2














                      Your choices



                      Other answers point out cost advantages for lasers, and attest to the longevity of toner. That's all true. But the simple fact is that if you need a printer for occasional use and it will sit idle for months, a laser printer is really your only practical option.



                      There are some other technologies that have a long shelf life for the supplies but they generally aren't used for day-to-day printing requirements. Virtually all consumer printing is either inkjet or laser.



                      Inkjets can't



                      An inkjet will be problematic if it sits even a few weeks without use because the ink dries out in the print head and clogs it. Beyond that, ink cartridges actually have a limited shelf life. Even unopened cartridges deteriorate in a few years. Once the cartridge is installed, its ink slowly dries out inside the cartridge and changes consistency. It can become unusable in a year or two. So inkjet printers just aren't compatible with this kind of usage.



                      Lasers can



                      Which brings us to your question of whether laser printers can't do it, either, based on Brother's "best if used by" date. A shelf life of 6 months after opening simply isn't realistic. Brother would probably claim that it's to ensure that customers get the best possible performance. But I suspect it's really to fool some customers into buying more toner so it's "fresh".



                      On a time scale of less than many years, the primary issue is the potential for the toner to absorb some humidity and clump together inside the cartridge. If that happens after sitting idle for 6 months, shaking the cartridge is a trivial fix. The toner will still work for an extremely long time. So yes, a laser printer can handle your usage pattern without a problem.



                      I'll add another example of personal experience to the responses. I have a 15 year old HP 1012 laser printer connected to an old computer in a back room. It gets used a few times a year. The toner cartridge is a dozen years old and still prints just fine (and I don't think I've ever had to even take it out and shake it).






                      share|improve this answer



























                        2












                        2








                        2







                        Your choices



                        Other answers point out cost advantages for lasers, and attest to the longevity of toner. That's all true. But the simple fact is that if you need a printer for occasional use and it will sit idle for months, a laser printer is really your only practical option.



                        There are some other technologies that have a long shelf life for the supplies but they generally aren't used for day-to-day printing requirements. Virtually all consumer printing is either inkjet or laser.



                        Inkjets can't



                        An inkjet will be problematic if it sits even a few weeks without use because the ink dries out in the print head and clogs it. Beyond that, ink cartridges actually have a limited shelf life. Even unopened cartridges deteriorate in a few years. Once the cartridge is installed, its ink slowly dries out inside the cartridge and changes consistency. It can become unusable in a year or two. So inkjet printers just aren't compatible with this kind of usage.



                        Lasers can



                        Which brings us to your question of whether laser printers can't do it, either, based on Brother's "best if used by" date. A shelf life of 6 months after opening simply isn't realistic. Brother would probably claim that it's to ensure that customers get the best possible performance. But I suspect it's really to fool some customers into buying more toner so it's "fresh".



                        On a time scale of less than many years, the primary issue is the potential for the toner to absorb some humidity and clump together inside the cartridge. If that happens after sitting idle for 6 months, shaking the cartridge is a trivial fix. The toner will still work for an extremely long time. So yes, a laser printer can handle your usage pattern without a problem.



                        I'll add another example of personal experience to the responses. I have a 15 year old HP 1012 laser printer connected to an old computer in a back room. It gets used a few times a year. The toner cartridge is a dozen years old and still prints just fine (and I don't think I've ever had to even take it out and shake it).






                        share|improve this answer















                        Your choices



                        Other answers point out cost advantages for lasers, and attest to the longevity of toner. That's all true. But the simple fact is that if you need a printer for occasional use and it will sit idle for months, a laser printer is really your only practical option.



                        There are some other technologies that have a long shelf life for the supplies but they generally aren't used for day-to-day printing requirements. Virtually all consumer printing is either inkjet or laser.



                        Inkjets can't



                        An inkjet will be problematic if it sits even a few weeks without use because the ink dries out in the print head and clogs it. Beyond that, ink cartridges actually have a limited shelf life. Even unopened cartridges deteriorate in a few years. Once the cartridge is installed, its ink slowly dries out inside the cartridge and changes consistency. It can become unusable in a year or two. So inkjet printers just aren't compatible with this kind of usage.



                        Lasers can



                        Which brings us to your question of whether laser printers can't do it, either, based on Brother's "best if used by" date. A shelf life of 6 months after opening simply isn't realistic. Brother would probably claim that it's to ensure that customers get the best possible performance. But I suspect it's really to fool some customers into buying more toner so it's "fresh".



                        On a time scale of less than many years, the primary issue is the potential for the toner to absorb some humidity and clump together inside the cartridge. If that happens after sitting idle for 6 months, shaking the cartridge is a trivial fix. The toner will still work for an extremely long time. So yes, a laser printer can handle your usage pattern without a problem.



                        I'll add another example of personal experience to the responses. I have a 15 year old HP 1012 laser printer connected to an old computer in a back room. It gets used a few times a year. The toner cartridge is a dozen years old and still prints just fine (and I don't think I've ever had to even take it out and shake it).







                        share|improve this answer














                        share|improve this answer



                        share|improve this answer








                        edited yesterday

























                        answered yesterday









                        fixer1234fixer1234

                        19.3k145082




                        19.3k145082





















                            1














                            This might be only anecdotical evidence, but I'm using my HP Laserjet P3005 maybe once a week for 3 years now on the same toner cardridge that was there when I bought it used, and it still prints like new. The same was with my previous Laserjet 2200 printer before I broke it — bought in 2009 used and it printed just fine on the same cardridge long into 2015. I wouldn't worry about durability of these cardridges, it's more likely that there will be a mechanical problem.






                            share|improve this answer



























                              1














                              This might be only anecdotical evidence, but I'm using my HP Laserjet P3005 maybe once a week for 3 years now on the same toner cardridge that was there when I bought it used, and it still prints like new. The same was with my previous Laserjet 2200 printer before I broke it — bought in 2009 used and it printed just fine on the same cardridge long into 2015. I wouldn't worry about durability of these cardridges, it's more likely that there will be a mechanical problem.






                              share|improve this answer

























                                1












                                1








                                1







                                This might be only anecdotical evidence, but I'm using my HP Laserjet P3005 maybe once a week for 3 years now on the same toner cardridge that was there when I bought it used, and it still prints like new. The same was with my previous Laserjet 2200 printer before I broke it — bought in 2009 used and it printed just fine on the same cardridge long into 2015. I wouldn't worry about durability of these cardridges, it's more likely that there will be a mechanical problem.






                                share|improve this answer













                                This might be only anecdotical evidence, but I'm using my HP Laserjet P3005 maybe once a week for 3 years now on the same toner cardridge that was there when I bought it used, and it still prints like new. The same was with my previous Laserjet 2200 printer before I broke it — bought in 2009 used and it printed just fine on the same cardridge long into 2015. I wouldn't worry about durability of these cardridges, it's more likely that there will be a mechanical problem.







                                share|improve this answer












                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer










                                answered yesterday









                                lioriliori

                                2,5741835




                                2,5741835





















                                    1














                                    Unlike inkjet int which lasts at best a couple weeks opened/installed and unused, laser printer toner lasts years if not decades. Don't worry about it at all.






                                    share|improve this answer



























                                      1














                                      Unlike inkjet int which lasts at best a couple weeks opened/installed and unused, laser printer toner lasts years if not decades. Don't worry about it at all.






                                      share|improve this answer

























                                        1












                                        1








                                        1







                                        Unlike inkjet int which lasts at best a couple weeks opened/installed and unused, laser printer toner lasts years if not decades. Don't worry about it at all.






                                        share|improve this answer













                                        Unlike inkjet int which lasts at best a couple weeks opened/installed and unused, laser printer toner lasts years if not decades. Don't worry about it at all.







                                        share|improve this answer












                                        share|improve this answer



                                        share|improve this answer










                                        answered yesterday









                                        R..R..

                                        6831617




                                        6831617





















                                            1














                                            I have a HP Laserjet 4 which dates from the early 1990s. It still works perfectly (albeit slowly).



                                            The toner cartridge was last changed around a decade ago, and that was a remanufactured one which was dated "refilled and tested Aug 2004"



                                            As long as your printer isn't underwater, or in a humid space, or exposed to direct sunlight or high temperatures, then it should be fine for a very very long time.




                                            This printer was obsoleted when MS/HP removed driver support for anything later than XP, so I print to it from a linux box through a parallel port JetDirect.







                                            share|improve this answer


















                                            • 1





                                              Mine is not quite that old, but my laser printers drivers support also ended with XP (and with the original toner still in use).

                                              – Hennes
                                              11 hours ago






                                            • 2





                                              @Hennes - non-windows systems print to them just fine... :)

                                              – ivanivan
                                              11 hours ago















                                            1














                                            I have a HP Laserjet 4 which dates from the early 1990s. It still works perfectly (albeit slowly).



                                            The toner cartridge was last changed around a decade ago, and that was a remanufactured one which was dated "refilled and tested Aug 2004"



                                            As long as your printer isn't underwater, or in a humid space, or exposed to direct sunlight or high temperatures, then it should be fine for a very very long time.




                                            This printer was obsoleted when MS/HP removed driver support for anything later than XP, so I print to it from a linux box through a parallel port JetDirect.







                                            share|improve this answer


















                                            • 1





                                              Mine is not quite that old, but my laser printers drivers support also ended with XP (and with the original toner still in use).

                                              – Hennes
                                              11 hours ago






                                            • 2





                                              @Hennes - non-windows systems print to them just fine... :)

                                              – ivanivan
                                              11 hours ago













                                            1












                                            1








                                            1







                                            I have a HP Laserjet 4 which dates from the early 1990s. It still works perfectly (albeit slowly).



                                            The toner cartridge was last changed around a decade ago, and that was a remanufactured one which was dated "refilled and tested Aug 2004"



                                            As long as your printer isn't underwater, or in a humid space, or exposed to direct sunlight or high temperatures, then it should be fine for a very very long time.




                                            This printer was obsoleted when MS/HP removed driver support for anything later than XP, so I print to it from a linux box through a parallel port JetDirect.







                                            share|improve this answer













                                            I have a HP Laserjet 4 which dates from the early 1990s. It still works perfectly (albeit slowly).



                                            The toner cartridge was last changed around a decade ago, and that was a remanufactured one which was dated "refilled and tested Aug 2004"



                                            As long as your printer isn't underwater, or in a humid space, or exposed to direct sunlight or high temperatures, then it should be fine for a very very long time.




                                            This printer was obsoleted when MS/HP removed driver support for anything later than XP, so I print to it from a linux box through a parallel port JetDirect.








                                            share|improve this answer












                                            share|improve this answer



                                            share|improve this answer










                                            answered 17 hours ago









                                            CriggieCriggie

                                            756411




                                            756411







                                            • 1





                                              Mine is not quite that old, but my laser printers drivers support also ended with XP (and with the original toner still in use).

                                              – Hennes
                                              11 hours ago






                                            • 2





                                              @Hennes - non-windows systems print to them just fine... :)

                                              – ivanivan
                                              11 hours ago












                                            • 1





                                              Mine is not quite that old, but my laser printers drivers support also ended with XP (and with the original toner still in use).

                                              – Hennes
                                              11 hours ago






                                            • 2





                                              @Hennes - non-windows systems print to them just fine... :)

                                              – ivanivan
                                              11 hours ago







                                            1




                                            1





                                            Mine is not quite that old, but my laser printers drivers support also ended with XP (and with the original toner still in use).

                                            – Hennes
                                            11 hours ago





                                            Mine is not quite that old, but my laser printers drivers support also ended with XP (and with the original toner still in use).

                                            – Hennes
                                            11 hours ago




                                            2




                                            2





                                            @Hennes - non-windows systems print to them just fine... :)

                                            – ivanivan
                                            11 hours ago





                                            @Hennes - non-windows systems print to them just fine... :)

                                            – ivanivan
                                            11 hours ago











                                            0














                                            TL;DR Get a monochrome laser, but with anything choose based on TCO



                                            There have been many excellent answers, which I will summarize and 100% agree with, that boil down to:



                                            • Inkjets clog and/or dry out if left to sit, laser printers, by and large, do not. The only concern I'd have with a laser printer is if it is left in a hot, non-air conditioned environment (e.g., trunk of a car in summer) for extended periods of time.


                                            • As a general rule, inkjets, even with normal usage, tend to cost far more per page than lasers.


                                            In addition, I have done a LOT of analysis about the issue of pricing not just of inkjets vs. lasers but of differences within each category. My bottom line is TCO - Total Cost of Ownership. When you factor in ink (inkjet) or toner (laser) costs, a little more (sometimes very little) more spent on the printer can pay off over the life of the printer.



                                            Shameless self promotion: I have written extensively on this topic on one of my blogs, Printer Chooser. For example, in this post I analyze costs of purchasing a printer + toner for various levels of usage of monochrome laser printers. YMMV, of course, but basically there are huge differences and it pays to do the calculations based on your usage before buying a new printer.



                                            That being said, if you already have a laser printer, keep using it until it quits and don't worry about the toner wearing out. Far more likely is some cheap mechanical plastic part will break first - which almost always won't pay to repair. My previous laser (Brother HL-2070) lasted ~ 12 years, 10 or 11 (can't remember) if you count my buying another off of eBay cheap to replace some cheap mechanical plastic parts that broke.






                                            share|improve this answer





























                                              0














                                              TL;DR Get a monochrome laser, but with anything choose based on TCO



                                              There have been many excellent answers, which I will summarize and 100% agree with, that boil down to:



                                              • Inkjets clog and/or dry out if left to sit, laser printers, by and large, do not. The only concern I'd have with a laser printer is if it is left in a hot, non-air conditioned environment (e.g., trunk of a car in summer) for extended periods of time.


                                              • As a general rule, inkjets, even with normal usage, tend to cost far more per page than lasers.


                                              In addition, I have done a LOT of analysis about the issue of pricing not just of inkjets vs. lasers but of differences within each category. My bottom line is TCO - Total Cost of Ownership. When you factor in ink (inkjet) or toner (laser) costs, a little more (sometimes very little) more spent on the printer can pay off over the life of the printer.



                                              Shameless self promotion: I have written extensively on this topic on one of my blogs, Printer Chooser. For example, in this post I analyze costs of purchasing a printer + toner for various levels of usage of monochrome laser printers. YMMV, of course, but basically there are huge differences and it pays to do the calculations based on your usage before buying a new printer.



                                              That being said, if you already have a laser printer, keep using it until it quits and don't worry about the toner wearing out. Far more likely is some cheap mechanical plastic part will break first - which almost always won't pay to repair. My previous laser (Brother HL-2070) lasted ~ 12 years, 10 or 11 (can't remember) if you count my buying another off of eBay cheap to replace some cheap mechanical plastic parts that broke.






                                              share|improve this answer



























                                                0












                                                0








                                                0







                                                TL;DR Get a monochrome laser, but with anything choose based on TCO



                                                There have been many excellent answers, which I will summarize and 100% agree with, that boil down to:



                                                • Inkjets clog and/or dry out if left to sit, laser printers, by and large, do not. The only concern I'd have with a laser printer is if it is left in a hot, non-air conditioned environment (e.g., trunk of a car in summer) for extended periods of time.


                                                • As a general rule, inkjets, even with normal usage, tend to cost far more per page than lasers.


                                                In addition, I have done a LOT of analysis about the issue of pricing not just of inkjets vs. lasers but of differences within each category. My bottom line is TCO - Total Cost of Ownership. When you factor in ink (inkjet) or toner (laser) costs, a little more (sometimes very little) more spent on the printer can pay off over the life of the printer.



                                                Shameless self promotion: I have written extensively on this topic on one of my blogs, Printer Chooser. For example, in this post I analyze costs of purchasing a printer + toner for various levels of usage of monochrome laser printers. YMMV, of course, but basically there are huge differences and it pays to do the calculations based on your usage before buying a new printer.



                                                That being said, if you already have a laser printer, keep using it until it quits and don't worry about the toner wearing out. Far more likely is some cheap mechanical plastic part will break first - which almost always won't pay to repair. My previous laser (Brother HL-2070) lasted ~ 12 years, 10 or 11 (can't remember) if you count my buying another off of eBay cheap to replace some cheap mechanical plastic parts that broke.






                                                share|improve this answer















                                                TL;DR Get a monochrome laser, but with anything choose based on TCO



                                                There have been many excellent answers, which I will summarize and 100% agree with, that boil down to:



                                                • Inkjets clog and/or dry out if left to sit, laser printers, by and large, do not. The only concern I'd have with a laser printer is if it is left in a hot, non-air conditioned environment (e.g., trunk of a car in summer) for extended periods of time.


                                                • As a general rule, inkjets, even with normal usage, tend to cost far more per page than lasers.


                                                In addition, I have done a LOT of analysis about the issue of pricing not just of inkjets vs. lasers but of differences within each category. My bottom line is TCO - Total Cost of Ownership. When you factor in ink (inkjet) or toner (laser) costs, a little more (sometimes very little) more spent on the printer can pay off over the life of the printer.



                                                Shameless self promotion: I have written extensively on this topic on one of my blogs, Printer Chooser. For example, in this post I analyze costs of purchasing a printer + toner for various levels of usage of monochrome laser printers. YMMV, of course, but basically there are huge differences and it pays to do the calculations based on your usage before buying a new printer.



                                                That being said, if you already have a laser printer, keep using it until it quits and don't worry about the toner wearing out. Far more likely is some cheap mechanical plastic part will break first - which almost always won't pay to repair. My previous laser (Brother HL-2070) lasted ~ 12 years, 10 or 11 (can't remember) if you count my buying another off of eBay cheap to replace some cheap mechanical plastic parts that broke.







                                                share|improve this answer














                                                share|improve this answer



                                                share|improve this answer








                                                edited 10 hours ago

























                                                answered 12 hours ago









                                                manassehkatzmanassehkatz

                                                34326




                                                34326




















                                                    Frank H. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









                                                    draft saved

                                                    draft discarded


















                                                    Frank H. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












                                                    Frank H. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.











                                                    Frank H. is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.














                                                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Super User!


                                                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                                                    But avoid


                                                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                                                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

                                                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                                                    draft saved


                                                    draft discarded














                                                    StackExchange.ready(
                                                    function ()
                                                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fsuperuser.com%2fquestions%2f1422114%2fi-m-planning-on-buying-a-laser-printer-but-concerned-about-the-life-cycle-of-ton%23new-answer', 'question_page');

                                                    );

                                                    Post as a guest















                                                    Required, but never shown





















































                                                    Required, but never shown














                                                    Required, but never shown












                                                    Required, but never shown







                                                    Required, but never shown

































                                                    Required, but never shown














                                                    Required, but never shown












                                                    Required, but never shown







                                                    Required, but never shown







                                                    1GMT6lctH2EHGgdFUXeyh,S
                                                    6f lSimqkH,mn9C0Cs60h PYSc7XTc RchlXmZWCbabb,WUhC4Di,j3cwA,Sc,V5tQSmc9NzANwCDb4 mMCiltukJ,Y5h,T G,y

                                                    Popular posts from this blog

                                                    Category:9 (number) SubcategoriesMedia in category "9 (number)"Navigation menuUpload mediaGND ID: 4485639-8Library of Congress authority ID: sh85091979ReasonatorScholiaStatistics

                                                    Circuit construction for execution of conditional statements using least significant bitHow are two different registers being used as “control”?How exactly is the stated composite state of the two registers being produced using the $R_zz$ controlled rotations?Efficiently performing controlled rotations in HHLWould this quantum algorithm implementation work?How to prepare a superposed states of odd integers from $1$ to $sqrtN$?Why is this implementation of the order finding algorithm not working?Circuit construction for Hamiltonian simulationHow can I invert the least significant bit of a certain term of a superposed state?Implementing an oracleImplementing a controlled sum operation

                                                    Magento 2 “No Payment Methods” in Admin New OrderHow to integrate Paypal Express Checkout with the Magento APIMagento 1.5 - Sales > Order > edit order and shipping methods disappearAuto Invoice Check/Money Order Payment methodAdd more simple payment methods?Shipping methods not showingWhat should I do to change payment methods if changing the configuration has no effects?1.9 - No Payment Methods showing upMy Payment Methods not Showing for downloadable/virtual product when checkout?Magento2 API to access internal payment methodHow to call an existing payment methods in the registration form?