Used Printer options. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: BillWojo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 01:01:40 am
content: The thread about the HP 4100 laserjet printer got me thinking. I have a HP Deskjet F4280 all in one that hasen't been all that bad except for the darn cartridges. I mainly use it to print out invoices for my service job and also to make copies. Sometimes I scan something but not to often. I gave up on the color cartridges as I don't use them often and when I need it, it's dried up. The black cartridges have a short life and are expensive.Lately I have been getting parts manuals and electrical schematics e-mailed to me for metal saws that I service. I take the files to Staples to get printed out as it would kill my little printer and the schematics are printed on 11 by 17 size paper.What older, cheap laser printer would do what I need? Possibly a combination of my existing printer for the scanning and copying along with a laser printer for the heavier work?One last thing, it has to fit in my small office.Like I said, that post on the HP4100 got me thinking.ThanksBillWojo

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 03:32:41 am
content: If printing 11x17 is a requirement then I think your choices will be limited.

author: BillWojo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 04:02:14 am
content: I was afraid of that. I guess I could just get the 11 X 17 prints done on the outside. The electrical schematics and hydraulic prints always come as a seperate PDF file anyway.I don't really know much about printers, did the HP 4100 series ever come in color? I just like the idea of getting a printer that will always work for me and not have dried up cartridges and expensive refills. I was looking at Ebay at the toner cartridges for the 4100 machines and they say 6,000 pages! Thats for the standard cartridge. And for not much more that I pay for the ink jet cartridges I buy now. Plus I can print out manuals for stuff that I'm reluctant to do now.They can be picked up fairly cheap and seem very well built.BillWojo

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 04:57:43 am
content: 3500 series like the dumpster dive find. Cheap to run and spares are common still.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 04:59:54 am
content: An Hewlett Packard LaserJet 5000N Laser Printer can do 11"x17" (Black and White only I think) refurbished for under $400 and haven't looked in Ebay.OEM toner goes for $118.95 free shipping:http://www.amazon.com/HP-5000-5100-Toner-C4129X/dp/B005DGBKYG/ref=pd_sim_e_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=11X0269NRZZTVKDHYGW9Yield 10,000 pages or $0.011895 per page.But I bet you can get even cheaper toner.I've been using laser printers forever I did try inkjets at one time but they were just too expensive to feed.An alternative will be to get one of those continuous ink systems for inkjets but I bet it has it's downside as well.Google "continuous ink system" and add your printer model to the search. I will imagine that leaking ink on overused heads might be a problem, then maybe not. I have no experience with those.Still I would love to get a large format plotter just because they are just too cool, but I don't have the space. At work they were giving old equipment away and no one took the huge plotter (not sure what brand or model but it was enormous!)Edit:http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-LASERJET-5000N-PRINTER-w-toner-LOW-TOTAL-76-300-page-count-n-ethernet-/301310392509?pt=COMP_Printers&hash=item46277fb8bd$180.00+$55 shipping, trending at $199.99

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 05:13:40 am
content: I got a HP4250 with built in network port about 3 years ago. It prints several pagers every day. Cost about 30 Euro. Still on the toner it came with and about 70k pages left before it needs a fuser. The toner cartridges come in 10k and 20k pages versions. I picked up a spare 20k for another 30 Euro. These types of printer are a different class from your money eating inkjet. Who needs colour when you can throw a 200 page PDF at the printer and it spits it out in 6 or 7 minutes.

author: kingofkya
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 05:29:40 am
content: you can fix some of thouse inkjets with a "continuous ink system" Then you don't care too mutch if you wast ink for cleaning.There is more ink in the line than in most cartridges...

author: Precipice
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 07:53:41 am
content: Quote from: miguelvp on September 29, 2014, 04:59:54 amI'm a big fan of these huge HP printers, if you've got the space. Get one with a decent amount of toner and you're set for years. They take almost no power on standby, and just print when you want, without all that "will it, won't it?" messing about that you get with consumer printers. Massive paper capacity, good print quality, good paper (and card, and transparency) handling. Less than £200 in the UK, with 90% toners. (A set of toners is another £250 or so, but any repair is probably cause for a new printer)5550dtn is what I tend to get, given a choice, A3 (11x17") colour duplex. Expect to have to swap the Ethernet card out at some point, but it's $10 and 5 minutes.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 08:07:32 am
content: 5550dtn, I know the n is for network and the d is for double sided, what is the t for? I guess I can google it but at least the answer will help others as well.

author: Precipice
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 08:41:04 am
content: Hmm, I had to go and check. It's more paper trays and 128M of RAM.(It may also imply wheels on the bottom, which is handy, these printers are slightly annoying to carry for one person).

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 07:29:05 pm
content: No, that is a separate trolley. The nice thing about the bigger HP units is they are fine for making PCB's using toner transfer, as you can get a paper path through the printer and fuser that is almost straight, so the paper does not come out with a curl. Feed in at the front option tray and open the rear cover and print and catch.Odd thing is they have funny RAM size DIMM's, the one i have has 76M IIRC in a DIMM module. Some do take regular DIMM modules though.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 07:46:09 pm
content: The T stands for extra paper tray. That 5000N on eBay for $180 + shipping is a good deal if the page count is accurate. You can change the page count if you really want to. If it is a real 76000 pages, these printers have a 65,000 page per month duty cycle-not even broken in yet. If you can't find replacement network cards, you could get an HP JetDirect EX+ starting at $6.95 right now on eBay. I have 2 here, one is a spare. I use it with a Brother ML1440 laser printer on my network of mixed WIN7 and 8 computers. Easy to set up with hyperterminal. My personal favorites are the 4000 series. Hopefully, I will have my hands on a couple soon. As I said in the other thread, they are great workhorses, easy to maintain and with proper care and feeding, will last forever.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 30, 2014, 11:59:26 am
content: Quote from: Precipice on September 29, 2014, 07:53:41 amditto, picked up a HP 5500DN a few years ago for £150 off ebay, had only 14,000 copies on it and can duplex full colour A3.it is huge and heavy though, needs two people to move it

author: nukie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2014, 10:30:06 pm
content: Are they good for laying down super thick toner without pitting? My more recent model built for economic isn't very good even though output set to maximum dark.

author: wagon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2014, 11:17:07 pm
content: I have a Konica-Minolta Di1611 in my office and a Bizhub 210 at home. Both use the same consumables, and at around $50 for two toners (about 10k per toner) they're dirt cheap to run. They do A3, have doc feeders and usb printing. Very reliable and can be had for $500 for a near new one, a lot less for a high-kilometers model. Drums, drum blades, fuser rollers, etc. are cheap too when they wear out.... and fixing them is easy. I've spent more on ink in the last month for the POS colour thing the wife uses for her colour printing than I have on toner for two machines for the last two years.Downsides are it has a bigger footprint, but there's always tradeoffs.

author: xwarp
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2014, 01:51:04 am
content: Quote from: wagon on October 03, 2014, 11:17:07 pmI can live with the bigger footprint on that HP4100 that I just got, especially since it was free with four 10k toner carts. I did have to spend $35 to get a new fuser though.I did also find out that in standby, it runs about 17 watts and when it's printing, is running about 450 watts........

author: wagon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2014, 02:27:51 am
content: Mine have an auto-off feature with a little solenoid in the power switch : uses no power once that pops (you can set the time).

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 04, 2014, 07:54:56 pm
content: Quote from: wagon on October 03, 2014, 11:17:07 pmI would rather have the larger footprint of a solid brickhouse printer than the small footprint of a throwaway inkjet that is cheaper to replace than buy ink. I will say that my Epson Workforce 3540 all in one is about the size of an HP laserjet 4000. Lucky for me, space is not an issue.