Looking for a new printer
I’ve decided we need to get a new printer for home/home office use. The main requirements are for black & white, with some colour printing (but not necessarily photo-quality). We’re happy to continue to get our digital photos processed commercially (eg. when Harvey Norman has a special!)
We’ve previously had a old Canon BJC-2100SP, which was never that impressive. More recently Gary gave me a second-hand HP LaserJet 2100, which does a very nice job except when it jams (which is becoming all too frequent).
One thought was to get two printers – a B&W laser and a cheapish inkjet colour printer, but talking to the guys at work yesterday, Timothy pointed out that if you don’t use the colour regularly then it can dry out. So maybe a colour laser printer might be a good option. The idea of having a network-enabled printer is attractive, though obviously you do pay more for that feature.
Here’s a few of the models I’ve been considering, and a rough calculation of the cost per page for black and white printing.
| Model | Toner | Toner Cost | Pages | Per page | Printer Cost | Retailer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung CLP-300N | Black | $89 | 2000 | 0.04 | $179 | MSY |
| Epson C1100N | Black | $115 | 4000 | 0.03 | $579 | MATS |
| Canon 5200 | Black | $133 | 5000 | 0.03 | $376 | MSY |
| Canon 5050N | Black | $88 | 2300 | 0.04 | $389 | TechBuy |
Maybe the network option isn’t really necessary. Going on the figures above, the Canon 5200 does look like a good compromise between upfront and ongoing consumable costs.
Any other suggestions?