Computer/printer question

[goodnigh]

What are the advantages/disadvantages between a LaserJet and inkjet printer

including cost of supplies?  I currently use a H/P Deskjet.

mike

 

[mudbilly]

What are the advantages/disadvantages between a LaserJet and inkjet printer

including cost of supplies?  I currently use a H/P Deskjet.

mike

Although more expensive to buy, Laser jets are painless to use. In the long run the cost of the ink jet ink is expensive. They basically give away the printer and make the money on the ink. It clogs easily.

I would never go back to inkjet.

 

[goodnigh]

What are the advantages/disadvantages between a LaserJet and inkjet printer

including cost of supplies?  I currently use a H/P Deskjet.

mike

Although more expensive to buy, Laser jets are painless to use. In the long run the cost of the ink jet ink is expensive. They basically give away the printer and make the money on the ink. It clogs easily.

I would never go back to inkjet.

Can I use the same paper?  The price of ink is recurring.  I have had the same inkjet for maybe 8 years.  Works fine.

It does produce very sharp color images using the proper paper.  A friend has a project she wants to do needing image

transfer that requires a laser printer.  Thanks for your advice.

mike

 

[Kilgon]

Depending on what you are wanting to use the printer for will also help to decide what to buy. If it is mostly text with a few photos than mudbilly is correct about the laser printers. If it is going to be used more for photo's than you definitely want an inkjet. They have the capability of providing a wider range of colors and shades producing better looking photos.

 

[goodnigh]

Depending on what you are wanting to use the printer for will also help to decide what to buy.  If it is mostly text with a few photos than mudbilly is correct about  the laser printers.  If it is going to be used more for photo's than you definitely want an inkjet.  They have the capability of providing a wider range of colors and shades producing better looking photos.

That makes perfect sense.  The project will be transferring images to a

T-shirt and the like.  Image quality is not that important.

mike

 

[Mister 4x4]

I've had decent and good ink-jet printers, only to wind up throwing them away once the ink cartridges dry out... usually, only after having printed a few pages, then sitting for months between print jobs.  I'd wind up buying a new ink-jet printer for less than the cost of a new set of ink cartridges, to which I'd probably spent $500-600 for 6 different ink-jet printers over the course of the first 12 years I've owned a PC (3 Lexmark Z11s, a Canon, an Epson, and finally a Lexmark scanner/printer - which I still use the scanner).

I picked up an HP Color LaserJet CP1510 with a complete set of replacement toner cartridges back in 2009 or less than $400, and only recently (6 months ago) had to replace the toner cartridges after one finally came up 'low' on the display.  I print a lot more being the coordinator for our Brass Band and annual TubaChristmas concerts, but the LaserJet just keeps plugging along.  I've also used it to print photos over the years with much better results than even the highest resolution ink-jet I had before the LaserJet came along (toner doesn't soak into paper like the ink does).  The LaserJet also doesn't care what kind of paper I use, so photos looks almost as nice on regular bond paper as they do on photo paper.

Prior to that, I'd picked up a B/W Panasonic KX-P1130 laser printer from a yard sale for $30 for general B/W printing.  I also bought a new toner cartridge for it (don't remember what I paid for it, though) and it ran like a champ for 8 or 9 years... even after the power supply let go and I replaced it with an ebay replacement p/s.

I've used regular bond paper, nicer paper, photo paper, adhesive-backed paper, iron-on transfer paper, and even water-slip decal paper (for model kits) through the LaserJet without fail.

I will never switch back to an ink-jet printer.

 

[Stanglover]

My experience has been different. First I had a monotone Laser printer, but I found the cartridges were way too expensive let alone the 700 buck it cost to buy. Then I had a cheapo inkjet, but when it quit, I went back to an HP color laser that worked great for a while. The problem with the color laser and something I was not told about when I bought it, all the colors run at the same time meaning that if you're only using/printing black ink, the color cartridges are just dumping unused media into the catch canisters. When full, they just overflow and make a real mess. I got rid of that once that happened. After that, I went to an HP Officejet Pro 8600 and love it for what I need to print. I buy my cartridges from Imperial Data Supply at about 1/2 what HP charge for theirs. It is also a pretty good photo printer and has lots of options. I've had this one about 5 years now without a problem. I would buy the latest version of the same printer in a heart beat.

Geoff.

 

[jpaz]

I have 3 color laser printers. I use them mostly for work. I have a HP CP1025, a Konica Minolta 1600w and a Dell Color laser. The HP has been great. Had it for 10 years now and just recently had to replace the black toner. The Konica Minolta has given me quite a few problems. Has run out of toner a few times and has problems feeding the paper. It’s probably only 4-5 years old. I got the Dell not to long ago and has been great so far.

 

[Stanglover]

I have 3 color laser printers. I use them mostly for work. I have a HP CP1025, a Konica Minolta 1600w and a Dell Color laser. The HP has been great. Had it for 10 years now and just recently had to replace the black toner. The Konica Minolta has given me quite a few problems. Has run out of toner a few times and has problems feeding the paper. It’s probably only 4-5 years old. I got the Dell not to long ago and has been great so far.

 Color laser printers are okay IF you use the colors regularly. That way the canisters don't overflow and make a mess. It all depends on what YOU want out of a printer.

 

[goodnigh]

This transfer product is made by Rust-oleum. After a quick look at the instructions,

brush the solution onto a photo then stick the photo to the surface you want to transfer

the image to. Wait 12 hours then remove the paper using a damp cloth leaving the

image/photo behind. Requires use of a laser printer. Could be fun, make your own decals.

mike

 

[Mister 4x4]

I have 3 color laser printers. I use them mostly for work. I have a HP CP1025, a Konica Minolta 1600w and a Dell Color laser. The HP has been great. Had it for 10 years now and just recently had to replace the black toner. The Konica Minolta has given me quite a few problems. Has run out of toner a few times and has problems feeding the paper. It’s probably only 4-5 years old. I got the Dell not to long ago and has been great so far.

 Color laser printers are okay IF you use the colors regularly. That way the canisters don't overflow and make a mess. It all depends on what YOU want out of a printer.

That, and make sure they're stored and operated in the proper upright position.   :whistling:

I've never had any LPs with toner cartridges that blow their loads all over the place... even when changing them.

 

[Stanglover]

I have 3 color laser printers. I use them mostly for work. I have a HP CP1025, a Konica Minolta 1600w and a Dell Color laser. The HP has been great. Had it for 10 years now and just recently had to replace the black toner. The Konica Minolta has given me quite a few problems. Has run out of toner a few times and has problems feeding the paper. It’s probably only 4-5 years old. I got the Dell not to long ago and has been great so far.

 Color laser printers are okay IF you use the colors regularly. That way the canisters don't overflow and make a mess. It all depends on what YOU want out of a printer.

That, and make sure they're stored and operated in the proper upright position.   :whistling:

I've never had any LPs with toner cartridges that blow their loads all over the place... even when changing them.

 My HP did and what a mess. I contacted HP and was told they will overflow if the color is not used as much as the black. Could be typical for HP and not others. The quality of print was excellent, but overall, the Officejet Pro 8600 does all I need and far cheaper to run.

 

[Don C]

More toner will wind up in the waste hopper if paper is printed on that is narrower than the maximum size of paper the printer can use. For instance if a lot of envelopes are printed or if printing 8-1/2"x11" paper the long way in an 11"x17" printer. If you do this, remove the cartridges and move them around so the ink in the waste hopper redistributes to the supply hopper.

 

[Mister 4x4]

My biggest complaint (as someone who has spent the past almost 35 years in the IT industry) is when so-called tech support professionals can't resolve simple issues, but rather just blow away from the operating system and lose peoples' data because they're too lazy to 'do the right thing.'

Hard failures of disk drives are a lot less commonplace than the general rarity they had in the past - it just doesn't happen all that much.  But when the file system or operating system loses the ability to function, all is not lost even at that point.  The pros only look at, "how fast can I turn this around," rather than the right way to resolve the issues, way more often than not.

 

[goodnigh]

On a slightly different note, I noticed another "disturbing" issue with Win10.

When the laptop is running the Wi-Fi light on the router is lit. Go figure.

When I turn off the laptop, power down I thought, the Wi-Fi light is still lit.

What gives? It is not really your computer.

mike

 

[vintageman]

On a slightly different note, I noticed another "disturbing" issue with Win10.

When the laptop is running the Wi-Fi light on the router is lit.  Go figure.

When I turn off the laptop, power down I thought, the Wi-Fi light is still lit.

What gives?  It is not really your computer.

mike

Is your wifi router set to "Broadcast SSID"? If so, that may be the reason the light is still on because the router is broadcasting your SSID so that new users can see and connect to your router. It is actually pretty common for the SSID to be broadcast so that others can see your network and connect if they have the password. Not very safe, but still common for it to be broadcast. If you and your family are the only ones that connect to your router and they have connected before, you can disable the broadcast function and you will still connect, but others that have never connected to your network will not see the broadcast SSID.  The disable SSID option is in the settings for the router configuration. Good luck.

Tom

 

[Mister 4x4]

On a slightly different note, I noticed another "disturbing" issue with Win10.

When the laptop is running the Wi-Fi light on the router is lit.  Go figure.

When I turn off the laptop, power down I thought, the Wi-Fi light is still lit.

What gives?  It is not really your computer.

mike

Depending on the model, you can check in the BIOS settings for "Wake On LAN," "Power On Ethernet," "Remote Start-Up," or something similar in the network settings.  Those settings are there for enterprise-managed machines to be started up and updated by administrators when the machines are within the managed network area.

Have you ever noticed wired LAN machines do the same thing when you power them off?  Unless you unplug them from power completely, the NICs will show Link/Ack lights, even when the machine is powered off.  Same situation here, with the NIC drawing power from the battery.