Finding a low end Mac Laser printer

My faithful Laserjet has been suffering from the inability to clearly print for about six months.  I have tried all the tricks that I know and can find to cure the problem.  Years ago I would have gone to the trouble of trying to find a repairman.  Based on the drop in price on printers, I know that is a losing proposition. Even Laser printers are disposable.  I will probably try to donate the printer to one of the tech schools that train computer service people.  Perhaps they can fix it.

Having an office without a laser, meant it was time to go printer shopping once again.  It seems that I have done this a lot this year.  If you count my all in one experience, "HP AIO Photosmart C6180 and Mac OSX,"  I have bought or been part of the buying decision for eight printers.  Counting the one I bought this evening, I actually own six of them, a Brother 5250N, the Photosmart C6180, an HP 5160 Photosmart, an Epson C88, an HP Color Laserjet 2600N, and now a Brother 5250DN.

Before anyone thinks I am addicted to printers they are all have somewhat different functions.  I got the 5160 for $59.95 and use it only for printing DVDs.  I ended up buying the Epson C88 for not much more than that.  I got it to print postcards that I use in my real estate marketing.  It turns out the the HP 2600N is very good with plain graphics but absolutely terrible with photographic images.  The printers are also in three different locations spread over 325 miles.

I have a love-hate relationship with ink jet printers mostly because I also use two relatively finicky Epson printers, an Epson 4000 and an Epson 2200 for prints that I sell.  The Epson 4000 is used mostly with ImagePrint RIP software, though I have been working to also use it with a native Epson drivers.  Unfortunately the native drivers refuse to recognize the roll feeder and most of the time tell me that I have changed the ink cartridges since I installed the driver.  The only fix is usually to delete the printer and reinstall the driver while slaying a couple of goats.  The Epson 2200 has similar fits depending on which application I'm using.

For that reason and perhaps an outdated dedication to high quality printing, I feel the need to have a laser printer around in each office.  It also needs to be a network printer. I guess I should be thankful that lasers are now inexpensive.  I even got the color laser for under $250. 

It turns out that there are not a whole lot of choices under $200 (with rebates) for the Mac.  Brother makes a very inexpensive network Laser printer which can be had for $99. It might have been fine, but it just didn't look the part.  I made the decision to spring for the additional $100 since I was already familiar with the 5250.  The 5250s are a snap to install since they are Bonjour compatible.  I even used Bonjour for Windows on the one that I have at the beach.

I thought about using one of the USB laser printers hooked to a new Airport but it was cheaper to just buy the 5250DN and leave my network alone.

It was a little depressing to find that a couple of the really nice USB Laser printers, like the 1200 DPI HP LaserJet 1020 Printer and the Konica Minolta PagePro 1400W, do not work with OS X.  Both of those laser printers are slightly over $100.  I cannot believe that Ethernet could not be added for less than $25.

If new printers do not suit you, there is another option. I didn't give it a shot but you can also look at refurbished laser printers from companies like PrinterStop.com.

Of course more and more companies are following Apple's tactics and giving us not what we want, but what they think we want at a slightly higher price. I am not exactly sure that I need the duplex feature on the printer that I bought. I tried to figure out how to use it last night, but it looks like I might have to read the manual.  I would have rather had the printer for $149, but I did not see a choice in that range.

All of this makes me yearn for the days of Apple printers but not their prices. There are probably some of the old LaserWriters out there still printing.  I know a good part of the world (Apple being one of them) has given up on printing, but there are still some of us who need to churn out paper.

Apple used to be a company that printed so many brochures that we could not give them away as fast as they were shipped from Cupertino.  I think the last printed Apple brochure that I remember was the G5 Xserve.

Doing a mailing for your customers is a big part of my real estate business.  I know it is not going to happen, but an Apple printer would have a ready market.  I bet there are a lot of people out there who remember how well Apple printers used to work.  Every time I print something with my all in one, and it makes all those weird noises, I try to imagine how mad Steve Jobs would get over something that sounds like it is about to tear itself apart.

Then I look at the abomination of HP Software that comes with their all in one printers.  There is no way that Apple would ship garbage like that.

The unfortunate thing is that we don't have the choice of an Apple printer.  Maybe that is why I have to have a laser printer around.  They usually work a lot longer than the ink jets and do not have ink fits.  Perhaps we could convince Apple to help Epson on their drivers.  The Epsons are considered non optional if you want really good color prints with long lasting inks that people can buy with confidence.

I guess if my herd of printers ever all go on vacation, I'll just have to go for a walk on the beach and give up printing.  That would be a lot easier to do in a stronger real estate market.

Comments

[Joshua Ochs]

Canon for inkjets, Brother for lasers. Make sure the laser has built in ethernet, IP printing, and Postscript.

[Lewis]

My Epson AIO always sounds like it's going to fall apart, and it always scares the crap out of my cats.

My experience with HP AIO has taught me to carefully follow their installation instructions. One time I missed one step and nothing would work. After calling HP support I had to completely uninstall all the software and the drivers, restart, and then reinstall the "correct" way. I'm sure a novice user would have been even more frustrated than I was.

For the record, I see plenty of Apple LaserWriters still performing admirably today. Granted, most of them are in use by people still running OS 9, but they still work, and that's the amazing part.

Where has the quality gone?

[Seth Lewin]

>

I only replaced my 1989 vintage LWIIg with a Brother 5250DN because of speed and PostScript language issues. Quality? LWIIs have Canon mechanisms as do LaserJet IIs; Canon printers in my experience are relatively trouble free and their inkjets don't clog the way Epsons do if they're not used for a few days.

[Dave Price]

The Brother 5250N is a fantastic performer, and you will love the duplex printing. The drum lasts for 25,000 copies but when it needs to be replaced it's cheaper to just purchase a new printer (which includes a new toner cartridge, too)! You can set the thing to duplex by default instead of choosing the Layout popup every time you want to print double-sided.

[Patrick]

I recently picked up a Samsung ML-2750n for $160 online. It has Postscript compatibility and USB or Ethernet connection. It has a speedy processor, prints 1200 dpi, and runs about 25 pages a minute. So far, everything I have run through it comes out great. Having worked in publishing since 1989 on the Mac, I felt I needed to keep the Postscript ability and networking since my older printer was getting pretty cranky. Such a difference from my first TI laser that cost $1400 and 300 dpi.

[Russ]

Around 30 years ago, I was told by HP that they were a hardware company and software was there only to make the hardware work. My experience with HP printer drivers tells me that things have not changed much at HP in 30 years.

[Art]

I like Canon's for inkjet and Xerox for laser.

Xerox works very well with Macs and comes with Postscript 3 built in. Plus the quality is spectacular, especially with the text.

[thegreatlinguini]

How/Where did you find a color laser for under $250? And does it duplex?

I have a Powerbook G4 and wireless internet a home and am looking for a fast duplexing laser priner. Your 5250 sounds good, but if color is just as cheap, I'd like to know more.

Thanks.

[ocracokewaves]

I got the inexpensive HP 2600N at Staples. It doesn't do duplex unless it is a hidden feature that I haven't noticed.

We happened to find a Staples flyer with $50 off coupons right by the printer and they had a $100 off special running then on the printer.

I have since then found that the 2600n is not that great with images but it does fine with simple graphics.

It's getting really competitive in that low end color laser printer market. I would look at Okidata also. As I remember they have a small color laser.

Of course they're all small compared to Apple's original Color LaserWriter.

[Rolly Maiquez]

Here's a how-to for the HP LaserJet 1020 and a Mac:

http://www.edtechworld.com/?p=229

[PK]

yes..even laser printer are disposable...printer these days are dirt cheap but not the ink.

take a look at my blog http://cheapinkcatridge.blogspot.com/ on inkjet cartridge.

cheers:)

[Dennis Walthers]

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[Kevin]

Hi. I got a lot of good info off your posting here on Mac Laser Printers. Thanks for posting. Say, I was wondering if you have any advice for me. I just picked up a Brother 5250DN. I thought it would give me some clean text our of Adobe Illustrator. The out-of-the-box test print looked beautiful but my Illustrator --text only-- file looks badly pixelated for some reason. Would you happen to have some advice or what I should be looking for? Do I need to expand the memory or somehow install those fonts into the printer? Been so out of laser printer technology since my Apple Laserwriter went down about 7 years ago. Been just buying inkjets but I needed some really clean text again so bought this Brother after doing a lot of research. Thanks.

[ocracokewaves]

I cannot remember trying Illustrator recently on my Brother. I will give it a shot later tonight when I get home. I do not remember any issues, but it has been a long since I have done anything but print labels using Illustrator. :)