Bompalompalomp Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 Hey everyone. My school has always had a bit of a printer problem. So much so, that most of the technical questions in my interview were about printers... Most of the school's laser printers have been running from 2007 following a printer refresh. This includes two Kyocera FS-C5025Ns, one in the middle corridor and one in the ICT room. The developer units in them are going, causing the sides of printouts to be faded, while one spits toner on the paper a lot. The staff hate using them, and throw away half the stuff they print. The accounts manager wanted to prove that new printers would be more economical than a repair (which isn't hard at all, considering the cost of managing them at the moment) so that the governors wouldn't kick up a fuss. I was asked to add the Colour Photocopier as a printer for staff so that they could get clear printouts while we sorted this, so use of the other printers has gone down luckily. But still, over the past two weeks there's been nearly a thousand pages printed on both of them and most of them wasted. Pointless rant over, I'm interested in knowing what printers you guys use, and are pleased with. And if you could, please send help.
john Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 Ye Olde HP Mono Lasers in IT Rooms 4200s to be precise from the lovely sponsors ICT Direct All colour / A3 goes to one of the colour copiers as they are a lot cheaper than printers and when they break its not my problem 1
ICTDirect_Dave Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 Thanks @john ! Those 4200 series HPs are brilliant. Go on for ever, cost next to nothing and have great print quality. Also we're really cheap when it comes to consumables too 1
Bompalompalomp Posted June 21, 2013 Author Posted June 21, 2013 Thanks guys, though I've just been informed we have to purchase direct from RM (I'd have loved to go with ICT Direct... ) because of support included and I haven't been told whether or not they have more options than the stuff available on their site. Bleh. Additionally, they need colour printers too.
ICTDirect_Dave Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 RM? We do colour printers too How much support do you need? We go to the 'if it breaks we will try and help you out' level (after the warranty expires that is!) Hell you could buy two or three from us and keep them in the cupboard untill you need one and it still be cheaper!
john Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 RM? We do colour printers too How much support do you need? We go to the 'if it breaks we will try and help you out' level (after the warranty expires that is!) Hell you could buy two or three from us and keep them in the cupboard untill you need one and it still be cheaper! I would say your last line is 1000x correct with RM 1
X-13 Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 Thanks guys, though I've just been informed we have to purchase direct from RM (I'd have loved to go with ICT Direct... ) because of support included and I haven't been told whether or not they have more options than the stuff available on their site. Bleh. Additionally, they need colour printers too. Psh, who needs RM support when you have Edugeek? We just got a couple of HP LaserJet Pro 300 colour MFP M375nw. They're really nice. [but, quite expensive.]
TechMonkey Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 My new place has OKI printers and they seem fairly robust. Networked Photocopiers would be the way to go if possible and more likely to be financed over multiple years so friendlier on the budget.
Bompalompalomp Posted June 21, 2013 Author Posted June 21, 2013 RM? Tell me about it... The school has had them for years, and before I was here they were their only lifeline, and since they manage everything they're mine when I'm learning. But the printers are included in it, so I think the school wants to stay with them because after the cost of buying them, support is free. Drives me mad though because their stuff is overpriced as hell. Consumables however, has me interested. I'll have to ring up on Monday and ask whether or not they'll include support somehow on things bought third party. 1
ICTDirect_Dave Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 Good stuff. If you want to see what we can do for you then email me a list of your regular cartridge requirements and i'll get some great pricing for you! 1
Chris_ Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 Speak to some companies about managed print contracts. They provide the printers for free, supply you with toner and fix any issues that occur. You then just pay so much per page. Depending on how much you're printing and what your current printer fleet is it could work out cheaper. I've used Complete - Managed Print Services Birmingham l London l Manchester | Cambridge | Southampton who are based in Birmingham. There'll be plenty of other companies also.
speckytecky Posted June 21, 2013 Posted June 21, 2013 South West Copiers in Swindon have provided my school with first class service using Ricoh Copiers set as Domain defaults over the time I have worked there South West Copiers - Photocopiers in Swindon SN25 4YD - 192.com We do have that ongoing problem that too many staff think they have a 'right' to have and default to a colour laser in their classroom - not quite sure how you can get around that one - question of 'education' perhaps
robjduk Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 HP or Epson here and little to no problems. I cant remember their name but I was contacted by a company a while back where they supply the printers and maintain them as long as you buy the toners from them (maybe it was Stone?). Personally though whatever you choose I would become a mac user before I bought anything from RM. I hate to think my tax goes towards schools who have management who believe RM is a viable solution. (going way off track here)
FishCustard Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) I second @ICTDirect_Dave with regards to the HP 4200/4250s. I'm slowly replacing our random assortment of printers with the things, 'cause I know them to be reliable and cheap to run. Hint - get the 4250n if at all possible, because they can take the high-capacity toners. If someone needs duplex printing, there's the 4250dtn (duplex, extra trays, networked), and for really heavy users you can get a 4350n which can handle more abuse and yet takes the same cartridges! There's even such a thing as the 4350dtnsl, which has a stapler/stacker and looks like its well on the way to becoming a Gundam mech. (Yes, I know more than is probably good for me about the 4200-series...) PS - I'll be wanting more of the things soon. Dave, I'll call ICT Direct on Monday. EDIT: Also, I second everyone who has said something to the effect of 'RM = bleugh!'. Edited June 22, 2013 by FishCustard 1
EN4CER Posted July 8, 2013 Posted July 8, 2013 Hi All, sorry for highjacking this thread, but I too am looking for some more printers to serve another site. We have HP4250 B&W which I like and we have a Xerox Phaser 85?? wax colour printer... Is there anything better around than the Xerox Phaser for colour please??
Stone_Liz Posted July 9, 2013 Posted July 9, 2013 Hi @Bompalompalomp We use Managed Print Service in the office and find that printer maintenance, running costs and wasted prints have significantly improved under this. Also, you can configure the printer to secure print and “time out” after 3 hours for example, so if you send a print to the printer, and then don’t get up to collect it and enter your personal pin code within those 3 hours, it simply deletes itself from the system and no paper is wasted. Let me know if you want more info on what we're using
Bompalompalomp Posted July 9, 2013 Author Posted July 9, 2013 Thanks everyone Sorry for forgetting to reply sooner. We weren't able to sway from RM, so we bought Brother HL-4150 CDNs from them. This seemed like the best one in the price range from them, and it means we only have to buy one type of toner cartridge, as we already have a 4140 upstairs. Should be set up soon (they insisted they set them up, and they're damn slow about it...), so we'll have to see how it goes.
FishCustard Posted July 9, 2013 Posted July 9, 2013 Should be set up soon (they insisted they set them up, and they're damn slow about it...), so we'll have to see how it goes. Because of course as an IT techie it's not like you're capable of setting up a printer... >__>
Bompalompalomp Posted July 9, 2013 Author Posted July 9, 2013 Because of course as an IT techie it's not like you're capable of setting up a printer... >__> Seriously... I've just been looking at the documentation and staring at it, dreaming of soon-to-be clear printouts.... :'(
X-13 Posted July 9, 2013 Posted July 9, 2013 Seriously... I've just been looking at the documentation and staring at it, dreaming of soon-to-be clear printouts.... :'( I've found that doesn't help with setting up printers.
Bompalompalomp Posted July 9, 2013 Author Posted July 9, 2013 I've found that doesn't help with setting up printers. All I have left are dreams~
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