Which Printer???

[marvin]

Hi

 

I need to buy couple of colour laser printers and i was wondering which one to go for?

 

It needs to be run on the network, enough memory to handle all data, cheap on the run and reliable.

 

We used to purchase the HP 2600n but these are causing a lot of problems recently..... Seems like now and then the printer decides to spool and prints the same documents over and over again!

On top of this the consumables are so expensive that it is cheap to buy a new printer!!!

[dhicks]

It needs to be run on the network, enough memory to handle all data, cheap on the run and reliable.

 

The more expensive HP colour laser printers seem fine. We still use the 4600 series - they're around £300 each off eBay. Probably still on the picy side to run, though (around 30p for a full-colour A4 page). I think the latest similar model is around £800 new. Your best option is probably to lease, then it's someone else's problem to supply toner and fix issues.

 

--

David Hicks

[marvin]

Can you recommend a leasing company?

[K.C.Leblanc]

Hi

 

I need to buy couple of colour laser printers and i was wondering which one to go for?

 

It needs to be run on the network, enough memory to handle all data, cheap on the run and reliable.

 

We used to purchase the HP 2600n but these are causing a lot of problems recently..... Seems like now and then the printer decides to spool and prints the same documents over and over again!

On top of this the consumables are so expensive that it is cheap to buy a new printer!!!

 

We've been stung the same way with HP 3600s. Like the 2600 (but not the 2605) they are host based, which gives trouble if you're using a print server. I'm pretty sure something in an MS update has effected this, since ours went from being good as gold to a complete nightmare over night.

 

I think HP have realised host based is a bad idea on networked printers, since they not don't make any host based networked colour lasers.

[marvin]

Is there a work around this at all?

 

WOuld like to keep these 2600n we have but they just sometimes go crazy and spools the same document over and over again!!!!

 

Would the way they are setup affect it at all?

I have installed the print software on the server and the IP addressses are manually set on the printers. I have then used a logon script to attach the relevant printer!!!

[dhicks]

Can you recommend a leasing company?

 

Not for Nottingham: I'd go for someone smaller and local to you. It's worth spending some time sorting out printer / photocopier leasing properly.

 

Is there a work around this at all?

 

You could always try an external USB print server. Admittedly we had problems with our 2600n (it decided it was going to stop printing network jobs, although it would print locally via USB and the web-based management interface still worked fine) and simply chucked it out.

 

--

David Hicks

[glennda]

We have just purchased some Hp CP2025's which seem to be ok, there is a funny problem with the print drivers tho, it thinks the driver is unistalled and asks you to reinstall it when you open properties, but if you cancel it, it still lets you do everything you could before!

 

Toby

[Bezwick]

Not sure you will be able too mate, i tried last year and was told by finance that the LEA have brought in lots of new rules about leasing and we arent really allowed to do it in Nottingham now without getting them to sign off on it. Didnt really follow it up because i fond something better, not sure how difficult it is because i found a better solution anyway. But might be worth cheking with you finance dept before you waste too much time on the idea.

 

Can you recommend a leasing company?

[plexer]

dhicks: where did you get the figure of 30p a page from?

 

I just bought some 4600's for about £130

 

Ben

[Haptic]

Hi

 

I need to buy couple of colour laser printers and i was wondering which one to go for?

 

It needs to be run on the network, enough memory to handle all data, cheap on the run and reliable.

 

We used to purchase the HP 2600n but these are causing a lot of problems recently..... Seems like now and then the printer decides to spool and prints the same documents over and over again!

On top of this the consumables are so expensive that it is cheap to buy a new printer!!!

 

Hi Marvin,

 

Be sure to send me a pm if you would like some options on printers fella and I'm sure we can save you a tidy amount on the consumables as many on Edugeek will tell you,

[tmcd35]

dhicks: where did you get the figure of 30p a page from?

 

I just bought some 4600's for about £130

 

Ben

 

I'd be interested in those figures as well. I've just been entering print cost into Papercut so I can start getting meaningful reports out. The HP 2600 is the most expensive of our colour lasers to print to but I get 9p per page colour A4.

 

Of course this is based on a compatible toner replacement price divided by the number of pages they think it should last at 5% page coverage.

[sted]

some of the hp printer problems can be solved by disabling snmp ive found (esp server 2003 sp2 iirc based print servers) i had a few that just decided to always show as ofline as snmp was misreporting back to the server might be a similar problem and as its free worth a try. Id avoid canon lasers as i had to install and leave odd software on my server they wont find an ip address till the software finds them and forces it onto them and if you remove the software they just dont print (jobs go toserver and out then dissapear into the ether(net) and never print out.

[dhicks]

dhicks: where did you get the figure of 30p a page from?

 

We buy (probably rather pricy) HP-original toner cartridges - the compatibles we used leaked toner and were more trouble than they were worth. Our staff seem keen on printing photos, so the 30p figure assumes a full-size colour A4 page - at least 80% coverage.

 

--

David Hicks

[Haptic]

We buy (probably rather pricy) HP-original toner cartridges - the compatibles we used leaked toner and were more trouble than they were worth. Our staff seem keen on printing photos, so the 30p figure assumes a full-size colour A4 page - at least 80% coverage.

 

--

David Hicks

 

David,

 

We are using some new sources for our OEM toners now so It would be interesting to see if we can save you some money on your toners fella,

[u8dmtm]

We use Xerox 6360dn with PagePack annual inclusive printing contract. It works well and for us has dropped the per-page cost down quite a lot.

[Tcsltd]

Brother have some really good deals at the moment, with cash back & warranty offers on specific colour printers....what specs are you after??

[Haptic]

As a Brother Approved Partner be sure to let me know if Brother as a brand is of interest to you as we have some great deals about at the minitue,