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tuqqer · Jan 24, 2004, 03:17 PM

Anyone out there using a sub-$1600 color laser printer? I'm shopping for one now. I've gotten some great suggestions from other Mac users, but still haven't narrowed it down.

I hear good things about Xerox's solid color refill machines, but I've also heard that they stink and have a toxic smell to them, not good for a home office.

I have need for around 700-1000 color prints per month, plus another 500 B&W. No intense photo usage, more just flyers.

thanks.

aehaas · Jan 24, 2004, 10:45 PM

I used to have the older Xerox (Tektronix) 850 DP and just got the newest one, the 8200 DP. It is very quiet, gives off very little heat and is much faster than the older one. It warm up in 1/10 the time.

It is really the best in my mind. It prints the best looking pictures of many 3 - $7,000 laser printers I have tested.

The fact that it does this on regular paper is the best feature. Just get a good and white paper. I also use 24 lb. paper.

The only negative is that you do not want to turn it off. It uses a 1/2 stick of each color to warm up. If you leave it on all the time it goes into sleep mode. This does not use ink. And again, it is very quiet and cool. I have it in a cabinet with just a little ventilation port.

aehaas

OreoCookie · Jan 24, 2004, 11:20 PM

How about Oki?
Just do a search in the peripherals forums.

Just recently, there was a thread about color laser printers.

Walker · Jan 25, 2004, 10:51 AM

Originally posted by OreoCookie:
How about Oki?
Just do a search in the peripherals forums.

Just recently, there was a thread about color laser printers.

I was hoping to purchase the Minolta 2350. But I was most impressed with it's reviews about it's photo quality.

OreoCookie · Jan 25, 2004, 11:36 AM

Originally posted by Walker:
I was hoping to purchase the Minolta 2350. But I was most impressed with it's reviews about it's photo quality.

Well, but I have heard, it's not particularly fast.

The Oki spits out 12 ppm in color, 20 ppm in bw.

Walker · Jan 25, 2004, 03:02 PM

Originally posted by OreoCookie:
Well, but I have heard, it's not particularly fast.

The Oki spits out 12 ppm in color, 20 ppm in bw.

Does it have OS X drivers? Couldn't find any on the site. How good is it's photo quality (I want to know for myself, not the original poster).

lw

OreoCookie · Jan 25, 2004, 11:06 PM

Originally posted by Walker:
Does it have OS X drivers? Couldn't find any on the site. How good is it's photo quality (I want to know for myself, not the original poster).

lw

It's got postscript, which means you just use the ppd (postscript printer description file). I am using (another) Oki from my math lab, works perfectly.

To be honest, I rarely print pictures, mostly diagrams for math and physics scripts that use colors. I can try to print a pic if you want to the next couple of days. But the printer in our lab is a couple years old, so I guess newer ones have better quality (still works perfectly, though).

But all color *laser* printer are easily beaten by ink jetters when it comes to photo quality. (I. e. I exclude solid ink printers and thermo transfer printers.)

aehaas · Jan 26, 2004, 10:01 AM

All those pages per minute stats are worthless if there is anything other than print (fonts) on a page.

I spent the last 6 months going to several printer sales offices to print a test picture that is demanding of photo abilities from the printer. I brought my Ti 867 with me and loaded on their latest drivers each time.

A 3.4 Meg jpg (17M original, uncompressed) can take as long a 1 - 5 minutes to print. I cannot remember what printer did what but I can tell you the 8200 was one of the faster one and clearly the one with the best picture. The solid ink is the only one that gives a bright picture. All other laser printers including LED technology are just plain dull for photographs. For spot color as in pie graphs any will do.

aehaas

OreoCookie · Jan 27, 2004, 02:15 AM

Originally posted by aehaas:
All those pages per minute stats are worthless if there is anything other than print (fonts) on a page.

I spent the last 6 months going to several printer sales offices to print a test picture that is demanding of photo abilities from the printer. I brought my Ti 867 with me and loaded on their latest drivers each time.

A 3.4 Meg jpg (17M original, uncompressed) can take as long a 1 - 5 minutes to print. I cannot remember what printer did what but I can tell you the 8200 was one of the faster one and clearly the one with the best picture. The solid ink is the only one that gives a bright picture. All other laser printers including LED technology are just plain dull for photographs. For spot color as in pie graphs any will do.

aehaas

Sure, you got a point.
But it all depends on what you do mainly with that printer. If someone was to print pictures all the time, I'd recommend solid ink, thermotransfer or ink jet.

But if it's just a nice thing to have, then it mustn't be a deal breaker. AFAIK the Oki's are quite fast as far as their Postscript processing is concerned. I remember a HP LaserJet 8100 DN spending more than two hours on a (vector) Postscript file, so I know that speed is more than the raw ppm figure.

MUGlover · Jan 27, 2004, 04:13 PM

I have an Oki c5300n and it works great on OS X. It is a PostScript printer, as the poster above mentioned. I use a parallel cable to my wireless access point so I can print to it from the iBooks in the house.

It did a great job printing my wife's dissertation (many times). There is (I think) still a $100 rebate so it is under $1000. I enjoy printing sheet music on it using a music notation program.

And I have no complaint about photos on it. The color is quick because this is a single-pass printer, meaning quicker and quieter than a machine that must cycle and align the output of four passes.

Like any laser printer, use in a well-ventilated room.