 |
 |
Shopping for a color printer with a $1,000 budget
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Ohio, near Cleveland
Status:
Offline
|
|
I know there are scads of "which printer should I buy" threads already (I've searched), but I have pretty specific needs:
* color prints for proofing (i.e. will not be used for final product)
* hence, color accuracy would be nice
* 8.5x11 and 11x17
* Ethernet
* Mac AND Windows drivers
* less than $1,000 (that's the target my boss gave me)
* speed is not an issue
* monthly usage under 150 pages
* non-prohibitively-expensive ink/toner
I would prefer color laser, but I can't seem to find any under $1,000 that will do 11x17. Inkjet would easily fit the bill there, but laser is nice because it uses PostScript and (in my experience) is more accurate to what we'll be getting with offset-printed CMYK than an inkjet will be.
Any suggestions appreciated!
-birdman
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Status:
Offline
|
|
I think the HP Designjet 30n at $800 is your best option from HP: prints up to 13" wide and supports Windows (95 through XP) and Mac (9x through X.3, hopefully works under Tiger). There is a $200 JetDirect card for it to get an ethernet port.
I doubt you'll find a decent color laser that can print 11" wide for under $1000.
For that volume, you could just go to Kinkos/other-local-print-shop.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Ohio, near Cleveland
Status:
Offline
|
|
Yeah, we go to a local printer for things we need printed in any quantity for "real" use (e.g. trade show posters, mailers). We only need one in-house for the design process. It's more convenient to be able to print out an ad I've designed and show it to several people rather than calling them all over to my desk to look at a PDF on the screen, plus I can keep a copy in a file folder for quick future reference.
I tried HP's printer selector on their website, and they also suggested the DesignJet 30n. As little as we'll use this, I don't think the cost of ink will be as much of a problem as my boss fears. He's used to dealing with our $64,000 color laser behemoth that the previous owner of the company was swindled into back in the '90s. (It doesn't work anymore, btw, and the parts to fix it cost $3,000, hence our new plan of buying a home-office-sized printer.)
-birdman
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: So Cal
Status:
Offline
|
|
Originally Posted by birdman
Yeah, we go to a local printer for things we need printed in any quantity for "real" use (e.g. trade show posters, mailers). We only need one in-house for the design process. It's more convenient to be able to print out an ad I've designed and show it to several people rather than calling them all over to my desk to look at a PDF on the screen, plus I can keep a copy in a file folder for quick future reference.
I tried HP's printer selector on their website, and they also suggested the DesignJet 30n. As little as we'll use this, I don't think the cost of ink will be as much of a problem as my boss fears. He's used to dealing with our $64,000 color laser behemoth that the previous owner of the company was swindled into back in the '90s. (It doesn't work anymore, btw, and the parts to fix it cost $3,000, hence our new plan of buying a home-office-sized printer.)
-birdman
The DJ30 is very frugal with ink. See here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=16354866
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
|
|
|
Forum Rules
|
|
|
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top