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Graymalkin · Apr 8, 2004, 03:52 AM

Today I found an awesome deal at one of the Gateway stores that is closing down. I picked up an HP LaserJet 1012 for $96. I've read good things about these printers but I'm very impressed by this little sucker. It starts printing very quickly and once started prints extremely quick. When I printed a test page I thought it had come out blank it printed so quickly. The prints coming out of this thing are beautiful to boot. After a lot of bad luck with HP ink jets I've finally found a printer of theirs I don't feel ripped off by!

OreoCookie · Apr 8, 2004, 11:37 AM

Wait till you buy toner ...

Graymalkin · Apr 8, 2004, 06:26 PM

Yeah.

...wait

Dimitri · Apr 9, 2004, 06:16 PM

Cheap printers are disposable anyway. The ink/toner replacements cost over half the cost of the printer itself.

Graymalkin · Apr 9, 2004, 06:58 PM

While a toner cart isn't exactly cheap they tend to cost less per printed page than ink carts and look a hojillion times better. I might just be telling myself that so I feel better but I really like the quality of this printer. I've had several HP inkjets and a Canon S400 bubblejet and none of them have really impressed me with their print quality. I print enough for the quality to really make a difference but not so much I'm going to be buying toner carts every two weeks...hopefully.

slider · Apr 10, 2004, 09:05 AM

The cost savings on Laser printers can not be over stated. You got a great deal. If I did more text printing I would definately get a laser.

scaught · Apr 10, 2004, 12:34 PM

the laserjet toner cartridges were like 70 dollars last i checked? thats not extravagant given how long they last, and how much those damned inkjet cartridges cost. hooboy.

AC Rempt · Apr 10, 2004, 03:12 PM

I use a Brother 1440 at work, and I get an entire school year worth of printing out of this machine. The cost of toner, about $60, is totally worth the time saved from waiting in line in the copy room. I'm mostly printing text in the form of handouts and exams, and my college's copying facilities are so medieval that I try to avoid them at all costs.

Laser is totally worth it, and I say you got a great deal.

Bye, Gateway. Don't let the door hit ya on the ass on the way out.

Graymalkin · Apr 10, 2004, 06:55 PM

Most of the printing I do is all text, for the times I do need graphics I've got the Canon or Kinkos. I've never been much into photo printing because it costs way too much to get decent prints. Besides why spend the money on a photo printer I'll rarely use when Wal�Mart and Wolf camera will print out my pictures for a quarter?

Besides my printer I got all sorts of cool shwag from the Gateway store. I picked up several network patch cables for a buck a piece, a small case for my camera, some RAM for my girlfriend's new iBook and my parent's PC, and a 9 port Belkin power strip with phone line and coax protection.

larkost · Apr 11, 2004, 04:31 PM

I am going to second the recommendation on Brother personal lasers. Unlike Brother's inkjets, the lasers are very nice, and the toner is a good buy. I am also fond of the Samsng printers, but they are a bit more expensive to keep fed.

As to HP lasers... the bottom end are ok, but I don't tend to recommend them against the competition. When you get into the mid-range (>$400), then they are the best game in town.

veryniceguy2002 · Apr 14, 2004, 01:05 AM

Originally posted by larkost:
I am going to second the recommendation on Brother personal lasers. Unlike Brother's inkjets, the lasers are very nice, and the toner is a good buy. I am also fond of the Samsng printers, but they are a bit more expensive to keep fed.

As to HP lasers... the bottom end are ok, but I don't tend to recommend them against the competition. When you get into the mid-range (>$400), then they are the best game in town.

HP laser printers used the be the choice back around 8-10 years ago. They worked almost forever without breaking down (except paper jam due to bad paper fed in).

Unfortunately, nowadays they cut the corners a fair bit, and I can recall a few years ago my old place of work got two brand new HP LaserJet 5SiMX. The first one broke down completely in its second day of operation out of the box (need to call the HP repair guy to fix it), and the other one broke down within the first week...

Unless you really need network capability and/or PostScript (which HP tends to have a big range to select), then go for something else (I use Brother, Japanese brand generally are OK).