What to Buy: Recommend me a stable/solid mono laser printer for home/SMB use. Budget under $200

scotty on 03/07/2014 - 13:35

My trusty Brother HL-1250 is really on its last legs. Bought it over 14 years ago, and it has gone through half a dozen toner cartridge and 2 drums. However sadly it's really dying, and it's time for replacement.

I am now looking for a monochrome laser printer that will hopefully last me another 10 years. I am not looking for those cheap $50 printer that costs more to get a cartridge and might break down after warranty expires. It's mainly for home & small business use, and I have a budget of around $200 (although less = better). That's including delivery, or I can pickup from my local MSY. So,

  • Something solid that will last a while, similar to my previous Brother.
  • Reasonable running cost. My old printer takes TN-6600 rated at 6,000 pages, and can be bought in eBay for around $25 compatible / $50 genuine.
  • Good Linux compatibility, i.e. fully functional CUPS driver.
  • Or even better, with network built in that does IPP.

Currently I am looking at Brother HL-2270DW that's under $130, which has built in web-based printer management, IPP printing over ethernet or wireless, duplex printing, and 2,600-pages TN-2250 toner has reasonable compatible cartridges on the market.

Anything else?

Computing

Comments

  • pjetson on 03/07/2014 - 15:18

    I've had a Brother HL-2270DW for a while, and I've got no complaints. I don't think it's much of a step up, build-wise, from the $50 Brother lasers, though.

  • Schezwon on 03/07/2014 - 17:40

    Buy the cheapest Brother laser printer for under $50 and buy DIY refill ink for $5-$10 on ebay, can be a bit messy at first, but well worth the savings and I can't tell the difference of print quality, I do the same for inkjet printers too, a small squeeze bottle with a needle to inject cost about $2 delivered, get 250-300 B&W A4 prints.

    • scotty on 03/07/2014 - 20:55

      While that might sound perfectly ozbargainian, it doesn't sound like 10 years hassle-free printing that I am looking for.

  • Manh on 03/07/2014 - 19:53

    Samsung SCX-3405f.

    Multifunction Wifi printer for $140 or less.
    Compatible Samsung MLTD101S toners for $30.50 delivered on eBay.
    Linux drivers but it doesn't say if it's CUPS or not.

    Samsung's Website:
    http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/print-solutions/print-mul…

    Static Ice:
    http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=scx+3405f&s…

    • scotty on 03/07/2014 - 21:03

      Compatible Samsung MLTD101S toners for $30.50 delivered on eBay.

      Interestingly Samsung's MLT-D101S page says 700 pages yield, but most eBay sellers claim 1,500 pages yield. Still, 1.5k pages at $30.50 it's still on the expensive side, although the printer itself looks fine.

  • TALLBALLER on 29/07/2014 - 19:45

    Kyocera's scotty may ought lay a bit more but they do pretty well dad(accountant) still has a fs 1000/1010 bought years ago and they are near bullet proof might not fit the attitude here on a 6 month purchase but you are looking for a 10 year plan.

    I think the short term premium/long term savings comes from the ceramic drum? that dosent have to be replaced every few toners
    there was one on here a few months ago from "Cnet Technology"
    just my experience

    • scotty on 29/07/2014 - 23:27

      Thanks. With lack of responses in this thread I ended up buying the Brother HL-2270DW. Very easy to set up. However like what @pjetson said in the first comment, the build quality is really not up there with my older Brother printer.

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