Many thanks to all of you who responded to my query about color printers.
For those of you who asked for a HIT:
1. We had a Xerox color printer for 2 years. It used wax-based ink, which
melted if you laminated anything you printed with it. The ink was also very
expensive and did not last long. We now have a Dell 5110cn color printer. It
was easy to set up (although it is large) and makes great copies.
2. We have a HP DeskJet 1220C which has proved to be a workhorse. Not many
use it to print on photo paper (they'd have to supply their own), most print on
ordinary paper.
3. I would stick with the laser. It is faster and the photos are
suitable for student use. The ink jet ink can get very pricey.
4. Ink jets lay down wet ink which bleeds slightly. Lasers lay down powdered
pigment which is brighter and leaves much more crisp lines. The speed of the
print is infinitely faster with the laser as well. The laser toner costs more per
cartridge, but each cartridge makes many more copies than the inkjet
cartridges. When you look at the cost per page, I think the laser will win out.
5. I have a Onica Minolta MC 2300 W color laser printer that works well. Its
only drawback is that it isn't networkable (by now there might be a networkable
version - our printer is several years old.) We've been happy with the color
copies we get. The reason we went laser is that is it quite a bit cheaper than
ink jet. The drawback it has is that it doesn't do color photographs well unless
we have photopaper for laser printers. Toner cardridges - black, yellow,
magenta, cyan - are about $175.00 each. You can buy cartridges individually.
I usually only change a cartridge about once a year.
6. Inkjet printers are more expensive to operate than Laserjet printers. It would
be a good idea to figure out a cost per page. The Inkjet printer will cost you
less for the hardware but will cost more in the long run.
7. This debate could go on and on....but if you ask people who print images
with a strong need for exact color replication, they tend to use inkjet. The wet
ink problem can happen with inkjets (the page is technically wet and can
smear), but a similar problem can happen with laser as it actually has to heat
up the powder to put in on the paper....so, if you print out a bunch of color
copies, there is a chance that they will stick together and have to wait for the
laser printer to warm up -- about 1.5 min for our printer. You really need to
decide how important that exact color replication is to you. Here is something
from a photo website pasted below.
"Lasers will give nice crisp images but what about their color truthfulness.
When it comes to printing pictures inkjets are really the way to go. Laser
devotees can chime in all they want but inkjet printers just get the job done
better with their individual mixing tanks."
This is not a technical explanation, but artists tend to favor inkjets for better
color replication.....laser is more durable and will be cheaper per page, but
costs more upfront. I don't even know if you have enough money to get a laser
printer that includes at least one change of color.
8. We have just bought a Samsung colour laser printer. It prints quite
quickly - which is a factor when students are standing there waiting. I
don't think the picture quality is bad either. I think for general/student use a
colour laser is better as it prints faster than an inkjet and the print quality
seems good. The cartridges are a shocking price, it's true. What I will say is
that you may find demand for it rises sharply once you've got it and people
know you've got it.
9. The inkjets are cheap to begin with, but kill you with ink costs if you’re
printing lots of copies. Output paper size is another consideration. I’ve
purchased some wide-format printers too. My current school has several
networked color laserjets – they are fast (once they are awake). They produce
decent color, though not something you’d say is good. I have an Epson
ip6000D at home and it produces great photos, but eats ink.
10. If the purpose is to just print photos then I agree that a good inkjet with
multiple tanks is the way to go. But, if the purpose is to print internet pages
and general use the color laser is the way to go. When teachers want a high
end photo they use our special ink jet photo printers on special photo paper
and the photos do in fact come out great. We also found that if we laminate
the laser output it looks as good as output on a inkjet photo printer.
11. Our school district uses HP which I find are the best for quality and
dependability. If you want a networked one then the 2600N is good. Yes, the
cartridges are expensive to replace but again they will never dry up (which they
will on an inkjet.
12. I have a HP Colorjet 2500n in my office, and the color reproduction is
AWESOME! This printer gets little use other than printing of barcode labels and
the occasional sign or notice, so cost has not really been an issue. The price on
this model of printer has come down quite a lot since we purchased ours 6-7
years ago. It would be my choice for color printing in a media center setting!
13. Whether you buy inkjet or laser, the cost of the ink will be high. However,
we have both. We purchased an HP Laserjet 2200. It was great but it was
difficult to maintain and now we have a $2000 printer sitting in a closet. We
have several HP Inkjet printers in the library. We are currently using 7300
series and they run quite well. The ink that they use is not the vivera type
which does not fade as quickly. If students are printing on paper that is not a
problem if they are using photo paper then you might want to look for ink with
vivera in it.
Colette Lageoles
Librarian
NYC Lab School
NYC Museum School
333 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
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