Please suggest me a printer for DTP purpose

One of my friends is planning to buy a printer. He has small cyber cafe where he needs printer to take prints for his customers. Can anybody tell me what type of printer he should opt for? I'm really not aware of the types of printer and their prices. Please give me just an idea I will try to explore more on it. I guess since he will be taking prints of resumes or maybe some mails he may not need to go for really good printer esp for color prints.

I guess this question has been asked many times hence I may not be able to get an answer for this.

Friends please help me out!

Hi friends. Please help me decide which printer to purchase. I have the option of laser and inkjet but unable to decide which one to go for.

I'm sure somebody out there has a printer. Please give me some info on which printer to buy.

P

For light usage, an entry-level inkjet with its lower initial cost is suitable. The ability to print in colour can also be useful depending on your requirements. The disadvantage is high running cost if you want good consistent print quality using original ink cartridges.

However, if you print mostly B&W text and want to print regularly, a laser printer is more suitable as it has a lower running cost.

The higher initial cost of a laser printer will soon be overtaken by the higher running cost of an inkjet if you use it regularly. HTH.

Any specific model that I should look into?

P

ajayritik said:
Any specific model that I should look into?

There are many models to choose from depending on your budget and printing needs.

Although HP printers are not the cheapest in their class, I prefer them because, in my own experience, they are robust and are not finicky about the type of paper you feed them.

For inkjets, you might consider an HP D2568 at around 2k or a D4368 at around 3.6k. For laser printers, there are the HP P1007/P1008 or the older LJ1020 (my own at present). The LJ1018 is somewhat cheaper but I wouldn't recommend it because it comes with a low quantity of toner so that it is not really cheaper in practice. The laser printers mentioned are about 5-7.5k depending on the model and where you buy them.

My budget is between Rs 5k and Rs 7k. What are the pros and cons of Laser Vs Inkjet. Many people suggesting to me that inkjet will have more expenses.

P

Read my first post again. Anyway, here are the main points again comparing entry-level inkjets and lasers:

Inkjet:
Advantages - ability to print in colour; low initial cost (though higher models can cost as much as or more than entry-level lasers); low power consumption
Disadvantages - slower; more delicate; high cost of ink cartridges; colours can fade with continuous exposure to sunlight; ink nozzles can become clogged if not used regularly

Laser:
Advantages - faster; better print quality; lower cost of toner per page compared to inkjet
Disadvantages - higher initial cost; low-cost printers can print only in B&W; high power consumption (300-400W, roughly ten times that of inkjets)

Note: The higher running cost of inkjets is due to the high cost of original ink cartridges. The difference becomes less if one uses refilled cartridges, but there may be some loss of print quality with refills. Refills are also possible with laser toners.

Suggestion: With your budget of 5-7k, buy a laser printer if you don't need to print in colour. If you need to be able to print in colour, then you need an inkjet.

pimpom said:
Read my first post again. Anyway, here are the main points again comparing entry-level inkjets and lasers:

Inkjet:
Advantages - ability to print in colour; low initial cost (though higher models can cost as much as or more than entry-level lasers); low power consumption
Disadvantages - slower; more delicate; high cost of ink cartridges; colours can fade with continuous exposure to sunlight; ink nozzles can become clogged if not used regularly

Laser:
Advantages - faster; better print quality; lower cost of toner per page compared to inkjet
Disadvantages - higher initial cost; low-cost printers can print only in B&W; high power consumption (300-400W, roughly ten times that of inkjets)

Note: The higher running cost of inkjets is due to the high cost of original ink cartridges. The difference becomes less if one uses refilled cartridges, but there may be some loss of print quality with refills. Refills are also possible with laser toners.

Suggestion: With your budget of 5-7k, buy a laser printer if you don't need to print in colour. If you need to be able to print in colour, then you need an inkjet.

Well we really dont need color prints so we would go for laser print most probably. But unable to decide between Hp1007 and HP1008. There is a price difference of around 1.5 K I'm not able to figure out the reason for the difference in price.

P

The main differences between the P1007 and the P1008 seem to be -

1. The P1008 has more memory built in (8MB vs. 2MB) and is slightly faster (16 ppm vs. 14 ppm). IMHO, the slightly faster print speed is not important unless you have large amounts of print jobs regularly.

2. The P1008 has an extra "priority slot" for feeding paper. I have this slot on my LJ1020 and find it useful. Since I print on A4 paper most of the time, I keep the main paper tray set to A4 size and use the other slot when I want to use other paper sizes such as Legal, envelopes, etc., adjusting the size in that slot as necessary. It's up to you to decide whether this feature is important for your own use. It's simply a matter of convenience as you can also adjust the paper size in the main tray.

One piece of information I could not find after a quick browse is whether the quantity of toner originally supplied with the printers is the same for the two models. With the older LJ1018 vs. LJ1020, one significant difference was that the cheaper LJ1018 was supplied with a "starter" toner cartridge containing a reduced quantity of toner. With a new toner cartridge costing around 3k, the lower initial cost of the LJ1018 was offset by having to buy a new toner sooner. Perhaps you should ask about this at your dealer.

BTW, which part of Hyderabad are you from? Someone close to me is in JNTU. Maybe you'd like to contact each other.

Having problem with recently purchased HP Laserjet P1007 printer. There is lot of paper jam happening.

P

As I indicated before, I have not used the P1007/1008 myself, but one of the main reasons why I choose HP is that their printers (including inkjets) are very good at handling all kinds of paper except vey thin soft ones.

What kind of paper are you using? Copier paper is very good for general use as laser printers use the same printing technology as photocopiers.

Do you set the paper size in the tray properly? It's important that the paper guide sliders fit snugly against the sides of the paper. If it's loose or too tight, the paper may not feed correctly to the rollers. All parts of the leading edge of the paper should reach the rollers at the same time. If not, some part of the paper will try to move beyond the ends of the rollers and cause jams.

*img135.imageshack.us/img135/1613/paperfeed.gif

pimpom said:
As I indicated before, I have not used the P1007/1008 myself, but one of the main reasons why I choose HP is that their printers (including inkjets) are very good at handling all kinds of paper except vey thin soft ones.

What kind of paper are you using? Copier paper is very good for general use as laser printers use the same printing technology as photocopiers.

Do you set the paper size in the tray properly? It's important that the paper guide sliders fit snugly against the sides of the paper. If it's loose or too tight, the paper may not feed correctly to the rollers. All parts of the leading edge of the paper should reach the rollers at the same time. If not, some part of the paper will try to move beyond the ends of the rollers and cause jams.

*img135.imageshack.us/img135/1613/paperfeed.gif

Thanks for the info. I will try out the suggestions given by you.

I dont know about HP but on cannons you need to look out for the paper thickness knob. It might help to read the manual and use 75-80 GSM paper.

My problem got resolved. The catridge got damaged while installing the printer which caused the paper jam.

P

Glad to hear that your problem has been solved.

pimpom said:
Glad to hear that your problem has been solved.

Unfortunately I had to shell out 200 bucks for it.

P

Too bad. Oh well, chalk that one up to experience. Did you install the toner cartridge yourself?

pimpom said:
Too bad. Oh well, chalk that one up to experience. Did you install the toner cartridge yourself?

Unfortunately I installed it myself. I remember my cousin also trying to help me out. One thing I learnt from this experience is, if we are not comfortable or unaware of something, better take advice or help from someone who knows about it.