Which is cheaper? Color Printer or Copy Store?

[neu5eeCh]

I ask because my wife never uses are color printers, preferring to send material to Gnomon Copy or Staples. Given that it costs 70 to 90 dollars to recharge ink cartridges, and that I can watch the cartridges depleted with every printing (what with cleaning nozzels), is there a reason to hold on to these printers. I was thinking of recycling them.

What's your experience? Is it cheaper to simply send jobs to the copy store? How do color laser printers compare with inkjet?

[CharlesA]

I rarely print in color, but I have 2 color inkjets.

Color laser printers are more expensive than inkjets both in the cost of the toner and the cost of buying one.

If you are sure you will only print in black and white, a B&W laser works wonders tho.

[neu5eeCh]

I rarely print in color, but I have 2 color inkjets.

Color laser printers are more expensive than inkjets both in the cost of the toner and the cost of buying one.

If you are sure you will only print in black and white, a B&W laser works wonders tho.

I should have mentioned that we have a b&w laser printer. I bought it because the color inkjet printers burned through ink, even printing black. Now we never use the inkjet printers, but I still resist getting rid of something that isn't broken. But still... if it's cheaper to print color at the store, why bother with them?

[MisterGaribaldi]

Given that you already own the hardware, this isn't quite as absolutely clear-cut as it might otherwise be.

If the inkjet units you have use a cartridge system that's both an ink tank and a print head (many HP and some other printers use this type) then I would say keep the printer(s) but keep your cartridges sealed until you're ready to use them, or run a cleaning routine on what's installed, then remove and clean them externally (cotton swab and alcohol) then place them in a ziplock bag, suck all the air out, seal 'em up, and keep them in a cool, dark location.

If the inkjet printers you have use ink tanks and have a separate print head unit, then you need to print with them periodically, even if it's just the clean-and-test output stuff, because you cannot afford to let the ink plug up the feed lines, nor have the head itself get clogged. It's cheaper to replace the printer than the print head.

Now, if all you normally ever use them for, to the extent that you use them at all, is to print color photos on photo paper, then I would suggest getting rid of them and just going to your local Walmart or Walgreens (or wherever) on those occasions you need to print photos, because in the long run it will be cheaper, and you don't get stuck with the maintenance-and-upkeep costs.

[oldsoundguy]

Color laser printers are more expensive initially, (unless you can find a real deal on eBay or Craig's list like I did), but the cost of refill toner carts is about the same as an ink jet cart and you will print MUCH more with the laser. I used to have to change ink carts about once every 3-4 months .. toner cart change is about once a year. And never have to worry about a leaking cartridge destroying the printer.

When you add in the time wasted at the copy store, the fuel for the car. and the general hassle, unless you are going for glossy paged brochures or something similar, do it at home.

[MisterGaribaldi]

I like color laser printers, and I agree with much of what oldsoundguy said. However, I would add a few things...

Color laser printers are basically four laser printers in one. This is because each color is separately printed. Color laser printers, just like color inkjets or smaller-scale printing presses, use four colors for their needs: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK. (For those interested, Black is "K" to avoid confusion with blue.)

This means that, naturally, a color laser printer costs four times as much to operate as a black-only one, and usually the smaller ones have separate optical drums which have to be replaced periodically (depending on use, probably once every couple years or so).

Remember that, even if you can get a color laser printer for cheap (sometimes Office Depot will have one "on ad" at a really good price) the price of supplies for it can add up rather quickly. And, again, you're back in the same situation: now you have a printer which is capable of more than you're going to use it for most of the time.

Moreover, as good as they are, no color laser printer will beat a dedicated photo-grade color inkjet system for photos. For that matter, even professionally-speaking, you have to go a heck of a way up in hardware (and cost) to equal the photo output of a photo inkjet system. Even some of your nicer color magazines don't print with results *quite* as nice.

The advantages of using ANY kind of laser printer, of course, are quantity of output and durability of output. In general, inkjet output will run or smear if it gets wet or you rub it with your fingers, where as fused toner will not.

[mips]

It's usually more economical to use a printing shop.

[neu5eeCh]

Yeah... all of your comments make me favor dumping the color inkjet printers. We just don't use them often enough to make maintaining the cartridges worth it. That settles it then. I'm going to give them away.

[MisterGaribaldi]

Well, you could craigslist them. At least you might get a few bucks for 'em.

[kurt18947]

I've had decent luck with this vendor though I've only been using them for a few months:

http://www.inkowl.com/index.php?C=10&S=25

I did buy some pre-filled refillables and had to run 'clean' more often than I should have. Bought empty cartridges and bought bulk refill ink from a local source and so far so good, haven't had to run 'clean' since. A reason I favor Brother is that their ink cartridges have no electronics built into them.

For really high quality durable photos I suspect a kiosk or dedicated photo processing setup would win over most home office machines.

[neu5eeCh]

I did buy some pre-filled refillables and had to run 'clean' more often than I should have. Bought empty cartridges and bought bulk refill ink from a local source and so far so good, haven't had to run 'clean' since. A reason I favor Brother is that their ink cartridges have no electronics built into them.

For really high quality durable photos I suspect a kiosk or dedicated photo processing setup would win over most home office machines.

Yeah, that's the thing with these printers. I was always having to "clean" them because I didn't use them enough. Every time I did I might as well have just poured the ink out of them - cost me money. I think these printers are only worth it if one uses them regularly.

Owning them, for me, was penny wise, but pound foolish. I tend to make "too smart for my own good" mistakes like that all the time. I put a plow on my truck 'cause I didn't want to pay somebody else to plow my drive. I'm a do it yourself'er, right? It took about four winters before the frame of my Toyot'er was completely rusted through. Totaled it. The money I spent on the truck, up to that point, could have paid for 10 winter's worth of plowing. :rolleyes:

You know, beat me over the head with a 2x4 often enough, and I'll eventually get it.

[neu5eeCh]

I forgot to mention (only semi-related): When my Brother laser printer runs out of ink, I often find it's cheaper to buy a new refurbished printer (from Staples) than an ink cartridge! I'm already on my fourth laser printer.

[mamamia88]

I mostly print to pdf nowadays anyway. Do you only print in color every once in awhile or all the time? If it's only occasionally the copy store will be cheaper