Laser printer most cost-effective way of printing 3000 pages?

Mr_Pink_3

Hello All,

I have something of a mammoth task ahead.

I have a series of PDF files that total circa 3000 pages that I need to print in black & white in order to have a hard copy as it's study material.

I currently have an inkjet printer, which is clearly not up to the job, and it seems that my best option is to buy a laser printer.

I'm aware that the cheaper entry level laser printers tend not to come with 100% full toner cartridges and also that as a general rule the cheaper the printer, the more expensive the consumables. I was tempted earlier to go for a cheap Brother laser but having read a little it appears that may be a false economy.

To that end, can anyone recommend a suitable laser printer for the job?

I look forward to hearing from those in the know with any ideas or suggestions.

TIA

peter_the_piper

Can't think why you think the Brother is NBG. Had one for 12 mth now, used up the original tank ful and refilled for about £15.00 (incl postage) So initial cost about £60.00 and one refil gives about 4000pages at about 1/2p per page. Tha cartridges can usually be refilled 3-4 times, more if your lucky. My inkjet now sits gathering dust.

Little_John

Other cheap to run printers are the Oki 14i/b4200 or what ever replaced them. the toner is about £12 the drum is about £90.

what ever you do dont send all 3000 pages at once, send them in 200-300 page chunks very few printers will hold enough paper and if somthing goes wrong during the print I know you will go and watch eastenders while it prints maybe a DVD rather than watch it print the document. I know companies that have tried it in the past and used a rainforest in the process having to reprint it.

ManAtHome

Even the cheap lasers are going to be much better than an inkjet for that sort of volume. You could probably pick up a Samsung laser plus branded toner for around £100, cheaper if you get a toner refill.

From Peter's comments, sounds like the Brother running costs are similar (and I'd expect HP to be around the same).

Little_John

The bigger the printer the cheaper they are to run.

HP tend to be slightly more expensive, you need to replace the drum everytime the toner runs out on most of them as they are a combined unit. making them about £40-120 each depending on the printer, you can refill them yourself untill the drum starts to fail but you need to create a hole in the drum to pour the toner it and re seal it.

Darksun

If you're likely to have just one task on this scale, you could look into a company that will print it for you, could work out cheaper. If you're likely to have lots to print though, a laser printer could be a good investment

Mr_Pink_3

Thanks all,

I went for the Brother in the end (and 6 reams of the cheapest copier paper I could find).

As for printing it all at once, the 3000 pages is made up of over 100 PDFs and I will print them out on an 'as and when' basis.

Cheers

payless

Not sure if their newer range is the same, but the brother I purchased had cheap toner, but as the drum was not part of the replacement toner , it needed replacement at some point and was not cheap
(so purchased a HP instead , as more unbranded carts / refills available)

Willxx

Too late for OP now but I've had a couple of older laser printers from ebay they only cost £20-30 each with toner. Each one I've had (2 x HP laserjet6, 1 x brother something or other) lasted 6-9 months, cheap enough for my use anyway.