I want to Buy a Laser Printer – What do I need to know – Looking for Advice .

[Custard boy]

I have to replace my old ink printer and thought about getting a new Laser printer / scanner , I have never owned a Laser printer . So I was wondering what I need to know about using and maintaining one . I don’t do much colour printing , mainly black ink document printing and scanning. 

 

Can any one please advise me on the following …....................

 

Are there any different types of Home Laser printer / scanner machines .

 

Are there any sort of cartridges or other items that I would need to regularly purchase to use a Laser printer. 

 

What sort of maintenance is necessary to keep the machine in good working order.

 

Can a Laser printer be used on computers using Mac / Linux operating systems.

 

Is a home WiFi connection necessary to use a Laser printer. 

 

Would I need to buy special printing paper for a Laser printer .

 

Any recommendations for a reasonably priced  home Laser printer / scanner  ( printing only black would be ok ) .

 

Any experiences , tips or other advice on the purchase / use of a Home Laser printer , most welcome.

 

.
 

[Woof999]

1.) Yes but they mostly do the same thing. Some might have colour. Some might have fax. Personally I always go with black only and no longer bother with fax.

 

2.) It will have a toner cartridge that will last anything from a few thousand to 10,000 pages plus. Easy to replace and usually less clunky than replacing inkjet cartridges.

 

3.) Virtually none.

 

4.) Yes

 

5.) No but most now have wireless operation which would mean at least one less cable, so yes for convenience.

 

6.) Absolutely no.

 

7.) Depends very much on your needs. I usually stick to Brother or HP and have had no issues. I use all the time and typically spend around 9000 baht but you can get much cheaper. Officemate is where I've bought my last ones but they are in Power Buy, invodeit.co.th and load of other places.

 

8.) Enjoy laser. So much easier than inkjet.

[Lite Beer]

I have this one. PRINTER (เครื่องพิมพ์ไร้สาย) BROTHER DCP-1610W LASER ALL-IN-ONE พร้อมหมึกแท้ Brother TN1000 | Lazada.co.th

Easy to use and set up. Printer/copier/scanner all in one.

Toner lasts for ages and cost 350 Baht to replace.

Does not get clogged up when not used for a while unlike an inkjet one.

Has WiFi so can use with my computer and Android phone.

[flyingtlger]

Do research on Google...

Do research on CNET....

Do research on Reddit...

You should be able to find all the answers you need to make a decision.

[digbeth]

The first toner that comes with the printer could be smaller capacity than standard ones, best get another spare if you'll be needing to print anything in volume that makes sense to buy a laser over inkjet 

 

it's always best to check the availability of toner for you printer before buying to see that you can reorder regularly, 

[Patong2]

7 minutes ago, Lite Beer said:

I have this one. PRINTER (เครื่องพิมพ์ไร้สาย) BROTHER DCP-1610W LASER ALL-IN-ONE พร้อมหมึกแท้ Brother TN1000 | Lazada.co.th

Easy to use and set up. Printer/copier/scanner all in one.

Toner lasts for ages and cost 350 Baht to replace.

Does not get clogged up when not used for a while unlike an inkjet one.

Has WiFi so can use with my computer and Android phone.

I have the Brother DCP-1510 and have had great results.

Around 6 years old no problems, away 2+ years and restarted as though it was yesterday.

Toner available on Lazada

Just use cheap 70gm paper available anywhere including supermarkets.

[stupidfarang]

Brother Laser printers are very good, cheap to buy, they get you on the toner (ink) when you need to buy a new one. Saying that I normally buy non-branded toners which cost around 300 bhat. Clean inside when replacing the toner cartridge for dust an powder from the toner. Apart from that they are normally trouble free and better than Ink printers

[spidermike007]

17 minutes ago, flyingtlger said:

Do research on Google...

Do research on CNET....

Do research on Reddit...

You should be able to find all the answers you need to make a decision.

Sorry, but researching printers is one of the most challenging things to study. I tried. Opinions are all over the map. Other things, fine. Not printers. 

[OneMoreFarang]

45 minutes ago, flyingtlger said:

Do research on Google...

Do research on CNET....

Do research on Reddit...

You should be able to find all the answers you need to make a decision.

Or just look at one or two YouTube videos to get an overview.

[OneMoreFarang]

Apart from many other things I think it's most important that you know printer companies make their money with very expensive ink and toner, not so much with the actual printers.

Whatever you (want to) buy, make sure you check first the prices of new ink or toner and for how many pages they are supposed to work. Or read a test where experts compared them already.

[ignis]

I have the Brother DCP-1510 and still great results after 6 + years.  

Always buy non-branded toners

Do not print very much maybe 5 pages a month, but use the scanner many times a week, [if you are scanning colour it scans/saves in colour]

 

It is good to have a printer at home for the odd print needed [live out in the sticks]  got sick and fed up the Inkjets {NOT cheap ones] clogging up all the time + worked out expensive as all the colour tanks replacement costs + the Inkjets appeared to be about 2 years before unusable before having to buy yet another new one...

 

The Brother DCP-1510 was the 1st and only Laser printer I have ever had, would never go back to Inkjets.

[ignis]

https://www.brother.co.th/en/products/all-printers/printers/dcp-1510

 

https://www.advice.co.th/product/laser-printer/brother/brother-laser-hl-1210w

[connda]

All I can say is that I ditched my inkjet years ago, bought a Laser printer, and I've never looked back.

I don't do a lot of printing so inkjets would dry and fail to work. 
There is no such problem with laser toners.  The tone cartridge I have now is at least 2 years old.  Overall they are cheaper to maintain and significantly more reliable.  The one thing that you need to learn to do is to clean the cartridge rollers.  It takes q-tips, alcohol, and a little patience.

Trust me - buy one and you'll never go back to inkjets.

[connda]

Check out the Brother HL-1110 Laser Printer (mono color).  You should be able to find one for under 1500 THB.

[connda]

23 minutes ago, ignis said:

https://www.brother.co.th/en/products/all-printers/printers/dcp-1510

 

https://www.advice.co.th/product/laser-printer/brother/brother-laser-hl-1210w

I may upgrade to this myself.  I like the scanner option. 

[Pouatchee]

Avoid FujiXerox. Don't be fooled by the brand. I owned 2 and both were duds. I should have changed brands after the first one failed. JUNK

[Robin]

I bought a cheapish HP laser/scanner at my local computer shop.  Had it 3 yrs now.  it is the first printer I have had in Thailand that can be relied on to print when I want it.  previous ink-jet printers lasted on rint session an the needed new toner cartridges.  

Similar experience in UK.

I do not miss colour printing.  If I want colour, I can use a local photograph shop.

I print on ordinary, cheap copier paper from Lotus.

 

[Daffy D]

Can you print color photos on photo paper with a laser?

 

I read somewhere that for proper color prints you still need a inkjet 

[ballpoint]

1 hour ago, Lite Beer said:

I have this one. PRINTER (เครื่องพิมพ์ไร้สาย) BROTHER DCP-1610W LASER ALL-IN-ONE พร้อมหมึกแท้ Brother TN1000 | Lazada.co.th

Easy to use and set up. Printer/copier/scanner all in one.

Toner lasts for ages and cost 350 Baht to replace.

Does not get clogged up when not used for a while unlike an inkjet one.

Has WiFi so can use with my computer and Android phone.

I bought a Brother DCP-L3551CDW from the same vendor a few years ago, with the same satisfaction.  I can leave it unused for a while and then fire it up and print right away, with none of that trying to clean the, or having to buy new, ink cartridges that all my previous inkjet printers required.  I too use the wifi to print from my PC, or direct from my Android phone, but it can also be used with a USB cable if that's the OP's preference.

[Woof999]

20 minutes ago, Daffy D said:

Can you print color photos on photo paper with a laser?

 

I read somewhere that for proper color prints you still need a inkjet 

No you can't and yes you do. If you only print photos occasionally then just go to the local shop. Much much cheaper in the long term.

 

Colour laser printers are ok for leaflets and presentation type stuff but pretty useless for photos, which is why I stick with black laser and the local shop for the very occasional (usually immigration) colour photo needs.

[ballpoint]

15 minutes ago, Daffy D said:

Can you print color photos on photo paper with a laser?

 

I read somewhere that for proper color prints you still need a inkjet 

Depends what you mean by "proper".  You will get perfectly reasonable photos from a laser jet, I have some A4 size ones of my family on my wall that look great.  There is also glossy paper available that laser jet toner will fuse to, though I've never bothered with that.  But, if you want professional quality, that stands up to microscopic analysis, then high quality inkjets are used.  Also bear in mind that, although large poster size photos will come from inkjet plotters, your home printer is only able to produce up to A4 size anyway.

[Crossy]

33 minutes ago, Daffy D said:

Can you print color photos on photo paper with a laser?

I read somewhere that for proper color prints you still need a inkjet 

 

Assuming you have a colour laser of course.

 

Using the laser-photo paper the quality is as good as inkjet to most eyes.

 

Of course, you will get "better" quality in the larger sizes if you go to professional photo-finishers but for most of us ...

[degrub]

 Be aware of the cost of toner carts for colour laser printers- roughly 4x single black cart as there is a Cyan, Magenta, Yellow to add to the black cart.  

 

The printed picture is ok but not nearly as good as a decent inkjet with the special coated inkjet paper. Colour laser printing does well for graphics rather than photographs.

if you only want to print the occasional colour photograph prints, you may be better off going to a print shop with a usb stick.  If you plan to do brochures and other colour graphics, then look at the HP Color Laserjet 255dw is a modest priced printer. A set of replacement high capacity toner cartridges will cast the same or more than the original printer. 
 

Be aware that the # of pages printed that are quoted  by the manufacturers is a specific set of test pages with limited colour coverage. Take the # of pages and divide by 2 if you print the occasional photos mixed with colour documents.

 

[degrub]

Also, never use inkjet paper in a laser printer. The coating on the paper will come off and ruin the transfer drum surface due to the heat from the fuser. 
Copier paper or laser printer paper is what is specified.

[Daffy D]

Ahaaaa!!   Conflicting replies 

 

Two for color printing and one against 

 

My main printing is for Immigration and copies of family ID and house book and things like that. 

 

To ensure the inkjet gets regular use and prevent drying out and having clogging problems all the document printing is done in clolor on normal A4 paper.

 

Proper photos, as in photos to keep I print on glossy photo paper using the printer appropriate setting, mostly 6x4 but sometimes can be up to A4, and they look like proper photos as you would get from shop printing.

 

    

[degrub]

Look for reviews of colour laser printer photo prints with examples. When i looked a few years back,  HP made nicer images than Brother, but that could have changed as it has been 5-6 years.

[degrub]

4 minutes ago, Daffy D said:

Ahaaaa!!   Conflicting replies 

 

Two for color printing and one against 

 

 

   Eh ?

Colour laser printing is just an expensive hobby. If the cost is ok, then go for it. Image quality won’t be the same as a decent photo inkjet, but if you stand far enough away, it may be good enough .

 

[Roger That]

Just wanted to add another recommendation for Brother here. Good experiences with them.

[aidenai]

I bought a Brother Hl-1210W 7 years ago.

 

22,471 prints, 19 toner cartridges and 3 drum units later, everything is still working without any problems.

[recom273]

On 1/17/2023 at 7:49 PM, aidenai said:

I bought a Brother Hl-1210W 7 years ago.

 

22,471 prints, 19 toner cartridges and 3 drum units later, everything is still working without any problems.

Yes, me too .. I have black marks on prints, I think I need to change the drum, right?

 

Apart from that, they are awesome, I wonder why I stuck with inkjets for so long. Always clogging, tanks always need bleeding.