Any HP printer experts in the house?

SteveRobinson

My Color(sic) LaserJet 1515n is getting long in the tooth and I thought I might buy a new one.

New LaserJets are cheap (loss leaders) but the cartridges are twice the price. Is there some new technology that means they last twice as long or is HP just gouging as usual?

vasselmeyer

Disclaimer...I consider myself an HP printer expert as I've worked for HP in the LAserJet printing organisation for the last 20 years. However, I generally deal with very high end printers and Enterprise networks solutions, not the home user printers but the toner cost per page calculations are somewhat similar.

Since the LaserJet 1515, new toner has been introduced across almost the whole range with a new composition and a lower melting point which means there can be more toner inside the cartridge and it takes less energy to melt it. Generally, this means a lower cost per page from older generations.

If you want to compare the toner cost per page (most companies don't include the energy costs) you need to look at manufacturers who quote cost per page/toner yield in accordance with ISO19752 for mono and ISO 19798 for colour which are the agreed world standard A4 pages for comparing yields. HP quotes against these. If another manufacturer quotes a cost per page/yield but doesn't quote these standards, you should ask yourself why they're not using them.

I'm not sure what your monthly page count is, but if you are going to get a new one, take into account the number of pages, the energy costs, the purchase costs and the page yield to work out whether it's actually cost-effective to get a new one.

Nitefly

Don't know about HP, but we bought a Samsung colour laser about 3 years ago for less than £200, and a full set of compatible cartridges from PrinterInks was £140.

It doesn't get used much these days.

fandango

SteveRobinson said:

My Color(sic) LaserJet 1515n is getting long in the tooth and I thought I might buy a new one.

New LaserJets are cheap (loss leaders) but the cartridges are twice the price. Is there some new technology that means they last twice as long or is HP just gouging as usual?

Don't all printer manufacturers - Brother, Epson, Samsung, Canon, Lexmark, etc etc - typically gouge the consumer as a matter of coursel? Not just HP.

exocet

The toner cartridges should state the yield based at 5% coverage so you should be able to see whether the newer printer is more expensive on a per page basis compared to old. Ink based printing is replacing toner in many applications now....the difference is that the ink tanks are larger which also lowers the cost per page. The issue with home / consumer printing is that usage is low meaning that things can dry / coagulate up before fully used. That’s one of the reasons why consumer printers have traditionally had smaller ink / toner carts and been typically more expensive to run than a business grade product.

vasselmeyer

Nitefly said:

Don't know about HP, but we bought a Samsung colour laser about 3 years ago for less than £200, and a full set of compatible cartridges from PrinterInks was £140.

It doesn't get used much these days.

Samsung's print business is now owned by HP.

Nitefly

vasselmeyer said:

Nitefly said:

Don't know about HP, but we bought a Samsung colour laser about 3 years ago for less than £200, and a full set of compatible cartridges from PrinterInks was £140.

It doesn't get used much these days.

Samsung's print business is now owned by HP.

I didn't know that, @vasselmeyer ; - not surprised, mind you, I don't think it was core business for them.

SteveRobinson

Thanks @vasselmeyer that's very useful. It looks like the yeild is 70% more with the new technology which evens things up a bit.

The old one does get hammered, probably about 600 pages a month or thereabouts. I've replaced the pickup and separation rollers a couple of times but it still has the odd jam. I think I'll take the plunge with a new printer. 

Danny1969

A good workhorse that's cheap to run is the Epson WF-2630 which cost about £40 and you can buy great compatible cartridges for £3 each ...... we sell them in the PC shop I do the repairs for.

I've got the WF-2630 and no problems after 2 years doing around 100 pages a month. I use the £3 cartridges from the shop and they work fine 

SteveRobinson

I can't be doing with an inkjet, as I said output is about 600 ppm

SteveRobinson

I went for a HP M479fnw and so far I'm delighted.

It's much faster than the old one and scans so I now have extra desk space.

ThePrettyDamned

I use the monthly payment thing. I pay 1.99 per month and get 50 pages to print. They send ink to me when it's running low.

I print a lot of photos so get my money worth. I will obviously it's just dye ink so not gallery quality, but nice for albums 2 quid a month doesn't hurt. 

My new Canon printer has two black carts, I think 2 greys and another 4 or 5 colours and they are pigment... That costs a few bob to refill, let alone replace! 

strumjoughlamps

ThePrettyDamned said:

I use the monthly payment thing. I pay 1.99 per month and get 50 pages to print. They send ink to me when it's running low.

Yep, this service works well in my household