economical laser printer

melmoth · 07-07-2008, 01:29 AM

Hi,
can anyone recommend a reliable and economical laser printer - I'm going to be regularly printing 100 pages and I'm sick of the expense of inkjet cartridges. Also can anyone suggest a good toner refill company?
thanks
Brendan

yisgood · 07-08-2008, 10:39 AM

Almost all laser printers come with a starter cartridge which is only half full. I buy cheap laser printers ($50 or less after rebate) and consider them disposable. I bought a low end Samsung and it could not be refilled. I bought an HP 1018. It could be refilled but you have to drill a hole in the toner cartridge (I melted it with a soldiering iron). I bought a Brother HL2040 which was easily refilled but the refill didnt work. Then I found North Bay Toner (read this for my experience with them http://ccs-digital.com/northbay.html ) and they explained that I needed a $4 reset gear. After that I was able to refill the Brother for $5 (3500 pages). The printer only cost $50 after rebate. Now that's economy.

melmoth · 07-09-2008, 12:00 AM

Thanks a lot,
I'm a bit worried by the thought of drilling holes and reset gear - is it a simple operation?
cheers

yisgood · 07-10-2008, 06:09 AM

For the Brother, you have to plug a small plastic gear where it is missing. It's a fairly simple task and comes with instructions and photos. My teenager did it. Drilling the hole is a little more annoying but not terribly complicated. We used a soldiering iron to melt it then after filling the cartridge, we taped over it with duct tape. It's working fine. The only suggestion I have is the photo shows making the hole in the center of the cartridge. We actually made it on one side because it made it easier to tilt the cartridge vertically so the toner would pour down to the bottom.

**sobeit** · 07-10-2008, 06:57 AM

check out konica minolta. They have pretty good cheap laser printers. I have an older model magicolor 2430dl and never had any major problems. Unless you want to count the network feature that does not work with vista64. Still have the original cartridges inistalled also.

07-07-2008, 01:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
melmoth Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: WIN XP	economical laser printer Hi, can anyone recommend a reliable and economical laser printer - I'm going to be regularly printing 100 pages and I'm sick of the expense of inkjet cartridges. Also can anyone suggest a good toner refill company? thanks Brendan

07-08-2008, 10:39 AM	#2 (permalink)
yisgood Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 13 OS: xp sp2	Re: economical laser printer Almost all laser printers come with a starter cartridge which is only half full. I buy cheap laser printers ($50 or less after rebate) and consider them disposable. I bought a low end Samsung and it could not be refilled. I bought an HP 1018. It could be refilled but you have to drill a hole in the toner cartridge (I melted it with a soldiering iron). I bought a Brother HL2040 which was easily refilled but the refill didnt work. Then I found North Bay Toner (read this for my experience with them http://ccs-digital.com/northbay.html ) and they explained that I needed a $4 reset gear. After that I was able to refill the Brother for $5 (3500 pages). The printer only cost $50 after rebate. Now that's economy.

07-09-2008, 12:00 AM	#3 (permalink)
melmoth Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: WIN XP	Re: economical laser printer Thanks a lot, I'm a bit worried by the thought of drilling holes and reset gear - is it a simple operation? cheers

07-10-2008, 06:09 AM	#4 (permalink)
yisgood Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 13 OS: xp sp2	Re: economical laser printer For the Brother, you have to plug a small plastic gear where it is missing. It's a fairly simple task and comes with instructions and photos. My teenager did it. Drilling the hole is a little more annoying but not terribly complicated. We used a soldiering iron to melt it then after filling the cartridge, we taped over it with duct tape. It's working fine. The only suggestion I have is the photo shows making the hole in the center of the cartridge. We actually made it on one side because it made it easier to tilt the cartridge vertically so the toner would pour down to the bottom.

07-10-2008, 06:57 AM	#5 (permalink)
sobeit Mentor Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: NEAR Posts: 4,670 OS: windows/linux	Re: economical laser printer check out konica minolta. They have pretty good cheap laser printers. I have an older model magicolor 2430dl and never had any major problems. Unless you want to count the network feature that does not work with vista64. Still have the original cartridges inistalled also. __________________ Do not feed the trolls. Last edited by sobeit : 07-10-2008 at 06:58 AM.