who knows anything about color laser jets?

[GlassJaw]

I'd like to get a color laser jet for printing photos, pdf's, maps, etc. I don't need anything insanely fast. I know prices have been coming down but I'd consider spending $500 (give or take) for a decent one.

I've had good luck with HP printers in the past and I've checked them out a bit. Is anyone up on laser printers and what I should be looking for in the that price range? Thanks!

 

[Boss]

HP 2600N - can't go wrong. I got one for Christmas last year and it has run like a champ. The printouts have been great and extremely crisp. You are looking at approx. $400 for the printer.

The main downside I have found is that, like all other color laserjets, it requires 4 toner cartridges, each at approx. $100 in cost to replace. You can buy a new printer for about the same price as replacing all of the cartridges at the same time. Of course, you shouldn't need to replace all of them at once.

 

[GlassJaw]

Cool, I was actually looking at that one. Newegg has it for $299 with free shipping. I might jump on it for that price.

 

[Steel_Wind]

There was a recent review on color lasers on Tom's Hardware Guide.

The link is here:

 

[andargor]

I own a Lexmark C510 which I got cheap (~CDN$500). I like it, however it's quite large and noisy when in operation. It basically looks like an office color laser.

The print quality is very good, and it does transparencies (which we have used for some gaming sessions).

 

[GlassJaw]

There was a recent review on color lasers on Tom's Hardware Guide.

The link is here:

Cool, that helps. Even though they say the 2600 is most costly per page, I definitely fall into the category that needs both black & white and color printing but nothing that would constitute heavy usage.

Plus, the price difference between the 2600 and the next step up is pretty significant.

 

[Oscaron]

Not that it is likely to be a problem for you, but just as an FYI, anyone buying laser printers might want to be aware of the following:

http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers

You may never be temped to commit counterfeiting, but you never know when you may be tempted to express yourself politically, etc, you may be in for a surprise.

Osc