<p>Can people please recommend reliable printers? I am deciding between an all-in-one printer or a laser printer. Please help me decide.</p>
<p>how much printing are you planning on doing?</p>
<p>I like all-in-one printers, because I tend to make copies and print photos a lot. It's more convenient and cheaper. A lot of people have the HP C4180, and I think it's a pretty nice one.</p>
<p>I have an HP LaserJet 1022 for most of my work. It's a black and white laser printer that's pretty fast, gets good toner life (5000 pages or so...the original cartridge has about 4300 on it right now and yes, I have a spare ready to go), and works on almost any recent computer (but you can't use Mac OS 9). The toner is $70 a pop, but do the math. An HP inkjet costs a lot more to maintain.</p>
<p>On my Mac OS 9 machine I use an older Canon printer, the i450 inkjet. It's sharp, reliable, and runs out of ink a lot. Thankfully the cartridges are pretty cheap (about $7). I don't use this a whole lot unless I'm printing master copies of worksheets from my old MacDraw II program.</p>
<p>I have an Epson Stylus Photo R200 for photos but rarely use it. I print very few photos. It is my primary color printer but I don't think I've printed anything on it since the summer.</p>
<p>My backup printers? An Apple ImageWriter II and an Apple StyleWriter. Both date back from the early 1990s and are good for my old Mac LC that's in storage now (as are the printers). The ImageWriter II is still good for banners since it uses fanfold paper. I printed a banner on an ImageWriter two years ago in fact.</p>
<p>well if you plan to print alot then you cant go wrong with a Laser, I have one for text documents. The good thing about laster printers is the text clarity compared to ink jets, The laser printer, just prints much clearer. The ink jets are more a all around printer that will do color and multimedia and such, which could be a plus. I wouldn't get a color laser as the colors tend not to be as vibrant and look rather dull. that accuracy i was talking about before, how the laser printer is much better for text, doesn't hold for pictures, you dont want accurate pictures as the colors wont blend.</p>
<p>The laser printer is much cheaper per printed page compared to a inkjet, hogh the hardware may be a little more expensive, you can expect 1500-5000 pages per toner depending on your model. as for brands I recommend Cannon or Samsung in terms of quality and reliability as well as top of the line technology.</p>
<p>if you think you want a all around printer, which way be better for college dorm use, then get a Inkjet, but go with Canon they make the best. Stay away from Lexmark and HP they are trash printers.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies. Please keep the printer models coming.</p>
<p>I am a current college student. I had an Epson C88 and felt it was okay. I usually print out my slides for classes and any other random things.</p>
<p>Is it worth it to have the all-in-one feature at the cost of having to replace ink cartridges often?</p>
<p>I have a Brother HL2040 laser printer. I haven't had it for long and don't use it much, but so far it's been good. I got it on sale dirt cheap for like $50 or $60 and it is regularly $110. I highly recommend going with the laser printer unless you will be doing scanning, copying or printing photos or anything else you may want in color. I second staying away from Lexmark printers I have had many bad experiences, but the HP Photo printer my parents have is a very nice upper end photo printer and seems to go pretty easy on ink when you are not printing in photo mode. The cheaper HP I got free is so so. It eats ink faster doest have great print quality or speed but It is much, much better than the Lexmarks I've used.</p>
<p>I wouldn't get a laser if you sleep in the same room as your printer. I believe the toner dust is carcinogenic. I could be wrong though... heh.</p>
<p>Is that a real concern if you keep your printer in the same room where you sleep and do all your work?</p>
<p>How often do you fellow college students make use of photocopying, scanning and color features?</p>
<p>I feel like laser makes sense for the money and convenience of not changing the ink, but ink jet has the neat features.</p>
<p>Further thoughts?</p>
<p>A laser is best if you also have a scanner. You can make copies that way without having the worries of an all in one.</p>
<p>HP is ok but their customer service...um is nonexistant. So when you buy an HP and you have any problems with it, expect to replace it. They won't help you and just waste your time.</p>
<p>Or you could just buy Canon which sells a better mode printer and has the best suport in the industry. Call them you speak to a white american whom is from Long island, NY. They will send you a new replacement printer overnight and pay shipping back. Hp will make you send it out wait 3 weeks and get it repaired and thy want you to pay for shipping</p>
<p>I have a 3 in 1. Mostly I just print my papers. No online notes and things.</p>
<p>I have HP inkjet and I installed my new black cartridge yesterday...and now half the ink is gone. I printed alot but not that much.</p>
<p>Go with the laser if you don't print pictures, sooo much cheaper and faster.</p>
<p>I have a 3 in 1, sooo nice. You never know when you might want to scan/copy something, and its so much easier when you have one right there. My roommate wishes she had one. I have a HP 4100 series, and its excellent. I've been using it since last September, frequently printing stuff (probably on average 3 pages a day) and the "demo" cartridges it came with are JUST running out. For 3 black and 1 color it was $54 at Costco, but obviously retailers like Target/Circuit City are going to be more expensive. Its nice to have everything together also, and it reads memory cards. Havent had any technical/mechanical problems either, and I know a bunch of other people who havent had issues either.
Go onto amazon.com and look around there, you can search by price and type of printers, and you can see customer/user reviews. Everything on there is pretty reliable, i've never bought anything that's been on Amazon with good reviews that I haven't liked 110%.</p>