laser printer buying advice

[whitak24]

i'm looking at getting a laser printer.

i won't be using it too heavily, so i think that a personal/home office machine should work fine. however, i need excellent print quality.

i'm looking at possibly the brother hl-1440 ($300) or hl-1850 ($500); the HP 1000 ($250), 1200SE ($400), and 1200N ($600), or the lexmark E320 ($300).

the main difference in these models is the amount of RAM and the speed (although that's fairly marginal). also, some of the higher-end models are network-ready, but that's not really an issue for me.

what's your opinions re: Quality/reliability for the HPs vs. the Brothers and Lexmarks. also, how does the quality of low-end HPs compare to the Business-series HPs (i have used HP II, III, and 4 series printers that have lasted for YEARS and so much abuse that it's not funny. but i'm afraid the consumer models may be crappy).

any other advice or suggestions is, as always, welcome :)

[ribitch]

for B&W printing, the hp's are great. we use 1100xi, 1200, 2100dn, and 2200dn. We used to use the II/III/4/5/6 series and had very few problems. I would definitely go hp

[spigidygak]

Check out the samsung ML 1210 and ML 1430, real winners. They probably are on par or outperform the printers you mentioned for under $200. Probably one of the better personal lasers out currently.

[bachviet]

Originally posted by spigidygak
Check out the samsung ML 1210 and ML 1430, real winners. They probably are on par or outperform the printers you mentioned for under $200. Probably one of the better personal lasers out currently.
Samsung ML1210 gets my vote. The newer version comes out but I don't remember the model (ML1250???). The newer version of ML1430 is ML1440. I have the ML1210 clone with less memory (2MB vs. 8MB), Lexmark E210, and it works great!

[NuTs62]

if you're willing to spend upwards of $700.. You can also pick up the Minolta Magicolor 2200 color laser printer. I don't know what the quality is like, just yet. Apex has it. I ordered it, and it should be arriving shortly. If you get it today @ Dell, theres the 20% off, and $200 MIR.

I recently helped my friend order the Samsung 1430 Laser Printer. She loves it! When she's printing stuff out on it, she points out that she's printing on her "NEW Laser Printer". :shrug: I picked that one up through Amazon.