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I have held off buying a color laser printer because I just can't get enough information on them. Web sites and B&M don’t have the information, samples, or specs that I need. I don’t think the manufacturers of the printers want to you how badly they work.
I don’t want speed, I want quality. Every B&M I’ve gone to it seems the reps do not have the time or the knowledge to waste on me when it comes to demonstrating the printers.
The customer service reps show me the pre-printed samples from the color laser printers that are always stunning photographs with lots of dark black/vivid color and to them that is all I need to make a decision. Or they hand me a single sheet of specifications that were preprinted about the printer. That is all the reps know. If I ask anymore questions they look at me skeptically like I’m a “hard sell”.
Ask the reps how reliable the printer is to run, how much does the consumables cost and how easy is it to replace the consumables? Does the printer make consistent, solids, graphics? You will find out that they don’t even know how to turn on the printer.
I probably know more than they do.
I know that photographs, graphics and test print differently on different printers. A printer can print great photos but when it comes down to graphics or text the printers can noticeably fall down on the job.
The Phasers laser printers use a translucent wax block to print with. While water-proof the wax cannot get any solvent like paint thinner near the print or the image will run. And I have heard horror stories of laminating or framing a Phaser’s print and having the wax bleed under the lamination/frame. Yuuuuch!
The resolution, detail, is important to me. Reps look at me with the thought, “What does that matter"? It matters a heck of a lot if I print small graphics that need to be seen, screened photos that won’t clog in the dark areas and highlights in the photo that won’t “blow out”. Don’t even get me started on the midtones of a print.
And one more specification that is very important to me; what weight of paper will go through the printer? I’d like a printer that can send 40 lb. card stock through the printer without mangling the paper or striping the print.
Again the customer service at the B&M cannot answer the paper weight question and tell me to look at the printed specs on the cheesy paper they give me. There is no answer to the question on the specs. Then the reps leave me to go find another customer that they can sell a software program to. Hey! Those reps are losing a $2,000+ sale! Don’t they care? If they help me…hey…I WANNA BUY!
Does anyone sell an off the shelf Dye-Sub printer that takes standard paper and an easy to buy ink supply? I knew Alps did years ago but I understand they do not sell in the US anymore.
I’m now using an ancient (1997) HP ColorJet 5 laser printer that I wouldn’t recommend. It is slow, the photos are lousy and it is noisy. It doesn’t take paper thicker than 24 lb. bond paper. It is bulky and weighs a back breaking 108 lbs.
But the graphics are good, the blacks are very dark, the printer puts a “matt finish” on the sheet so it doesn’t have the shiny laser look to the print. And the toner comes in easy to replace, cheap to buy, but messy, bottles.
So if anyone has any recommendations on a good color laser printer it would be appreciated. Quality information would be good!
Last edited by roostr; 06-22-2003 at 09:55 AM.
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