Glc, what’s your opinion on the HP 1012 laser printer?

[LawyerRon]

G, I’m looking for an inexpensive little laser printer for home; have you any experience with the HP 1012? Staples has ‘em for $147 this week.

[morriswindgate]

Not GLC but if you have room why not just buy an older HP Laserjet 4+ or 4M+ off of E-Bay. Out standing old printers with crisp output. Expandable Ram that is cheap (9 bucks for 32MB). Cartridges are big, but cheap (3000 to 5000 pages for 26.99 to 30.00 for a refurb'ed one). And they are easy to fix should they breakdown.
Two years ago I bought one off of E-Bay for $129.99 and then sold it to a friend in the alarm business. He would go through one cartridge per week printing out fliers. After two years he is still doing this day after day and it has not glitched once. Before that he was using an HP all- in- one laser that died after 11 months of the same type of printing.
Only drawback is that they are big and ugly.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3465872403&category=51282

[LawyerRon]

Yeah morris, I've owned a 4m Plus and they were outstanding workhorses in their day. I need something a bit smaller though.

[morriswindgate]

By the way, did you get a copy of True Image?

[LawyerRon]

Sorry morris! Yes I did! I downloaded it from the link you posted. Great program. Thanks for the tip!

[glc]

I haven't used a 1012, but I have used a 1000, the previous model. It's a very nice little printer, but note 2 things: It's USB-only, and it's a "winprinter" like most inkjets, it uses the host computer to spool and process all print jobs. It would be perfect for your home use, especially at that price.

[LawyerRon]

OK, thanks g. I was also looking at the 1300 too, and a friend has that model and really likes it. But at $400, I wonder if it's worth $250 more. The larger paper tray is nice, and it's a bit faster. Decisions, decisions.

[glc]

The 1300 is a full grown printer - it has its own brains (it's not a host based printer) and can be hung off a print server with a parallel port. Well worth the extra dough in the long run, especially if you wait for it to go on sale somewhere.

[LawyerRon]

OK, thanks g.

[casey]

I have 2 1300's at work. Great printers.

[Panama Red]

FWIW - I just picked up a cheap laser printer last week. On sale at Best Buy. Samsung ML1710. Newegg had sold out at $130 the week before. Got mine for $180 with a $100 rebate (open box). It was marked down from $200 with the rebate. Nice unit for $80. Replacement toner cartridges go for around $60.

[glc]

Only problem I have with Samsung lasers is they are made by Brother - and when they break, they are essentially not repairable - and as I remember, they use separate toner, drum, and developer units.