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Need B&W laser for document printing

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 10:55 pm
by derFunkenstein
I print a lot of sheet music. I need a new low-cost laser that can do decent enough B&W images. No need for a multi-function device, no need for color. Just needs to work well with a built-in print server on my router. The router is an ASUS RT-N56U. Windows sees it as a virtual USB port. Right now I have a Brother HL-2140 that I bought from Newegg in May of 2009. It's on its last legs, I feel (pretty great for a $65 printer; I went through 2 full toner carts and I'm running low on a third in that 3+ years) and I'm looking for a replacement.

My short list right now is a

Brother HL2240D - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6828113587 or HL2230 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6828113690

Dell B1160 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6828200188 which we have at work and it seems OK

Or I'm open to other suggestions.

Re: Need B&W laser for document printing

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:50 pm
by JohnC
derFunkenstein wrote:
I print a lot of sheet music. I need a new low-cost laser that can do decent enough B&W images. No need for a multi-function device, no need for color. Just needs to work well with a built-in print server on my router. The router is an ASUS RT-N56U. Windows sees it as a virtual USB port. Right now I have a Brother HL-2140 that I bought from Newegg in May of 2009. It's on its last legs, I feel (pretty great for a $65 printer; I went through 2 full toner carts and I'm running low on a third in that 3+ years) and I'm looking for a replacement.

My short list right now is a

Brother HL2240D - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6828113587 or HL2230 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6828113690

Dell B1160 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6828200188 which we have at work and it seems OK

Or I'm open to other suggestions.


Those Brother models are both good and what I would actually recommend. Since you don't print a lot of text and you probably don't need duplex ability you should probably get the cheapest HL2230 model. Just don't buy printers at Newegg - Amazon has them for cheaper price, for example HL2230 is like $78 directly from Amazon themselves:
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-Printer-H ... rds=hl2230 :wink:

Re: Need B&W laser for document printing

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:54 am
by derFunkenstein
Cool, thanks John. I so rarely think to look for computer stuff at Amazon...I buy everything else there, though! :lol:

Re: Need B&W laser for document printing

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 8:10 am
by TheEmrys
2nd for the Brother. The toner lasts forever on the toner-saver mode. I picked up one of those cheap toner cartidges on Slickdeals. Yeah, it was an extended one, but it was $15. That was 3 years ago. I bought a second toner to have on hand 2 years ago. I keep expecting it to run out, but it just keeps going. We are at ~3,000 pages printed on this toner, and I think they are rated for 2,500. I bought the little HL-2170w that everyone else got. Its a champ. I've run it USB, CAT5, and Wi-Fi. The ONLY niggle that has happened is that if you change its IP address, there is a special tool that you have to run. I went through a bought of moving the printer and puttting it on new drops. Just run the tool and go, though. But for a $80 printer and $15 in toner, I might be the happiest person ever regarding their printing needs.

Re: Need B&W laser for document printing

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:48 pm
by JohnC
derFunkenstein wrote:
I so rarely think to look for computer stuff at Amazon...I buy everything else there, though! :lol:

When I need to buy some kind of "computer stuff", Amazon is the first place I look at - most of the time I do find that stuff in stock at Amazon, with a lower (or similar) prices compared to other places, especially greedy Newegg :P
Also, if you buy everything else on Amazon - you may want to sign up for their "Rewards" Visa card (if you don't already have it). It's a standard Visa credit card, issued by Chase bank, which allows you to get "points" for each purchase at Amazon ($1 spent there = 3 points earned) and you can spend these "points" very easily for other purchases on Amazon (100 points convert to $1) or convert them into credit applied to your card. Pretty good deal if you shop a lot at Amazon.