Laser Printer - color? duplex? copier?

[MandJsMama]

I need to buy a laser printer to print all of these PDFs! We currently have a color ink jet that is also a copier. I would really like to find a way to have only one printer.

 

I can probably afford one extra feature on the laser printer, in addition to it being wireless (that's a necessary). Should it be a color laser printer, which means more expensive refills? But, if it was color, than my daughter could print on it all of the stuff she prints from PBS and American Girls that is in color.

 

Or, should it be able to print double-sided to save paper?

 

Or, should it have a copier feature?

 

If it printed in color AND had a copier feature, that would eliminate the need for our current inkjet. But that combo seems hard to find and expensive.

 

Thoughts? Favorite brands? Things you wish you had? Things you had that you don't use?

[NittanyJen]

You didn't really say what your budget is. Here is one do-it-all printer that looks expensive up front, but will save money over time, because the per-page printing cost is insanely small (I get under 2 cents per page).

 

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-MFC-9970CDW-Wireless-Networking-Duplex/dp/B004GXAY9E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335389686&sr=8-1

 

You can do even better on printing costs if you are brave enough to refill cartridges yourself, use fastdraft mode, duplex your printing and copying, etc. i love the standalone fax machine. I don't fax often, but when we need to (homeschool registration forms to the state each year, etc) it is nice to not have to locate a machine in town somewhere and pay a fee for it, or make my husband do it at work (one of those "everybody does it" against the rules things).

 

But I get that it may be more than you were planning to spend. In general, I can recommend the Brother line as low cost printing and reliable equipment.

[jennsmile]

I have the cheapest duplex printer I could find. It also has a fax machine and copier. I would only consider upgrading if it meant I get color. Overall I can do most things on my printer. Yes color would be nice but I just wanted an awesome printer.

 

My is an Canon imageclass that was discontinued. But search amazon for the brand.

 

PS I buy cheap generic cartridges and while they aren't perfect the get the job done. I don't care if there is a line down the side of my printed workbooks. YMMV

[TexasRachel]

This is mine. It's wireless and duplex. But I can't buy cheap cartridges. The printer doesn't sense them correctly and it won't tell me when the toner is going out. So I pay $45 instead of $35 for the name brand toner. I bought mine April of last year and am now on my second high yield cartridge. I rarely print on our color inkjet now. I love having one.

[Forget-Me-Not]

:bigear: I'm looking for a color laser that scans/copies and duplex prints as well.

[MandJsMama]

Thanks!! I keep looking at the one that TexasRachel posted but I think I would really like one more feature - like color or making copies. I think making copies would probably be a more practical feature. It would be awesome to just get rid of the inkjet but my dd really likes printing in color. But I really hate replacing those expensive cartridges!!

 

I'll keep looking...

[LifeLovePassion]

Did you ever end up with one? :)

[Halftime Hope]

This is mine. It's wireless and duplex. But I can't buy cheap cartridges. The printer doesn't sense them correctly and it won't tell me when the toner is going out. So I pay $45 instead of $35 for the name brand toner. I bought mine April of last year and am now on my second high yield cartridge. I rarely print on our color inkjet now. I love having one.

 

Best buy has these for $99 this week. We need to replace our Brother that has lasted for about 4 years. Prior to that we had and HP that lived a very long life. (I'm happy with the Brother's preformance, and I duplex a lot.)