[bobgagne]

Anyone know of a good color laser AIO out there that will not break my bank? This is for home use. Photo output is semi-important. What is important is that I can use all of it's features over my network.Any help would be appreciated.

[rgreen4]

Please explaine the abreviation AIO.I have had an HP CLJ2605dn for almost 7 months and it has been a learning experience. The printer has done well, but after having B&W lasers for years, I discovered that you can't plug a color laser into a UPS. The color lasers draw a lot more power on startup than a B&W. I started off with the color laser plugged into my APC1000 UPS and turned it on, it started fine, then I turned on all the computer equipment. I turned off the color laser and when I turned it back on it wouldn't start. It was only a few days old and I was upset. The first question the tech at HP asked me was were I had it plugged in.I moved the plug to the wall but still later had a problem until I moved the plug to another wall socket separate from all the computer equipment. All of the other computer equipment is a B&W laser, 2 dektop computers and 22" wide screen monitor. Not to mention all the small items such as speakers, router, and etc.If you are used to the large toner cartridges found in B&W laser, the color toner cartridges are much smaller. I direct my mono color printing to the B&W laser and the color to the color laser, both hooked to the router and both duplex. You can find the HP CLJ2600 at most computer and office supply stores, but the 2605dn (duplex, network) will probably have to come either from major internet supplier or direct from HP. It normally runs about $100 more than the 2600, but HP has a $125 instant rebate on the 2605. Newegg has the best price on the CLJ1600 (same cartridges, slightly slower, does not duplex or network) at $220. The 2600n is $280. HP has the best price on the 2605dn at $375.The 2605dn manual feed is not have a drop down tray like most B&W, but has a single manual feed slot. That is the only thing I have against it. When color printing envelopes you have to put them in the paper tray.

[bobgagne]

Those are all good prices. But what is the output like on yours? Especially color. Does it do photos? I can do some of my own investigating. You did say, however, that you hate the machine. Is it just the power draw? Or somethign lese?

[rgreen4]

I either misstyped or somehow miscommunicated. No, I love the printer. As always, when spending less than the national debt on computing devices, you have to make some compromises. I am not that pleased with the fact that I either have to change the paper in the main input tray or feed the special print items one at a time. If you are addressing one or two envelopes for example its not a bad deal. But I on occasion print 80-100 envelopes in color. I can put 15 at a time in the main tray or sit there and feed them one at a time. Of course I could have always spent $3-5 grand on a BIG color printer. All in all, I don't know if I could have found a better printer for my needs at twice the price. BTW I have found that I can watch the HP webside and get better prices from HP that local stores.I was just pointing out some cautions, is all. If I had it to do over again, I would buy the same printer. I wanted the networking and the duplexing. If you only have one machine you can connect it with a USB cable. I have 2 desktops and a laptiop. It is so nice to sit in the living room watching TV, working on the laptop and print to the printers in my front bedroom (AKA my office).

[rgreen4]

One additional point - no color laser will ever print photos as well as photo inkjets. They will do ok, but toner will never have the brilliance of ink.

[bobgagne]

AIO...= All In One...print, fax, scan, copyGuess I wasn;t cvlear. Those prices seemed low for an all in one printer.

[rgreen4]

Sorry - the ones I mentioned are stand alone color lasers. HP does have MFP (Multi Function Printers) that are based on color lasers ranging from $450 up. They are not as flexible as the ones based on inkjet technology as they are much larger. Where the stand alone Color Lasers may weigh as little as 40 pounds, the MFP versions are at least 60-70 pounds and do not duplex unless get into the top dollars. Their CM1015 and CM1017 are based on the CLJ2600 printer. The CM1017 networks, but neither will duplex (two sided printing). On the HP website the CM1015 is $450 and the CM1017 is $625 after instant rebates. I also have a stand alone scanner and you could add the G4010 scanner for $135 to any stand alone printer and get the same functionality. I copy all the time from my scanner straight to the printer (of course the computer does have to be on). The footprint is larger however.Another source is Newegg computer supply. I have found them to be quick and efficient in deliveries, their prices very rasonable. They also have ratings on products put in by their customers. You can also check out the HP website to see what other options there are.

[bobgagne]

Thank you for the info. I have a printer stnad, where now sits a huge Lexmark Oprta networked B&W laser. I don't mind a large device. I don;t, however, jhave room for a stand alone scanner and the printer. I can get some specs off the web. But do you happen to know if either of these can scan and fax over my network?

[rgreen4]

The CM1017 is network ready, but does not fax. The Color Laserjet 2840 All-In-One is both network ready and does faxes. The price of course goes up with each additonal item - $800. Whether it will fax over the network or not I don't know. Faxing typically goes over the phone line. I would suggest you go on the HP website, look at the printer and you can download the users guide and read through it and see if it will do what you want. That's one nice thing about the larger companies and the Internet. The operator/user manuals are on the website so you can reveiw before you buy. Be warned - the user manuals on these devices are extensive. The one for my color laser is 300 pages. I was glad I had a duplexing printer available when I printed it out. You can scan through it in Adobe reader on the screen, but after a while that gets tedious. Researching a few major points, however, can easily be done on screen.I guess faxing through the network also depends on whether you are generating the fax material on a pc or is it more like a typical fax, ie scan it and send it over the phone. Most of these will scan to e-mail which is taking over from fax. The CM1015 specificially mentions this feature but does not network, the CM1017 networks but does not mention scanning to e-mail.

[bobgagne]

Yes, faxing is done over the phone lines. What I need to know is if I can send an item from my PC, over the netowkr to the priinter/AIO to send as fax.Like I said, I will do my research!Thank you for all your input