Printer suggestions

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So my wife and I are looking to replace our color inkjet printer. We don't print color that often (maybe once a month) and it seems like we waste so much money on ink as the cartridges dry out while still mostly full. We're thinking of replacing it with a color laser printer. We have a brother 2240 b&w only laser that works great. Hoping that a laser color would be cheaper in the long run as long as color toner lasts idle periods like black toner does.

Features we would need:
-Ethernet or wireless interface for network printing.
-reasonable toner cost

Features we would like but aren't a deal breaker:
-automatic duplex
-multifunction (scanner)

 

[Tgard]

I also got tired of replacing printers that were ruined when the ink dried up and damaged the cartridge or heads, and also the ink cost and waste of purging the heads when I didn't print for a while. After several inkjets over the years I finally pulled the trigger on this color laser. I already have and have used a decent monochrome HP laser for regular text printing that has lasted me for years and is very cost effective.

I don't know if this will work for you, but it has worked out well for us the last 9 months. I have only printed about 12 pages so far as I don't even need color printing every month.
It is listed as $159-$169 based on where you shop, but I would wait for it to drop in price on a sale. It goes down to $99 a couple times a year or it has the last couple years. The replacement cartridges cost more than the printer on sale but I haven't needed them yet and as I print color so rarely. The prints I have made have looked great. My wife thinks it looks like photo quality on plain paper. Haven't replaced the starter cartridges yet, but by weight they seemed like they had quite a bit of ink to start with when I installed them.

I may look at alternate generic cartridges or a refill kit or something. I could just wait until the printer is on sale again and buy it for $99 as the starter cartridges seem to be enough for my needs.But that is some time away, no more than I print. Check it out and see if it may work for you also.

SAMSUNG Xpress C410W SL-C410WXAA Color Printer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...C410WXAA_Color_Printer-_-28-112-476-_-Product

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DOV194S/?tag=extension-kb-20

 

[leSLIe]

Xerox 6500V_N Color laser, has pretty good color quality (Almost photo realistic IMHO) toner is a little expensive though, but since you don't print color that often, no problem

Also, Dell has good laser printers too

Regarding the Net connectivity, it's easier to get an adapter that hooks the printer to the network switch, like a Print Server adapter

 

[cyclone3d]

Xerox 6500V_N Color laser, has pretty good color quality (Almost photo realistic IMHO) toner is a little expensive though, but since you don't print color that often, no problem

Also, Dell has good laser printers too

Regarding the Net connectivity, it's easier to get an adapter that hooks the printer to the network switch, like a Print Server adapter

From personal experience, the Xerox 6600 series is leaps and bounds ahead of the 6500 series in regards to reliability.

We have a could 6500s and a couple 6600s where I work, and the 6500s have had to be repaired multiple times, while the 6600s have never given us a single problem.

The 6600s also seem to stay aligned colorwise a lot better than the 6500s.

edit: If you get a printer, make sure to get one with a built in network card. Otherwise you are stuck with using an add-on that may or may not work just as well as the built in one. For one, the printer software itself will generally not be able to see the printer if you use a 3rd party print server. So, while you will be able to print, the software will not be able to report the life of consumables in the printer. If you have a printer that has a scanner as well, using the 3rd party print server will probably not allow you to use the software on the computer to initiate a scan.