Best Law School Printer for 2010? Forum

[jp0094]

i've printed everything at school... have yet to find a need for a printer.

[sibley]

i've printed everything at school... have yet to find a need for a printer.

I'm going to be living a block from my school and always printed at the library in undergrad, but I'm still going to get a laser printer. Having to go somewhere to print something sucks, especially when it takes all your motivation to do the work in the first place. Trekking for printing = unneeded stress. I'm all about optimizing time and effort these days.

[jp0094]

i've printed everything at school... have yet to find a need for a printer.

I'm going to be living a block from my school and always printed at the library in undergrad, but I'm still going to get a laser printer. Having to go somewhere to print something sucks, especially when it takes all your motivation to do the work in the first place. Trekking for printing = unneeded stress. I'm all about optimizing time and effort these days.

Most everything you have to turn in in law school will be turned in ... at law school. Printers are at the law school, therefore, print at the law school.

[LawSchoolWannaBe]

i've printed everything at school... have yet to find a need for a printer.

I'm going to be living a block from my school and always printed at the library in undergrad, but I'm still going to get a laser printer. Having to go somewhere to print something sucks, especially when it takes all your motivation to do the work in the first place. Trekking for printing = unneeded stress. I'm all about optimizing time and effort these days.

Most everything you have to turn in in law school will be turned in ... at law school. Printers are at the law school, therefore, print at the law school.

What if you're needing to print something that you won't be turning in? I print versions of my outlines 2-3 times. It would be annoying to have to go to the law school (a few hundred yards away from my residence) just to print them.

[03121202698008]

i've printed everything at school... have yet to find a need for a printer.

I'm going to be living a block from my school and always printed at the library in undergrad, but I'm still going to get a laser printer. Having to go somewhere to print something sucks, especially when it takes all your motivation to do the work in the first place. Trekking for printing = unneeded stress. I'm all about optimizing time and effort these days.

Most everything you have to turn in in law school will be turned in ... at law school. Printers are at the law school, therefore, print at the law school.

What about resumes and cover letters?

[jp0094]

i've printed everything at school... have yet to find a need for a printer.

I'm going to be living a block from my school and always printed at the library in undergrad, but I'm still going to get a laser printer. Having to go somewhere to print something sucks, especially when it takes all your motivation to do the work in the first place. Trekking for printing = unneeded stress. I'm all about optimizing time and effort these days.

Most everything you have to turn in in law school will be turned in ... at law school. Printers are at the law school, therefore, print at the law school.

What if you're needing to print something that you won't be turning in? I print versions of my outlines 2-3 times. It would be annoying to have to go to the law school (a few hundred yards away from my residence) just to print them.

You can print the outlines out at school. Unless you finish that outline at home and immediately need it THAT instant.

i've printed everything at school... have yet to find a need for a printer.

I'm going to be living a block from my school and always printed at the library in undergrad, but I'm still going to get a laser printer. Having to go somewhere to print something sucks, especially when it takes all your motivation to do the work in the first place. Trekking for printing = unneeded stress. I'm all about optimizing time and effort these days.

Most everything you have to turn in in law school will be turned in ... at law school. Printers are at the law school, therefore, print at the law school.

What about resumes and cover letters?

I've printed all resumes and CLs out at school. Often employment apps are sent online anyway.

[sibley]

Yeah, you're not going to convince me it's a good idea not to have a printer. $90 for a laser printer is worth it to me. Like the wannabe suggested, I'm planning on needing it for my outlines. I also don't want to have to leave my apartment 10 minutes earlier than normal and rush to print out a page before class.

[im_blue]

There's no reason not to have a personal laser printer for fast, cheap printing. You can pick one up for as low as $50, and while toner cartridges are expensive, you can usually refill them a few times for $5-$10 each.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-TechBargains&cm_mmc=AFC-TechBargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16828112195

[v. dentata]

Re: the law school vs. home printing issue, for me, much of my work won't be done at the law school because I am a late night-er.

Also, I've heard some bad things about HPs. But you have all been happy with yours? I know I have an HP Deskjet from 2000 that works well still, so maybe it's just preference.

[catharsis]

i do most of my studying at home so i decided to invest in a printer. after researching and reading many reviews i picked this up from Best Buy a couple of weeks ago for a really great price when it was on sale.

Brother 2170w Laser Printer

[Duralex]

I tend to work at home quite a bit, and have other reasons for needing a high speed laser.

I suggest the LaserJet 4200 DTN. (You don't need the extra tray, which is the 'T' in the 'DTN' but you almost never see DN models.) This was the last widely adopted model in the great line of LaserJet4 (which became 4000) series printers and one that you'll see still in daily service in offices and school labs everywhere.

It's 1200dpi, has a network card (wired), and a duplexer (two sided printing, booklet printing, etc.)

They are between $130 and $200 refurbed--the trick is finding a seller (eBay or otherwise) with low or free shipping.

The Brother mentioned is a good choice for lighter use, but the 4200 is the kind of machine you'll find in the labs being beat up by everyone. It's a workhorse, and I've been snapping them up as the price of the refurbed models drops and newer models leave me unimpressed.

Note that this is also a somewhat large printer (especially with two trays) so keep that in mind.

Also, the toner is not cheap. However, I rarely change mine more than once or twice a year.

Manufacturer Part #
Q2428A
Print Technology
REt, 12,000-page Ultraprecise print cartridge
Processor
300 MHz
Print Speed
35 ppm
First Page Out
< 9 seconds
Resolution
1200 x 1200 dpi
Ports
IEEE 1284-compliant parallel interface port
Fast Ethernet 10/100Base-TX port
1 open EIO slot
1,100 Sheet Input Capacity consists of 3 Trays:
Tray 1: Multipurpose tray - 100 Sheets
Tray 2: 500-Sheets tray
Tray 3: 500-Sheets tray

Auto-Duplexer (duplex printing accessory) letter, legal, A4, Executive, B5 (JIS) and A5

Monthly Duty Cycle
150,000 Sheets

Power Consumption
Printing: 580 watts (35 ppm)
Standby: < 27 watts
PowerSave: < 25 watts
(ENERGY STAR compliant)

Unit Dimensions
19.2" x 16.2" x 20.5"
Weight
66 lb

The only thing tougher than a LJ4200 is an old LJ4 -- these fall off of trucks and keep printing.
(Have a couple of those that are still chugging along too.)

[calicocat]

This thread reminded me that I need a printer...it was at least useful in that way.

[Duralex]

I got a corporate class color laserjet off craigslist for less than $200. Lots of business are shutting down...check around. I'd recommend laser over inkjet. When it comes time for resumes, it will look way more professional.

LOL toner cost

~$300 for a full set of CMYK carts, and they don't last that long.

I have one and I like it, but ouch.

[03121202698008]

I got a corporate class color laserjet off craigslist for less than $200. Lots of business are shutting down...check around. I'd recommend laser over inkjet. When it comes time for resumes, it will look way more professional.

LOL toner cost

~$300 for a full set of CMYK carts, and they don't last that long.

I have one and I like it, but ouch.

Mine are good for 3,000 pages and they threw an extra set of color/black in when I picked it up. 6 months later and the first set is still at 98%.

[Duralex]

That was a nice deal on the extra set. I got nothing w/mine. I agree that they last, but still--ouch.

That got me where I need to be w/my home setup, though: I never have to go to PopCopy again.



(Well, unless I need velobinding or something like that.)

[zeth006]

I got a corporate class color laserjet off craigslist for less than $200. Lots of business are shutting down...check around. I'd recommend laser over inkjet. When it comes time for resumes, it will look way more professional.

True, but you can't just get a printer for resumes. Just print resumes at the library and save money on printing class documents by going inkjet the rest of the time.

inkjets are NOT a better bang for buck. the whole idea is they're cheaper on a smaller scale. but if you only have to replace your toner once a year, versus your ink 4 times a year... a $60 toner is clearly a better deal than a $30 ink cartridge. especially considering ink dries up and clogs.

Not if you buy refill kits for pennies on eBay and keep refilling your stock cartridge for a year and a half like I did. My bro and I used two boxes of paper and ended up spending no more than maybe $30-40 total on refill kits for every singe page printed. You really can't beat that.

Sorry, but in 2010, the printer companies are laughing all the way to the bank. They've found they can sell printers at a loss and still make money from selling their cartridges at a high mark-up.


EDIT: Ok...is it just me or am I the only one who actually used to refill his cartridges? Has everyone here really been buying replacements for $20 at Staples for their inkjets?!

[03121202698008]

I got a corporate class color laserjet off craigslist for less than $200. Lots of business are shutting down...check around. I'd recommend laser over inkjet. When it comes time for resumes, it will look way more professional.

True, but you can't just get a printer for resumes. Just print resumes at the library and save money on printing class documents by going inkjet the rest of the time.

inkjets are NOT a better bang for buck. the whole idea is they're cheaper on a smaller scale. but if you only have to replace your toner once a year, versus your ink 4 times a year... a $60 toner is clearly a better deal than a $30 ink cartridge. especially considering ink dries up and clogs.

Not if you buy refill kits for pennies on eBay and keep refilling your stock cartridge for a year and a half like I did. My bro and I used two boxes of paper and ended up spending no more than maybe $30-40 total on refill kits for every singe page printed. You really can't beat that.

Sorry, but in 2010, the printer companies are laughing all the way to the bank. They've found they can sell printers at a loss and still make money from selling their cartridges at a high mark-up.


EDIT: Ok...is it just me or am I the only one who actually used to refill his cartridges? Has everyone here really been buying replacements for $20 at Staples for their inkjets?!

I used to refill mine. Many newer printers have a chip so the cartridge won't print past so many pages whether it is full or not. Also, in an inkjet the head is in the cartridge itself so they can only be filled so many times. I went through this with my brother (for my mom's business). We ran an inkjet for ~3 months and a laser for ~3 months. The laser was way cheaper even with ultra-cheap inkjet refills and took way less time.

Laser print also looks much cleaner...

[General Tso]

Get a simple black only laser printer, you won't regret it. Many law students I know who didn't as 1Ls did as 2Ls. They can cost as little as 50-80 bucks, and while toner is expensive per purchase it is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than ink over the long run, plus it has stellar print quality.

like this one http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-2170W- ... 120&sr=8-1

best piece of electronics I have purchased in a long time

[zeth006]

I used to refill mine. Many newer printers have a chip so the cartridge won't print past so many pages whether it is full or not. Also, in an inkjet the head is in the cartridge itself so they can only be filled so many times. I went through this with my brother (for my mom's business). We ran an inkjet for ~3 months and a laser for ~3 months. The laser was way cheaper even with ultra-cheap inkjet refills and took way less time.

Laser print also looks much cleaner...

Ok. I don't know whether that might be because I printed all my pages at low consumption settings and my printer was surprisingly efficient, but I guess I'll just leave it at that.

But you do realize that there are chip resetters on fleabay and elsewhere that can reset the page counter settings in your chip?


Oh well. I'm just going with laser for peace of mind and fewer white hairs from paper jams and breakdowns. My 2170W hasn't jammed once or developed any problems in the 4-5 months I've used it. No bells or whistles in excess. Just simple, easy to use, and reliable up until now. My apartment building has a copier on the first floor if I ever need a scanner function.

[03121202698008]

I used to refill mine. Many newer printers have a chip so the cartridge won't print past so many pages whether it is full or not. Also, in an inkjet the head is in the cartridge itself so they can only be filled so many times. I went through this with my brother (for my mom's business). We ran an inkjet for ~3 months and a laser for ~3 months. The laser was way cheaper even with ultra-cheap inkjet refills and took way less time.

Laser print also looks much cleaner...

Ok. I don't know whether that might be because I printed all my pages at low consumption settings and my printer was surprisingly efficient, but I guess I'll just leave it at that.

But you do realize that there are chip resetters on fleabay and elsewhere that can reset the page counter settings in your chip?


Oh well. I'm just going with laser for peace of mind and fewer white hairs from paper jams and breakdowns. My 2170W hasn't jammed once or developed any problems in the 4-5 months I've used it. No bells or whistles in excess. Just simple, easy to use, and reliable up until now. My apartment building has a copier on the first floor if I ever need a scanner function.

I'm not saying they are bad...but laser is the business standard. Once out of law school, if you ever need to print something quick at home for work...laser is expected and you can tell the difference. Like I said, I bought a used one on craigslist for cheap. There are lots out there.

[sibley]

The brother wireless laser is up to $130 on Amazon. BUT best buy is having a sale this week- $100. Reserve yours before you go to the store. I went on Sunday when the sale started (I was prepared to pay full price, didn't know about the sale) and there was only one left.

[03121202698008]

The brother wireless laser is up to $130 on Amazon. BUT best buy is having a sale this week- $100. Reserve yours before you go to the store. I went on Sunday when the sale started (I was prepared to pay full price, didn't know about the sale) and there was only one left.

Also, you may want to check that welcome envelope thing from the post office when you forward your mail. Mine had a 10% off coupon for best buy that wasn't restricted from computers/printers.

[mikeytwoshoes]

Get a simple black only laser printer, you won't regret it. Many law students I know who didn't as 1Ls did as 2Ls. They can cost as little as 50-80 bucks, and while toner is expensive per purchase it is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than ink over the long run, plus it has stellar print quality.

DITCR

[zeth006]

Get a simple black only laser printer, you won't regret it. Many law students I know who didn't as 1Ls did as 2Ls. They can cost as little as 50-80 bucks, and while toner is expensive per purchase it is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than ink over the long run, plus it has stellar print quality.

DITCR

If you buy the toner 3rd party, it shouldn't be expensive at all. I just bought a toner from Amazon.com for $22. I recommend buying one that's highly rated. Contrary to what your Brother printer may say, you do NOT necessarily have to buy "genuine" Brother cartridges for best results.

[smokyroom26]

That was a nice deal on the extra set. I got nothing w/mine. I agree that they last, but still--ouch.

That got me where I need to be w/my home setup, though: I never have to go to PopCopy again.



(Well, unless I need velobinding or something like that.)

I AM YOUR MANAGER.

My new Mac came with a free all-in-one. Hooray.