[donaldscrankshaw] Donald: New printer

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Posted by Donald:
New printer
http://www.donaldscrankshaw.com/posts/1203053415.shtml


   So I got a new printer the other day. I wanted a relatively fast
   duplex laser printer so I could quickly and easily print my stories,
   both for myself and for publishers. Duplex was a must. Relatively long
   documents become manageable when you print on both sides, and while
   software will let you do manual duplex, that's annoying and easy to
   get wrong. Also high on my priority was network readiness: I wanted to
   be able to print from my laptop without having to turn on my desktop.
   Of course, that's such a standard feature in laser printers that I
   didn't expect I'd have a hard time finding it. I wasn't planning to
   get a color laser printer, but when I saw how much the price on those
   things had come down, I decided I could afford one for the $500 I was
   willing to spend. That netted me this:

                            [images_printer.jpg]

   It's a [1]Lexmark C530dn, priced at $499. I was frankly surprised at
   what I could get for that:
     * Color
     * Duplex
     * Better than 20 pages per minute
     * Network ready
     * 1200x1200 dpi resolution

   Its one downside is that its paper capacity is only 250 pages on the
   input and output. For most of my print jobs that's no big deal, but if
   I'm printing my novel, I may have to reload the paper tray halfway
   through. It's also not small, approximately 1.5 feet in every
   direction, but that's less a negative than something you just have to
   make room for. Fortunately, I had just removed an old computer, so it
   was able to take over the desk. Toner cartridges aren't cheap, of
   course. In fact, buying a complete set costs as much as the printer
   itself does. Fortunately, they'll print 3,000 pages (for the color
   toner) or 4,000 pages (for the black toner), so the total toner cost
   per page comes to 2.6¢ black and white and 14.3¢ color. All in all,
   I'm happy with it.

References

   1. http://www.lexmark.com/lexmark/product/home/108/0,6970,204816596_653293763_877011052_en,00.html?tabId=1