Hi, we’re using brother printers in our church. Three of them. I’ve found them to be slow and sometimes problematic. I’m looking for fast, reliable workhorse printers. We print a few thousand pages per month, mostly in b/w but more and more in color. We’ve resisted going with a leased printer option, because of the total cost. For now, I’m looking for stand alone printers. Any recommendations?
Look at the Canon LBP351dn. We had many for over a year, and they are workhorses.
Thanks. Looks like a good option for black and white. I should also add that one of our requirements is that it be a multi-function with scanningz
My general rule of thumb is if you want a workhorse printer go with HP. Not the ones you’ll get at Walmart/Staples etc. One thing to keep in mind is that you will pay more for the toner if you go with HP. Brother does build solid printers and I like that for most their toner and drum are separate. Will save you lots of money in the long run.
We’re running an HP LaserJet P3015 (non MFP) and we’re just about to hit the 250k page count and it’s still running strong.
Without knowing your current models the biggest piece of advice is don’t buy home grade equipment and expect business results.
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We’re currently using the Brother MFC 9330CDW, MFC L5850DW, and MFC 9560CDW.
The the printers you listed aren’t bad printers. Have used the first two quite a bit. They are smb printers so they will be a little slower, but should easily handle the 1k pages a month.
Are they currently connected wirelessly or word into the network?
Good to know. Two are wireless and one is wired. The wired one, the MFC 9330CDW is just as slow as the wireless ones.
Is it the first page to come out is slow or additional pages? If you were to print a simple word document with only one word on it is it still as slow?
Yes, the first page is always the slowest, It says something like ‘receiving data’ then just sits there. I’ll test the one word print out, but if I remember correctly simple text-based documents are just as slow to print.
Steve, are you printing through a print server or directly to the printers IP address? Are they on the same subnet?
I test the L5850DW and the MFC 9330 CDW. The L5850 prints a one word test document in 20 seconds (measured from the time I hint print to the time it starts to print) and 35 seconds on the 9330. I’m printing wirelessly from a Mac.
Directly to the printers which are on the same subnet. Are enter network is on the same subnet.
Oh, I have many fond memories of print-only HP LaserJets like the 3015. HP makes fantastic print-only units that have always performed really well (I’ve even used them in all-Linux offices going back 15 years now).
We have been using OKI printers here for the last 5 years and they are solid machines. We have 2 x OKI MC342dn at 31,260 and 25,617 pages each plus a more recent C332, all of which are full colour A4 and the first 2 are full scan, copy & fax capable. We have never had any issue with them that wasn’t easily resolved by either replacing a consumable item, or keeping them clean with a HEPI-filtered vacuum cleaner!
I would recommend giving the OKIs a serious look.
So Steve what it sounds like you were saying was that it wasn’t as much about how hard it prints, but how long until the first page comes out, correct? If that is a necessity make sure to check whatever printer you purchase. Almost all lasers any more will give you first page printed speed. If you are willing to go with inkjet HP has some business class ones that are awesome. We’re running one like this and it’s extremely fast. Per page and first out. PageWide Printers - Black & White or Color Document Printers | HP® Official Site
I have used the HP Color LaserJet 553n in both church office and school computer lab settings, and found it very satisfactory in both cases. As others are stating, buy printers designed for business, they will be more reliable and cost less to operate.
- Greg
We use an HP 3015 for our black and white plain printing. We use a RICOH MP C4503 for multi-purpose use. It prints color, b&W, scans, will email scan documents. We also use a RICOH MP C8003 for big jobs. The major problem with the RICOH MP C8003 is it is set to stop working at certain points in it usage, it seems to require a lot of maintenance.
So much more I’d want to know before advising you. How much is a few thousand? 2K, 7K, 10K? What is the range of pages in a typical job? What paper sizes and weights do you need to print? What finish options do you need? What other options do you need? Duplex, minimum borders/margins, coated or photo paper? What first page speed do you need? What color and b/w pages per minute do you need?