Stuff Geeks Want

Even if the economy’s in the toilet, we can always measure our progress as a society by how much less expensive color laser printers keep getting.

Heck, I remember when the most basic (and by basic, I mean crappy) color inkjet printer cost $500.

But that was in a different millenium. Today, HP serves up the Color Laster CP1215 for just $149.99 (after $150 instant rebate).

The specs aren’t bad, either: small footprint, a relatively light 40 lbs. (these used to weigh over 100 lbs.), 600×600 resolution, 12ppm black, 8ppm color, 16MB of memory, and a USB connector.

Of course, where color laser printers end up getting you is with the toner costs, which aren’t cheap at about $70 per color (there’s three, plus the black cartridge).

But you can save some money there by buying toner refills, which are easy to work with and will keep at least $20 in your pocket for each cartridge.

At the time of this post, HP was sold out of the printer on their site, but Staples has it in stock for $149.99 with free shipping.

Should that deal disappear, there’s always Adorama camera (via Amazon), which sells it for $199.95 with free shipping.

Are you looking for a good ink-jet printer that really does it all? I was, and I’d encourage you to check out the Brother MFC 6940cw. It’s great.

It’s multi-function: prints, faxes, scans, and it copies. It’s also painless to set up: You can use USB, Ethernet or your Wi-fi network to connect to it. It also accepts multiple memory card types: CF, MS, MS Pro, SD, SDHC, xD, xD type M/H, and USB Flash drives, or you can connect your camera directly to it.

Lastly, it’ll print large format prints (up to 11×17) in borderless formats, making for fantastic presentations.

And the consumables are pretty reasonable. The standard ink cartridges will print up to 450 pages… while the high-yield cartridges will last up to 750 pages, and they aren’t super expensive. Branded cartridges run about $30 for high-yield, while you can pick up some good quality knock-off ink for less than $5/cartridge.

Get the Brother MFC-6490cw at Amazon for $279 for the printer.

If you need ink, turn here:
Brother LC65HYBK High Yield Ink Cartridge (Black) for ~$30.
Brother LC653PKS Color Ink Cartridge - 3 Pack (Cyan/Magenta/Yellow) for around ~$32.
Or pick up an 8-Pack of Brother LC65 High Yield Compatible Inkjet Combo for Brother MFC-6490CW Printer (Two each: LC65HYBK/ LC65HYC/ LC65HYM/ LC65HYY) for around $32 from SuperMediaStore.com

Samsung’s SCX-4500 is the prom queen of multi-function printers. Just check out that sleek piano black finish, buttonless sensors, and sexy sapphire blue LED indicators.

It’s also ideal for office use, as it forgoes the color inkjet cartridges of typical multi-function printers and instead serves up monochrome laser goodness.

While this means your copies won’t be in color (your scans still will, of course), it also means your text will be sharper, your cost per page will be less, and your needs will be met.

It will also discourage your employees from printing out 8″x10″ color photos and using up all your supplies.

The specs low-down:

• 600×600 dpi monochrome laser printer
• up to 17 pages per minute
• digital copier (also up to 17 ppm)
• 24-bit color scanner (600×2400 optical dpi)
• up to 2,000 pages per toner cartidge (5% coverage)
• USB 2.0

The SCX-4500 retails for $299 (Amazon), but you can pick one up for $249.99 from NewEgg.