Recently I found that I was producing an unusually high volume of urine.
I was also producing large volumes of documents that needed to be printed off. I found that not only was the inkjet that I used was not the quickest printer to be invented, it was also not the most economically friendly, it seemed to drink ink faster than a fat bloke eats pies in a pie shop after being on a diet for two weeks/days/minutes. (Incidentally the printer, an HP PSC1210, is faster and not as ink consuming as other inkjets printers- see my review on it for more info).
I had thought about buying a laser for general printing, where there was not a need for colour, however the price had always put me off. Recently though, the price of laser printers has come down, the cheapest being under one hundred quid, possibly even about the seventy quid mark. The ML1210 was in a Boxing Day sale, reduced to fifty quid, so that is when I bought it. I have since seen it reduced to this price in a couple of sales, so next time you see it; it might be worth getting it.
I bought it from Staples, and was optimistic at first. I always thought that laser printers take ages to warm up, and end to leave smudges of toner on the print out. I got the printer home, and unpacked it. It came with exactly what you would expect; printer, power cable, starter toner, paper holder, instructions and installation CD. It didn't come with a USB cable (NB this printer also can be used with a parallel cable), but hardly any manufacturers include them nowadays, as a cable from an old printer will do.
Set up was as easy as going to the toilet (unless you have a tendency to misfire). Plug the cables in, insert the toner (which is well illustrated in the instructions), switch the computer on, insert the CD, follow the on-screen instructions and that’s about it. Set up in six and a half minutes (depending on the speed of your computer at actually installing the software).
The toner that is included is only classed as a 'starter toner,' because it will only last for around 1000 pages at 5% cover (only 1000). A new toner will last you for about 2500 pages. A toner for this printer will set you back around forty to forty-five quid, however for 2500 pages, it works out at about 1.6p per page. Inkjets on the other hand cost about twenty quid for a black cartridge, lasting about 200 pages, meaning each page costs about 10p, over six times more expensive. (Sorry for being so sad to work this figure out, but it really does show how cheap a laser is).
You can fit about 150 pages in the main paper tray, so it sav3es you having to load paper all the time (oh...the effort, repetitive strain injury). There is an added Brucey bonus of a second paper tray, however it is only designed for use with envelopes, or thick paper. That is one sheet/envelope at a time. Yes, it takes time and can get tedious, but it is how you prevent the machine from getting a paper jam. To use the second paper tray, you also need to flick a button on the machine, so that the printed sheet comes out the front, instead of the top, preventing it from bending as much. The second paper tray for envelopes seemed a good idea at first, however after the printer has been on a while, the heater inside that seals the toner onto the paper becomes so hot, it will ruin the glue on the envelope, making it impossible to seal (as well as leaving such a disgusting taste on your tongue).
The printer is faster than I expected, the manufacturer states 12 pages per minute, and personally I think that it is slightly faster. The print speed for colour is 0 pages per minute, because this is only a black and white printer (well, actually only a black printer because you can't print white, stupid). A colour laser will set you back a few hundred.
Any complaints about it? Yes. Every now and then I will press (well click on) print, and the printer will not print, saying it is out of paper, when it isn't. The only way to fix this is to lift the paper out, then put it back in and turn the machine on and off. The customer service help line was not, thank G-d in India, but in fact in England. They were helpful, but because the problem is not permanent (and so they can not actually prove there is a problem), they could not do anything about it. Fair enough though, I can see why they can't help. They do though, if anything goes wrong under the standard one years manufacturer's guarantee, send out a new one by a courier, who will also take away your old printer. A straight swap, so you don't need to be too long without a printer or wait in twice for a courier.
The laser has got a toner save button, which means it uses less toner than usual when printing. The instructions say that the print will be lighter, but in normal word documents I cannot tell the difference. This feature should make the toner last for another 15% longer than normal. When the print starts to fade, unlike with inkjets, you can simply remove the toner cartridge and give it a shake to distribute the toner. This usually gets you a few dozen more pages out of the printer, meaning you don't throw away cartridges with toner still in.
Unlike inkjets, there is no 'remaining ink level' utility that you can use, however faint print is a good indicator of low toner levels. It does though mean you can keep on printing until the cartridge is totally empty. Scientific tests revealed that in some inkjets, you could throw away a cartridge when it still has as much as 20% ink left. Unlike ink as well, you can keep a toner in a laser printer for years. Ink will dry up and clog print heads; toner doesn’t, as it is a powder as opposed to a fluid.
There is also a button that allows you to reprint the last document sent to the printer, it proves extremely handy if you turn off the computer and then realise you need another copy of a document. It has a built in memory, so you can also send more than one document to the printer at a time (e.g. if you use it as a network printer) and it will store them in memory until it has finished printing the previous document(s).
Overall, this printer is cheap, fast and usually reliable. Compared to an inkjet, it flies, no need for ink charging or print head cleaning. A buy that is definitely recommended.
More details
Reliability
Good
Design
Excellent
Range of extra features / functions
Good
Instruction manual
Very useful
Manufacturer Support
Good
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