During the first year of my masters course I found that I was having to print out about 100-150 pages a week in handouts for our "problem based learning" classes which, as you can imagine, became rather costly on my other printer - an HP Photosmart 7150 - so I decided that the time had come to consider a laser printer.
I had a quick google around to see what kind of things were sensible prices and with decent reviews, and then wandered over to ebay.
I was lucky enough to find a Samsung ML-1510 for around £40 on ebay, which I snaffled up quickly!
It came with a toner cartridge but NO USB CABLE (which is stated on the box and was also stated in the auction) so you'll need to get one of them!
Although it is not "plug and play" compatible, installing the drivers is a piece of cake, just pop the disk in and it's done! It is automatically installed on most distributions of Linux in my experience (Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu all picked it up easily).
With regards printing quality I have no problems whatsoever. On the first cartridge I had it on toner saving mode the whole time, and it was fine for usual run-of-the-mill printing. If I needed slightly blacker blacks for CV's and whatnot then you just put the toner save off (and it prints at 600 dpi rather than 300 dpi)
The previous comments regarding the toner cartridges is very true, they are extortionately priced! However, unlike refilling inkjets which is always a dodgy business, refilling these toner cartridges is VERY easy. All you have to do is source out some toner (they are sold on ebay and on most ink sellers websites) and remove a plastic plug on the end of the cartridge (first time will need a bit of persuading .. we found a flat headed screwdriver just the right tool for the job!) and emptying the toner into the cartridge. Et voila! I think mine cost the grand total of £6 per toner bottle, and I've refilled it 3 times now. I would say that now it is starting to lose quality so I may have to invest in a new or reconditioned cartridge if I needed really good quality stuff, however I generally tend to do fancy stuff on an inkjet anyways.
I would say, if you're printing quite a lot of mainly text stuff (as opposed to colourful pictures) then a laser printer such as this one is a fab investment if you use the toner refil method. It's quite small and doesn't look out of place on an office desk at all, unlike some of the more unwieldy laser jets designed for use in an office which take up half the desk! It also looks quite pretty (had to get that in somewhere!) and just goes on and on!
I expect to have to replace the actual cartridge every 3-4 refills .... but when you look at the number of sheets that are printed with that many refills, it isn't that bad to be honest, and I'd have easily spent a few hundred on inkjet cartridges for the same amount of sheets.
The only other thing, is when it's in sleep mode it does take about 30s-1minute to "warm up" before it prints.
Definitely recommend this, an investment for the long term!
This product has not yet been reviewed.
12.08.2006 23:44
Very informative review with good technical datails.
14.05.2006 14:44
This is a good review! Like the refilling tip aswell! Emz
13.05.2006 12:37
good review