Tally Colour Laser T8006e

...reading this review of the Tally 8006e colour laser printer.

This is the first colour laser printer I have had to use regularly and without spoiling my overview that I will put at the end of the review, I am seriously impressed. The quality is superb and the value for money I believe to be good also.

We purchased our Tally 8006e to replace a Hewlett Packard networked inkjet printer (2500) that was proving unreliable ...
...repair and maintenance costs. Our Tally was purchased primarily because the independent reports of the budget colour laser market suggested this printer had quite considerably lower total cost of ownership than other similar printers. The costs per page are listed as:
1.1p per page for a black and white office memo.
4.7p per page for a colour office memo.
7.3p per page for colour marketing materials.
14.8p per page for ... more

Thanks in advance for reading this review of the Tally 8006e colour laser printer.

This is the first colour laser printer I have had to use regularly and without spoiling my overview that I will put at the end of the review, I am seriously impressed. The quality is superb and the value for money I believe to be good also.

We purchased our Tally 8006e to replace a Hewlett Packard networked inkjet printer (2500) that was proving unreliable on the network and expensive in ink. A little research showed that the cost per page jumps down quite significantly when using a colour laser printer. To help you fully appreciate this printer I will break down the individual elements that may be of use when purchasing.

COSTS
This printer cost us £649.99. This for a colour laser printer puts it firmly at the budget end of the market. There are only a few colour laser printers at a similar price and most are significantly more expensive. I have seen it available on line recently for as little as £535.00 but most suppliers offer it at around the £600.00 mark at the moment.
One of the most significant costs for small to medium enterprises is the total cost of ownership. This is a speculative figure arrived at that takes into account the purchase price, consumables, expected life span and anticipated repair and maintenance costs. Our Tally was purchased primarily because the independent reports of the budget colour laser market suggested this printer had quite considerably lower total cost of ownership than other similar printers. The costs per page are listed as:
1.1p per page for a black and white office memo.
4.7p per page for a colour office memo.
7.3p per page for colour marketing materials.
14.8p per page for colour presentation.
24.5p for a full page colour photograph.
The variation in these prices is a result of the greater percentage of ink coverage. Compared to other budget laser printers this is good value per page.
Cartridges are relatively expensive – marginally under £100.00 per consumable. This printer takes four separate cartridges (CMYK) and also has consumables at a similar price connected to the fusing unit. This makes for in excess of £500.00 of consumables in the printer – trust me … you don’t want them all to go at once. The purchase price included a 50% set of cartridges. Although this may sound quite pricey, the figure to examine is the cost per page as this tells you what to expect from a roll.
More information about the costs of this printer can be downloaded from the Tally web site at:
www.tally.co.uk

THE DESIGN
The printer has a clear slightly curved design reminiscent of a small photocopier. The front of the printer provides access to the paper trays. A top cover collects the paper as it rolls out of the printer. The front of the printer has a power switch and on top of the printer are the communication LEDs that tell you what if anything is wrong with the printer as well as the current status of the printer. As is common with laser printers these lights are accompanied by a small text display for simple messages so you don’t always need to dive for the manual to find out what the combination of lights means. The printer is relatively quiet with a gentle whirring noise indicating printing has begun.

THE FEATURES
Parallel and network interface - We use this printer on a 30 station network and it functions well. The connectivity was relatively simple and we used just an hour of technician time to get the print queues established on the network. As a standalone printer it would I’m sure be easier but I doubt if value for money would be obtained if this was a standalone printer.
Consistent colour output – The colour output is outstanding to someone more used to the output of colour inkjet printers. The consistency and vibrancy of the colours is really stunning. It is important to note if you are moving from an inkjet printer that this technology is significantly different and that without a little knowledge of how colour laser printers work you could significantly damage your investment. See below for this information – vital to those more used to inkjet technology.
Duplex facility – This printer is capable of printing double sided without taking out the paper and reinserting. This might seem like an unnecessary feature but try and print 200 double sided newsletters without and be amazed at the clever system of rollers and conveyers within the printer that allows this feature to exist.

LASER TECHNOLOGY
This is a vital background for those used to inkjet printers. You know who you are – shovelling a thousand and one different media types into your printer and seeing the same acceptable output. You see, you can do this with inkjet printers because they spray cold ink onto the printing surface. Transparencies, photo paper – it’s all possible with inkjets. Now, put photo paper or over head transparencies into this colour laser and you will do quite literally hundreds of pounds worth of damage. Laser toner is a plastic. It is contained in minute particles in the toner cartridge. The printer uses positive charge to pick up the toner and lay it on the paper and then uses a fusing unit at 170 degrees centigrade to melt the plastic onto the paper. Photo paper and transparencies therefore would literally melt into the machine. Standard paper only here please!

OVERALL
This was a good price printer with a good price of running and therefore a relatively low total cost of ownership compared to other machines. We have had the odd niggle. It can be fussy about the paper it uses and with cheaper papers, paper jams in the rear of the machine are common. This is frustrating as the IT manager as staff are constantly whistling me from elsewhere to open the printer and remove paper. Paper jams at the top of the printer are also more difficult with rollers needing releasing before the paper can be removed. Expensive mistakes can be made by trying to force the paper from these jams so make sure systems are in place to stop the techno-would-bes from fouling up.
The quality of the output is superb and the printer spits paper out at a fair old rate. Ignore the stated claims and listen up … we get about twelve pages per minute of black text and about five pages per minute of full colour.
Overall I would recommend this printer. The running costs are significantly less than printers that cost more to buy. Also, the quality is superior to many other colour lasers and certainly superior to inkjet printers. The printer is scheduled for 30,000 pages per month. WOW! We don’t do anywhere near that amount so the life span of this printer for use is potentially quite high. On a network, with decent paper this is a great machine. Go buy!
 

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