New printer
So I got a new printer the other day. I wanted a relatively fast duplex laser printer so I could quickly and easily print my stories, both for myself and for publishers. Duplex was a must. Relatively long documents become manageable when you print on both sides, and while software will let you do manual duplex, that's annoying and easy to get wrong. Also high on my priority was network readiness: I wanted to be able to print from my laptop without having to turn on my desktop. Of course, that's such a standard feature in laser printers that I didn't expect I'd have a hard time finding it. I wasn't planning to get a color laser printer, but when I saw how much the price on those things had come down, I decided I could afford one for the $500 I was willing to spend. That netted me this:
It's a Lexmark C530dn, priced at $499. I was frankly surprised at what I could get for that:
Its one downside is that its paper capacity is only 250 pages on the input and output. For most of my print jobs that's no big deal, but if I'm printing my novel, I may have to reload the paper tray halfway through. It's also not small, approximately 1.5 feet in every direction, but that's less a negative than something you just have to make room for. Fortunately, I had just removed an old computer, so it was able to take over the desk. Toner cartridges aren't cheap, of course. In fact, buying a complete set costs as much as the printer itself does. Fortunately, they'll print 3,000 pages (for the color toner) or 4,000 pages (for the black toner), so the total toner cost per page comes to 2.6¢ black and white and 14.3¢ color. All in all, I'm happy with it.
It's a Lexmark C530dn, priced at $499. I was frankly surprised at what I could get for that:
- Color
- Duplex
- Better than 20 pages per minute
- Network ready
- 1200x1200 dpi resolution
Its one downside is that its paper capacity is only 250 pages on the input and output. For most of my print jobs that's no big deal, but if I'm printing my novel, I may have to reload the paper tray halfway through. It's also not small, approximately 1.5 feet in every direction, but that's less a negative than something you just have to make room for. Fortunately, I had just removed an old computer, so it was able to take over the desk. Toner cartridges aren't cheap, of course. In fact, buying a complete set costs as much as the printer itself does. Fortunately, they'll print 3,000 pages (for the color toner) or 4,000 pages (for the black toner), so the total toner cost per page comes to 2.6¢ black and white and 14.3¢ color. All in all, I'm happy with it.
