Cost of Printing with Laser Toner

We are commonly asked by our customers and others to suggest what printers they should buy to reduce to a minimum their cost of printing. Clearly this will depend on what they wish to use the printer for and the sort of organisation they are. We are happy to give some feedback based on our experience. Usually the questions (quite naturally) include whether refill toner is available for the model and whether refilling is easy or not - the presence of killer chips on the cartridge for instance. However there are many other factors involved in choosing a printer wisely to meet your requirement.

Sources of unbiased advice and analysis a few and far between. There are some forums where users swap experience, but these are not really either comprehensive or often objective. We can however recommend one objective and unbiased source of information!

Peter Maude at CharisCo Ltd researches and publishes a raft of useful information on the real cost of printing and cost of copying. This is available either by paying for a subscription or, more practically if you are just wanting to make an informed one off decision about what model to buy, on the basis of a payment for an individual article.

We show some of the recent articles below with links. In our view the most useful are those which compare a range of models in a particular price and performance range with details of the Total Cost of Printing. Of course these figures do not take into account the availability and cost savings you can make by refilling the cartridges; for that you must use our Refill Toner selector page.

Please note that we have no commercial links with Charisco Ltd. We offer these links because we think the information may be useful to you!
Charisco Ltd prices for articles (subject to change):
Prices for Pay per Read is based on the following:
Short article < 300 words £1.95
Medium article > 300 words < 1,000 words £2.95
Long article > 1,000 < 1,750 words £6.95
Major article > 1,750 words £9.95
Tables and charts are priced at 50p each.

You can see a sample article free of charge.

Entry-level single-pass colour laser printers
New models from Canon, Hewlett-Packard and Xerox add to the choice and the varied pricing strategies available to users.
(Article dated July 2007)

Four new colour laser printers launched since the latter part of last year and into this year have, together with several strategic adjustments in pricing and marketing, contributed to areas of significant shift in the attractiveness of the product line-up. Our last review of the single-pass colour market was in November of last year, before full availability of the Canon LBP-5300, before the launch of the Xerox Phaser 6180 in February, the Hewlett-Packard Colour LaserJet CP3505 in June and the availability of Canon’s LBP-5360 also in June.

Samsung is turning on the style with colour laser printers and AiOs, also pushing further into corporate hard copy
March 7th, 2008

Following on from the launch of its stylish gloss black, mono laser printer and AiO products in the Autumn of 2007 (ML-1630 and SCX-4500), Samsung has announced a range of new products, including new colour laser printer and AiO family at CeBIT 2008 (CLP-310 and CLX-3170 series), that continues the theme of miniaturising colour laser printing while introducing the choice of black styling to fit any environment on certain product lines. Cost comparisons cannot be made at this time, so we review the new products briefly on the basis of technology and capability.

Hewlett-Packard announces wide-ranging new printer/AiO products
March 7th, 2008

Coinciding with the massive CeBIT IT trade show in Germany this week, Hewlett-Packard in the US has announced a range of new products targeted at small businesses and fulfilling the need for small businesses to produce marketing collateral in-house while tightening control over their hard copy functions. Solutions include inkjet All-in-One devices, mono laser multifunction devices and LaserJet printers – Officejet Pro L7590; Officejet J6400; Officejet J4580; Officejet J3600; LaserJet M1319f MFP; LaserJet M1522 MFP; Colour LaserJet CP1515n and CP1518ni; Colour LaserJet CM1312 MFP; and Colour LaserJet CP1215.

Kyocera pushes hard with new entry-level mono laser FS-1100 at 28ppm
February 29th, 2008

Kyocera is making aggressive moves in the entry-level mono laser market, raising its print speed from 18ppm to 28ppm with no price increase. Comparing the Total Cost of Printing on the FS-1100 with other 28ppm entry-level mono laser printers, places Kyocera at the leading edge along with Brother’s HL-5240 – but not quite in the lead.

Xerox's new Phaser 6125 hits a record low on effective purchase price
February 22nd, 2008

Having launched the highly specified entry-level Phaser 6130 colour laser printer in November 2007, Xerox has now added a host-based model to its range – Phaser 6125 – with effective street pricing that knocks the competition off the field. This model bridges the gap between the very low-end four-pass Phaser 6110 and the Phaser 6130 with its PCL6 emulation and Adobe PostScript 3. Note: this article should be read in conjunction with the article "Phaser 6130 - Fuji Xerox challenger to new Samsung CLP-350N

Apparently 70% of businesses are ‘dissatisfied’ with their printer
February 22nd, 2008

According to a recent survey, only 30% of businesses are ‘satisfied’ with their current in-house printer and only a similar proportion are ‘very satisfied’ with the quality of hard copy they achieve from the printer!

Lexmark’s X560n fares much better against its competition than most of its stable-mates
February 8th, 2008

With higher than expected purchase price and lower than expected running costs, Lexmark’s new X560n, four-function colour laser MFP looks to be more attractive as a multifunction device for small businesses and workgroups than we have come to expect from Lexmark. Pitched against Brother’s MFC-9440CN, Dell’s 3115cn, Oki’s C5550MFP and Xerox’s Phaser 6180MFP, the X560n stands its ground firmly and confidently.

Total Cost of Printing - Why does ink and toner cost “so much”?
January 25th, 2008

Many printer users resent the amount of money spent on supplies for their printers when the hardware itself seems to cost so little. We see, or perceive that ink or toner is wasted when we dispose of an old cartridge and we think that the cost of the liquid or powder does not equate with how much we are asked to pay for it. This article explores cartridge developments and technologies with a view to setting our minds at rest and helping us understand the dynamics of cartridge pricing.

Phaser 6130 - Fuji Xerox challenger to new Samsung CLP-350N
November 9th, 2007

Printer manufacturers have begun targeting power users with highly specified printers with low purchase prices. Firstly Samsung launched its CLP-350N in September and at the end of October Xerox released its new Phaser 6130.