Hi folks. Hey, my first post here. Hello to all DM veterans! And thanks to stavs for the 411 about this place.

While I'm at it, thanks to Larry for the forum. I have purchased many things from OWC over the years with zero problems, and even got to meet Larry briefly at a Macworld SF a few years ago. Nice guy, and always helpful posts at "the other place." On to business...

My HP 6110 all-in-one color inkjet has been flaking out lately, and I'm looking to replace it with a laser model, preferably one with fax capability. I've been out of the market (and the general Apple loop) for a quite a bit, and while prices seem to have fallen all around, I'm not sure what to get. I'm open to any brand.

I would like PostScript, and Ethernet built-in would be nice but not neccessary. Any good cheap-o recommendations?

As an alternative, I would also consider a straight-up black/white laser printer; I would just buy a cheap Epson for my color output and faxing needs. Not my first choice or the best use of office space, but I have enough room for both. (I do graphic design and production from a home office.) Money is the prime factor here... Any input appreciated.

Thanks!
Sam

My preference is Brother all-in-one (which to ME includes FAXing), laser printer.

Last I was at Fry's they had the mfc-4800 for $80 after rebate.

Budget?

BGnR

My preference for the very best multi-use packaged laser is this one:

[tinyurl.com]

You've probably already got a few pennies invested here, so you might as well get some use out of it.

Wow, that was quick! Thanks folks.

Budget is negotiable; I'd prefer to keep it around $200-300. I'm looking at the Brother MFC-7820N and HP 3015, but SteveJobs' post has me thinking I might need to take a ride to Fry's. Not my favorite place, but a deal's a deal!

Jimmypoo: already tried it, but had to return it. I couldn't afford the payments, and the temptation to take out all of the bad drivers I see in the Bay Area was just too high. Thanks, though.

-Sam

OT: In the "beleagured" days, I went to Fry's looking for a scanner for my Mac. A Fry's sales guy told me that Apple had gone out of business, and I should buy a new PC to go with my scanner. Another time I had to explain to the "networking expert" that a cross-over cable was not the same as a regular Ethernet cable. He obviously had never heard the term before, and was indignant when I finally found one and brought it over to show him. I hate that place.

We had the MFC 4800, and it produced bad quality output, and dimmed the lights when it started to print, and had a very noisy fan. My wife hated it.

We bought an HP 3015, and have had NO problems with it (once my wife read the manual....). The software install was a minor PITA, but nothing terrible.

Kinda hard to ask for much (or complain much) when you get an AIO for $80 that is laser.

Ultimately, for daily blah stuff, I'll probably grab one.

Almost got an Epson 4600 the other day for $40 (new - special deal), but didn't need another sitting INK printer around here.

I use my $16 LexCrap e310 laser for everything - but that was a special GoodWill, owner doesn't know jack, 3000 copies printer, that probably got dumped because it only has 2mb of RAM. I added a 32MB stick from a Performa, and it works great.

Still haven't had to change the toner. Tiny footprint - and sitting next to scanner, it does what I need. I don't fax (and when I do, I've got a 13 year old Brother with SuperFine on it-I just plug it in).

I personaly would get a decent laser printer and the cheapest flat bed all in one (most likely inkjet).

The Brother I have (MFC3800CN) was a huge bargain, but print quality is so-so. Scan and Fax seem fine. Love the auto doc feeder. The drivers are kept up to date. Can scan over the network. No functions (scan/print/fax/etc) work if it is out of ink (though I can still scan over the network - must be an oversight).

My $149 Samsung PS Laser is being replaced by a used $10 LaserJet 5M (PS, 10BT) that I recently got until it runs out of toner, then I replace the cheapest toner.

Well, its done. I went with the Brother 7820N all-in-one. $350 with a $50 rebate. Comes with 32MB of memory and built-in Ethernet, plus a grey and black chassis instead of beige. The print quality seems great so far, I am happy except...

I had to set it up using the USB connection instead of Ethernet. The installation process differed from what was featured in the manual. I'm running Tiger, everything up to date, on a dual G5.

When setting up a network connection, you are supposed to be able to find the printer with Rendezvous, but that doesn't come up as an option in the dialog box. I'll futz with some more later today if I have time, maybe try the network set-up from my PC and see if it goes any better. It did have Mac set-up software on a CD in the box, plus Presto PageManager, so that was a nice change at least. (HP made me download the Mac software for my old inkjet.)

Thanks to all for the info!

-Sam