Posted by Judy Cobb on 11/27/05 3:24pm
Msg #78830

fast printer

Hi: I'm in the market for a high speed black and white laser printer any recommendations? Thank you for your imput.
judy, Oregon [e-mail address]

Reply by PAW_Fl on 11/27/05 6:22pm
Msg #78839

If you're simply looking for a printer (not a combination, all-in-one, multifunction unit) with two trays, then Laserjet 4350 is an excellent, albeit pricey, choice. It is super fast and heavy duty and should be very reliable. For a third the price, the Laserjet 1320tn works well too, but is slower (22 ppm vs 55 ppm) than the 4350.

Reply by Jenny_CA on 11/27/05 8:02pm
Msg #78847

Re: I should have asked first...

I just ordered the HP 2430dtn. I was wanting a printer that would print the pdf files faster than the 20ppm we have now.

Reply by Mitch_MD on 11/28/05 5:34am
Msg #78863

A robust printer, whether it's new or used, is one of the best investments you can make for your signing business.

I bought the HP LaserJet 3015 all-in-one (15 ppm) when I first became a signing agent, thinking it would suffice and be something I would grow into. Wrong. I grossly underestimated how many pages per month I would be printing and how pressed for time you can be with eDocs. Some of the big eDocs packages I've received (200-300 pages, all scanned images) would take as long as an hour to print on it.

I've been assisting another signing agent with their business in another state, and had recommended the HP LaserJet 1320 (22 ppm) to them. Wrong again (dang!). Their business really took off and left their printer in the dust, which has since become an enormous bottleneck to their workflow, one they're going to address after the new year.

Based on both of these experiences, and remembering what I learned from working in the corporate environment, my next printer purchase was an HP LaserJet 4350dtn, with extra memory (generic), a big hard drive (generic) and a fast networking card. Now I can print at speeds up to 55 ppm (a 300 page doc in just under 5 and a half minutes) and it doesn't matter what type of file is thrown at it, it just works. Yes, it's expensive, but I've made certain all my clients know about it and they're sending me more business as a result.

Reply by Jenny_CA on 11/28/05 2:35pm
Msg #78930

Re: I just received my new printer,

It's a 2430dtn. (35ppm) I had ordered it before this post was written. HPshopping said there are no refunds. I am kicking my self on the behind, I should have a waited a bit longer. With my all-in-one, 22ppm it once took me over three hours to print out a package. Does any one have experience with a 35ppm printer? It'still in the box and I am trying to decide whether to argue with HPShopping or not (about returning it).

TIA

Reply by Mitch_MD on 11/29/05 4:47am
Msg #78980

Re: 2430dtn isn't a bad choice

I'm surprised about the no-refund policy from HPshopping. Have you tried escalating the request up the management chain? A possible avenue to take would be to sweeten the deal by promising to upgrade to a bigger printer from them in the process. If you ultimately cannot return the 2430dtn, there are two things you can do:

1) Don't open the new 2430dtn and instead sell it on eBay for about 75 to 80 percent of what you paid for it, buy another HP printer of your choosing from someplace other than HPshopping and chalk it up to experience.

2) Keep the 2430dtn, max the memory out with RAM from Kahlon.com ($36 for 256MB) and enjoy your purchase. It's not a bad printer and should do you well for quite awhile. If you find your business outgrowing it's capabilities down the line, then upgrade to a bigger one, but keep this one around as a backup or for those occasions when even the uber beast printers aren't fast enough.

Reply by Jenny_CA on 11/29/05 1:24pm
Msg #79035

Re: 2430dtn isn't a bad choice

Well, I took it out of the box. I am going to go ahead and do as you suggested, max the memory. Here's the dumb question: Will that make the printer faster?

Thank you and everyone else!

Reply by Mitch_MD on 11/29/05 7:37pm
Msg #79096

Re: 2430dtn isn't a bad choice

There are no dumb questions, especially when it comes to technology. ;-)

No, the extra RAM will not make the printer "faster" per se, as it has a finite processor speed. A 400MHz processor will continue to only operate at 400MHz no matter how much additional memory it has available. However, the extra RAM *will* allow the docs to pass through it more efficiently during processing, which will in turn keep big scanned docs from bogging down the system to a crawl when you need the speed.

Reply by Ilona_OH on 11/28/05 6:56am
Msg #78866

I bought a Lexmark T644 which kicksbutt at 45 pages per minute.Dual tray and can do a set of docs like lightening. Clear, consice,and super fast--what a joy it is the get edocs.It is a little pricey but it sure is worth it !!!Good luck!

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 11/28/05 11:13am
Msg #78899

Heed the advice for getting the faster printer. I have a brother 5140 that is rated at 21ppm and it's a real workhorse, but a slow workhorse compared to what is out there. A few times on a busy day, I found myself getting impatent to the point where I fired up my old hp 1012 to print the borrowors copies on at the same time I am printing the originals on the brother. I am going to see what the new year brings in terms of business and if it holds, I am going shopping for the faster printer and use the Brother for backup.