Thread: ink jet or laser for decals?

Trev.

I'd go with Laser. From my limited experience I don't think you will ever get the print quality/precision from an ink jet that you will from a laser. I bought a Samsung CLP 365W* colour laser from Computer Alliance at Mt Gravatt for $149. It is a network wireless so you can run a few PCs off it and also transfer photos on your mobile phone wirelessly to it.

It is at the cheap end of the market but it works fine for me - the decals come out brilliantly. Better still, it doesn't seem to use up a lot of ink. Any of the cheap printers you buy in laser will not have full ink cartridges - the little trap to get you back to buy expensive refills. I usually toss out a printer when the ink runs out and buy a new one cheaper than replacing the ink refills - but I don't use them a lot.

*Fortunately I am not a computer expert so I can't give you a comparison between printers manufacturers.

Originally Posted by plantagenon

Trev.

I'd go with Laser. From my limited experience I don't think you will ever get the print quality/precision from an ink jet that you will from a laser. I bought a Samsung CLP 365W* colour laser from Computer Alliance at Mt Gravatt for $149. It is a network wireless so you can run a few PCs off it and also transfer photos on your mobile phone wirelessly to it.

It is at the cheap end of the market but it works fine for me - the decals come out brilliantly. Better still, it doesn't seem to use up a lot of ink. Any of the cheap printers you buy in laser will not have full ink cartridges - the little trap to get you back to buy expensive refills. I usually toss out a printer when the ink runs out and buy a new one cheaper than replacing the ink refills - but I don't use them a lot.

*Fortunately I am not a computer expert so I can't give you a comparison between printers manufacturers.

Unfortunately Greg the colour one that is going in the bin is also a samsung its a clp300 and barely made two years. What hurts most is I only bought 2 sets of replacement toner cartridges for the bloody thing at xmas, so I'm a bit hesitant to revisit the samsung path again. Thanks anyway I wont dismiss the samsung completely but will investigate other options over the next few weeks.

Rumnut

Hey Rumnut,
I've never done decals but once you decide which type of printer to get, I'd give "Brother" a look into. I used to use them all the time at my old work and never realy had any trouble with them and they used to print quite good quality as well.
my 2cents worth anyway
cheers
Ben

Hi Rumnut, I work from a home office and with a house full of students the printers get an absolute flogging for a home environment, about 200 pages a week. So if you are a heavy user then you will face some of the same challenges as me. In the last three years I have had two canon inkjet, one fuji xerox laser, a brother inkjet and the last one is a HP 8600 plus. The laser printer used to have the lowest cost per page but the new inkjet beats it, even when buying original equipment refills. The HP refills last for well over 1500 pages and I just bought replacements on special for $20 each(half price). The definition of the print quality is excellent. It also a multifunction printer so does photo copying, scanning, fax, plus two sided printing. These features cost a bomb on a laser printer. I got it for $447 from Harvey Norman.

I have not used it for decals but my first attempt will be next week when the waterslide paper and spray arrive from Sydney. From the research I have done, the inkjet printout absolutely must be fixed before wetting, however it seemed like most people still did that even with a laser printer on the decals, so it was not saving a step. Given that I wanted the versatility of a multifunction printer, this HP was cheaper than an equal spec laser and cheaper per page for the ink/toner.

So far it has been great, the other printers are all gone except for a canon mg5250 with two as yet unopened yellow and cyan cartridges. Anyone from the sunshine coast who wants to pick it up is welcome to it.

well trevor I use an inkjet printer and not a laser printer and sometimes go through alot of ink and then there may be a period where i use very little ink.
i use generic cartridges where i can and also have mainly only used epson printers and have had very little trouble if ant with them.

Cheers Ian

Originally Posted by Dorno

well trevor I use an inkjet printer and not a laser printer and sometimes go through alot of ink and then there may be a period where i use very little ink.
i use generic cartridges where i can and also have mainly only used epson printers and have had very little trouble if ant with them.

Cheers Ian

Thanks for the imput Ian, I have my sons injet here at the moment and have ordered some inkjet decal paper so I can try it out and compare to the laser then
I'll make a decision on what to buy.

Originally Posted by plantagenon

Trev.

/snipz

I usually toss out a printer when the ink runs out and buy a new one cheaper than replacing the ink refills - but I don't use them a lot.

*Fortunately I am not a computer expert so I can't give you a comparison between printers manufacturers.

It sucks that tossing it in the bin is cheaper than more toner cartridges. It's the same way here, too.