Comparing New vs Refubished Printers?

GraWil asks: "Does anyone have advice on purchasing a color laser printer? I'm trying to decide between getting a new small 'personal' color laser or a used/refurbished workhorse. For the roughly the same money, I can either buy a Xerox 6100 or a refurbished Tektronix 740/750 or even a tabloid sized 790. I've had mixed luck with color HP and Lexmark printers but I'm open to any suggestions at this point. There are a fair number of reviews but none of them ever compare new with the old."

Toner cost

[wpc4]

Besides the technical differences one of the things you may want to do is check toner costs. Our department has a Lexmark High Output color printer and a full set of toner for all the colors costs about $1000. Happily we haven't had to replace them yet, but the bigger printer may prove itself to be much more expensive.

It depends

[bagofcrap]

on (among other things):
What do you want it for?
How long does it need to last?
How much are you willing to pay for disposables?
(mainly ink & paper)
Interface? USB vs. lpt vs. Ethernet?

Re:Toner cost

[Anonymous Coward]

I had a Tektronix Phaser 740. Each colour (C-M-Y-K) was it's own toner cartridge. To buy a full set of four toner cartridges was about $1300.

Also check what they say for coverage when estimating how many 'pages' a cartridge can print. You, like us, will be unpleasantly suprised just how little one of those toner cartridges lasts when the boss is printing off pictures of his family on it.