Hunting for a Printer

I've been on the hunt for an affordable laser-jet printer for the better part of 6 months. Hadn't taken it as serious as I have in the last two, and now I'm scratching at the door for one.

I had been looking for three main things:

1. Duplexing (simultaneously printing on two sides at once)
2. Color ('cause you never know...)
3. Big enough to print 11" x 17" (tabloid format)

This list made things difficult- here's why:

1. $50 to $100 for this feature
2. add another $50 to $100 more than a black and white
3. Add about $200 to $500 for the equivalent of printing two 8.5" x 11" pieces of paper at once

After some gentle prodding, I sat down and compiled a list of what I would actually use the sizes for.
Here's 8.5" x 11", in no particular order:

• Resume/CV, Cover Letters, Artist Statements
• CD labels
• Printing physical reference pictures/photos
• Google maps
• Greeting Cards (to sell and for family use)
• Promotional Materials (stickers, postcards, flyers, mailers)
• Printing mini-comics and take-aways
• Scripts and Letters
• Nikki (my fiancee) usage
• Work in progress/meeting materials

Then I did one for the 11" x 17", again in no particular order:

• Professional comic book pages
• Large scale projects
• Event posters
• Um... large mini comics?

As you can see, there isn't a good enough reason for me to spend on a big one at the moment. The needs of the Letter-size outweigh the desire of the Tabloid-size. I just need the smaller one, an affordable one. Here's what I found:


Isn't it a beauty? It has a 8ppm which is a bummer, but that's fine compared to a wonderful price tag of $199.99 at Staples or Best Buy. It's small enough not to be intrusive, and the quality is good.

I was prepared to get one until I noticed a rub. Not compatible with Macintosh Computers.
What the heck? Seriously?

So far, I'm not trusting HP to provide me what I want, so I'm looking towards companies like Xerox, and Dell

(Phaser 6180)


(Dell 3110cn; might be tricky- not sure if they still make them.)

I'm also looking at companies like Brother or Lenmark. We shall see... Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

TTYL