I need to print at least 5 copies of a 200 page document and about 50 pages will have color

At Kinko's on 20lb paper:
B&W: $0.08/page x 150 pages = $12
Color: $0.89/page x 50 = $44.5
Total: $56.50/copy -> $282.50 for 5 copies
In reality, at least one copy will be on nicer paper

Color Laser Printer >$500

HP8250 InkJet at newegg.com = $157 + $11 shipping

Why should I not just buy the HP or similar printer?
Are there other options I should consider?

Go WolfWeb Go!

2/19/2006 6:33:02 PM

do the b&w at Office Depot or Staples where you report your own number of copies and scam them out of a few hundred copies.

they might even have color where you do your own but i haven't been to the ones around here so i don't know.

color you might have to pay full cost for.

if you but the HP, you'll probably need a 2fer of black+color and another 2fer of black+black = ~60 - $10 if you get OfficeMax or OfficeDepot coupons at your house.

2/19/2006 7:05:57 PM

printing that much in anything but ultra-low draft quality will take forever on an inkjet.

The advertised pages per minute on a laserjet are after warmup, and are fairly accurate for large jobs. On an inkjet they're all pretty much a lie unless you print shitty quality with no color.

http://www7.acs.ncsu.edu/materialsmgmt/graphics/copy_center/

they offer cheaper color and black and white printing than kinkos by a good deal. also, they'll do duplex copying and binding.


For the job you specified, it'd be:

176.25 for single side for ALL your copies (black and white + color) or the same price to have it duplexed. you could also pay for binding services. All students, faculty, and staff can use their services.

You can also request special paper.

[Edited on February 19, 2006 at 7:22 PM. Reason : ]

2/19/2006 7:14:02 PM

thx for the suggestions

^^i would need one extra black, adding $20 to the cost

^I had forgotten about university graphics

you are correct about the print speed, but it's ok if it takes even several hours in this case

i wish i could afford a decent color laser printer

at this point i'm still leaning toward the inkjet since i'll be able to use it in the future and my current one died, but i may go by and talk to UG

2/19/2006 10:20:59 PM

I can sell you a black and white laser printer for 40 bucks, with the duplexer. It will be able to print all that shit. Then you can just go get the color copies done on campus. Just pay for the paper.

2/19/2006 10:45:28 PM

thanks tyler, i have a nice B&W laser printer

but i'm not too keen on switching printer types for this

2/20/2006 1:44:30 AM

if you get B&W printed anywhere its going to be on a laser.

And the reason I mention this, is because if you print 1000 pages on your laser printer, it's going to run through a LOT of toner. Probably dont want to eat up the toner on your nice printer.

it wont make any difference printing the B&W copies on a B&W laser, and the color copies on a color laser. other than the price

2/20/2006 2:25:58 AM

Is this for a thesis/dissertation? Ask your advisor what other students have done in the past.

If you have a decent quality departmental copy machine, you may be able to get away with using it for the B&W and then using University Graphics for the color printouts. Had good luck with UG, though Kinko's is the way to go if it needs to be done overnight.

2/20/2006 5:35:08 AM

^^what i meant by switching printer types it inkjet to laser like if i use my laser for B&W and an inkjet for color

i'm also lazy and don't want to sort out color pages from b&w....lol

^my advisor is older than most dirt and thinks it's sill ok to draw in figures by hand

today i scoped out a HP 8550N that i'm going to try to use if possible

2/21/2006 1:43:17 AM

sounds like a dissertation to me.. good luck

2/21/2006 1:48:05 AM

Find a work place that lets you print out your dissertation for free in color

2/21/2006 2:29:11 AM