[PenguinBoy]

I am looking for a new monochrome laser printer for home use. My main considerations are:
-Compatible with OS X, Linux, and Windows XP.
-Small and quiet.
-Low power consumption and consumables cost.
-Network interface preferred, or compatibility with cheap USB print servers.

The HP laserjet 1018 / 1020 look ideal - but they are Windows only. The Samsung ML-2510 is mac compatible - but I don't have any experience with Samsung printers and I'm not sure about toner cost and availability.

Does anyone have any insights or suggestions?

 

[kps]

I know this isn't exactly what you described as part of your needs, but don't overlook the HP all-in-ones. Excellent monochrome output and the copier is very convenient. The scanner and fax, well that can come in handy also.

Most come with some form of networkability. Prices are reasonable for what you get and the footprint isn't that much larger than a standalone laser.

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

Brother MFC-7820N

Staples link to product 'spec and price

I have one and several clients have bought one
All approve

 

[guytoronto]

Brother HL-2030

 

[EvanPitts]

I am looking for a new monochrome laser printer for home use. My main considerations are:
-Compatible with OS X, Linux, and Windows XP.
-Small and quiet.
-Low power consumption and consumables cost.
-Network interface preferred, or compatibility with cheap USB print servers.
Does anyone have any insights or suggestions?

As this has been covered before... I would suggest a Brother Laser Printer. I have had great success with a Brother HL-5040, which because it uses a CUPS driver, is compatible with OS X and Linux. I also used it on older versions of Windoze, and since XP drivers are available, I would assume it will print acceptably under Windoze. It has both Parallel and USB interfaces, and was at the time, available with a network interface. (Which I though was too expensive.)

The HL-5040 is no longer available, however newer versions of it are available. Cost per page is entirely acceptable and comparable to that of an HP. Any number of people here use Brother machines with success.

No laser printer is "low power", just because it takes power to run the whole mechanism. Some LED Printers do use less power, but they are rarely worth putting in a new drum unit, so they are a throw-away. Proper adjustment of the sleep mode, and making sure that a networked printer is not actually accessible on the Internet, will save you both power and paper!

I had a number of reservations about HP machines, especially at the cost of the machines I was looking at. For half the price I could buy twice the machine, and the Brother actually came with OSX drivers. If I was doing less volume of printing, I'd even consider one of their smaller laser printers, which would entirely do an acceptable job.

Some of the Lexmark printers are quite acceptable, but in order to get a printer that is inexpensive per page to run, you have to look at their larger office grade printers, which would, in my opinion, be out of budget for home or small business users. The smaller ones look cheap, but they tend to be a throw-away simply because of the cost of consumables compared to the cost of a new machine.

So I suggest checking out a Brother HL-5240 (I think that is the current model), or it's smaller bretheren, which I think is called an HL-2040?...

 

[switch]

Samsung is a great printer

I am looking for a new monochrome laser printer for home use. My main considerations are:
-Compatible with OS X, Linux, and Windows XP.
-Small and quiet.
-Low power consumption and consumables cost.
-Network interface preferred, or compatibility with cheap USB print servers.

The HP laserjet 1018 / 1020 look ideal - but they are Windows only. The Samsung ML-2510 is mac compatible - but I don't have any experience with Samsung printers and I'm not sure about toner cost and availability.

Does anyone have any insights or suggestions?

Hi,

I have used both the low-end HP printer and the Samsung ML-2510. I definitely prefer the samsung. The biggest drawback I see with the low-end HP's are it's heavy dependence on the computer's CPU and so it can be excruciatingly slow. I've had no problems with the samsung.

Switch

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Brother MFC-7820N is what I use as well in our home office which has my Mac and my wife Dull PC.

 

[Z06jerry]

Samsung ML-2010 works great for me. Goes into standby (quiet) mode after a couple of minutes, and I have successfully refilled my toner cartridge with one of those cheap eBay refill kits.

 

[Oakbridge]

Samsung makes a great line of inexpensive printers. Their cartridges are all in one (toner and drum) and priced comparably with the Brother toner cartridges. I've recommended them more times than I can remember not one person has (to my knowledge) had a problem with them.

 

[hayesk]

I vote for Brother. HP has terrible printing software - big, bloated, and buggy. Brother's printer drivers work well, aren't bloated and the printers are decent quality. I have one connected to my Airport router and it works great.

 

[PenguinBoy]

Thanks to all for the replies, it looks like both Samsung and Brother come highly recommended.

I picked up a Brother HL-2040 for $80 on the way home from work today. This particular model didn't have a network interface, but I was able to get it working with a cheap Airlink+ print server.

I was able to get it working over the network with both my mac and XP machine, and it is fast, quiet and has good print quality. As an added bonus it has a drawer for the paper, as opposed to simply having the paper sticking out of the machine where the cats can sit on it.

 

[kps]

$80 for a laser printer...how can you go wrong, eh?

How far we've come...

 

[ZRXer]

I picked up a Brother HL-2040 for $80 on the way home from work today. This particular model didn't have a network interface, but I was able to get it working with a cheap Airlink+ print server.

I was about to recommend this printer. We are running it off an Airport Express in a closet. It's quiet, warms up immediately, and freakin' cheap. And it prints very nicely - even graphics look very good on it. Good choice, especially for the money.