Laser printers?

I just saw an ad for a HP laserjet printer for $359. Does anybody here use a laser printer for photographs? How do they compare for quality, cost, cost per page, reliability etc. Also, are there reasonably priced large format lasers?

If you have any other comments on laser/inkjet comparisons, feel free.

Thanks,
Diderot

Hi Diderot

I bought the Konica Minolta 2400W color laser printer a couple of weeks ago from Costco.com

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11036382&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&N=4015982&Mo=84&No=49&ViewAll=85&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=54023&Ns=P_Price~1~~P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&topnav=

A $50 rebate from Konica Minolta. Good through the rest of this month.

http://printer.konicaminolta.com/rebate/july06/2400W_7_2_9_30_073_ $50.pdf

Costco has a very good return policy. Even though you order it from Costco.com you can return it to any local Costco warehouse store. They return all your money even shipping and if you do return it back to Costco.com they also pay for the return shipping.

I am just a point and shoot picture taker. So anything I print is for my own use or to give to relatives or friends. So for my needs this is an excellent Printer. Much better than I was expecting from a color laser. Colors and skin tones are very very close. I'm a very happy and think you will also be happy with this printer.

WARNING:

If you do decide to purchase a laser color printer. Do not use any inkjet glossy or coated paper in the printer. Some of those papers can melt and stick to the fuser assembly and ruin the printer. The fuser gets very hot on laser printers.

I purchased some laser glossy paper from staples. The store will match the internet price if you have one locally.

http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?prodCatType=0&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=146681&cmArea=SEARCH

My printer also prints nice prints on regular paper.
--
Norm

in terms of quality, print sizes, and control. I've never known anyone to use a laser for photos.

Diderot ...

This may be of interest to you ... http://www.graytex.com/photo-laser-paper.htm ...

wiz

I have a Minolta 2430DL laser with picbridge figuring it was optimized for pictures. Using 48 pound glossy paper the pics come out a mattish quality because of the toner. The colors are noticably brighter with my R1800. For proofs I guess it would be OK. If I am printing for quality I would use the inkjet. I tried to make the laser liik as good but it just couldn't do it. The colors are just much more vivid and alive compared to my laser. Hope this helps.

Roy
--
Stop pointing fingers and lend a hand.

Appreciate the comments folks. Seems like I better lay off laser for now, though. Judging from your input, the quality doesn't quite seem to make it, compared to inkjet.

Thanks,
Diderot

For large prints, as a4, a3 - you can get satisfactory results. I test this with a KM5450 on a4 and a kmC250 on a3 size. The conttone feature become effective for above. Talking about price and rentability, I cannot yet do an estimation.
Regards.