Wireless printer or not.

[Dave Lehnert]

want to get a cheap laser printer (Black and white) I have a question about if I need a wireless printer or not.

My desktop IS NOT wireless. My laptop IS wireless.
If I plug my desktop into my router and the printer into my router, can I print from my desktop and notebook since everything is going through my router? This is with a NON-wireless printer.

[Roy Harding]

If your router has wireless, then yes. AND, the printer is network ready - IE, it doesn't need to be slaved off another device - it has it's own IP address.

[Dan Hintz]

I picked up an OKI MC361 multi-function color laser/copier/scanner last year for $400. I added a cheap ($25) WAP/repeater from NewEgg and connected to the printer's Ethernet connector. The printer now sits in a far corner of the room with only a power cord going to it. It has cleared a lot of free space from the desktop.

[Stephen Cherry]

I picked up a cheap, huge, hp printer for home use. (maybe 25 dollars). Added a ethernet print server that is plugged into the router. With this I can print from the laptop anywhere in the house.

One advantage of the big HP printers is that they hold a lot of toner, and can print lots of pages for not a lot of money. If I had planned ahead, I would have gotten one with a built in print server.

[Matt Meiser]

You can share a printer that's physically plugged into PC #1 with any other computer on your network but if you've got a network printer (wired or wireless) it generally makes things easier. For one, PC #1 won't have to be on for PC #2 to print.

My work printer is a Brother multifunction machine and I've got a dirt-cheap Brother laser hooked to my shop PC. Both have been great other than that the sheet feeder skews scans on the multifunction. That's not just mine either as we all have them and "everyone" talks about it. The latter isn't networked but I've probably had it 5 years so they might make something like it with network capability now. The last two HP printers I've bought have gone back to Costco because I couldn't get them to connect to my network. Only 2 devices I've ever had even a hint of trouble with so I blame HP. Our current Epson inkjet is connected wireless with ease.

[Jerome Stanek]

What you want to do is how mine is set up. I can print from any wired or wireless computer.

[Curt Harms]

You can make most any printer wireless. It's likely cheaper, simpler and more reliable to get that capability out of the box. It seemed there was a speed penalty to using wireless networking vs. wired connection but with the widespread availability of N speed wireless, I'm not sure if there's still a speed penalty with wireless printing or not.

[Stephen Cherry]

The last two HP printers I've bought have gone back to Costco because I couldn't get them to connect to my network.

One thing about the HP's, I put them in two differenct catagories: the home user level printers that can cost a fortune to run, and the huge bare bones professional machines that spew out sheet after sheet after sheet. These big machines are simple (in my limited experience) to hook up, and cost almost nothing to run. The toner cartridges can be bought on amazon, and will produce literally thousands and thousands of pages. I got tired of he ink jet "racket", and went with these big printers, and have not regretted it for a minute.

[Biff Johnson]

I would say spring for the wireless, most the time it won't cost you any extra. I picked up the Okidata 361 laser at Staples for $149. I have been really impressed with this machine so far. Also have an HP Officejet 100 for $120 off Amazon and it has been a workhorse around the home.

[Gary Harmond]

Wireless Printing is great especially if more than One person/computer is using it. Not haveing to move wires or turn on extra computers is useful.

I have 4 kids and multiple computers/tablets/etc. and with the wireless printer I don't have to worry about who is on which computer (they are networked for sharing) so that they can print on the "cheap" laser instead of the inkjet.

[Dave Lehnert]

Looking at a Brother printer. Reading something about having to replace the drum. Looks like a replacement drum is around $100. How often does this have to be done for lite home use?

[Matt Meiser]

Here's some interesting information from my Brother multifunction. If my drum cost is $100, its about $0.004 per page. I replaced the toner once maybe 4 years ago. It complained about low toner a couple months ago. I bought a new one but took the old one out and shook it. Hasn't complained since. Someone else had it before me so I don't know its full history--I think it was a year or so old when I got it 6-1/2 years ago. The original catridge was probably a "starter" catridge that didn't last real long.

Document feeder jams usually are wrinkled receipts I'm trying to scan.

Paper tray jams are usually overfilling the tray.

Node Information
Model Name	Brother MFC-8860DN
Serial no.	**********
MFC Firmware Version	J
NIC Firmware Version	1.12
Memory Size	32 Mbytes
Device Status
Page Counter	8061
Drum Count	8061
Toner Information
Number of times replaced	2
Drum Information
Estimated Pages Remaining*	16939 pages
(% of Life Remaining)*	(66.00%)
Number of times replaced	0
Total Pages Printed
Fax	46 pages
Copy	1670 pages
PC Print	6345 pages
Total Pages Scanned
ADF**	1852 pages
Flatbed	552 pages
Total Paper Jams	29
Jam MP Tray	0
Jam Tray #1	24
Jam Tray #2	0
Jam Inside	4
Jam Rear	0
Jam Duplex	1
Total Paper Jams (ADF)**	17

[Curt Harms]

Looking at a Brother printer. Reading something about having to replace the drum. Looks like a replacement drum is around $100. How often does this have to be done for lite home use?

You can find Brother compatible drums for less than $100. Their blurb says 12,000-20,000 pages depending on model at 5% coverage so for home use? Quite a while.

http://www.inkowl.com/?C=2&S=29&B=1