Advice: monochrome or a color multi-function laser printer?

[addicted-to-ink]

Hello ladies and gents! I've recently gotten into heat transfer foils and I'm looking to buy a laser printer that I can use to print out designs to foil as well as do day-to-day printing.

I know I definitely want a multi-function so I can use the scanning capability, but I'm not sure whether to buy a monochrome or a color laser printer. I currently have as inkjet color printer but I didn't print in color much as the inks kept drying and as a result I rarely printed in color.

It's likely I'll be printing in black and white most of the time but I like the idea of having the option to print in both black and in color. However, color laser printers are more expensive and I'd have to buy the CMY toners etc.


Thoughts? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And any printer recommendations would be great, too, as I've heard some inks don't adhere to the foil very well.

[Stampisa]

Hi

I was in the same situation a few weeks ago and went with a colored all-in-one printer. And I'm very happy I did it. Even I use color only once in a while I'm glad to have it and as toner doesn't dry out, the CMY toners will last for a very long time. I decided on a printer model for which I can get cheaper no-name toners if I need some.

But the best feature is anyway the wireless printing. I can now print straight from my mobile phone. I'm in printer heaven.

[addicted-to-ink]

Thank you Stampisa! That was really helpful. Would you mind sharing what brand/model you purchased? Do you do any foiling with your printer?

[bwstamper]

I have a HP MFP M277DW color laser all in one. I like the printer and the black print is great but the color not so good. This is my second HP color laser and neither one had good color print. I personally think the color is much better on ink jets.

[Stampisa]

I have a HP M177fw Color LaserJet Pro. The main reason for a laser printer was the toner which doesn't dry out. Don't ask me how many of my color ink cartridges where dry when I tried to print after a long time....

I'm happy with the colors, I think that they are better than the ones from my old ink jet printer but I had an old-timer, so maybe this is no comparison.

And no, I don't do any foiling

[Copperkids]

I have both color laser and black and white laser. If I only had to get one - I would get black as that's the majority of the printing I do. But these days laser printers are so cheap. I just saw some on Amazon for $65 ! Ok not cheap like $20 but I meant to say very cost effective. I always buy off brand ink from eBay and never had a problem. I prefer Samsung and canon brands but the reviews I read are good on all brands

[addicted-to-ink]

Thanks for your input, everyone! I ended up purchasing a HP M277DW and I love having the option of printing in color and not needing to worry about the ink drying out! And the toner foils beautifully with deco foil/heidi swapp reactive foil!