All in one color laser printer that prints photos: I have a very good friend who wants to purchase an all-in-one color laser printer; print, copy and scan. She also would like it to be...

twillsol Loc: St. Louis, MO

I have a very good friend who wants to purchase an all-in-one color laser printer; print, copy and scan.
She also would like it to be able to print photos. Her budget is around $300 - $400.
I do not know of any laser printer that produces decent photos. Have any of you any experience with this and/or any suggestions?
Thank you.

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

Not for any good lasers printer to do what she wants to pay for. For one that good cost is $12,000 to $85,000. Maybe she needs look for an ink jet printer?

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

twillsol wrote:

I have a very good friend who wants to purchase an all-in-one color laser printer; print, copy and scan.
She also would like it to be able to print photos. Her budget is around $300 - $400.
I do not know of any laser printer that produces decent photos. Have any of you any experience with this and/or any suggestions?
Thank you.

I don't have any experience with these, but HP, Brother & I think Canon have some that are in the upper part of that range or just above. I am not impressed with HP's scanning in general, but the printing is usually quite good. We have some HP laser printers at work that produce very good to excellent color photos, but we don't have any that are all-in-one type. I had a Brother laser printer many years ago (B&W) that was quite good, but supplies were quite expensive.

Might want to check for some refurb'ed units.

Personally, I would get a color laser for printing and then a color inkjet all-in-one for the rest. The laser would be reserved for the truly important items due to the cost of supplies.

brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

The industry standard has transferred over to ink-jet printers. Since the emphasis of inkjet printers are the printing industry's priority, I think you should concentrate on inkjet.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

twillsol wrote:

I have a very good friend who wants to purchase an all-in-one color laser printer; print, copy and scan.
She also would like it to be able to print photos. Her budget is around $300 - $400.
I do not know of any laser printer that produces decent photos. Have any of you any experience with this and/or any suggestions?
Thank you.

I don't think you will find any laser printers that do a good job printing continuous tone photographs due to the nature of the technology.

Laser printers use a plastic powder ("toner") that adheres to a drum illuminated by a laser which is then passed to the paper and melted onto that. The granule size of the toner particles, plus their inability to really blend, makes for relatively poor photo output.

By contrast, inkjet and dye sublimation technologies use inks that blend on a much tinier microscopic scale (as tiny droplets with inkjet, as gas vapors with dye sub) and can thus give smoother tonal changes across an image.

For what your friend wants, particularly at that price point, inkjet is likely a better way to go (to my knowledge there are no all-in-one dye sub printers and anyway they require you use the specific papers made for them which most folks find too limiting).

Nikon_DonB Loc: Chicago

Nope. not in a Laser. Get a good Epson All-in-one.

Corolyn Loc: Live in TN

I am new to this site, but understand your friend's problem. Recently I have been checking into the same type of printers. they are way to expensive for my budget too. I have a Canon inkjet printer/scanner/fax and it does not reproduce color accurately. I am an artist and would love to print my own photos too but I find that to be impossible with the technology at its present cost. Even getting a print from 35mm film instead of digital has become a problem in my area. Every place sends it out to be processed and I never know what I am going to get back. Advise your friend that she should instead locate a reputable printer of photos in her area who can guarantee accurate prints in whatever size. I know it's a chore but finding one will be a lot less expensive than hoping for something that doesn't exist as yet.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

twillsol wrote:

I have a very good friend who wants to purchase an all-in-one color laser printer; print, copy and scan.
She also would like it to be able to print photos. Her budget is around $300 - $400.
I do not know of any laser printer that produces decent photos. Have any of you any experience with this and/or any suggestions?
Thank you.

Laser printers in general are not at their best with photos. At $300 to $400 you'll get a decent printer but photos will be mediocre. If she doesn't have high standards maybe one will suffice.

DaveMM Loc: Port Elizabeth, South Africa

f8lee wrote:

I don't think you will find any laser printers that do a good job printing continuous tone photographs due to the nature of the technology.

I fully agree. My experience of colour laser printers is fairly old, but I would only use one for colour graphics and similar tasks, not for photographs.

ralphc4176 Loc: Conyers, GA

You will not get a decent color laser all-in-one for $400, if you're looking for something to make good prints of photos. I'd recommend a color inkjet--Epson's top of the line color inkjet all-in-one does a very good job of printing photographs for the stated price range.
For printing color photographs on a laser printer, I have (in the past) found the best results in the higher-priced HP models. I currently have an HP CP3505, no longer in production, which makes a color print as good as anything else I had seen in the under $5K price range. I haven't shopped lately, so I don't know if HP still does the best job. I'd recommend taking a computer and a USB cable to a store which sells a variety of color laser printers and printing to each one to see which one gives the best results.

jgitomer Loc: Skippack Pennsylvania

twillsol wrote:

I have a very good friend who wants to purchase an all-in-one color laser printer; print, copy and scan.
She also would like it to be able to print photos. Her budget is around $300 - $400.
I do not know of any laser printer that produces decent photos. Have any of you any experience with this and/or any suggestions?
Thank you.

Something you may want to explore.

Yesterday I saw some prints produced by Costco. The quality was great and the cost was less than printing at home.

Jerry

AntonioReyna Loc: Los Angeles, California

I bought an all in one HP color laser printer for a special project but stopped using it because of the extremely high cost to operate. You are better getting a very good copier/printer/fax/scanner for about $125 and using the rest of the money to get a Canon or Epson printer, for good quality prints.

twillsol wrote:

I have a very good friend who wants to purchase an all-in-one color laser printer; print, copy and scan.
She also would like it to be able to print photos. Her budget is around $300 - $400.
I do not know of any laser printer that produces decent photos. Have any of you any experience with this and/or any suggestions?
Thank you.

twillsol Loc: St. Louis, MO

Thank you all for your input and advice. She has decided not to worry about printing pictures on the all in one and will look at a dedicated printer for her photos.

Thanks Again!

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Corolyn wrote:

I am new to this site, but understand your friend'... (show quote)

FYI...I find that the WalMarts, around here, who have Fuji Fronteer systems, tend to make at least acceptable prints for pennies. You might also look for a closeby photo store with a lab. Other than that, some of the national labs do quite a good job. For the do-it-yourselfers, you can't beat aN Epson photo printer. I have two photo printers, two all-in-ones, and a laser (monochrome) printer, some of which have "collected" over the years!

ballsafire Loc: Lafayette, Louisiana

twillsol wrote:

Thank you all for your input and advice. She has decided not to worry about printing pictures on the all in one and will look at a dedicated printer for her photos.

Thanks Again!

Hewlett Packard model 451costs about $1,000. It prints very nice photos! Ink jet printers are very messy, clogs up and costs a lot of money in the long run. It will save you money in ink expenses plus it connects to my Mac through wifi (no wires). The printer is a bit expensive (for now) but is worth the price and uses all kinds of paper (within reason). I have owned ink jet printers and know what I'm talking about!