Either one is OK. My first requirement is emulation, Postscript is a necessity. PCL is good, GDI is a nono. If your duty cycle is low, the cp1515 is adequate. Printers are now considered throw away.

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hi wizard-fred; could you pls be so kind to explain what you mean? (few words is ok) - i dont know much about printers sorry :( should I check if the printer i'm going to buy has these? if not whats wrong? (and what do you mean are considered throw away?) thanks

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Emulation is the control language of the printer. I like Postscript because I use non-Windows computers. A GDI printer depends upon a Windows computer to generate the page image. PCL is the control language developed by HP. The 1515 and 3055 have both Postscript and PCL. A cheaper printer the 1215 has neither. My friend has a large older color HP laser. The ex-HP repairman said that parts are too expensive and to throw it away and get a new cheaper color printer when it dies. The 1215 is $150 at OfficeDepot this week. The 1515 is on;y $400.

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yea those are the prices more or less i was going for the 3505 tho coz reviews say its much better quality then the 1515 (tho i have my doubts). and most of all but what struck me most is the 6000pg / toner (at 5%) considering its 6000 vs 2000 pages...the prices per toner of 3505 is nowhere near 3x as much!!

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Lee82 One good thing about toner is that it doesn't dry out fast, like ink. I have cartridges that have been in place for two years and work fine. You are correct in your assessment of the cost per sheet. The larger the cartridge the cheaper cost per page. One thing you may want to research is weather or not generic toner cartridges will work or not. If a color laser printer is priced at $149 then it probably doesn't come with cartridges at all or just starter cartridges. Not the 2000 page capacity. Probably more like 100 page. If you belong to Sam's Club or Costco, look at their printers. I am not sure if things are still the same but when I bought my 2300DL it came with all the cartridges, drum, etc. They were the larger capacity too. The price to buy all those at that time was only $100 less than what I paid for the printer. The only compliant I could make about my 2300 is that it is noisy. One thing about HP is they don't support their products for very long. So one or two generations later of Windows they probably won't release any new drivers and won't even host previously released drivers.

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Hi othehill Noise isn't much a problem around here so far (as long as it prints good!) are generic toners, the compatible ones? how can I make sure they do work? (i mean if I do find compatible toners, for that model, online for sale i presume that they do work?) As for a starter toner cartridges or a full one, i've read online that 1515 comes with a starter and 3505 has full ones - but which would be the best source to confirm? (can't find it under HP website, which is quite obvious... and i can't rely much on the local salesmen...not that trustworthy when 'quoted'...) (and yea its bad for HP not supporting older models - specially on the expensive ones :( ...another reason for dual booting!)

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FYI Printer starter toner cartridge means it's half the capacity of what you would get if you buy the cartridge separately. i_Xp/VistaUser

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UpUser Half or even less.

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but how can u tell? apart from buying and using...

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You cannot buy Starter cartridge. Starter cartridge comes only with the new printer. i_Xp/VistaUser

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That is the point I was making when I mentioned it. It is possible to buy a printer with full cartridges included. However, that fact would be advertised or at least mentioned on the box or the specs for the unit. That is no small change expenditure either. Three color cartridges plus black. The OEM KM color cartridges for my printer cost about $120 each.

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yea what i meant was "how can you tell if the printer you're purchasing has full or teaser toners only..." i'll try checking the box or maybe some online manual; cause indeed - purchasing a full set of toners will cost more then the printer :(

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Look at the first link below. Xerox has a lot of info on that link including what is in the box and an online demo. http://www.office.xerox.com/printer... It seems as though if you go to the manufacturer's sites you will find a lot of info. This link to Konica Minolta has a specs tab that tells you what cartridges come with it and what others are available. http://kmbs.konicaminolta.us/conten... I suggest you have a look at both those brands. I doubt HP makes their own printers anyway.

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Unless it states you should assume they are starter or at best standard cartridges. I can't recall at the moment (too lazy to look it up) what Konica Minolta calls their larger capacity cartridges but they are labeled differently and the printer setup has options for both kinds. In the case of my printer I don't know if it ever came with starter cartridges as I haven't seen any setting to allow for them.

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Over the Hill - Have you tried refilling the konica-minolta cartridges? They are marked with a color square over the H for high capacity and S for standard.

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wizard No, I have not tried refilling them. I have bought generics though. I still have all the toner cartridges I have ever used. I suspect the High capacity and the Standard capacity are the same exact cartridge with just more toner in it. I don't know enough about toner to gamble with self refill. I have had bad experiences in the past with refilling Canon Inkjet tanks. I plugged up more than one print head that way. In the end it was more expensive. I am not currently printing enough to worry about refilling cartridges.

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ive just figured out kyocera's (some models) have a seperate drum then the cartridge itself...do you think it's that a pro or con? and how long do drums serve? (most of refill kits include new drums as they wore out after a couple of 1000s print)

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I am still using the original drum on my unit after 6 years. I think the sheet count for the drum should be part of the specs on the manufacturer's site. If it isn't accompanying the printer itself go to the consumables page and look at replacement drums. The life expectancy should be listed. If memory serves me correctly I believe drums are long lasting but fragile. Toughing the wrong surface can damage it. If you want an education on these things I suggest you find a toll free number for the manufacturer's site and talk to sales or tech support about it. You may learn why they think their product is better than some others too. That may also help to determine how well that company supports their products. I have called on my printer when I had issues while changing cartridges. The printer was long out of warranty and they still assisted me.

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Drum life depends upon printer design. Some don't have drums they have belts. Life is frequently approximately 3-5x the full charge toner capacity of one color. If you want maximum life use the same full size paper. Pages less than full width put nicks in the toner transfer surface.

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