I have a 5 year old Samsung CLP-610 at home that I've been very happy with, but it's starting to develop some nasty streaks. I'm probably looking at having to replace the transfer belt and a new set of OEM cartridges (I kept refilling the originals. I'm cheap, what can I say :D ).
Rather than spending on the parts it's probably easier to just get a new one, and keep this for printouts where the quality doesn't matter.
Here's what I would like
- max $350
- High-ish capacity bundled cartridges(!), not that 500-1000 page starter crud. This is a deal breaker for me.
- Easily refilled
- Reliable
- Wired networking ... no need for wireless
That little 610 met all of that (I think I got 4-5000 pages out of it before the first refill). In 5 years (I kid you not) I haven't had a single paper jam. If I could, I would just buy another one.
One other nice-to-have that I haven't mentioned would be "shiny" colors achieved by those waxy toners (the 610's output is a bit on the dull side).
The Brother HL4150CDN appears to meet all of these, except for shiny colors. I also looked at the Samsung 680ND, but the reviews were somewhat mixed on Amazon and also wasn't obvious whether it comes with a regular yield cartridge or a starter one.
Really, this is probably the hardest part of the research. The description usually avoids talking about the yield of the included cartridges (so I just automatically assume starter) and then I have to dig through the often conflicting reviews to get an idea about the bundled toner.
Thanks in advance,
Janos