I spend most of my time at work printing labels. These are vinyl pages in full color. I currently have four Epson 880s, because my boss buys them cheap off eBay and we can get really cheap ink.
They’re dying. I have no extras at the moment and the last time he bought replacements we had to send back half of them. We need a newer model.
So, what I need:
Easy to find, preferably not the newest model (he spends less than $100 ea on them)
Easy to find cheap generic ink
Can handle LOTS of printing (I do upwards of 200 pages a week on each printer)
Can handle thick paper (well, vinyl labels) without jamming
Good quality printing (we fairly often use photographs as backgrounds, but it doesn’t need to be photographic quality. I think I have them set at 720 dpi)
So all you gurus, what say ye?
Staples and Officemax are selling the very good HP Laserjet 2600n for half price ($200, vice 400) this week. Probably a rebate. I’m also told you’ll get $50 credit for recycling a printer. I have no idea whether these will feed your labels, of if laser vinyl labels are available.
Generally, lasers are cheaper to feed than inkjets. You can buy OEM cartridges (going for abt $50 apiece on ebay), or just buy the powder (toner) and pour it in, just as you can squirt ink into an inkjet cartridge. In your cost calculations, though, you’ll need to remember the transport belt cost, which does need to be replaced periodically, and (I think) the imaging unit.
A business laser will have a much higher duty cycle than the inkjet (plus a warranty, as it’s new). It’ll also be much faster. The 2600n is networkable.
These lasers are not really photo quality, though… they will print acceptable photos, but inkjets still have 'em beat.
HP does make workgroup-type inkjet printers with a higher duty cycle (the model 1300 from a long time ago, for instance). You could look for one of those.
I use an Epson R300 (R200 is the same printer, minus some bells & whistles). I’ve attached a cheap after-market continuous-ink system from ebay to it, and it works like a champ. It cuts the ink cost to almost zip, and you can print hundreds of pages without changing cartridges. Print quality is superb. I don’t know how well it will feed your material, however.