Printer memory -- how much do I need?

[andicap]

Am considering buying one of two new Brother laser printers.
One has 8 MB Ram but uses a ton of power -- 460 w. (5040) The other uses only 340 watts, but has only 4 MB RAM and is non-expandable. (1435). Prices are comparable.

I use my printer primarily for word documents related to my work and racing -- 30 page or so printouts for racing cards or a DRF, etc.
Not too many graphics, etc.

I have an HP 932c inkjet now -- don't even know how much RAM is in there but it's pretty slow. Takes forever to print out anything over 3 or 4 pages.


Do I need 8 MB RAM or can I get by with four.

(reason I'm looking heavily at Brother is how inexpensive it is to print, good reviews. H-P is more than twice as expensive per page.)

[BillW]

Andi,

There is probably not going to be that much difference. In either case it will be much faster than an inkjet.

The reason for the power usage is that laser printers contain a heating element just like a copier does (to melt the toner onto the paper). It is only on for the few seconds that the printer is printing. Standby power is much lower.

If you are buying at a store arrange a demonstration using one of your own documents.

I'm curious about how you came up with your per page cost comparison?

Bill

BTW, I get a 40 page past performance printed in maybe 2 minutes as opposed to over 10 with the old inkjet (at about 1/4 the cost)

[DJofSD]

The more memory the better.

Not knowing Brothers' equipment, I don't know if they have their own protocol that would save memory or not (like HP does).

Key understanding - the page you print even if it is just "text" is actually an image, i.e. it has been rendered as a graphical image. Also, this conversion takes place in your PC and not the printer. The entire image is shipped to the printer and the printer needs enough memory to contain that image.

If you ever anticipate needing to print dense graphical images say like the most dense DRF past performance data and on legal size paper, you'll want as much memory as possible.

DJofSD

[andicap]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm now thinking of buying the Samsung 1740 laser with 8 MB RAM, but the toner does not last as long as the Brother printers so it's more expensive to use but still much better than my inkjet.

Uses much less power than the Brother with 8 MB RAM (I have fuse issues in my basement on my circuit-breaker ). So the money I save on priinting with the Brother will just go to Con Ed.