Printer Suggestions?

[CincyHorseplayer]

I still like to have printed PP's for full day play and now that the DRF is nearly obsolete in this city I am planning on printing phone books! So I need to upgrade my printer so I am not constantly running to the store to buy inkjets. Just wanted everybody's suggestions on high output printers, cost, pages per inkjet and whatever else you can add.

Thanks gang.

[JustRalph]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2340674,00.asp

Give it a look

[CincyHorseplayer]

Thanks Ralph.

[Mulerider]

I've used black-and-white HP LaserJets for years with no issues, running thousands of copies through them. Last November Best Buy had a Black Friday sale on Samsung lasers for $49, and I bought one. It works fine, too. I think you'll find that your biggest problem is the cost of the factory replacement cartridges, which can run $75 for my HP. But you can find them for less than a third of that price if you'll look online for refilled cartridges. Amazon has a huge selection.

Mule

[Cutter14]

I bought a laser printer HL-3140cw (Brothers) about 6 months ago...love it..not too pricey

[bruin95]

For high volume printing, I would personally stay away from ink jet printers. Laser is the way to go.

[CincyHorseplayer]

For high volume printing, I would personally stay away from ink jet printers. Laser is the way to go.

Yeah I had an ancient HP printer and an XL black cartride would print almost 900 pages. I have a Canon now and it will start running low at 250 pages at $25 a cartridge. Knew there were better options out there.

[Dave Schwartz]

Because of the deals available from HP on "Instant Ink," our ink jet is far less expensive than our laser printer. For $10 per month you get 300 pages and they have cheaper deals. There is even a monthly carryover feature.

The most interesting thing is that they do not differentiate between black vs color! Now, maybe if you were printing 300 photo-quality pages per month they would reign you in, but I've not seen any references to practical maximums.

Were it not for the binding we'd print our par times on the ink jet instead of having them printed. (Only about 3% of our total sales are print copy now.)

BTW, the way it works is that the printer is constantly "phoning home," and when a cartridge is getting low (based upon our usage) the send one in the mail. (We actually got them to agree to make sure we always had an entire set ahead.)

So, at 3.3 cents per page, it is cheaper than anything out there. As I understand, current costs are over 6 cents for laser in black and slightly higher in inkjets.

Note that not all HP printers are "Instant Ink" compatible.


Dave

[CincyHorseplayer]

Still researching suggestions but I think I landed on a very good looking deal.

http://www.brother-usa.com/printer/modeldetail/1/hll8250cdn/spec

$250 for the printer. A $55 black ink toner yields 4,000 pages. A $96 color yields 3,500. Double sided page printing.

What do you think?

[therussmeister]

Because of the deals available from HP on "Instant Ink," our ink jet is far less expensive than our laser printer. For $10 per month you get 300 pages and they have cheaper deals. There is even a monthly carryover feature.

The most interesting thing is that they do not differentiate between black vs color! Now, maybe if you were printing 300 photo-quality pages per month they would reign you in, but I've not seen any references to practical maximums.

Were it not for the binding we'd print our par times on the ink jet instead of having them printed. (Only about 3% of our total sales are print copy now.)

BTW, the way it works is that the printer is constantly "phoning home," and when a cartridge is getting low (based upon our usage) the send one in the mail. (We actually got them to agree to make sure we always had an entire set ahead.)

So, at 3.3 cents per page, it is cheaper than anything out there. As I understand, current costs are over 6 cents for laser in black and slightly higher in inkjets.

Note that not all HP printers are "Instant Ink" compatible.


Dave

Toner for my Brother printer costs about 1 penny per page. I use third party toner. I pay $23.95 per cartridge and get a bit over 2400 pages using 'toner save mode' which is barely distinguishable from regular mode. Regular mode gets me 1450 pages per cartridge.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Toner for my Brother printer costs about 1 penny per page. I use third party toner. I pay $23.95 per cartridge and get a bit over 2400 pages using 'toner save mode' which is barely distinguishable from regular mode. Regular mode gets me 1450 pages per cartridge.

What model do you have Russmeister?

[Dave Schwartz]

Toner for my Brother printer costs about 1 penny per page. I use third party toner. I pay $23.95 per cartridge and get a bit over 2400 pages using 'toner save mode' which is barely distinguishable from regular mode. Regular mode gets me 1450 pages per cartridge.

WOW!

[bruin95]

Also something to think about with inkjet vs. laser, laser printers are much faster than inkjet. Also, inkjets have a tendency to clog.

[therussmeister]

What model do you have Russmeister?

HL-L2300D

It was the cheapest Brother printer I could find which is always my strategy. It was on sale for $55.

By the way, there is cheaper toner than what I buy, but those get too many bad reviews so I have never tried any.

[therussmeister]

One other thing. There is one more expense to consider with laser printers, you eventually have to replace the drum, which is relatively expensive, but I have found I can get well over 10,000 more pages out of a drum than the manufacturer says.

[CincyHorseplayer]

One other thing. There is one more expense to consider with laser printers, you eventually have to replace the drum, which is relatively expensive, but I have found I can get well over 10,000 more pages out of a drum than the manufacturer says.

Drum for the Brother LL-L8250CDN model I put up is $150. If you are saying that it goes 10K over it's expectation that is 35K in pages. That would cover more than 3 years in my estimation. That is tolerable.

My daughter prints things out for her business at 100 or more copies per. Plus I write and print most of it out. And much of the profiling results I will print to sit and ponder as I hate always staring at a computer. Anyway the model above seems apropos for my needs without breaking the bank. But anything else to add I am all ears!

[Clocker]

One other thing. There is one more expense to consider with laser printers, you eventually have to replace the drum, which is relatively expensive, but I have found I can get well over 10,000 more pages out of a drum than the manufacturer says.

That depends on the printer. I know Brother has a replaceable drum. HP does not. I have a low end HP laser that I have used for many years with no costs other than toner.

[Clocker]

Drum for the Brother LL-L8250CDN model I put up is $150. If you are saying that it goes 10K over it's expectation that is 35K in pages. That would cover more than 3 years in my estimation. That is tolerable.

My daughter prints things out for her business at 100 or more copies per. Plus I write and print most of it out. And much of the profiling results I will print to sit and ponder as I hate always staring at a computer. Anyway the model above seems apropos for my needs without breaking the bank. But anything else to add I am all ears!

No matter what printer you use, ink or toner is a big issue. I have an HP laser and a Brother ink jet for color. Personally, I would make sure that there was a reliable source of inexpensive toner or ink before buying a printer.

After trying many different sources, I use V4INK toner for the HP. It is $21.99 for 2 cartridges from Amazon. I have used at least a dozen of those without a single problem. As far as I can tell, I get as many copies from one of these as from a $75 HP original.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009VQ5IDI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=A2LWXBWN4DTXYS&psc=1 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009VQ5IDI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=A2LWXBWN4DTXYS&psc=1)

For the Brother ink jet, I use Blake Printing Supply ink, also from Amazon. The link is to my recent purchase, $19.99 for 3 cartridges of each color including 3 of the extra large black. That was my 3rd order from them, also never had a problem.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008LDTRWA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008LDTRWA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

A hint on printing PPs for those who haven't done it much. I print half the card one-sided, flip the stack over, put it back in the printer and print the other half. That way you don't have horses from the same race on both sides of the same sheet of paper. Make sure you test your printer first to see how it feeds. One HP I had was loaded blank side up in the tray to print on the back, another HP loaded printed side up.

[CincyHorseplayer]

No matter what printer you use, ink or toner is a big issue. I have an HP laser and a Brother ink jet for color. Personally, I would make sure that there was a reliable source of inexpensive toner or ink before buying a printer.

After trying many different sources, I use V4INK toner for the HP. It is $21.99 for 2 cartridges from Amazon. I have used at least a dozen of those without a single problem. As far as I can tell, I get as many copies from one of these as from a $75 HP original.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009VQ5IDI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=A2LWXBWN4DTXYS&psc=1 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009VQ5IDI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=A2LWXBWN4DTXYS&psc=1)

For the Brother ink jet, I use Blake Printing Supply ink, also from Amazon. The link is to my recent purchase, $19.99 for 3 cartridges of each color including 3 of the extra large black. That was my 3rd order from them, also never had a problem.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008LDTRWA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008LDTRWA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

A hint on printing PPs for those who haven't done it much. I print half the card one-sided, flip the stack over, put it back in the printer and print the other half. That way you don't have horses from the same race on both sides of the same sheet of paper. Make sure you test your printer first to see how it feeds. One HP I had was loaded blank side up in the tray to print on the back, another HP loaded printed side up.

Thanks Clocker I appreciate the detailed post. Am going to do my due diligence on this. Have everything ready to go for Toga and Del Mar.

As far as PP's I love DRF Classic but thinking about Formulator PP's. What do you suggest? I like adding notes to things but I bet I could go faster with 3 colored pens than something on there. I would literally have to add about 40-50 different numbers, symbols, and outline/underlines. I would love to do that but not sure if it's possible to inject your own shorthand/methodology into another program.

[Clocker]

So, at 3.3 cents per page, it is cheaper than anything out there. As I understand, current costs are over 6 cents for laser in black and slightly higher in inkjets.

Note that not all HP printers are "Instant Ink" compatible.


Dave

The original HP toner cartridge for my printer is $62.00 from Amazon. HP claims 2000 pages, which works out to 3.1 cents per page.

As I said above, I use a generic brand that costs me about $11. I think I get about the same number of pages, but don't track it that closely. Even if I only got 1500 pages per cartridge, and I know I get more than that, that would still be less than a penny a page.

Different people have different situations, but for the way I work, I found it much more convenient and economical to have two printers, a good black and white laser and a budget 4-color ink jet.

[therussmeister]

That depends on the printer. I know Brother has a replaceable drum. HP does not. I have a low end HP laser that I have used for many years with no costs other than toner.

Some models of printers have the drum unit included with the toner cartridge, which increases the cost of the toner. I have no idea if this is cheaper or not on the long run.

It should be mentioned that manufacturer claims of pages per cartridge is based on 5% coverage. If you google for an example of 5% coverage you will note that past performances are easily more than 5%. So you should not count on getting the same page count that the manufacturer claims.

[Dave Schwartz]

The original HP toner cartridge for my printer is $62.00 from Amazon. HP claims 2000 pages, which works out to 3.1 cents per page.

As I said above, I use a generic brand that costs me about $11. I think I get about the same number of pages, but don't track it that closely. Even if I only got 1500 pages per cartridge, and I know I get more than that, that would still be less than a penny a page.

Different people have different situations, but for the way I work, I found it much more convenient and economical to have two printers, a good black and white laser and a budget 4-color ink jet.

We came to the same conclusion.

BTW, we're still using the same HP-MP6 that we bought in 1996. (The old P-II's that we bought about 1990 are still doing duty with family members.)

[Longshot6977]

You will rarely get the number of pages per toner cartridge that the manufacturer quotes. It is based on a 5% coverage like Russ said. 5% coverage on a single sided page is about 170 five letter words. I used to be a Product Manager for Laser products at Brother International. And be careful if you buy very cheap toner as it can cause scratches on your expensive drum. The cheap toner has rough-edged carbon particles which can cause scratches versus the OEM poly coated round particles with no rough edges(you can only see this difference under a microscope).

However, if you do get scratches on your drum (which show up as light black lines in the same plane on the printouts) they can be cleaned off with 91% isopropyl alcohol and light rubbing with a very soft eraser or cotton cloth.

[barn32]

A friend of mine bought a continuous ink printer on AMZN for ~$125, and he swore by it. He said it hardly used any ink at all. Of course, I don't think he was printing 100 pages a day.

I asked him for a link, and after searching he said that it looks like they discontinued it. He then provided a link for this printer that was supposed to be the newest thing.

I'm skeptical that it will be any more economical than ideas provided by other posters, but it might be worth a look.

Epson Expression ET-2650 EcoTank (http://https://www.amazon.com/Epson-Expression-EcoTank-Wireless-Supertank/dp/B01NA8VVT3/ref=sr_1_4?s=office-electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1498336230&sr=1-4&keywords=Epson+printers)

[Clocker]

You will rarely get the number of pages per toner cartridge that the manufacturer quotes. It is based on a 5% coverage like Russ said. 5% coverage on a single sided page is about 170 five letter words. I used to be a Product Manager for Laser products at Brother International. And be careful if you buy very cheap toner as it can cause scratches on your expensive drum. The cheap toner has rough-edged carbon particles which can cause scratches versus the OEM poly coated round particles with no rough edges(you can only see this difference under a microscope).

However, if you do get scratches on your drum (which show up as light black lines in the same plane on the printouts) they can be cleaned off with 91% isopropyl alcohol and light rubbing with a very soft eraser or cotton cloth.

It was posted here that Brother and others had a separate, replaceable drum, while printers like HP had an integrated drum that is replaced in every cartridge change.

To your knowledge, is that correct? And if it is, does that mean that the use of the rougher toner is potentially a more serious problem with Brother than with printers like HP, due to the longer life of a drum in a Brother printer through many toner cartridge changes, as opposed to the shorter life of a drum in an HP?

[Clocker]

We came to the same conclusion.

BTW, we're still using the same HP-MP6 that we bought in 1996. (The old P-II's that we bought about 1990 are still doing duty with family members.)

My first laser was an HP IIIP. Don't remember the final problem, but it lasted through about 15 years of moderately heavy use. I wish HP built computers that well.

[SandyW]

Take a real good look at this Brother Printer, the most important thing is that you use only Brother toner as the ink is formulated not to destroy your drum.
Using Brother toner your cost should be about a penny a page.
The drum will last a lot longer then Brother says it will if you use their toner.
I have the model that came out before this model and it is very similar to this model and have printed over 50,000 copies on it with no damage to my drum.
Brother also has great customer service that will walk you through any setup problems that you may have no matter how long it takes.
This printer model also is a duplex printer which means it prints on both sides of the paper cutting your cost for paper.

http://www.brother-usa.com/Printer/ModelDetail/1/HLL6200DW/spec

You will not be disappointed with This Brother Printer.

This is the Brother model #
HL-L6200DW

Business Laser Printer with Wireless Networking, Duplex Printing, and Large Paper Capacity

[CincyHorseplayer]

Take a real good look at this Brother Printer, the most important thing is that you use only Brother toner as the ink is formulated not to destroy your drum.
Using Brother toner your cost should be about a penny a page.
The drum will last a lot longer then Brother says it will if you use their toner.
I have the model that came out before this model and it is very similar to this model and have printed over 50,000 copies on it with no damage to my drum.
Brother also has great customer service that will walk you through any setup problems that you may have no matter how long it takes.
This printer model also is a duplex printer which means it prints on both sides of the paper cutting your cost for paper.

http://www.brother-usa.com/Printer/ModelDetail/1/HLL6200DW/spec

You will not be disappointed with This Brother Printer.

This is the Brother model #
HL-L6200DW

Business Laser Printer with Wireless Networking, Duplex Printing, and Large Paper Capacity

Thank you so much Sandy. At first I was repelled by this concept. Now that I am going to be compiling novellas every Saturday I am actually looking forward to it. Every binder from every Saturday will be an epic adventure of 150 pages plus! Anyway leaning toward this brand. Everything sounds perfect. Thanks.

[tcasolo]

FWIW, I have a Brother laser and I swear by it. I bought it as a refurb about 8-10 years ago. Had to take it in once for a repair about 3 years ago as some plastic piece broke off. Cost me about $120 when I bought it and then about $60 for the repair.

The model is MFC-8640D.

I've been printing "books" for a while now as they are $6 for the DRF form -vs- $9 at the track. I probably print about 2 books per week.

What I like about this unit is its a multi-function printer/copier/fax. Also it does duplex, so I print front and back. Just like the book.

The other great thing is that off-brand toner and or drums are inexpensive. Like less than $10, and I've never had an issue using the off brands. I always keep a spare toner, but replace it probably every 9 months or so. I've only replaced the drum 2x in its life.

Additionally, the paper is always on sale at Staples free (or 1 cent) after rebate. I buy it by a box or 1/2 box when they offer the deal, and it never runs out.

Brother offers other newer MFC models, and when I find the right price I will get another one, only because my unit does not offer wireless.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Has anybody noticed how difficult it is to get specs on anything? I swear it's a conspiracy. On more than half the "Top laser printers of 2017" there are no specs on consumption. I went to the websites of Canon and Dell I believe, and it's a labyrinth of useless information. The printer I have now has the magnetic memory strip on it to let you know when the inkjet is empty. I started refilling them and I had to override the printer because if that strip said it was out=it did NOT want to print. This is the conspiracy. Buy a cheap as dirt printer and pay out the ass for ink. I'm getting this Brother printer and am going to scan my face and send it to every member of PA! I got the ink! LOL!

[Longshot6977]

Has anybody noticed how difficult it is to get specs on anything? I swear it's a conspiracy. On more than half the "Top laser printers of 2017" there are no specs on consumption. I went to the websites of Canon and Dell I believe, and it's a labyrinth of useless information. The printer I have now has the magnetic memory strip on it to let you know when the inkjet is empty. I started refilling them and I had to override the printer because if that strip said it was out=it did NOT want to print. This is the conspiracy. Buy a cheap as dirt printer and pay out the ass for ink. I'm getting this Brother printer and am going to scan my face and send it to every member of PA! I got the ink! LOL!

Just a note to remind everyone that ink and toner are two completely different things. Ink cartridges go in an inkjet printer and toner cartridges go in a laser printer. You will get much more page yield with a laser printer (toner) than with an inkjet printer (ink cartridge). And laser printers use a fuser assy (applies heat and pressure to the toner on the page to adhere the toner onto the page) and a drum assy. Brother printers use a separate drum and toner cartridge while some other manufacturers use an integrated drum/toner assy as 1 replaceable part.

[whodoyoulike]

Thank you so much Sandy. At first I was repelled by this concept. Now that I am going to be compiling novellas every Saturday I am actually looking forward to it. Every binder from every Saturday will be an epic adventure of 150 pages plus! Anyway leaning toward this brand. Everything sounds perfect. Thanks.

As others have noted, I recommend a laser printer over an ink jet. My toner vs ink cartridge cost are similar but I've found a discount source on the web for toner cartridges.

The benefits for a laser are:

1) Printing speed. You can print an individual race in seconds vs minutes.
2) Print automatically on both sides of the paper (duplex). Mine even prints horizontally two to a page but the prints too small. But still readable.
3) Get a Scanner Laser Printer and a Fax Machine (though I've never used the fax feature).

At least look for these features.

I've read that ink jets use a little bit of ink every time you turn the printer on which is one reason they go thru ink so quickly. Btw, I used to have an ink jet until it broke.

The laser printers use toner and don't use toner every time the machine is turned on (supposedly).

[barn32]

I'm in the market for a printer too, and I read a lot of the reviews for the Brother printers.

One of the biggest complaints is that even though you might have 500 pages left in ink, the printer will tell you it's time to get a new cartridge or whatever and it won't let you override. You just can't print until you install a new cartridge.

In one of the reviews someone found a complicated way around it, but it's still a pain. Like one guy said, "if I have ink left let me use it. If I don't want to buy toner now I shouldn't have to."

Other complaints were faulty wireless connections that had to be reconfigured every time you got disconnected. Page creases. And a few others that I can't remember.

They did seem to agree that Brother had good customer service though, and I think that for the money you probably can't beat their product.

Whatever you decided to do Cincy, let us know how it works out.

[Actor]

My Epson ET-4550 seems to be quite economical as far as ink goes. The printer itself cost about $500.

[Secondbest]

I have a Canon 3 in 1 B&W laser.. My first Canon stopped working after 6 years. Toner from Cannon is about $70 but generic costs about $20 . The printer cost $99 from Newegg. The starter gives about 700 pages. If you don't need color laser is the only way to go.

[SandyW]

I'm in the market for a printer too, and I read a lot of the reviews for the Brother printers.

One of the biggest complaints is that even though you might have 500 pages left in ink, the printer will tell you it's time to get a new cartridge or whatever and it won't let you override. You just can't print until you install a new cartridge.

In one of the reviews someone found a complicated way around it, but it's still a pain. Like one guy said, "if I have ink left let me use it. If I don't want to buy toner now I shouldn't have to."

Other complaints were faulty wireless connections that had to be reconfigured every time you got disconnected. Page creases. And a few others that I can't remember.

They did seem to agree that Brother had good customer service though, and I think that for the money you probably can't beat their product.

Whatever you decided to do Cincy, let us know how it works out.

The way around the low toner warning is to put a small piece of black tape over the the little circle window on the side of the toner cartridge. The cartridge will print until it is empty.
If you use 22lb or 24lb paper and not recycled paper, the paper will never crease.
I buy the 800 sheet Xerox 24lb, 96 brightness reams from Sam's Club or Costco for $6.88 each.
I have printed over 400,000 copies on Brother Printers thru the years and find them by far the very best laser printers on the market.
I never had one breakdown thru all the years of using these printers.
The model printer that I currently use is #HL5470DW
i upgraded from previous models as Brother added duplexing and wireless printing features to their printers.

[therussmeister]

The way around the low toner warning is to put a small piece of black tape over the the little circle window on the side of the toner cartridge. The cartridge will print until it is empty.
If you use 22lb or 24lb paper and not recycled paper, the paper will never crease.
I buy the 800 sheet Xerox 24lb, 96 brightness reams from Sam's Club or Costco for $6.88 each.
I have printed over 400,000 copies on Brother Printers thru the years and find them by far the very best laser printers on the market.
I never had one breakdown thru all the years of using these printers.
The model printer that I currently use is #HL5470DW
i upgraded from previous models as Brother added duplexing and wireless printing features to their printers.

My year old brother printer does not have this problem. They have this thing called 'Continuous Feed' mode that lets you print until the toner runs out.

[CincyHorseplayer]

I'm in the market for a printer too, and I read a lot of the reviews for the Brother printers.

One of the biggest complaints is that even though you might have 500 pages left in ink, the printer will tell you it's time to get a new cartridge or whatever and it won't let you override. You just can't print until you install a new cartridge.

In one of the reviews someone found a complicated way around it, but it's still a pain. Like one guy said, "if I have ink left let me use it. If I don't want to buy toner now I shouldn't have to."

Other complaints were faulty wireless connections that had to be reconfigured every time you got disconnected. Page creases. And a few others that I can't remember.

They did seem to agree that Brother had good customer service though, and I think that for the money you probably can't beat their product.

Whatever you decided to do Cincy, let us know how it works out.

Will do Barn32. I've looked around for 3 days and have made my mind up. I don't want ink because I was considering an Epson. I want toner and laser and color and high output. Just ordered this an hour ago.

http://www.brother-usa.com/printer/modeldetail/1/hll8250cdn/spec

For the price and the specs I don't think this can be beat. $250. All the stores in this city are out of stock and even Amazon only had a handful left. So it's not just me zeroing in on this.

I've needed to do this for a long time. I can play off computers fine. In fact the next priority will be to stock up on laptop batteries and get a smaller laptop I can take with me to the track since there isn't any power access hardly at all! I still like handicapping with past performances. I do that first then everything else. I can't be worrying about ink all the time. Having 4K toner cartridges will make that a non issue and replacements are but $55. It'll be a pain in the ass to have to punch holes and bind this up but the end product will be my own handicapping book for the day. Am kind of digging the concept. Change is not easy. I've been pissed off since derby day when I found out the distributor cut all ties to outlets for the form and only DRF you could buy was at the track. Across town 17 miles from me. The other thing I like is don't PP's come out 2 days in advance? I could handicap a Saturday card on Thursday night or most of it then finish up on Friday without spending most of the evening doing it. I like that.

Anyway will keep you all in the loop! Thanks again everybody.

[Mulerider]

It'll be a pain in the ass to have to punch holes and bind this up but the end product will be my own handicapping book for the day. Am kind of digging the concept... The other thing I like is don't PP's come out 2 days in advance? I could handicap a Saturday card on Thursday night or most of it then finish up on Friday without spending most of the evening doing it. I like that.

That's exactly the way I do it for my Saturday trips to LaD. I use a big three-ring binder, along with numbered dividers. Only takes a minute on Excel to make an index page for the races you've handicapped...my index has two columns, the left sorts the races by post time, the right by track. And I start handicapping on Thursday evening, usually for just two tracks.

What will you use the laptop for? If I'm going to play a tournament simultaneously I'll take along a little Chromebook. The battery charge easily lasts all day, but about all I use it for is to access Bris Supertote, enter tournament picks, and to watch the occasional replay. I can also upload my Excel spreadsheets to Google Sheets for access at the track, but only for viewing since Google Sheets doesn't support macros.

Good luck!

[CincyHorseplayer]

That's exactly the way I do it for my Saturday trips to LaD. I use a big three-ring binder, along with numbered dividers. Only takes a minute on Excel to make an index page for the races you've handicapped...my index has two columns, the left sorts the races by post time, the right by track. And I start handicapping on Thursday evening, usually for just two tracks.

What will you use the laptop for? If I'm going to play a tournament simultaneously I'll take along a little Chromebook. The battery charge easily lasts all day, but about all I use it for is to access Bris Supertote, enter tournament picks, and to watch the occasional replay. I can also upload my Excel spreadsheets to Google Sheets for access at the track, but only for viewing since Google Sheets doesn't support macros.

Good luck!

My pace program is in excel and if there are scratches I edit out those runners. I did my own painstaking formatting for each of 14 categories and the top 3 in each. It's just easier on the eyes to handicap this way. Having a laptop is essential. I have a 17.3 now but it burns battery in about 3 hours. It's bulky plus if somebody steals it which is a possibility since I walk around all over the place during a race day(paddock etc!) I'd be pissed losing a $600 laptop but a little less for a smaller/cheaper model. And I think a smaller model the battery will last longer. I'm usually at the track from about 12:30 to 6 but if I start playing night cards I could be there til 10-11 pm. No single battery will last that long. I already was bringing half an office with me to the track in my backpack! Going to have to start buying 2 seats for all my stuff! These racino types have absolutely no concern for what the modern day horseplayer needs on track to be effective. In the old grandstand I used to bring an old card table and have rocks on top of all my papers so they didn't fly away! LOL! Anyway what do you suggest for an ontrack laptop to use excel with?

[Mulerider]

Anyway what do you suggest for an ontrack laptop to use excel with?...

I'm in the market for a new laptop myself. If you don't want to risk a high-dollar machine at the track, you might look at the small HP Stream laptops, around $225 with Windows 10. If you input a lot of data you might want to buy a 10-key numeric keypad to go with it.

Do your Excel sheets use macros?

[CincyHorseplayer]

.

I'm in the market for a new laptop myself. If you don't want to risk a high-dollar machine at the track, you might look at the small HP Stream laptops, around $225 with Windows 10. If you input a lot of data you might want to buy a 10-key numeric keypad to go with it.

Do your Excel sheets use macros?

Yeah it's full of them.

[bruin95]

I never asked, but is there a reason you need hard copies of the pp's? Since you have to go "digital" with the DRF, why not just store the files on the laptop, and you can look at them anytime you want. I do this with my small, lightweight, 2 in 1 laptop. I've taken this to Santa Anita, Del Mar, and Los Al. No papers to fumble with, plus, I have my software on there as well. The only time I've used paper pp's, in the past 5 or 6 years, is if I'm at the sportsbook. I can get them for free.

[CincyHorseplayer]

I never asked, but is there a reason you need hard copies of the pp's? Since you have to go "digital" with the DRF, why not just store the files on the laptop, and you can look at them anytime you want. I do this with my small, lightweight, 2 in 1 laptop. I've taken this to Santa Anita, Del Mar, and Los Al. No papers to fumble with, plus, I have my software on there as well. The only time I've used paper pp's, in the past 5 or 6 years, is if I'm at the sportsbook. I can get them for free.

I have done my own playbooks for the years dating back to 2011. I find it is easier to recreate the day with hard copy. Plus going through it in this manner I find the self learning experience is very valuable. Now that I am taking this approach it will be far easier and not really much more expensive and time consuming. For tracks I play on the fly I have a program with PP's and my pace sheet. I have all this info. Doing it that way is convenient for say when I come home after work and look at races for 2 hours. It is not as a whole a be all end all experience. I find that technology helps me not eliminates the virtues that existed before it.

[Red Knave]

Anyway what do you suggest for an ontrack laptop to use excel with?
Microsoft and Samsung, to name 2, have 12" laptop/tablet computers running Win10. Battery life is at least close to what you need (10+ hours).
Excel is smart enough to enable scrollbars when there isn't enough screen real estate. You can use your fingers to move around the window if you can get used to that.
Also, you could print all your pp docs to pdf and have them available and alt-tab between them and your spreadsheet as needed.

You already know that this stuff is do-able, you just need to commit to a way of doing what you want/need and then keep refining it until it finally works for you.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Microsoft and Samsung, to name 2, have 12" laptop/tablet computers running Win10. Battery life is at least close to what you need (10+ hours).
Excel is smart enough to enable scrollbars when there isn't enough screen real estate. You can use your fingers to move around the window if you can get used to that.
Also, you could print all your pp docs to pdf and have them available and alt-tab between them and your spreadsheet as needed.

You already know that this stuff is do-able, you just need to commit to a way of doing what you want/need and then keep refining it until it finally works for you.

Absolutely. Great post. Thank you! Change is hard. I can adapt but I know it's going affect a lot of older horseplayers in many neighborhoods in this city whom I know. I hate that reality. But to your last paragraph I am bound and determined to get to that next comfort zone and I think by Toga/Del Mar I'll be solid. TBD but lovin it!:cool:

[stuball]

If you get the brother printer (I have the Brother MFC-9130CW) do not replace the cartridge when the printer says to replace. The replace warning is based on page count. You can reset the page count to zero and use all the ink in the cartridge...I did that and it is like filling your gas tank to get more miles per gallon so to speak..FYI you don't get more mpg on your car just more miles but with the ink you get more pages per cartridge...You will use more black another FYI

Stuball:ThmbUp::ThmbUp::ThmbUp::ThmbUp:

[Longshot6977]

If you get the brother printer (I have the Brother MFC-9130CW) do not replace the cartridge when the printer says to replace. The replace warning is based on page count. You can reset the page count to zero and use all the ink in the cartridge...I did that and it is like filling your gas tank to get more miles per gallon so to speak..FYI you don't get more mpg on your car just more miles but with the ink you get more pages per cartridge...You will use more black another FYI

Stuball:ThmbUp::ThmbUp::ThmbUp::ThmbUp:

While this is true, it isn't exactly true. The machine should indicate "toner near end" or something similar many pages prior to indicating "toner life end".(actually, there is a particular page count at some point AFTER it says Near End. That is just a warning to get a new one ready.

At 'toner life end' or 'replace cart", is does look at page count, but it indicates 'near end' prior to that by checking the level/density of toner inside the cartridge. I advise to replace it if the copies/prints are coming out lighter when it says "toner end" since it is easy to scratch or damage your expensive drum at that point. The toner acts like a lubricant against the drum and if not enough is present, the drum may get damaged. Otherwise, just reset the message and continue running until the prints get lighter, then replace it at that point. There are several ways to 'cheat ' the system in these devices.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Got the printer this morning. Everything is hooked up to everything else in the household and registered. Already went over most of the manual to address the specs you all were talking about. Easy as pie. Looks like I got military style hardware vs a VW Beetle comparing my cartridges on this Brother to my Canon! The 2 sided printing looks good. Would you suggest a heavier paper weight than 20? That weight curls a little but it has sat around a while. The 3 toner cartridges for color say the specs are for 1500 pages. Since the only color I print is the formatting for pace figures I hardly use any color at all. Even on the Canon I would replace the color once a year so this is probably good for beyond a year easy.

Anyway PP's are but 30% of what I do these days but the work done on them is still valuable. After 20 years of buying the form there is a tinge of sadness not seeing those people at those place. But buying more time and saving more money and mileage, I'll get over it. Was really angry over all this at first but the idea has more than grown on me. Classhandicapper suggested me doing this a few months ago. He probably thought I was nuts about ink concerns! But I didn't know what options were out there. Compiling my own daily playbook is only minute labor. Having it compiled into 1 unit will give me confidence. Digging the idea now! Got everything set to go for the big August meets. Small laptop and multiple batteries and all. The racino assholes won't shut me down. Scumbags! Cincy is ready to tear some ontrack up the rest of the summer!

Anyway will get back to you all about the specs over these next months. I saw there are high yield cartridges that go 4,000 pages for $55. Beats 400 pages for $25! As somebody alluded to earlier I am merely fusing old methods with new technology into one. It will work. A new era has begun for me. The optimism is stoked! Thanks for all the input gang!

[SandyW]

I buy the 800 sheet Xerox 24lb, 96 brightness reams from Sam's Club or Costco for $6.88 each.
I find this the best paper to use for these Brother Printers.

[CincyHorseplayer]

I buy the 800 sheet Xerox 24lb, 96 brightness reams from Sam's Club or Costco for $6.88 each.
I find this the best paper to use for these Brother Printers.

Was thinking the same. Thanks for all your comments SandyW!:)

[CincyHorseplayer]

Well I have had this printer for over a month and it is a godsend. I don't work in an office so I had no idea what I needed. You all were so helpful I am eternally grateful! I am printing my own forms plus with all the other tools I use incorporated. It is a revolution! When I sit down to the races instead of a bunch of mish mash and separate documents. There it is. All in one. Having a real office printer where you are not apprehensive about banging out 1,500 pages or more a month is a breathe easy for a player. Thanks gang! This Brother printer is a beast! I don't print past performances. I print instruction manuals. It's awesome!

[CincyHorseplayer]

I buy the 800 sheet Xerox 24lb, 96 brightness reams from Sam's Club or Costco for $6.88 each.
I find this the best paper to use for these Brother Printers.

Bought it! And for keeping documents for later use this is what you need. Sandy I wish I saw you on handicapping or race threads but you did me some justice on this one. Thanks babe!

[JustRalph]

Get a can of spray air and make sure you keep the internals of that Brother clean. They are great, but their one downfall is the way they feed paper. I just literally picked one up and tossed into the trash bin in my garage (it was about 8-9 yrs old) after trying to solve a feeding problem for a couple of months. It was an mfc something.

It was a great printer right up until a couple of months ago. I paid 500 bucks for it, laser, color, it was great until it wasn't anymore.

Had feed problems every once in a while, but a can of air solved it normally. Not this time. I figured I got my money's worth. Tossed it.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Get a can of spray air and make sure you keep the internals of that Brother clean. They are great, but their one downfall is the way they feed paper. I just literally picked one up and tossed into the trash bin in my garage (it was about 8-9 yrs old) after trying to solve a feeding problem for a couple of months. It was an mfc something.

It was a great printer right up until a couple of months ago. I paid 500 bucks for it, laser, color, it was great until it wasn't anymore.

Had feed problems every once in a while, but a can of air solved it normally. Not this time. I figured I got my money's worth. Tossed it.

8-9 years. I thought shelf life was 5 years so I am ahead of the ballgame brother! The print capacity is otherworldly. There has been 3 family events where copy needed done plus race cards and I am banging out 100 per plus duplex PP's and pace and pedigree stuff. It's amazing having the right tools!

[JustRalph]

I bought a laser printer HL-3140cw (Brothers) about 6 months ago...love it..not too pricey

I just ordered one......👍

[CincyHorseplayer]

The Brother printers are awesome. I printed out about 1,000 pages in August and it used about 30% of the smaller, stock, 2,500 capacity toner cartridge. Color barely took any at all.

I noticed a company called LD Products emailed me about toner replacements that are compatible with Brother printers. They go for $31 which isn't much less than $55 for the high yield black. But the color is where the savings are. They are still $31 vs $96 and you have 3 colors so that could get expensive unless you use the generic. I'll probably buy the official black and get the generic tritone colors. Anybody have any experience with these LD products?

[AstrosFan]

The Brother printers are awesome. I printed out about 1,000 pages in August and it used about 30% of the smaller, stock, 2,500 capacity toner cartridge. Color barely took any at all.

I noticed a company called LD Products emailed me about toner replacements that are compatible with Brother printers. They go for $31 which isn't much less than $55 for the high yield black. But the color is where the savings are. They are still $31 vs $96 and you have 3 colors so that could get expensive unless you use the generic. I'll probably buy the official black and get the generic tritone colors. Anybody have any experience with these LD products?

I personally don't care for the brother products anymore after using the HL-2270DW printer (almost vintage:D) for years, which curls the paper and the ink seems to smear when I want to highlight something, which I cannot stand.

The cheaper version of toner, for me anyways, seems to rub off, even by hand, but that could be due to the cheaper printer and the outdated drum.

I am very nit picky when it comes to whatever I print. I want the best quality possible.

[Longshot6977]

I personally don't care for the brother products anymore after using the HL-2270DW printer (almost vintage:D) for years, which curls the paper and the ink seems to smear when I want to highlight something, which I cannot stand.

The cheaper version of toner, for me anyways, seems to rub off, even by hand, but that could be due to the cheaper printer and the outdated drum.

I am very nit picky when it comes to whatever I print. I want the best quality possible.

If you really want the best quality possible, then stop using cheap 3rd party toner and use OEM Brother toner designed and formulated for the Brother printer. Big difference in quality between poly coated OEM toner and carbon based 3rd party cheap stuff. Same goes for the drum.

[AstrosFan]

If you really want the best quality possible, then stop using cheap 3rd party toner and use OEM Brother toner designed and formulated for the Brother printer. Big difference in quality between poly coated OEM toner and carbon based 3rd party cheap stuff. Same goes for the drum.

:headbanger:

Now see this is the kind of response I like reading!

Thank you Longshot6977!

In all the years and years of printing at home, I didn't know about the "poly coated" and "carbon based" setup for toner. I thought it had to do with the way the drum produced the actual "print" onto the paper...which the paper conversation is reserved for another day :D

[ICR]

I know I am coming into this thread after you have already bought the printer .... But if you don't actually write on your print outs... Try saving ink and printing out as a pdf ( using one of the thousands of free pdf applications available on the web using a "pdf print driver") then you can transfer those pdfs to your phone using adobe pdf reader ... Just my 2 cents