I run a small paper-trading and low-volume live setup against the Alpaca API from a home office in Portland, Maine, and I’m rethinking my physical workspace. Right now I just check fills and positions on screen, but I’d like to keep a printed end-of-day summary and occasionally print annotated strategy ideas to pin on the wall. My old inkjet is unreliable and the cartridges dry out between uses.
I’m considering a compact color laser like the Brother HL-L3280CDW, mainly for low-volume, occasional printing. My concern is whether a color laser is overkill for mostly text summaries, and whether startup and warm-up behavior gets annoying when I only print a page or two a day. I also wonder about toner cost if I mostly print black text with an occasional chart.
Is anyone here using a color laser for routine printouts like this? Does the low daily volume cause any issues, and would a mono laser be the more sensible route?
Update after looking around more - Brother HL-L3280CDW Color Printer Review came up while I was checking warm-up and toner costs. Still unsure whether occasional chart printing justifies color over a mono laser, but I’m leaning toward staying with mono for now.