Printer?

[Rex R]

was thinking about replacing my current printer, stopped at Office Depot...and realized that I don't know which questions to ask. what I have currently; HP D1530 color inkjet. it prints, it has a usb cable, it does what I need. what should I be looking for? bear in mind that my computer does not do wireless (no card). any suggestions, thanks.
Rex

 

[dave carver]

I've been using a HP OfficeJet 4630 fax/copier/scanner/printer. It's been pretty good, does what I need. USB or wireless. The do-everything printers aren't much more than just a printer and more flexible. Having the copier alone is worth it.

 

[cerving]

Color injkets are the most expensive printers to operate... the ink cost is outrageous, and I have a sneaky suspicion that the printer drivers do their darndest to maximize your ink usage. If you don't NEED color, get a Brother HL2320 laser printer, they're $50 just about anywhere and the toner is about $40 (yes, they ship it with one of those annoying "partially full" toner cartridges). If you NEED color, get a color laser printer instead of an inkjet. Yes, it will cost you more now, but you'll end up saving a lot later.

 

[cvanc]

I will sidestep the cost issue (which is valid if you print a lot) but I can tell you this: from what I've seen HP and also Epson have gone right into the crapper. In my opinion their printers are nowhere near what they used to be, and neither of those companies will ever see my money again. The last HP I purchased was literally unusable for more than a few pages. Total junk. Went back to the store. It's identical replacement was just as bad, and back it went too.

The last printer I bought was (of all things) a Brother, and it has been rock solid. It. Just. Works.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[neil_w]

I have a Canon all-in-one inkjet, my 3rd Canon and second all-in-one. I don't print that much, so ink cost is not a huge concern (I agree it is outrageous, and also that it seems to waste half its ink doing self-cleaning or whatever the heck it's clicking and clacking about for like 5 minutes before or after printing something). I do need the ability to print photos sometimes (not professional-quality, just decent) and it handles that nicely.

I have become a *huge* fan of having an all-in-one, for the copying and scanning capabilities. You pay relatively little extra for such features, because the money is all in the razor blades... er, ink cartridges.

 

[michigander]

Black and white laser , we are still using a HP laserjet5 with duplex and legal tray lol real old

 

[dhbarr]

+1 for a Brother color laser, they are about the only reasonably priced home system that doesn't make me irritable.

 

[BEC]

Main printer in our house is a basic Brother black-and-white laser. It hooks directly to my router and is accessible from all the computers in the house that way. This is our second - we wore the first one out in five or six years. As noted by Carl above it just works.

Also have an inexpensive Canon all-in-one we use when we need color output (MP495, I think). Has been fine. Have an HP inkjet as well - piece of junk. I should just bin it.

 

[Marc_G]

Just bought a new Brother color laser all-in-one the MFC 9130CW. Got it on sale at Best Buy of all places for $259 plus tax. Available for this price now from Amazon.

My choice was based on:

-We do a decent amount of scanning and copying, so an all-in-one was desired.

-I wanted color laser in part due to ink cost versus toner cost, but mostly because I wanted to be able to print rocket decals without worry of them smearing like water soluble inks do. Also, inkjets do a lot of fussing when they come out of standby... my prior printer sometimes would do odd things for five minutes before printing the first page.

-It had to be Google Cloud Print Ready. No muss, no fuss. This eliminated most HP color laser all in ones, since many make you go through their "HP PRINT" server to use Google Cloud Print. Really annoying, because there was a good one that I was about to buy, before I found out about this issue with their Google Cloud Print function.

Given my specifications, some research (obsession for a couple hours actually) led me to the Brother 9130CW. It met all my specs and I am VERY pleased with it so far.

It replaces a Canon Pixma MX922 ... it wasn't a bad printer, and I liked that you could replace individual color ink reservoirs instead of wasting ink, but it started reporting that it was broken, requiring turn off / on cycling, and it frequently disconnected from Google Cloud Print (again requiring off / on cycles, and the whole idea was for me to print to it when I wasn't home [long story]), and it spent so much time moving the print head around doing cleanings or whatever. Drove me nuts. Eventually said screw it. It is being relegated to being my auxiliary scanner, down near where I do rocket stuff.

Only negative so far about the 9130CW is that despite what the instructions say, it has no Ethernet port. Have to connect via wireless or USB. That's annoying to me because I like wired Ethernet connections (no muss, no fuss), but since it sits within 3 feet of the wifi router in my office, I've had no wifi issues with it. I'm dropping this objection for now.

Prints nicely, wakes up quickly from sleep, good quality scans...

Marc

 

[KenRico]

They had a all in one laser with adf from brother today on new egg shell shocker $90

I saw a link from slickdealz.net

Kenny

 

[Woody's Workshop]

I will have to agree on the Brother. I've got an MFC (Multi Function Center, copy, scan, FAX, pring) 9600, about 15 years young and simply can't be stopped. Just B&W.
Last 3 color ink jets I've had were HP, total junk here too and ink prices were rediculously high.
Only Epson I have had was the original Epson Photo printer, and it held up and still worked when I replaced it. Just really slow.
I will also agree if you need color, get laser. If this old Brother ever dies, that's what I'll be putting my money in.

 

[mkadams001]

I have given up on HP and Epson as well; at least for the time being. I currently have a Canon for typical home office use. It cost <$100 about three years ago. It works well a little fussy to set up for wireless but doable. We don't print a lot so the ink cost is not much of an issue.

 

[Rex R]

ink, plastic pipe/eaves trough fittings/razor blades all share the same price scheme. my problem is usually that I tend to end up replacing barely used ink carts due to age rather than depletion(generally they say 1 year from the time you open/ install the cartridge), for the most part using the draft setting gives me an acceptable result.
Rex

 

[jd2cylman]

ink, plastic pipe/eaves trough fittings/razor blades all share the same price scheme. my problem is usually that I tend to end up replacing barely used ink carts due to age rather than depletion(generally they say 1 year from the time you open/ install the cartridge), for the most part using the draft setting gives me an acceptable result.
Rex

This^^
I've had Epsom and HP inkjets, and was always changing the stupid ink packs. My problem was that I hardly used it. My mom gave me her year old Brother Laser B&W several years ago along with two ink cartridges. Still haven't put in the second cartridge yet. It works (however rarely I need it) when I need it to... One a year for taxes... :eyeroll:

Adrian

 

[CzTeacherMan]

I've got a Brother Laserjet. Paid $50 on a Black Friday sale from Office Depot. Laserjet is the way to go if printing is only an occasional thing and/or if you're printing large quantities. Definitely wait until black Friday if you can. I found my printer on clearance a couple months later... For more than I paid for it.

 

[dave carver]

...all this bagging on HP makes me glad I was given my HP printer...with the ink

 

[KennB]

I don't do too much printing, either, but have not had the problem of ink cartridges going bad before they run out. When I upgraded my laptop from Windows 7 to Windows 10, there was no driver available for my many year old Canon Pixma iP1700. I picked up a Canon Pixma MG6821 printer/scanner/copier and am very happy with it's set up and performance. The scan feature is something I haven't had at home before and it's a nice upgrade. It was about $80 at Staples; the ink, as always, is expensive but like Marc G said, you could replace the individual color cartridges instead of needing to buy a tri-color one if only one of your colors runs out.

I use it wireless but it is USB capable.

I've kept the old Pixma as it will work with some desktops I have when I get those running again.

 

[FredA]

Nothing beats a laser printer for text quality and standby longevity.
I run a cheap, networked HP.
Also have 3 Epson's for photo work, but that's a different story.....

 

[chrisudy]

At home, I use a 10-year old Brother MFC black and white laser (networked via Apple Airport) and a much newer Epson XP-310 color inkjet. No issues with either.

At work, I like the brother multifunction machines for our small satellite offices that don't need a high volume printer/copier. I've bought a few HP multifuction machines but had more problems with them than with the Brothers.