printer recommendations

[Daehawk]

I cant believe how much they've gone UP in price instead of coming down over the years. In 2015 I paid $158 for an all in one laser from Brother. Now that style is $270.

Not sure whats driving the printer market. But whatever you do dont go with ink. Its all a con of some type. Tank / tankless doesn't matter.

[LawBeefaroni]

I cant believe how much they've gone UP in price instead of coming down over the years. In 2015 I paid $158 for an all in one laser from Brother. Now that style is $270.

It's 2023. Consumer prices are up on everything.

The new version of my printer is $149 which isn't that bad but I think I paid under $100 back in the day.

[Rumpy]

Don't forget the chip shortage due to the flooding affecting factories making them, which had a widespread effect on many industries that require chips to go up in price, ie auto industry, computer industry, etc. That's largely why they've gone up in price.

[Kraken]

But mine is a HL-L2380DW series printer.

Mine's so old it's the 2280.

I'm also sold on Brother. IDK about the new ones, but my old one is perfectly happy with cheap generic cartridges. In fact, the last time I needed a new one, at least a year ago, the cheapest option was a package of two for $25, and the second one is still shrinkwrapped.

[Blackhawk]

I will look at Brother.

Brother. Monochrome laser.

Monochrome does not fit my needs.

[Daehawk]

I will look at Brother.

Brother. Monochrome laser.

Monochrome does not fit my needs.

Then you'll really bump up in the price ranges then. They were coming down but like said its up up up now days. Bad market timing.

[LawBeefaroni]

Cheap, reliable, and color. Choose 2.

[Blackhawk]

There are plenty of cheap, reliable, color printers out there. They are just sold by predatory companies. I was hoping for a suggestion for one that wasn't.

[Kraken]

I will look at Brother.

Brother. Monochrome laser.

Monochrome does not fit my needs.

I missed that you need an inkjet, since color laser printers are pretty spendy. I haven't owned an inkjet in a very long time and have no relevant advice.

[Blackhawk]

I've only ever owned inkjets, mostly for the reasons stated. I do use my printer for tabletop-adjacent projects, which pretty much requires color.

[Daehawk]

I dont know of any inkjet printer companies that aren't going to ream you in the ink. Its why my first inkjet in the 90s was my only and last inkjet. An Epson. Went straight to laser from there.

[Rumpy]

The ink tank systems are a pretty good deal though and offer a great middle-ground. They last a long time, and it came with lots of ink even to spare. The printers are a bit more expensive given the newer technology, but it evens out in the end because you have to replace the ink far less frequently. They're still technically an inkjet, but one with a different ink delivery and storage system. You plop the ink directly into the printer's ink tanks.

[Carpet_pissr]

I will look at Brother.

Brother. Monochrome laser.

Monochrome does not fit my needs.

Neither does a laser at all since you mentioned printing photos, and especially photos on photo paper.

I bought a $145 Canon last month and have been pleased so far.

[The Meal]

Brother. Monochrome laser. Even an all in one like mine. Cant go wrong. Low cost laser printer. Works great. Toner and such are low cost too. In fact Brother may just give you an extra one like they did me. Last time I needed to replace the toner it was like $12 on Amazon for a generic brand that fit and worked the same with something like 2200 pages. I cant recall now.

Never dries out or clogs as its a laser and toner printer. Use it as little or as much as you like. No heat up time but like 2 sec after days of not using. Perfect. Can print both sides too and copy like a Xerox.

Big fan of our Brother laser for the same reasons. In the trade off between color versus not having the ink go bad, we selected a monochrome laser printer. Very happy with that choice.

[edit:] I see that BH needs color. I have no relevant positive advice (but a ton of frustrating experiences trying to recreate his use model).

[LawBeefaroni]

There are plenty of cheap, reliable, color printers out there. They are just sold by predatory companies. I was hoping for a suggestion for one that wasn't.

That's the thing, predatory is not cheap. The reason they lock you into their ecosystem/subscriptions is because they make more money that way.

If color absolutely necessary? Do you have printing options like FexEx Kinkos? If you're not doing a ton of color it doesn't make sense to spend on ink that goes bad and lower quality B&W.

I have a color ink jet at work and the number of times I've used it for something I needed in color at home was exactly once.

[Blackhawk]

Monochrome does not fit my needs.

Neither does a laser at all since you mentioned printing photos, and especially photos on photo paper.

I wasn't actually thinking laser printers (as every time I've looked at them they've been obscenely expensive), but aside from that - can color lasers not do photos? I haven't used a laser printer since the late 90s.

If color absolutely necessary?

Probably half of the things I print involve color. Probably a third rely on it.

Do you have printing options like FexEx Kinkos?

When it comes to me, as a general rule, if the question starts "Do you have access to...", the answer is no. The nearest store that provides print services is a 65-mile round trip.

[Blackhawk]

I should clarify that I almost never print photos. I think I've actually printed one in the last 20 years. I just occasionally print color material on photo paper because it gives a sharper result. None of it gets hung up on the wall.

[Smoove_B]

I know you currently have an Epson (I didn't see what kind), I keep seeing the Epson Eco Tank 4800 recommended by people doing "tabletop adjacent" things. I've considered it for myself, mainly to be able to print color manual or game play aids, but it's kinda spendy.

[Daehawk]

I used to print photos on my Epsom color inkjet. That and the clogging is why the ink got too expensive. Plus the printed photos looked awful. You really need a photo printer for photos. Although I have heard of color lasers making good prints.

[Carpet_pissr]

If you send a photo to an average model color laser, of course it will try to print it, but it’s going to look terrible. And you definitely can’t use photo paper due to the laser/heat process.

I’m unfortunately in printer no-man’s land, which is why it took so long for me to pull the trigger on the ink jet Canon I recently bought.

1. I want to be able to, and occasionally do print high quality photos, from the convenience (and speed) of my home
2. I hate (and have experienced) the anguish of clogged heads on photo inkjet printers

If you at all want to print even decent quality photos (at home), sadly you need to buy an inkjet.

If you can deal with mediocre photos printed on plain paper, and/or are ok with sending photos off to get printed, I would recommend a laser, or barring that an ink tank inkjet.

I did a crap ton of recent research using Rtings, Wirecutter and Consumer Reports, if you have specific questions.

The one I bought is basically splitting the difference between my large format, 6 tank inkjet photo printer, and my 14 year old Dell color laser (which doesn’t work with Windows 11, thus my printer search).

I would specifically avoid models that disallow printing if one cart of several gets too low/out (think ‘won’t print in b/w if the yellow cart is out’ kind of bs)

Rtings is really good at showing cost per page for tons of models.

[Carpet_pissr]

I should clarify that I almost never print photos. I think I've actually printed one in the last 20 years. I just occasionally print color material on photo paper because it gives a sharper result. None of it gets hung up on the wall.

If you never print photos, I would definitely go with color laser.

[Carpet_pissr]

I know you currently have an Epson (I didn't see what kind), I keep seeing the Epson Eco Tank 4800 recommended by people doing "tabletop adjacent" things. I've considered it for myself, mainly to be able to print color manual or game play aids, but it's kinda spendy.

That model was on my short list. It (and other similar tank-based) is more $$ upfront but over time saves a lot of money compared to cart-based.
Again, just based on my research.

[gilraen]

I wasn't actually thinking laser printers (as every time I've looked at them they've been obscenely expensive)

If you do decide to look at laser printers - right now is the time to be looking for them on eBay because people got tons of them from office liquidation sales over the past couple of years, and are selling them dirt cheap. E.g. Brother MFC-9340 can be had for under $150. You can also get a refurbished color laser printer directly from Brother for $200.

[Rumpy]

I know you currently have an Epson (I didn't see what kind), I keep seeing the Epson Eco Tank 4800 recommended by people doing "tabletop adjacent" things. I've considered it for myself, mainly to be able to print color manual or game play aids, but it's kinda spendy.

That model was on my short list. It (and other similar tank-based) is more $$ upfront but over time saves a lot of money compared to cart-based.
Again, just based on my research.

Yep, they are more expensive, but in the end you get gouged less over time. I think it's based on technology that print shops use with their larger printers. Also, color reproduction has been excellent, and so has the sharpness of the print.

[Blackhawk]

I'll look into the options. And while I don't print photos, I do print enough color items that quality can matter (for example cards for games, color references for paints.) FWIW, I wasn't expecting to get a laser printer, which is what a lot of people seem to have assumed was my #1 choice. At this point I'd just be content with reliable-sans-evil.

But it seems like such a product doesn't exist.

[LawBeefaroni]

When it comes to me, as a general rule, if the question starts "Do you have access to...", the answer is no. The nearest store that provides print services is a 65-mile round trip.

Walgreen's?


But yeah, buying makes the most sense if there isn't a document service nearby. The problem is that quality color printing isn't cheap.

Ink tanks are more expensive up front but you save on ink if you do a lot of printing. Regular inkjets are cheaper but ink costs per page are higher.

You'd really have to do an estimate of how much you print and calculate the price per page based on your use case.

I have an HP at work and it would be crazy expensive at home on a per page basis. But at work ink is bought in bulk at a big discount so that's what we get.

If I were going to buy one for home for regular color printing, no photos, I'd get this. You're looking at about $0.10-0.15 per page in color I think, if you buy high capacity carts.

[Daehawk]

If you want a ink tank based printer that does it all and gets good reviews you're looking to spend $300+ look at the Canon MAXIFY GX60 line.

You can get away with much cheaper printers with ink tanks per this article...

https://www.rtings.com/printer/reviews/best/cheap-ink

This is an interesting info video on ink tank printers.

[Blackhawk]

When it comes to me, as a general rule, if the question starts "Do you have access to...", the answer is no. The nearest store that provides print services is a 65-mile round trip.

Walgreen's?

*checks Google*

That one's about a 58 mile round trip.

Seriously, we have a Wal-Mart. A very, very small Wal-Mart. That's it. Anything else is a road trip and requires advanced planning (since my car isn't drivable in cold weather or any form of precipitation.)

[Smoove_B]

RE: Daehawk's video - that's what is holding me back from getting one. I'd read from more than a few people that unless you're using it all the time (like at least 1x week) the nozzles and sponge(s) start to dry out, impacting long-term use. So then I question would I use it more than I'm imagining if I had one or would I start coming up with reasons to use it just because I have it?

[Blackhawk]

Sigh.

I think I'll just get some crayons.

[Daehawk]

LiteBrite

[Rumpy]

RE: Daehawk's video - that's what is holding me back from getting one. I'd read from more than a few people that unless you're using it all the time (like at least 1x week) the nozzles and sponge(s) start to dry out, impacting long-term use. So then I question would I use it more than I'm imagining if I had one or would I start coming up with reasons to use it just because I have it?

That's a concern I originally had before we got ours. I'd wondered, how can the ink sit there in the printer for long periods of time when they're such big tanks. The key thing is that it's a different ink base. We've been conditioned to expect ink to dry out due to ink cartridges that use alcohol-based ink to dry out. And while it may still happen with an oil-based ink, it's far less prone to do so. And even so, the Canon model we got (G3060 series) has a removable printhead that seems to be designed for easy removal and replacement by the user.

[soulbringer]

I have a HP ENVY Inspire 7200 series network printer and I love it. Print from my phone, Ipad, computer etc. Well worth the money.

[Kraken]

think ‘won’t print in b/w if the yellow cart is out’ kind of bs)

O, how I hated that.

[Carpet_pissr]

I'll look into the options. And while I don't print photos, I do print enough color items that quality can matter (for example cards for games, color references for paints.) FWIW, I wasn't expecting to get a laser printer, which is what a lot of people seem to have assumed was my #1 choice. At this point I'd just be content with reliable-sans-evil.

But it seems like such a product doesn't exist.

I’m not trying to make this harder but ‘color references for paint’ seems to mean you need color accuracy?

Oof. Color lasers are right out then, and that also very likely increases your needed budget to achieve that from an ink jet.

You’re going to have to settle for ‘good enough’ again, sir, with your impossible ‘find me this in the market on a limited budget’

[Blackhawk]

I'll look into the options. And while I don't print photos, I do print enough color items that quality can matter (for example cards for games, color references for paints.) FWIW, I wasn't expecting to get a laser printer, which is what a lot of people seem to have assumed was my #1 choice. At this point I'd just be content with reliable-sans-evil.

But it seems like such a product doesn't exist.

I’m not trying to make this harder but ‘color references for paint’ seems to mean you need color accuracy?

Not professional artist levels of accuracy, but reasonable accuracy, yes.

You’re going to have to settle for ‘good enough’ again, sir, with your impossible ‘find me this in the market on a limited budget’

I've figured that out.

Getting a product that works and doesn't victimize you shouldn't require a six-figure salary.

[Carpet_pissr]

Personally agree, and it’s also why many review summaries indicate that almost NONE are great, or even very good.

I’ve not seen such low ‘best’ scores on Consumer Reports since I was looking at refrigerators (which also seem to suffer from ‘none are great, just pick one in your budget and cross your fingers’).

Rtings scores are also very low as a product group IIRC.

[stessier]

I don't have a subscription, but have you ckecked out rtings?

https://www.rtings.com/printer/tests/pr ... r-accuracy

[hitbyambulance]

my 14 year old Dell color laser (which doesn’t work with Windows 11

there are workarounds. post the model number and we can (probably) get you set up.

[Carpet_pissr]

my 14 year old Dell color laser (which doesn’t work with Windows 11

there are workarounds. post the model number and we can (probably) get you set up.

Really?! C1660W. Thanks!