Help me choose a printer

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mitsuman47

Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Messages
620
Location
Texas
I'm looking for a new printer. I'm running windows 7 if that matters. Looking to spend around $250 or less.

Features that are important to me:
Reliable (obviously)
Color printing
Ability to scan/copy
Wireless printing from android, apple, etc.
Relatively cheap toner refills
Don't want it much bigger than 12"x12"x12"...

Features I have no/little use for:
Fax
Huge paper capacity (I don't print often)

Features that would be cool if it fits in my budget:
Two sided printing
Decent photo printing ability

Thanks for the help guys!
 
My two cents on this are that inkjets are worthless. I've owned more than a few and every last one has always dried out the jets between uses, or smear, or blob, or whatever. I advocate a laser printer, my color one is the cheapest HP model (M251NW; $200 or so on sale) and it works fine. My only regret is that I didn't spend a bit more and get one that automatically prints on both sides. But other than that it works fine.

There are no cheap and good toner cartridges. I tried some refilled ones and they didn't work well for me. Maybe they work better for others, I don't know. If I have to buy all four cartridges (CMYK) then it sets me back about $300 or a bit more. The cheapest place to buy OEM cartridges is from HP themselves, Google for a coupon code.
 
I have had the HP Deskjet Pro 8500 for a couple years and love it. Inks last a long while and are cheap and the quality is very good. It scans and prints duplex and is wireless. Definitely would reccomend another.

It beats the cheap color lasers - my last one was an HP 2600dn and that thing cost almost $500 for a set of toners - $100 or so for each color + black. And they lasted about 2500 pages. Contrast to the high yield ink @ $30 for the Deskjet and it gets about 2k pages.
 
I like "Brother" Laser printers, always suited my budget to buy the device and supply cartridges and get the job done pretty well.
 
All I can suggest is, laser... You could not pay me to own a garbage inkjet printer.

Laser toner is also fine even if you only turn the printer on once a year, it doesn't dry out like ink does, and on the other end of the spectrum, ink dries up way too fast if you actually print a lot.

They are also faster printing and just not fiddly like inkjets can be. I got rid of my last inkjet some years ago and have never looked back. In 6-7 years I have yet to even replace a toner cartridge. (On my 2nd machine though) my old one I gave to my folks. They put a refurb toner in it finally not long ago.
 
+1 on a laser printer. And set your default printing to B/W and override it to color when needed. I have a wireless Samsung color laser printer only. Great and quiet printer.

I can even refill the toner cartridges every other time with a cheap refill kit.

I have also leaned there are a few levels of toner messages. "Cyan toner is low" then "Replace cyan toner" then "Cyan toner is exhausted". I now wait for the exhausted msg.
 
I have Brother 430; the aftermarket inks are dirt cheap (like $1.50 per cartridge from Amazon/ebay sellers). It does print/scan/real fax/wireless. The only thing missing is double sided printing. If you look hard enough, you can find it on sale between $50-$100.
 
I also agree with the suggestions of getting a laser printer instead of an inkjet. Price per page is much cheaper and usually the components seem to be of higher quality (probably because lasers are targeted more towards professional use). My laser printers have all outlived our ink jets by a long while.
 
Thanks for the help guys.

I'm going to go with everyone's suggestion of a laser printer, and I'm choosing a brother 2270. Does everything I wanted it to, except color. But, after realizing that I really don't print color very often at all, I can pass on it.

This one prints 27ppm, auto duplex, wireless, small form factor, good reviews on blamazon, and only 100 bucks.

Thanks again for the help guys!
 
I have an Epson Artisan 835 inkjet at home. It's been a great little printer, makes fairly good photo's, plus scans and copies and feeds perfectly. It's efficient on ink, and the ink is less expensive than the HP's I have at work.

FWIW, I will NEVER, EVER purchase another HP product for as long as I live, and nor will my company. I, unfortunately, have to interact with very high level personnel from HP from time to time. The interaction is universally quite negative and has ensured that they have lost a customer. Plus the HP inkjet printers are ink hogs, the ink is more expensive and I seem to have feeding issues (and overall bad luck) with every HP we've had. Wish I could speak my mind here, but it would be improper on this forum.
 
Smart people never ever research buying a printer but only research on buying the consumables (aka ink or toner) and decide on the unit based upon the later.

I have never purchased any printer for which the consumable cost more than couple of dollars. I have had many Canons, Epsons, and Brothers over the years and the maximum I had to pay for ink was still under $5.
 
Thought I would update with my purchase. I ordered the brother 2270 and a high yield toner cartridge from staples. The printer was "on sale" for $99 (same as amazon's everyday price). Had a coupon for $20 off $100 so bought the toner cartridge, again on sale for amazon's everyday price of $44. So, $124 with the coupon + tax. Beat buying them on amazon by 20 bucks. And, there is peace of mind in knowing that the UPS guys didnt throw the box around.
 
They start at around 400$

Also this doesnt address the ink drying out problem.

Toner wont dry out so it can sit there for 3 months and work fine.

how are they keeping this super fast drying ink from drying in the printhead?

it looks cool. and perhaps has a place in a business setting esp. if you need color.

Wont be replacing my all-in-one 88$ brother laser anytime soon.

They are also going by the incredibly bad oem 70-125$ toner cartridge price.

I get cartridges for about 15-20$
 
Last edited:
Just thought I'd update on my recent printer buying experience:

I have a new job where it helps a ton to be able to print/copy fairly large quantities from home. My old Samsung color laser bit the dust so I started researching (as I seem to can't buy anything without some extensive research first). I wanted to get something decent for under $300.

I ended up with the Dell 2155cn. I found it on Amazon new for $279 with free shipping! This was basically the cheapest place I could find it.....especially considering most local places had it in the $400-$500 range. It was offered through the Amazon seller PCrush which had 4.8 out of 5 stars (4,400 reviews). Since I placed the order about a week ago the price has fluctuated from $279 to $320.

It lacks some of the requirements of the OP, it does not have standard wireless and it's probably too big but might fit the bill for someone else looking. Printing from iOS devices is possible from Dell’s printer app.
The 2155cdn is essentially the same plus duplexing (and not as good of a deal).

I’ve had the printer for a few days and so far so good. Setup was easy on OS X, Windows 7 and Linux. Print quality is great especially for pictures and graphics. At nearly 70lbs I think it might be a little overkill for my needs, but I have a good spot for it and I wanted something that would last.
 
I need this advice too. I'm tired of the inkjet running out in the middle of printing a document and it's expensive.
 
Most inkjets will warn you when the color is real low. I store backups for each color and my HP cartridge is never over $25 for any color. Best to buy them in multi-pks for savings.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

paulri
AIO printers vs. dedicated printer
2
Replies
21
Views
3K
KrisZ
john_pifer
Help Me Decide on Oil for new 2024 Elantra N
3 4 5
Replies
84
Views
11K
02zx9r rev2
M
1 Week Review - 2025 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid Limited
2 3 4
Replies
79
Views
19K
We're Metals
R
My 10,000 mile review of the 2024 Tahoe
2
Replies
26
Views
7K
redhat
S
Help me choose a gas saver please
2 3
Replies
57
Views
5K
brages
Back
Top Bottom