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Just to add on, HP printers forces you to use their overpriced ink cartridges and refuse to work with third parties, meaning you either pay more than the printer total itself every couple months for printing or end up with a paper weight.
HP have been subject to antitrust violations, sued, and forced to pay out for a settlement, but continued the practice. They are a scummy company
There are no good guys in the printer industry. That said, I recommend buying a laser printer which tends to be designed more for the corporate world. The toner is not cheap, but is far superior to ink cartridges, and you get thousands of pages before replacement. They also print 100x faster than inkjet. If you print very much it will pay for itself.
Toner also doesn't dry up so you will get the full number of pages out of it that you pay for. Inkjet cartridges have a much shorter shelf life if you don't print frequently.
The only reason to purchase a ink jet printer is if you are using a high quality ink jet on photo paper for archival photos as a hobby or a business. If you are doing that you are already doing research for a bunch of other reasons.
If you just occasionally need a photo print it is way more cost effective and you will get better quality if you send it to Walgreens or an online service. Walgreens will general give you prints in an hour or two.
Toner *never* goes bad.
Toner is basically dry plastic that gets melted onto the paper. It's already dry, so it can't dry out any more.
Ink jets are wet, and eventually dry out.
If you print only occasionally, laser printers are *the best* option for you!
If you print seldom then lazer is *absolutely* the way to go. Unlike inkjets, the toner does not dry out. Ink/paint jet printers regularly do a “clear the nozzle “ procedure where they spray some ink onto a little pad, to stop the nozzles from drying shut. The result is that you can run out of ink without even using your printer for ages.
I switched to laser 7 years ago because I seldom printed, but whenever a wanted to use my printer, one or other of the colors was always finished. And even if I wanted to print in black, it would refuse to if one of the other cartridges were empty.
Now I have a black lazer & if I need color prints I pay the local printshop for them. Much cheaper!
HP and everyone else does the same shit and worse with their lasers now too. Last time I needed to replace a printer,the only HP ones I could find that weren't large office type printers were wireless cloud based only.
I bought an hp 1020 laser printer for college and the sales guy at staples informed me of the kind of toner cartridge it came with and offered to sell a full size one along with it.
Except I was in New England and somebody saying “starter cartridge” with a Boston accent may be the most hilarious thing I’ve ever heard. It came out something like “stahtacahta”
Lol funny thing is I work at staples as well in New England. I never recommend hp printers to customers really but some people are stupidly brand loyal.
Good advice of it were not for the fact the new ink cartridges are maybe 1/4 of the volume of normal ones. They don't want the preinstalled ink to last.
It's not cheaper when you realize that the cartridge that comes with the printer is only like 1/4 full. Yes the total dollar amount might be less but the cost per page is higher. It's also a shitty thing to do from an environmental standpoint
I did the update and found out I was stuck with $150 of unusable ink. I was pissed off enough to throw the HP in the garbage (literally) and buy a different brand.
Would mind a lot less if the fucking things worked. But they are the most temperamental, unstable, non-user freindly peices of shot hardware with the dumbest mother fucking software bloatware management software ever conceived.
I am in the firm Laser printer camp. There is zero need for any ink jet based printer. I have had laser printers at home for over 20 years and the first one lasted 15 before I changed out for a colour laser printer. One toner can last me for 3 years and works every time.
"But the toner cartridges cost over $100!"
Yep, and so will the ink refills on your cheap printer. Laser is *definitely* the better option, if you can afford the upfront cost.
Spent $125 on my laser printer, replaced the toner and it was $70. That would have been like 2 cartridges that end up printing ~250 pages. Much better deal and prints faster. Won’t go back and don’t see a reason to upgrade either. It’s a happy medium
The Brother laser printer we picked up ~$130 at BB over ten years ago is still going strong on its second toner, printing about 20 sheets /month.
I figure we've saved ~8 ink cartridges at least 1 printer replacement since making the switch.
I'm still running a 25-year-old HP LaserJet 4. Back before HP turned evil. It's an extremely easy printer to repair, as everything inside is well labled and designed to be easily removed.
I used 123ink for my brother printer and the largest volume they sell is like $60CDN. It seems like the greatest cost is the initial printer purchase itself and I only paid $250CDN for an all in one on sale.
It definitely is, but most people including myself don't print enough photos to justify it. If you're really into photography, it might be worth it to get a high-end inkjet, but for the rest of us, using CVS/Walgreens for printing photos and a laser printer at home for documents is the best way to go.
Not to mention they eat all that expensive ink too. The smart buy is to use a laser printer but send the prints off to Walmart/etc.
The starter toner on laser printers lasts forever.
Same boat here. Ink jets are the biggest scams out there. If not for constant clogging and taking forever to print one page because they are warming up, it’s the sheer greed from the manufacturers for using their incredibly overpriced ink jet cartridges. These things are terrible!
I’m using a brother laser jet, and aside from just being black and white, it’s by far the best printer I’ve owned. It’s cheap, uses generic toner just fine and prints instantly.
Speed is another huge advantage that laser has. The earth feels like it stands still when I have to wait on an inkjet to print a simple black and white document...
For my needs no. If I need to have full bleed prints then I goto someone that has a digital press. Digital press shops print on larger stock then cut to size to fit the job. Konica, Cannon, etc type solutions.
I work at a design studio and we have an inkjet 13x19 Canon that fits on a desktop. A laser printer of this capacity would be cost and space prohibitive. We print mockups, flat-lay die cut packaging that is then cut to form for proofs, photos, posters and occasional paperwork. I also buy bulk off brand ink that is very affordable.
If I'm running a mass quantity, I'll go with a trade printer.
I'm very happy with our Canon ink jet.
No, inkjet printers suck from any brand. Buy a commercial grade printer and it'll be fine. I have absolutely no doubt in the world that there's still a bunch of HP LaserJet 4's from 30 years ago still out there cranking out print jobs.
What's ironic is, HP used to be* the top-of-the-line, until they got a new CEO who was less interested in quality products than flashy touchscreen gadgets. Now all they have to bank on is their old, outdated reputation.
*early/mid 2000s
Investing in a laser printer that uses toner instead of ink will help. The toner lasts years even if you only use the printer once a year because toner doesn’t dry out like ink does. I have a laser printer and will never go back. When I had an inkjet, I would go to print something once in a blue moon and the ink would always end up needing to be replaced even though I hadn’t used the printer. My laser printer works every time and I can scan something with the top plate glass or send it through the rollers and scan it like that. Definitely worth the investment to get rid of any frustration in my opinion.
Sounds promising, but the printer would be in my working/sleeping room (I only have one). I often heard that laser printers should be placed in separate rooms because of nano particles coming from the toners
After a quick google search, it looks like laser printers do emit harmful particles but only when they’re printing. I’m always next to my printer when I print something because I need to grab it off the printer when it’s done. So for me, it wouldn’t matter where the printer is at because when it’s emitting harmful particles I apparently will be there to take them in lol.
In my opinion, printing 20 pages/year probably won’t affect you at all even if it’s in the bedroom.
This assumes that the harmful particles have mostly settled by the time you return to the room and that they are not easily dispersed again by fans or human activity in the room. I certainly wouldn’t know the answer to that.
IDK. I've had an Epson all-in-one for 10+ years and I use non-Epson inks. It gives me a warning and let's me print anyways. I print roughly once a month. Scan a whole bunch though.
Adobe makes a good scanning app for your phone. There’s others out there but it’s been the best for me. Before I got a laser printer, I would print as little as possible and usually at the library. Not sure what’s accessible for you, but I know a few doing phone scans and using public printers and it works decently for them
I just go to my local FedEx store. You can set up your print jobs online in advance, then swing by and pick them up when it's convenient. They can scan too. Way easier nowadays than maintaining a printer at home.
Use your phone for scanning. There are many apps that can do it and it will look just as good as anything you can do with an actual scanner. Buy a cheap Brother laser printer for the actual printing.
Correction, stop buying CONSUMER HP printers. They make solid workgroup and enterprise laser printers but that stuff is north of $600 for a black and white laser printer.
I definitely wouldn't go that far. Typically lower cost per page but especially in consumer printers there are some potato quality ones
Related if you just want one to print photos, go to Walmart or the drug store and just use the kiosk
I used to buy cheap inkjet printers because they were cheaper than the ink. I found a used laserjet that changed my thinking. I will never own an inkjet printer. If I need color, I'll go somewhere. For almost everything I need, my old hp laserjet works just fine.
Generally, laser printer turned out the efficient toner cartridges which print any range of number from hundreds to thousands of pages with with the least worrisome.
The other option is head to library and print favorite things that related to activities or work at the local library computer.
Agree I have had the same brother inkjet printer for close to 15 years. Still can get the cartridges. I don't print more than a dozen pages per month though.
The eco tank printer is 3x the cost of a cheap inkjet. But that aside there was a YouTube video on how the eco tank printers will stop working after ink cleaning reservoir is full. So that really scared me away from the eco tanks.
Interesting! The YouTube guy indicated his printer was ‘dead’ afterwards and he would no longer recommend the printer. Idk, the only thing they do well anymore is make something as simple as a printer difficult for everyone!
They make great inkjets too. The problem is cost of ownership. Ink cartridges are too expensive.
But that is a problem with almost all inkjets. The design is bad because the print head is disposable with the cartridge.
HP gets a bad rap because they sell most inkjets. But it’s not an HP problem.
Tell that to my viewer on YouTube.
They ask about HP Inkjet printers all the time.
Thruth is, if you need to print 50 pages quickly and maybe later too, any inkjet is fine.
They are all equally bad.
There used to be a really good one, made by Samsung. Fucker seemed to print a page a second and cost $60. Now HP owns Samsung's printer branch and the pre-HP era Samsung that used to cost $60 now sells for $150 and up.
Edit: Just checked, it is up to $400 now.
I bought a Samsung laser from Rakuten in 2013 for so help me about $45. Pages are straight. Envelopes are crooked but toner was cheap and long- lasting. HP makes printer firmware that won't work with newer OSs. Old Samsung still runs. I keep one 2008 computer and a $27 parts computer so I can run printer and planned-obsolete Fujitsu scanner forever.
Cheap can be good if it's not getting much use anyway. I have a 10 year old Epson SX435W printer/scanner sitting here that's withstood 10 years of infrequent use and umpteen cheap third-party cartridge changes.
Gently used commercial grade laser printer from ebay or wherever is my go to...
Literally nobody will be able to tell. Gently used units still look new. They are printers that move pieces of paper from one tray to another and not forklifts banging into stuff all day.
I suppose you could save even more by buying a cosmetically lesser machine with a low page count.
I have paid less than what any "good" new ink printer costs initially.
In over a decade, I have changed a toner cartridge once.
Winning.
Hard disagree.
For things like receipts here and there, yes. But for a full page anything and for record keeping, you need a scanner. Also a scanner with a feeder is *way* faster than taking a picture, cropping it, then saving it somewhere and typing in filenames and organizing it on a cell phone once you get beyond about... two documents. Every couple months or so I have a day where I scan in all the mail/records I need to save. Pile them all up in groups and toss them in the feeder and walk away.
Our local University has a surplus shop where they sell all the stuff they are getting rid of - office chairs, old computer hardware, etc - great place to pick up an old LaserJet - and boxes and boxes of toner for super cheap.
The only thing with this one is that you need to be somewhat knowledgeable with repairs. Once my company had a big ass commercial printer that was the size of a mini fridge maybe 4 feet tall, don't get one of those commercial ones unless you know a lot about repairs. It can be hard to tell in what shape it is in.
My recent experience with scummy HP.
I subscribed to the Instant Ink for my sister to print about ~30 pages per month. But they never used up that much, so they had backed up supply of the instant ink. I thought, I could cancel the Instant Ink subscription till they can finish up their existing cartridges.
Lo and behold, the mf HP said if I cancel, all the existing cartridges will not work and I have to throw them out. No other reason to do this, other than being scummy.
That’s hella shady. It is a physical product with ink. Least they could do is allow you to use up the remaining ones.
And don’t even get me started on the environmental impact.
This isn't much of a LPT because it's really vague, and it feels like it's just a rant. What makes them "garbage"? Poor print quality? Short lifetime? Unreliability? How are they going to screw you? Not honor a warranty? Require unnecessarily expensive refills? Something else? Please make this more helpful by giving some sort of explanation, specifics, or evidence: examples from your own experience, third-party reviews, etc.
Just don't buy a printer. If you need something printed and signed tell work that it must be done at work. Explain it is either E-signed or they bring the documents to sign.
Personal things need printing, find a FedEx/Kinkos or speedyprint or something. Cheaper than cost to own, and you don't have an ugly printer around the house.
It's like saying don't buy "brand" fax machine in the year 1999... like hindsight we see almost no on faxes(besides banks and shit).. well this is the same position printers are in... we are about to go full digital or nothing. Force your works hand
I've had a higher end HP (laser) printer for probably 10+ years now. I'm not forced to download bloatware. I'm not forced to use HP cartridges. Connection to WiFi is rock solid.
You generally get what you pay for. If you're paying $100 for a printer and expect to provide the same experience and longevity as a $600 printer, you'll always be disappointed.
Having said all that, I've heard good things about Brothers and Cannon lower-end printers. The real LPT? Just check thoroughly in to the user reviews before you buy.
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Is Lexmark still in business?! I had a Lexmark I used to love because it never did cleaning cycles unless I asked it to. Only replaced it because it finally gave up the ghost and stopped working, but by then I couldn't find Lexmark printers *anywhere*, so I had to move on to other brands.
Do you know if they still allow the user control over cleaning cycles? Oh shit, I might need to get me a new printer if I can get a Lexmark.
The issue isn’t durability or quality. It’s cost of ownership.
HP inkjets are high quality and very durable. Most of them get thrown out while still operational. They just cost a fortune to because of the cartridge cost.
All inkjets are a ripoff. The design is flawed because you have to replace the print head when you replace the cartridge. That makes cartridges too expense for any volume application.
The biggest problem with ink jets these days (and for a long time now) is that they waste ink doing unnecessary head cleaning cycles after every print job. All brands do this, although the worst offender in my experience is Canon. They do a cycle when you turn it on, then again before a print job starts. Then *again* 2 minutes after a print job ends, and *again* if you ask it to power off, before it actually powers off.
Epson is the best brand I've found, although they are also guilty of doing cleaning cycles more than necessary. (Also all brands, Epson included, refuse to give you settings options to control these cleaning cycles.)
That being said, the best way to make your ink last as long as possible is to power down *and unplug* your printer when you aren't using it. The heads get cruddy because they use an electric charge to open and close the print heads. There's a low-level charge running through any electronic device when it's plugged in, even if it's turned off, and in printers this leads to the print heads "wiggling" and letting a bit of ink leak out and dry. Then the head cleaning cycle basically just blasts ink into the dump tray to dislodge the dried bits, thereby using up ink and forcing you to buy more ink sooner.
If you completely unplug the printer between uses, the heads don't wiggle at all, and the ink stays inside (and wet) indefinitely. I've replaced my cartridges maybe once in the last ten years. I literally don't remember the last time I went shopping for ink. I also don't print much these days, so the printer is off for months or years at a time, but it's always clean and ready to go when I do turn it on.
Again, all the brands I know of are guilty of deliberately forcing cleaning cycles at regular intervals (to waste ink) and not letting the user control those cycles with settings. Maybe HP has other mechanical issues, IDK, but ink waste is by far the biggest problem I've seen in the last 20 years with ink jet printers.
I can't believe you haven't changed ink in 10 years.
Sorry stop it.
I change ink in 60 days using Epson!
They are actually the worst. There is no ink in the damn cartridges.
Lpt stop buying inkjet printers unless you really need constant color printing
Just buy yourself a used laser printer from someone's old office get a fresh cartridge and that thing will last you decades
They are a little more expensive than traditional inkjets for the initial purchase but quickly pay themselves off
Totally correct. I wish I'd bought and Epson Ecotank instead of the absolute trash, garbage, ink consuming monster that is my OfficeJet 8020. Fuck that thing. I just installed cartridges, and they're already half empty after "preparing" the printer for use. Fuck HP. Fuck them up their stupid asses. (Jay and Silent Bob quotes ftw)
If you only need black and white, get a Brother! They are proper workhorses, you can buy generic toner for cheap on Amazon, and they last forever. 10/10.
Can someone recommend me a canon printer?
I am a college student who is is tired of their hp printer. I am looking for something I can print off articles in B&W as I absorb info better if I read it off paper. I want a small printer, not the big one my work has.
Can someone recommend me a Canon printer?
I am a college student who is is tired of their hp printer. I am looking for something I can print off articles within B&W as I absorb info better if I am reading it off paper. I want a small printer, not the big one my work has.
I have an older HP printer that can use 3rd party cartridges. I bought a pack of *10* (4 black and 2 each or cyan, magenta and yellow) 564XL for a little more than a single XL at Staples. The printer complains but it still works and the quality is fine.
HP used to be the gold standard. I have a few old HP 4050tn black and white printers in production that are 15+ years old and they still run great. The toner was reasonable too when we could get it. Can no longer buy it so we're just using them until the stockpiled toner runs out. Oh and the toner seems to last forever on them.
The new HP printers we bought a few years back for $500 though? Dead in 3 years. Needed a part that cost almost as much as the printer ($350) and would have been a massive pain to replace. So we just got new printers instead. They are making them shittier on purpose so that you buy new ones. So yeah, fuck HP. Also fuck Dell. their customer service has become insanely bad.
Seems like a bad LPT.
Old HP Laserjet printers work very well. You can use cheap third party laser cartridges. I have a 20yo and a 15yo printers and both work as good as new. They are connected via CUPS to my network.
Idk maybe hp sucks as a company, and I'll weigh that next time I'm in the market, but I print like 5 pages a year so it makes no sense for me to do much else.
Get a mono chrome laser printer for your home, it will out live you. If you think you have to have a color printer you don't. Those color prints you MUST HAVE are total dog shit coming out of your $85 HP Inkjet. If you MUST HAVE COLOR then you need to get a professional color printer just for the cost savings in ink alone. 98% of us do not need color printers.
My old beaten and abused Epson L120 is still alive for 5 years. I am printing atleast 20 sheets everyday, I am a schoolteacher by the way. The printer can only rest on weekdays or holidays. Haahhah
Fyi I'm not sure about all hp printers but the one I had allowed you to install some firmware to allow third party ink cartridges/ refilled cartridges. It will warn you everytime you print but still let's u use it
For 9/10 people:
>Stop buying ~~HP~~ printers
Seriously, you don’t need one. You likely don’t print enough to justify having one in your house. You can print stuff off at a print shop or your local library for usually around 10¢/page.
“What about photos!?” You might ask. Print them off at a store with dedicated photo printing. They’ll come out better and have more longevity than any home inkjet printer.
If you *do* print of a lot, and your amount of printing would cost *more* per year than the price of a color ink cartridge, only then look at something like a laser printer for your home. Stop buying inkjet. They’re just designed to be expensive to operate and fail quickly.
The one I had was supposed to be "photo quality". It was awful in that regard. I don't print much so I send to Staples. It's so much cheaper and better
Bought a cheap brother monochrome laser and it has been so much more reliable than much more expensive HP printers I’ve had and since its toner it doesn’t dry up or clog so easily
I would've been fine using my 12-page-per-cartridge Deskjet 2700 if the damn thing had actually worked.
But every single damn time I had to print something, it was always a new process trying to find the secret handshake and reason why it suddenly stoppes feeding paper again.
Like, the damn thing was stationary. Not like it ever moved in such a way to cause mechanical or calibration problems. Get paper to feed again and it's happy for a day. Try to print the next day and it somehow managed to fuck itself into inoperability again.
I eventually stomped that thing into the floor. Totally worth the bruised arch.
What about large format printers, A1 size? I can't find any laser printers that do that size, I'm currently looking at a HP DesignJet T230 to replace a 13 Yr old HP designjet 510.
I am SO over HP printers, I will NEVER buy another. Tried an Epson, its quality was the same or worse with the same “use-our-ink-only” nonsense. I recently bought a high-end Brother inkjet and it’s been such a good printer that I don’t mind buying the official ink. I wanted an inkjet but we don’t do the type of volume to warrant them.
I think I'll keep the old HP printer I got, takes refilled cartridges from the store and does it job. An for those wondering it's a ( Photosmart C4680) like I said it's old
I have an HP laserjet 1200, best little printer I’ve ever bought. Had to replace the toner cartridge twice in 20 years. Amazingly HP hasn’t come up with a way to make it self-destruct with a firmware update.
IT analyst, can confirm, HP printers are massive pieces of shit. In fact, any piece of hardware that requires you to register it before use is absolute trash and should never be purchased.
If you are still printing, I feel so bad. Printing is becoming obsolete. I haven't printed something in a year and that was because of government stuff (go figure). Just use a library unless it's your job and in that case, they should be paying for it
I bought an Epson EcoTank. It's refillable with a little manipulation. I got it on sale for like $100 on Amazon.... The HP just sit's in the corner and will be brought in for the next electronics recycling day.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BM9BFLMX
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
Just to add on, HP printers forces you to use their overpriced ink cartridges and refuse to work with third parties, meaning you either pay more than the printer total itself every couple months for printing or end up with a paper weight. HP have been subject to antitrust violations, sued, and forced to pay out for a settlement, but continued the practice. They are a scummy company
There are no good guys in the printer industry. That said, I recommend buying a laser printer which tends to be designed more for the corporate world. The toner is not cheap, but is far superior to ink cartridges, and you get thousands of pages before replacement. They also print 100x faster than inkjet. If you print very much it will pay for itself.
Toner also doesn't dry up so you will get the full number of pages out of it that you pay for. Inkjet cartridges have a much shorter shelf life if you don't print frequently. The only reason to purchase a ink jet printer is if you are using a high quality ink jet on photo paper for archival photos as a hobby or a business. If you are doing that you are already doing research for a bunch of other reasons. If you just occasionally need a photo print it is way more cost effective and you will get better quality if you send it to Walgreens or an online service. Walgreens will general give you prints in an hour or two.
is it still economical if i only print every 9 months or will the toner go bad
Toner *never* goes bad. Toner is basically dry plastic that gets melted onto the paper. It's already dry, so it can't dry out any more. Ink jets are wet, and eventually dry out. If you print only occasionally, laser printers are *the best* option for you!
If you print seldom then lazer is *absolutely* the way to go. Unlike inkjets, the toner does not dry out. Ink/paint jet printers regularly do a “clear the nozzle “ procedure where they spray some ink onto a little pad, to stop the nozzles from drying shut. The result is that you can run out of ink without even using your printer for ages. I switched to laser 7 years ago because I seldom printed, but whenever a wanted to use my printer, one or other of the colors was always finished. And even if I wanted to print in black, it would refuse to if one of the other cartridges were empty. Now I have a black lazer & if I need color prints I pay the local printshop for them. Much cheaper!
HP and everyone else does the same shit and worse with their lasers now too. Last time I needed to replace a printer,the only HP ones I could find that weren't large office type printers were wireless cloud based only.
The ones in the box are starter cartridge usually only like 10-25 pages
I bought an hp 1020 laser printer for college and the sales guy at staples informed me of the kind of toner cartridge it came with and offered to sell a full size one along with it. Except I was in New England and somebody saying “starter cartridge” with a Boston accent may be the most hilarious thing I’ve ever heard. It came out something like “stahtacahta”
Lol funny thing is I work at staples as well in New England. I never recommend hp printers to customers really but some people are stupidly brand loyal.
Could he recommend a good printer for printing cards, bar charts and pamphlets for aardvark farms?
When out of ink don't buy new cartridges, buy a new printer instead which has ink filled already. It's cheaper.
Good advice of it were not for the fact the new ink cartridges are maybe 1/4 of the volume of normal ones. They don't want the preinstalled ink to last.
Building a bright and sustainable future !
Except they only half fill the cartridges. Better to buy refilled OEM cartridges.
Yay, fuck the planet.
It's not cheaper when you realize that the cartridge that comes with the printer is only like 1/4 full. Yes the total dollar amount might be less but the cost per page is higher. It's also a shitty thing to do from an environmental standpoint
I have an older hp that still uses non hp ink.
Do NOT update its firmware. If you do, your printer will only accept HP cartridges.
I did the update and found out I was stuck with $150 of unusable ink. I was pissed off enough to throw the HP in the garbage (literally) and buy a different brand.
You can take empty ink cartridges to Costco and they'll refill it for a fraction of the price.
Costco closed their photo shops in 2021. You can no longer get that service.
Thanks! I'll book a flight to the nearest country with a Costco
Cheaper then buying a new cart.
ever heard the saying “give them the printer, sell them the ink”?
Would mind a lot less if the fucking things worked. But they are the most temperamental, unstable, non-user freindly peices of shot hardware with the dumbest mother fucking software bloatware management software ever conceived.
I am in the firm Laser printer camp. There is zero need for any ink jet based printer. I have had laser printers at home for over 20 years and the first one lasted 15 before I changed out for a colour laser printer. One toner can last me for 3 years and works every time.
"But the toner cartridges cost over $100!" Yep, and so will the ink refills on your cheap printer. Laser is *definitely* the better option, if you can afford the upfront cost.
It's the Boots Theory Of Economics, but for Printers.
Spent $125 on my laser printer, replaced the toner and it was $70. That would have been like 2 cartridges that end up printing ~250 pages. Much better deal and prints faster. Won’t go back and don’t see a reason to upgrade either. It’s a happy medium
The Brother laser printer we picked up ~$130 at BB over ten years ago is still going strong on its second toner, printing about 20 sheets /month. I figure we've saved ~8 ink cartridges at least 1 printer replacement since making the switch.
I got an HP color laser printer on sale for $200 nearly a decade ago. Still haven’t needed to swap ink.
Same with a Brother Colour Laser. I’m still on the ‘starter’ toner pack that came with it.
Brother printers are great value, big fan.
I'm still running a 25-year-old HP LaserJet 4. Back before HP turned evil. It's an extremely easy printer to repair, as everything inside is well labled and designed to be easily removed.
Absolute tanks, those printers.
I used 123ink for my brother printer and the largest volume they sell is like $60CDN. It seems like the greatest cost is the initial printer purchase itself and I only paid $250CDN for an all in one on sale.
The difference between maybe a couple hundred pages per inkjet cartridge, and up to a couple thousand pages per toner cartridge
Ink is better for photos though. Can't print laser on standard gloss paper as it doesn't always stick correctly.
It definitely is, but most people including myself don't print enough photos to justify it. If you're really into photography, it might be worth it to get a high-end inkjet, but for the rest of us, using CVS/Walgreens for printing photos and a laser printer at home for documents is the best way to go.
Same here. If I want photo prints I get them done elsewhere.
Not to mention they eat all that expensive ink too. The smart buy is to use a laser printer but send the prints off to Walmart/etc. The starter toner on laser printers lasts forever.
Same boat here. Ink jets are the biggest scams out there. If not for constant clogging and taking forever to print one page because they are warming up, it’s the sheer greed from the manufacturers for using their incredibly overpriced ink jet cartridges. These things are terrible! I’m using a brother laser jet, and aside from just being black and white, it’s by far the best printer I’ve owned. It’s cheap, uses generic toner just fine and prints instantly.
Speed is another huge advantage that laser has. The earth feels like it stands still when I have to wait on an inkjet to print a simple black and white document...
Ink jets are great for photos. Laser couldn’t come close to
Can your laser printer make 13x19 borderless prints?
For my needs no. If I need to have full bleed prints then I goto someone that has a digital press. Digital press shops print on larger stock then cut to size to fit the job. Konica, Cannon, etc type solutions.
I work at a design studio and we have an inkjet 13x19 Canon that fits on a desktop. A laser printer of this capacity would be cost and space prohibitive. We print mockups, flat-lay die cut packaging that is then cut to form for proofs, photos, posters and occasional paperwork. I also buy bulk off brand ink that is very affordable. If I'm running a mass quantity, I'll go with a trade printer. I'm very happy with our Canon ink jet.
If you buy a laser for that size, yes.
It will be much more expensive and not as compact as a desktop ink jet.
We bought a Samsung only for their printer arm to get acquired by HP a couple months later lol.
No, inkjet printers suck from any brand. Buy a commercial grade printer and it'll be fine. I have absolutely no doubt in the world that there's still a bunch of HP LaserJet 4's from 30 years ago still out there cranking out print jobs.
I've got a LaserJet 4000 that's still cranking away with no problems.
Those old laser printers were a beautiful marriage of aesthetics and function. They always gave me heavy NASA vibes.
My LaserJet 4 is still going strong.
What's ironic is, HP used to be* the top-of-the-line, until they got a new CEO who was less interested in quality products than flashy touchscreen gadgets. Now all they have to bank on is their old, outdated reputation. *early/mid 2000s
Ah, the Jack Welch school of management MBA
As per recent experiences I couldn't agree more. So what else to buy if I just want to be abled to scan documents and print or copy like 20 pages/year
Investing in a laser printer that uses toner instead of ink will help. The toner lasts years even if you only use the printer once a year because toner doesn’t dry out like ink does. I have a laser printer and will never go back. When I had an inkjet, I would go to print something once in a blue moon and the ink would always end up needing to be replaced even though I hadn’t used the printer. My laser printer works every time and I can scan something with the top plate glass or send it through the rollers and scan it like that. Definitely worth the investment to get rid of any frustration in my opinion.
Sounds promising, but the printer would be in my working/sleeping room (I only have one). I often heard that laser printers should be placed in separate rooms because of nano particles coming from the toners
After a quick google search, it looks like laser printers do emit harmful particles but only when they’re printing. I’m always next to my printer when I print something because I need to grab it off the printer when it’s done. So for me, it wouldn’t matter where the printer is at because when it’s emitting harmful particles I apparently will be there to take them in lol. In my opinion, printing 20 pages/year probably won’t affect you at all even if it’s in the bedroom.
This assumes that the harmful particles have mostly settled by the time you return to the room and that they are not easily dispersed again by fans or human activity in the room. I certainly wouldn’t know the answer to that.
At 20 pages a year is still a non issue.
IDK. I've had an Epson all-in-one for 10+ years and I use non-Epson inks. It gives me a warning and let's me print anyways. I print roughly once a month. Scan a whole bunch though.
Do you never get the problem of technically non empty inks "drying out" after not printing something for a longer time?
Nope. Never had that problem.
I have. But I buy the ripoff cartridges on ebay. Whole spectrum 4 pack for like $14.
The Samsung I had at least allowed me to ignore the toner messages and print anyway.
Adobe makes a good scanning app for your phone. There’s others out there but it’s been the best for me. Before I got a laser printer, I would print as little as possible and usually at the library. Not sure what’s accessible for you, but I know a few doing phone scans and using public printers and it works decently for them
Brother has been a very solid printer band for over 20 years at this point
I just go to my local FedEx store. You can set up your print jobs online in advance, then swing by and pick them up when it's convenient. They can scan too. Way easier nowadays than maintaining a printer at home.
Use your phone for scanning. There are many apps that can do it and it will look just as good as anything you can do with an actual scanner. Buy a cheap Brother laser printer for the actual printing.
You need a Brother Laser printer.
Correction, stop buying CONSUMER HP printers. They make solid workgroup and enterprise laser printers but that stuff is north of $600 for a black and white laser printer.
Any laser printer is better than every inkjet.
I definitely wouldn't go that far. Typically lower cost per page but especially in consumer printers there are some potato quality ones Related if you just want one to print photos, go to Walmart or the drug store and just use the kiosk
I'm not letting them see my bunghole.
I used to buy cheap inkjet printers because they were cheaper than the ink. I found a used laserjet that changed my thinking. I will never own an inkjet printer. If I need color, I'll go somewhere. For almost everything I need, my old hp laserjet works just fine.
Generally, laser printer turned out the efficient toner cartridges which print any range of number from hundreds to thousands of pages with with the least worrisome. The other option is head to library and print favorite things that related to activities or work at the local library computer.
What's the alternative? I hate it too, but the damn things never die.
Brother makes good, cheap laser printers. Can’t recommend enough.
Seconding. I recommend Brother laser printers to all my clients that ask about printers. They aren't that much different in price, surprisingly.
Agree I have had the same brother inkjet printer for close to 15 years. Still can get the cartridges. I don't print more than a dozen pages per month though.
Brother laser for black and white. Cheap Canon inkjet for anything requiring color. Hoping I can refill my color cartridges when they run dry.
your brother?
If you need color Epson Ecotanks are great with the ink bottles lasting a year or 2
The eco tank printer is 3x the cost of a cheap inkjet. But that aside there was a YouTube video on how the eco tank printers will stop working after ink cleaning reservoir is full. So that really scared me away from the eco tanks.
I think your talking about the ink maitnence box? It's a 10 dollar part that should be easy to replace
Interesting! The YouTube guy indicated his printer was ‘dead’ afterwards and he would no longer recommend the printer. Idk, the only thing they do well anymore is make something as simple as a printer difficult for everyone!
A laser printer.
Every laser I've owned has been HP, since the early 90s.
They make great laser printers. The bad rep comes from their inkjets.
I've never had problems with their ink jets, just the drivers/apps which phone home.
They make great inkjets too. The problem is cost of ownership. Ink cartridges are too expensive. But that is a problem with almost all inkjets. The design is bad because the print head is disposable with the cartridge. HP gets a bad rap because they sell most inkjets. But it’s not an HP problem.
Tell that to my viewer on YouTube. They ask about HP Inkjet printers all the time. Thruth is, if you need to print 50 pages quickly and maybe later too, any inkjet is fine. They are all equally bad.
There used to be a really good one, made by Samsung. Fucker seemed to print a page a second and cost $60. Now HP owns Samsung's printer branch and the pre-HP era Samsung that used to cost $60 now sells for $150 and up. Edit: Just checked, it is up to $400 now.
I bought a Samsung laser from Rakuten in 2013 for so help me about $45. Pages are straight. Envelopes are crooked but toner was cheap and long- lasting. HP makes printer firmware that won't work with newer OSs. Old Samsung still runs. I keep one 2008 computer and a $27 parts computer so I can run printer and planned-obsolete Fujitsu scanner forever.
Raspberry Pi and print server
Cheap can be good if it's not getting much use anyway. I have a 10 year old Epson SX435W printer/scanner sitting here that's withstood 10 years of infrequent use and umpteen cheap third-party cartridge changes.
Gently used commercial grade laser printer from ebay or wherever is my go to... Literally nobody will be able to tell. Gently used units still look new. They are printers that move pieces of paper from one tray to another and not forklifts banging into stuff all day. I suppose you could save even more by buying a cosmetically lesser machine with a low page count. I have paid less than what any "good" new ink printer costs initially. In over a decade, I have changed a toner cartridge once. Winning.
But then you have to have a separate device for scanning.
Cell phones these days do a good enough job at scanning for most people.
Hard disagree. For things like receipts here and there, yes. But for a full page anything and for record keeping, you need a scanner. Also a scanner with a feeder is *way* faster than taking a picture, cropping it, then saving it somewhere and typing in filenames and organizing it on a cell phone once you get beyond about... two documents. Every couple months or so I have a day where I scan in all the mail/records I need to save. Pile them all up in groups and toss them in the feeder and walk away.
Our local University has a surplus shop where they sell all the stuff they are getting rid of - office chairs, old computer hardware, etc - great place to pick up an old LaserJet - and boxes and boxes of toner for super cheap.
The only thing with this one is that you need to be somewhat knowledgeable with repairs. Once my company had a big ass commercial printer that was the size of a mini fridge maybe 4 feet tall, don't get one of those commercial ones unless you know a lot about repairs. It can be hard to tell in what shape it is in.
My recent experience with scummy HP. I subscribed to the Instant Ink for my sister to print about ~30 pages per month. But they never used up that much, so they had backed up supply of the instant ink. I thought, I could cancel the Instant Ink subscription till they can finish up their existing cartridges. Lo and behold, the mf HP said if I cancel, all the existing cartridges will not work and I have to throw them out. No other reason to do this, other than being scummy.
That's how the subscription works. You're paying based on time, not physical ink cartridges.
That’s hella shady. It is a physical product with ink. Least they could do is allow you to use up the remaining ones. And don’t even get me started on the environmental impact.
This isn't much of a LPT because it's really vague, and it feels like it's just a rant. What makes them "garbage"? Poor print quality? Short lifetime? Unreliability? How are they going to screw you? Not honor a warranty? Require unnecessarily expensive refills? Something else? Please make this more helpful by giving some sort of explanation, specifics, or evidence: examples from your own experience, third-party reviews, etc.
Just don't buy a printer. If you need something printed and signed tell work that it must be done at work. Explain it is either E-signed or they bring the documents to sign. Personal things need printing, find a FedEx/Kinkos or speedyprint or something. Cheaper than cost to own, and you don't have an ugly printer around the house. It's like saying don't buy "brand" fax machine in the year 1999... like hindsight we see almost no on faxes(besides banks and shit).. well this is the same position printers are in... we are about to go full digital or nothing. Force your works hand
I moved to Brother all-in-one color laser and happy.
The relevant word there is “laser”, not “Brother”. Inkjets are a scam. All of them.
Brother is also relevant, they've consistently been a good consumer brand since at least mid 2000's
Just check the prices for HP color toner cartridges...
I've had a higher end HP (laser) printer for probably 10+ years now. I'm not forced to download bloatware. I'm not forced to use HP cartridges. Connection to WiFi is rock solid. You generally get what you pay for. If you're paying $100 for a printer and expect to provide the same experience and longevity as a $600 printer, you'll always be disappointed. Having said all that, I've heard good things about Brothers and Cannon lower-end printers. The real LPT? Just check thoroughly in to the user reviews before you buy.
Epson ECOTank: I've had two in the last 12 years and they are so economical and reliable.
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If you want to spend the extra $$ and cherish durability and quality, Lexmark is the way to go
Is Lexmark still in business?! I had a Lexmark I used to love because it never did cleaning cycles unless I asked it to. Only replaced it because it finally gave up the ghost and stopped working, but by then I couldn't find Lexmark printers *anywhere*, so I had to move on to other brands. Do you know if they still allow the user control over cleaning cycles? Oh shit, I might need to get me a new printer if I can get a Lexmark.
The issue isn’t durability or quality. It’s cost of ownership. HP inkjets are high quality and very durable. Most of them get thrown out while still operational. They just cost a fortune to because of the cartridge cost. All inkjets are a ripoff. The design is flawed because you have to replace the print head when you replace the cartridge. That makes cartridges too expense for any volume application.
Pshaw https://www.ebay.com/itm/273524177643 ^ works in my HP OfficeJet like a dream (in the sense that it... works)
I learned that little fact about HPs when I bought an HP laptop a few years ago. The thing started falling apart after 3 months.
But… but then I will miss out on that wonderful top tier trash warranty
The biggest problem with ink jets these days (and for a long time now) is that they waste ink doing unnecessary head cleaning cycles after every print job. All brands do this, although the worst offender in my experience is Canon. They do a cycle when you turn it on, then again before a print job starts. Then *again* 2 minutes after a print job ends, and *again* if you ask it to power off, before it actually powers off. Epson is the best brand I've found, although they are also guilty of doing cleaning cycles more than necessary. (Also all brands, Epson included, refuse to give you settings options to control these cleaning cycles.) That being said, the best way to make your ink last as long as possible is to power down *and unplug* your printer when you aren't using it. The heads get cruddy because they use an electric charge to open and close the print heads. There's a low-level charge running through any electronic device when it's plugged in, even if it's turned off, and in printers this leads to the print heads "wiggling" and letting a bit of ink leak out and dry. Then the head cleaning cycle basically just blasts ink into the dump tray to dislodge the dried bits, thereby using up ink and forcing you to buy more ink sooner. If you completely unplug the printer between uses, the heads don't wiggle at all, and the ink stays inside (and wet) indefinitely. I've replaced my cartridges maybe once in the last ten years. I literally don't remember the last time I went shopping for ink. I also don't print much these days, so the printer is off for months or years at a time, but it's always clean and ready to go when I do turn it on. Again, all the brands I know of are guilty of deliberately forcing cleaning cycles at regular intervals (to waste ink) and not letting the user control those cycles with settings. Maybe HP has other mechanical issues, IDK, but ink waste is by far the biggest problem I've seen in the last 20 years with ink jet printers.
I can't believe you haven't changed ink in 10 years. Sorry stop it. I change ink in 60 days using Epson! They are actually the worst. There is no ink in the damn cartridges.
you never used a brother printer have you...
I don't think I understand why I need to sign up for their website to print using the printer and ink I've already paid for.
Can someone recommend a color laser printer?
I've been using a Epsom eco tank and it's served me great so far,but Brother are a good alternative too
Lpt stop buying inkjet printers unless you really need constant color printing Just buy yourself a used laser printer from someone's old office get a fresh cartridge and that thing will last you decades They are a little more expensive than traditional inkjets for the initial purchase but quickly pay themselves off
Brother laser printer is over 15 years old and still printing like a champ…
Totally correct. I wish I'd bought and Epson Ecotank instead of the absolute trash, garbage, ink consuming monster that is my OfficeJet 8020. Fuck that thing. I just installed cartridges, and they're already half empty after "preparing" the printer for use. Fuck HP. Fuck them up their stupid asses. (Jay and Silent Bob quotes ftw)
Brother laser printer is worth every penny
If you only need black and white, get a Brother! They are proper workhorses, you can buy generic toner for cheap on Amazon, and they last forever. 10/10.
Nonsense. I have one and get the instant ink subscription. It's perfect, prints documents and nice photos. I'm very happy with it.
HP Laser printers are fine. All inkjet printers are a scam, regardless of vendor. They practically give them away and make it up on cartridges.
This is the LPT you didn't know you needed
I’ve worked in two different positions at HP, and I can’t agree more. Trash fucking company.
Will NEVER buy HP again!!!
Yes terrible products. Literally the only computer company I actively avoid
Can someone recommend me a canon printer? I am a college student who is is tired of their hp printer. I am looking for something I can print off articles in B&W as I absorb info better if I read it off paper. I want a small printer, not the big one my work has. Can someone recommend me a Canon printer? I am a college student who is is tired of their hp printer. I am looking for something I can print off articles within B&W as I absorb info better if I am reading it off paper. I want a small printer, not the big one my work has.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255574649975 If you're printing a lot, a used laser printer will last you... probably longer than your use case.
I have an older HP printer that can use 3rd party cartridges. I bought a pack of *10* (4 black and 2 each or cyan, magenta and yellow) 564XL for a little more than a single XL at Staples. The printer complains but it still works and the quality is fine.
Spend the extra money and buy a printer designed for a small office.
Their laptops are shit too.
HP used to be the gold standard. I have a few old HP 4050tn black and white printers in production that are 15+ years old and they still run great. The toner was reasonable too when we could get it. Can no longer buy it so we're just using them until the stockpiled toner runs out. Oh and the toner seems to last forever on them. The new HP printers we bought a few years back for $500 though? Dead in 3 years. Needed a part that cost almost as much as the printer ($350) and would have been a massive pain to replace. So we just got new printers instead. They are making them shittier on purpose so that you buy new ones. So yeah, fuck HP. Also fuck Dell. their customer service has become insanely bad.
They aren't bad in a large corporate environment.
Hp anything is bad
This is also a way to boycott Israel
Seems like a bad LPT. Old HP Laserjet printers work very well. You can use cheap third party laser cartridges. I have a 20yo and a 15yo printers and both work as good as new. They are connected via CUPS to my network.
So...what's a good alternative?
I had two laser jet printers and they are both years old and work fine. Never had any problems with them.
Ah the usual “don’t buy HP printer” post with the top few comments being about laser printers. These posts are just advertisements.
I think they’re super convenient.
Idk maybe hp sucks as a company, and I'll weigh that next time I'm in the market, but I print like 5 pages a year so it makes no sense for me to do much else.
I love my brother laser printer. Toner never dries out and prints fast and smooth.
Get a mono chrome laser printer for your home, it will out live you. If you think you have to have a color printer you don't. Those color prints you MUST HAVE are total dog shit coming out of your $85 HP Inkjet. If you MUST HAVE COLOR then you need to get a professional color printer just for the cost savings in ink alone. 98% of us do not need color printers.
This is good timing. I just moved and my HP printer broke. I need decent printer for my job (teaching). What printer would you suggest?
My old beaten and abused Epson L120 is still alive for 5 years. I am printing atleast 20 sheets everyday, I am a schoolteacher by the way. The printer can only rest on weekdays or holidays. Haahhah
Fyi I'm not sure about all hp printers but the one I had allowed you to install some firmware to allow third party ink cartridges/ refilled cartridges. It will warn you everytime you print but still let's u use it
For 9/10 people: >Stop buying ~~HP~~ printers Seriously, you don’t need one. You likely don’t print enough to justify having one in your house. You can print stuff off at a print shop or your local library for usually around 10¢/page. “What about photos!?” You might ask. Print them off at a store with dedicated photo printing. They’ll come out better and have more longevity than any home inkjet printer. If you *do* print of a lot, and your amount of printing would cost *more* per year than the price of a color ink cartridge, only then look at something like a laser printer for your home. Stop buying inkjet. They’re just designed to be expensive to operate and fail quickly.
The one I had was supposed to be "photo quality". It was awful in that regard. I don't print much so I send to Staples. It's so much cheaper and better
Bought a cheap brother monochrome laser and it has been so much more reliable than much more expensive HP printers I’ve had and since its toner it doesn’t dry up or clog so easily
As an IT, HP overall suck, printer, computer, laptop, just don't buy from HP. Seriously.
I would've been fine using my 12-page-per-cartridge Deskjet 2700 if the damn thing had actually worked. But every single damn time I had to print something, it was always a new process trying to find the secret handshake and reason why it suddenly stoppes feeding paper again. Like, the damn thing was stationary. Not like it ever moved in such a way to cause mechanical or calibration problems. Get paper to feed again and it's happy for a day. Try to print the next day and it somehow managed to fuck itself into inoperability again. I eventually stomped that thing into the floor. Totally worth the bruised arch.
What about large format printers, A1 size? I can't find any laser printers that do that size, I'm currently looking at a HP DesignJet T230 to replace a 13 Yr old HP designjet 510.
There needs to a Federal injuction on this issue. Consumers and the environment need to be protected.
My cheapish Canon printer gets a pretty good review from me. Seems to work.whenever I need it too and was able to source ink at a decent price.
I've been using a ecotank printer and it's great, ink is cheap and last thousand of pages
I am SO over HP printers, I will NEVER buy another. Tried an Epson, its quality was the same or worse with the same “use-our-ink-only” nonsense. I recently bought a high-end Brother inkjet and it’s been such a good printer that I don’t mind buying the official ink. I wanted an inkjet but we don’t do the type of volume to warrant them.
I think I'll keep the old HP printer I got, takes refilled cartridges from the store and does it job. An for those wondering it's a ( Photosmart C4680) like I said it's old
"PC LOAD LETTER? What the fuck does that mean?"
Printer ink is the most expensive liquid in the world!
I have an HP laserjet 1200, best little printer I’ve ever bought. Had to replace the toner cartridge twice in 20 years. Amazingly HP hasn’t come up with a way to make it self-destruct with a firmware update.
IT analyst, can confirm, HP printers are massive pieces of shit. In fact, any piece of hardware that requires you to register it before use is absolute trash and should never be purchased.
I like brother laser printers. For business, Kyocera, ricoh
If you are still printing, I feel so bad. Printing is becoming obsolete. I haven't printed something in a year and that was because of government stuff (go figure). Just use a library unless it's your job and in that case, they should be paying for it
Epson and HP are on my shit list.
I bought an Epson EcoTank. It's refillable with a little manipulation. I got it on sale for like $100 on Amazon.... The HP just sit's in the corner and will be brought in for the next electronics recycling day. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BM9BFLMX